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rack opinions?


thestidham

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hey all. I'm in the process of building a rack to use this summer so I can learn trad climbing. I just started climbing consistantly last november so I don't have a whole lot of outdoor experience but I'm familiar with most climbing equiptment. anyway I wanted to get some perspective on what you guys are luggin around the crags, and what I could do without for now.

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it's probably good to carry at least one nut of each size, for the most part, because above all there fairly cheap. but as far as cams what sizes I'm I more likely to put to use(I live in Puyallup so my climbing endevors will mostly take place at exit 32 and 38, vantage, Levenworth, ect). I am buying camalots one at a time as time permits and have a .5 so far. I just want to buy what I need most for now.

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I'd wager the most common trad rack you see at a crag around Washington probably consists of stoppers to approximatley 1", and cams from the smallest size or one up from the smallest size (about 1/2"?) up to maybe 3". In addition, many climbers carry some hex's or maybe some tricams, but the "standard rack" is built around the above. You'll get different opinions around here as to whether you should start out learning to place stoppers and hex's or go straight to the cams, and I tend toward thinking it is a good idea to master the passive pro first.

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I would start with a set of nuts. Then a set of hexes (very helpful at Vantage or Tieton) Most easier cracks seem to be hand or fist size so a few cams in that range might be a good place to start adding those $$ pieces. Hopefully your partners will have some gear as well so you may want to cover weaknesses in their racks, ie nothing bigger than a #2 camalot you may want to grab a #3. Cams will be more useful in granite areas than hexes IMHO

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Hey dude, if you are looking for some cams, I think this is one of the best deals you can get right now for a SOLID cam. They are on sale in a lot of places cause they are being replaced with a superlight model (that's pretty rad too, but spendier). Anyway, I agree with the above. Buy a nut set, and cam set. I would steer clear of hexes to start... If you do get them I personally think the wired ones sorta suck so get something with a sling of some type. Tricams are great, but I only like the smaller ones. The big ones do have their use in funky pockets and stuff, but I find that I'm reaching for my cams in almost all other situations. Here is the cam link . Good luck and have fun! bigdrink.gif

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Cams don't seem expensive when you are off the deck and trying to get some nut in a parallel sided crack. Spend the dough and get a full set of nuts, cams (#1 tcu to #2 camalot), and some tricams (pink to brown) and hexes (#7 to #9). After shelling out the cash, it won't seem so bad.

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You'll need slings and biners too. Eight to twelve 24" sewn spectra slings is a good start. Try to keep them the same color so you can quickly identify single vs. doubles. I use two to four doubles to supplement this (especially for wandery alpine routes.)

 

People will rack differently, but I tend to rack my singles in trippled quickdraw fashion with two biners each. If so, two dozen lightweight wire gate biners is a good start. Again, I'll pick a specific style or color to quickly identify which go with my slings.

 

Also a general buying tip, you'll get discounts buying in quantity, so it's more expensive to buy things one off the way you are. Save your pennies in a piggy bank and make a larger purchase all at once.

Edited by Toast
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TCUs 1-3 and Camalots .5-3 . One of each of these and a set of nuts and a few hexes is a great rack and will get you up lots of stuff.

 

Personally I have doubles of the above plus a new 4 & 5 camalot as well as a 0 & 00 tcu. That and a set of nuts is great rack at index, squamish, or leavy. Tieton has more irregular cracks so extra nuts & hexes & tricams are good over there (so i hear i don't have any)

 

actually my current rack is a lot and i end up leaving behind some pieces depending on the route. start with doubles of Camalots 1 & 2 and see what you need.

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If you've got the discout anyway.....

 

DMM Walnuts kick butt! (Not sure if the new ones kick as much butt as the older designs but the old ones rockband.gif)

 

Wild Country curve Hexes on Dyneema, are da bomb. Especially at Tieton. Tieton love's hexes! There's also just something very confidence inspiring about a nice hex placement that you could hang a small car off of.

 

echo on the smallest 4 tri-cams. Good for funky shit, and double as stoppers just fine.

 

Cams: Most of them are pretty good anymore. I like the new Costalots and DMM's (my cam of choice thanks to the friendly price and good performance) in the medium to large sizes, and Metolius TCU's in the smaller sizes.

 

That's pretty much the order I picked stuff up in and it's worked out pretty well so far.

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