Pro racking tips?

[archenemy]

I like to put my draws and small stoppers/hexes on my harness, and carry my cams and large stoppers/hexes on a gear sling. Definately like the metolius sling with the 4 gear loops. Also, I choose to put small cams near the front and large cams and stoppers at the back. Works for me, but I too like to sew things up and carry too much gear.

That's the one I have--four loops with a fifth loop on the attachment dealie. Love it.

[eric8]

I rack gear on my harness. Because I to find it gets in the way on my harness. In reality its probably best to get used to using both. I climb with some people who really want a gear sling. So I use that when i lead because its eaiser than taking the gear off the sling at every belay. Then there are some routes with long approaches when taking a gear sling with just extra useless wieght.

[Johnny_Tuff]

I put the shorter draws up front, and the long ones that I put on the anchors at the back. Simple.

[DirtyHarry]

That sounds complicated. Do you have pictures or diagrams?

[G-spotter]

 

Water bottle parka on the harness, prayer flag over the shoulder.

[DirtyHarry]

Alpine drape hanging tips?

[JosephH]

I'm admittedly old school and despise having stuff hanging from my waist and clanking around my thighs. Racking on the harness is definitely a sport-to-trad new school deal. I personally use one of these and love it. Use it for everything from 1 pitch to 15. I'd switch up to a Yates for a big wall aid route, but for free climbing these babies are great. You can also rig them with a 1 liter bladder and they still take a wallet, keys, cell, and cliff bar.

 

[Johnny_Tuff]

That sounds complicated. Do you have pictures or diagrams?

 

It's going to be extensively illustrated in my forthcoming instructional volume, "Sporteneering: Freedom of the Bolts" (foreword by Northwest sports climbing legend, the elusive Dr. Flash Amazing!).

[G-spotter]

Racking on the harness is definitely a sport-to-trad new school deal.... You can also rig them with a 1 liter bladder and they still take a wallet, keys, cell, and cliff bar.

 

 

Taking your cell phone up a 1 pitch route seems pretty "sport to trad " there too JH.

[tomtom]

He may need to call for beta while on route.

[billcoe]

Joseph, did you carry that puppy up Ephinedrine last year?

 

 

How did it work out?

[underworld]

tip - if you use a sling....make sure it's a sewn one and not a tied one. knot comes loose and you'll be sorry.

[DirtyHarry]

On hard climbs, I carry all my gear in my purse. That why if I fail I can hit the wall with my purse and whine, "This climb is STUPID. I didn't want to do it anyway. I'm going home."

[archenemy]

You have a great deal of self control. After one of my many failures, I tend to put the pro in profanity.

[BachelorTravis]

Post deleted by Peter_Puget

[willstrickland]

tip - if you use a sling....make sure it's a sewn one and not a tied one. knot comes loose and you'll be sorry.

 

You don't ever rap off tied slings? Jeebus, just learn to tie a freakin knot.

[underworld]

beavis...they work themselves loose. yes i rap off tied slings. my rack is mostly tied sling, but i don't rack them on a tied sling.

 

you don't ever check your water knots and see that they've worked themselve a little loose. but do as you will - more booty for the rest of us.

[111]

Racking on the harness is the way to go.

Though I dont use it, I have seen peope carry several similar cam sizes on the same carabiner so you can find the right placement w/o reracking several times. then they just carry lots of extra slings with 2 carabiners on them, one for clipping the gear and the other for the rope. Might be a good way for newbies who cant estimate their gear sizes well. Also, carrying all the slings forces you to clip things on longer runners and learn how to not create rope drag.

Edited April 9, 2006 by 111

[Blake]

I actually started using Dru's method and it seems best to me. Gear on the harness, draws/runners on a shoulder sling. I usually put cams small->Big on my gear loops, with a set of nuts in front.

 

For multipitch stuff where you are flipping leads and need to move fast, having a gear sling is better for belay changeovers though.

[jmace]

having a gear sling is better for belay changeovers though.

 

and dropping the whole thing in one go ..then you better hope for rap stations

[mattp]

Mace, that would clearly suck - big time - but it has never happened to me or anybody I know. I'm not saying it will never happen, but I'm not sure that is a reason not to rack that way if you think it is better for other reasons and the advantages outweigh that possibility.

 

Once while liebacking a crack I should have hand-jammed at Index I fell upside down and just barely caught the rack as it slid off my shoulder, though. Then I went back up and - guess what - I liebacked again and just about popped off at the same spot because I was repeating the exact same sequence.

[Blake]

If you are going to be dropping stuff, don't do alpine/multipitch climbs. Seriously, dropping a boot, shoe, ice tool, helmet, even waterbottle (well almost anything you have) can spell disaster. Don't drop the rack either. When handing something to your team-mate, make sure they have it firmly before you let go.

[jmace]

When handing something to your team-mate, make sure they have it firmly before you let go.

 

Usually do, but hey...maybe a falling rock hits you in the hand while handing off the rack...any ways its just something to put in the con category when trying to surmise the best way to carry your rack, I hate the shoulder way, just cause it gets in my way but that metolius thing above looks neat, but you wouldnt be able to hand it off..

[G-spotter]

suppose you dropped your boot off the north face of north twin. how would you live it down? it's enough to make you move to bend and take up sport climbing.

[crackers]

having a gear sling is better for belay changeovers though.

 

IMHO, no. The thing that makes for fast changeovers is a clear and well understood system shared by partners. It doesn't make more than one or two minutes difference to rack on the harness or a gear sling in my experience. With most of my partners, we clean the gear and put it ready to use on our harness.

 

I, and most of my partners, rack on my gear loops. From front to back gear gets larger, with our smallest nuts in front.

 

For quick quick changeovers at belays, take all the gear off of the far side of your harness and have it clipped into a strand of the rope. You switch all the close side hardware onto your partners harness, while your partner takes the hardware off the rope and clips onto their far side of their harness. It shouldn't take more than three minutes.