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Gear slings?


Dane

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For me yes to rock gear on a sling in the alpine most of the time. Screws always on the harness, along with runners as I don't like them dangling from the sling and getting tangled in the rock gear. I may not use a sling if there is a small rack for the route and it will stay tidy on the harness. If no rock gear then all on the harness for me, though for waterfalls the double length sling pre setup for anchors around the shoulder is my favorite approach. A small problem with the sling is what happening in the picture. Gathering runners and chucking them on the shoulder, taking the pack on and off for a belay jacket or food or whatever, and soon when you want to trade leads you have a pack, runner, and gear sling tangle to contend with. Not grievous, but something to keep an eye on.

 

Liked the blog post. Maybe also an argument for block leading? Seems to me that at least in the alpine each pitch consumes less than half of the rack on average. Means less gear being transferred at each belay to block lead, thus faster and less chance of dropping...

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I used to use one for the ease of switching on multi-pitch routes but moved away from it as few of my partners who climbed harder stuff could be convinced to use one... keeping everything on the the harness is good discipline and has plenty of room. For rock climbing, I can fit a full rack including slings and draws plus nano puff, houdini, water and approach shoes on my harness without too much fuss.

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Nay for cragging and alpine, yeah for aid. Although I don't climb aid, so just nay.

 

On granite, usually my rack is small enough that I can easily fit everything on my harness and a sling is just annoying.

 

Maybe if I was climbing a multi-pitch squeeze chimney where I had to switch the gear from side to side I would consider using one.

Edited by boadman
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For single gear slings, I always hated it when the gear naturally falls directly in front of me, hiding my foot placements. I would use a gear sling a lot more often if it wasn't for that. Was actually considering getting a light double gear sling to avoid this but haven't yet.

 

I usually use a gear sling for routes where 1 set of nuts and 2 sets of cams are needed. And always on alpine rock for gear change overs. I have a very light unpadded gear sling from trango that I like very much. Unfortunately, they no longer make them.

 

Knock on wood, but I have not lost gear falling off of harness. but I have lost gear from the gear sling. I guess that makes me "special".

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I can fit a full rack including slings and draws plus nano puff, houdini, water and approach shoes on my harness

 

What make & model of harness has these superpowers?

 

I just replaced a petzl adjama that started to wear through with a arcterx r320a and can fit what I need on either . No super powers are needed, though I should mention that the approach shoes fold flat (the discontinued patagonia thatcher) and our carabiners are all on the lighter/thinner side.

 

Bulky stuff goes on a carabiner on the haul loop, water (usually carried by the second) on the back of one of the rear gear loops, slings split between the front of the rear gear loops and cams and nuts (and I too like to sew stuff up) on the front two. Oh and a blood glucose meter and insulin and some snacks go in a second chalk bag (I'm diabetic). We might bring a small pack or camelback if more water/clothing/food are needed but I've been trying to limit myself to the harness to keep it light.

 

I have nothing against gear slings and still use them if my partner prefers or for wide stuff but I do think that more gear then you can fit on your harness is overkill for most free routes.

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I've seen gear dropped when the climber "thought" the gear was clipped, off the harness or off a gear sling. Not seen anything ever bumped off a gear sling. Seen plenty bumped off a harness.

 

Gear gets dropped by fumble fingers as well.

 

It was mentioned else where that if you drop the gear sling you drop the entire rack. Only time i have the entire rack on one sling unattached to a body is taking it out of the pack at the start of a climb. If you block out a lead and the 2nd ends up with the entire rack (seldom seen it happen) less the anchors I can see a problem if you aren't careful on the change over.

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Every time I pass gear/rack I remember the story of Kelly Cordes and Josh Wharton on the Azeem Ridge of Great Trango and how they dropped half their rack on the third pitch and had to keep going. I think they also later had to hack their rap line cause it got caught... but yea. Just this last weekend my second found an extra nut that had fallen out of the biner in my fumbling.

 

Oh, +1 for gear slings. For some reason I like them for everything. Even when I sport climb, my draws are on a sling.

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Was actually considering getting a light double gear sling to avoid this but haven't yet.

 

Hi Gene,

 

I have a nice, light Black Diamond double gear sling in great shape I would sell you for $20.

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Not that i'm a rock star or anything, but Always.

Pro on the sling, runners on the harness. I use one of the metolius jobs with four loops on the gear sling. I like that it helps keep it organized. Small stuff up front to big stuff in the back. Rarely used or big pieces needed for a specific pitch go on the back of the harness till needed. Works great for 1.5 sets of nuts and double cams from #1 TCU to #3 Camalot. Use it cragging and alpine.

 

Makes me happy :)

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Typically I use my harness for rock climbing and alpine rock, but will use gear slings to accomidate partners, large racks, unusual pieces, efficiency.

 

I'm considering trying to switch to slings more often since I find on harder rock pitches that trying to reach across my body to the opposite gear loop sucks. If I have a great fingerlock with my left hand and need that small cam on my left side, I either need to reach way across or change up my hands. Either option seems like a waste of energy. Reaching feels like I'm at risk of dropping that gear and sometimes upsets my balance enough that I get concerned about pitching off my stance.

 

Anyone else suffer from this problem? Is the sling the way to solve this (among other benefits)? Or does something about my technique need work?

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If I can get by with just putting the draws and gear on my harness, then that is my preference. Seems like when I use a gear sling, I am always grabbing the gear and throwing it back behind me, and then it always swings back around and gets in my way. Also seems like cams are always hooking up on the rock when they are on a gear sling, at least in Red Rocks its a problem sometimes due to the nature of the rock.

That said, when I am switching off leads, or aid climbing, or using a heavy rack, a sling or double sided sling chest harness is the way to go for me.

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Just out of curiosity, no one is actually racking screws on the sling are they? I have seen it done a couple times but it has always struck me as quite odd. One thing is for sure - 360s and rock gear need to be kept separate, though I am honestly sick of the 360s in general...

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Everything on the gear sling. Runners, rock pro, and screws (I climb on BD screws if that changes anything?). Only knife, v thread material and anchor material on my harness.

 

It seems like a cluster first couple times you try it but with some practice while ice cragging and you get used to it. I found screws in the front, then rock gear and finally draws in the back kept things fairly untangled.

 

For ice leads at my limit I will for sure rack everything on my harness neatly but most of the time in the alpine I'm on terrain that is below that upper limit... because of that I can spend a few extra seconds fumbling with the gear sling for each piece of pro but doing so saves me minutes at the changeovers.

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Sling for gear, which I keep short/tight under my arm to reduce the swinging. I also set the runners up as alpine draws and sling them on an old runner on the opposite side. Maybe if I had enough hips to keep a heavy harness from falling off...

Edited by spotly
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Sling for gear, which I keep short/tight under my arm to reduce the swinging. I also set the runners up as alpine draws and sling them on an old runner on the opposite side. Maybe if I had enough hips to keep a heavy harness from falling off...

 

+1 for slings on opposite side and pencil hips

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I'm no rock star, but use a sling on multi pitch and alpine. When closer to my limit, it will be a Metolius multi looped sling. When not near my limit, a nylon single. Although may depend on approach and packing limitations. I have used a system where both climbers wear a sling while swapping leads and the 2nd racks onto their sling, taking the remainder of the rack off the leader when arriving at the belay. Leader keeps their sling and racks onto it while following the next pitch. Works well when partners are large male/small female but it means an extra sling to bring.

 

On single pitch cragging, I may just rack onto the harness, but I find that cumbersome as cams like to catch on my pants, inhibiting movement. When using a sling, it is draws on both sides of the harness and pro on the sling.

 

On ice, it is pro on harness. Well, usually screws on clippers on the pack hip belt and draws on harness. If I'm not wearing a pack then clippers and draws are on the harness. I think mostly due to the clippers, I find it easy to drop screws, especially in deep snow.

 

I did have a piece fall off a sling once. Still not sure why it happened, but I was moving past a bush which may have caused the piece to become unattached.

 

 

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heads up, i'm getting a virus warning off that mountaintools link.

 

i use a gear sling (regular nylon shoulder sling mostly) for draws and rack gear on my harness. i know which hand to use to reach for which gear that way and where it is. like if i want the blue tricam it's on my left rear loop and if i want the red zerocam its on front right side. i can grab a draw or sling with either hand. slings and draws don't get in the way of the feet when swinging in front.

 

also i like the weight breakdown between waist and shoulders that way. all the gear plus draws on waist feels too bottom-heavy.

 

 

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there's an article in 2010 ANAM about a woman who took a lead fall, and one of her cams got caught. the cam was on a gear sling, which in the course of the fall strangled her.

 

 

i was just trying to look up this particular incident on google, and it brought me to this mountain proj page, which has the same discussion: http://www.mountainproject.com/v/climbing_gear_discussion/to_gear_sling_or_not_to_gear_sling/106903530__1

 

 

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