Jammin' on cracks

[sklag]

Ok, I'm sort of embarrassed to be asking this question but, when I hand jam, or foot jam on thin hands, It freakin' hurts. Any pointers, even just a "suck it up" would do, but how do people do it for hours on end? I mean it hurts pretty good even with tape gloves. Any pointers appreciated.

[RICHARD_CILLEY]

Suck it up and throw away the tapegloves.You're never going to learn anything that way.Patience and practice and after awhile the crack will feel like a glove.

Edited July 24, 2009 by RICHARD_CILLEY

[Off_White]

Yup, what Dick sez. Some super grainy things will make you bleed, and old guy skin gets thinner, but generally speaking the key is careful patient movement. Panic = skin trauma.

[rob]

Suck it up. Tape gloves are a gateway drug. They lead to hand jammies.

[pink]

Yup, what Dick sez. Some super grainy things will make you bleed, and old guy skin gets thinner, but generally speaking the key is careful patient movement. Panic = skin trauma.

 

 

just keep posting here, ur skin will get plenty thick...

[Pilchuck71]

Suck it up. Tape gloves are a gateway drug. They lead to hand jammies.

What? Does that mean hand jammies are out??????

 

[tomtom]

Suck it up and throw away the tapegloves.You're never going to learn anything that way.

Throw away the climbing shoes as well. You're never going to learn anything that way either.

[sklag]

Look a few things, hand jammies are to tape gloves as medical marijuana is to crystal meth. Washington is full of meth heads, therfore I'd say a good 70% of ya have at least tried tape gloves and use them regularly (hehehehe)... Anyways, I work in a hospital with infectious diseases and multi drug resistant bacteria, protection of skin integrity is utmost so as not to contract hep c,aids, mrsa, etc... from my patients. Now the nasty hookers I love, that's a different story... Alright now that I've settled everybody down, when you jam your foot, heel up or down? Knees high or lower? I feel as though on purely vertical cracks my ass is hanging out too far and tearing the shit out of my hands. Any real tips are much appreciated, as well as humorous flaming. Flame on and keep on climbing

 

[froodish]

Yeah, well, here's one old-guy-thinned-skined-dude that tapes _way_ more often than I used to -- but then I don't wear scabs on the back of my hands like badges of honor like I used to either.

 

Tape or no tape, the main things are don't jam harder than you need to and do not _move_ the jams after setting them (visualize pulling down from your elbows.)

 

HTH,

 

-S

[rob]

and don't call it a "jamb" like people on summitpost do. that's just retarded.

[selkirk]

Everything you ever learned about body positioning while face climbing also applies to cracks...

 

hips in

 

heels down

 

Arms as straight as possible when resting

 

look for stems (I find one foot in the crack and one foot on the face to be much more comfortable than both feet in the crack)

 

Place your hands and feet precisely and delicately (i.e. hand goes in thin until you find the right constriction or right spot then flex it out. When people are learning they tend to make a fist and drag it up and down the crack until they find a point where it sticks. That's a great way to loose skin!)

 

My experience has been that if your hands are bleeding it's because your foot work and body positioning suck.

 

Thumbs down is usually more secure but you can't move very far on it (as you move past it your elbow changes positions and un-cams your hand). Thumbs up is more comfortable, and you can move farther on it but slightly less secure. (same goes for finger locks)

[Bug]

OK tapeless climbers.

This is waiting for a SFA without gauntlets.

[sklag]

exactly.

 

[Alpinfox]

keep hips close to wall

keep hands close to vertical

don't slip

feet: any pain below the thighs is easier to ignore due to the inefficiencies of the nervous system. Keep telling yourself this.

[kroc]

sklag

I'm with you on tape gloves. I too work in a hospital with direct patient contact. I am pretty much around something gross, infectious, antibiotic resistant or a combination of the three on a daily basis (days I work that is). As added bonus, I wash my hands or hit the purell when I enter and exit every room, beating down my hands so much that even small wounds take much longer to heal. I feel I simply have to wear tape gloves. Does it let me get away with sloppy technique? Absolutely. But what can I say? If anyone is willing to change bandages on a gangrened foot infected with MRSA with big gobies under their gloves, more power to ya; but I feel I have a get out of jail free card and I want to play it. I climb with people who jamb hard sans gloves and I'm impressed, but they have all said that they tore up their hands getting that smooth style, so I guess that ship has sailed for me. So tape up those hands, jam hard and when you see people using gloves that don't have our excuse make commits like:

 

"It’s pretty poor form to use that tape you know, almost like stepping on a bolt. I feel terrible that I am forced to use them myself, just another sacrifice I make for the good of all humanity. What is your job?... Engineer?... Huh."

 

Then as you turn your back mutter :"that pussy should never be wearing tape."

 

That's what I do.

 

[RuMR]

one hint that i don't see much from anybody but is key, imho, is to keep hands "away from your face"...ie, avoid pulling straight out on a jam...very hard to get expansion/locking when you are doing that.

 

the jam should either be significantly above your head or below your head...shuffling works well...move the upper hand first, then pull the lower hand up, then repeat...strong climbers will pull jams through, ie. the upper jam is pulled all the way down to below chest and then the next hand is placed as the upper and repeated (gold jams for me)...

[LostCamKenny]

just keep posting here, ur skin will get plenty thick...

God, ain't that the truth!