Is that a cam up my ass?!!??

[matt_warfield]

If you spent 4 years with good and competent guides you would not have to ask this question or many others. One or at most several days with a real guide or experienced partner is more valuable than can be easily expressed on the internet. Next best is to sort the wheat from the chaff on this site as some very good climbers are willing to help if you can sort them out and are willing to pay attention.

[denalidave]

I've noticed that rock climbing is really not friendly to their less experienced participants.

 

Bullshit. I spend hundreds of hours every year instructing beginners. Nobody has ever asked me anything as stupid as "how do I not sit on my cams?" If you lack common sense to this degree, I would advise you that climbing is not a sport you should be involved in.

If it looks, walks and quacks like a duck troll...

[billcoe]

I'm currently days away from expecting my first baby and so I can't really be out on the rock 5 pitches up, away from cell reception, learning it all in person right now. ......

 

You bet babe, that's the last place you want to be when yer water breaks.

 

Congrats BTW, kids are a joy. Spent the weekend hanging out with my youngest and getting a little climbing in myself (little). On the left with the dorky hunters cap watching his dad heckle Plaidman (YER GONNA DIEEEEEEeeeeee!!!!!) at the days start pre-climb. (wanted him to know he wasn't alone anymore, thought he'd get a kick out of it)

 

 

Good times.

 

 

ps, LOL on the lube thing denalidave!

[billcoe]

Arapiles, topping out on that route to the left of the Watchtower. No cams to be seen under my wyde ass. Probably had a gear sling like all normal climbers. Good times.

 

 

 

Warming up on Icicle Ethyl below with gear sling seen, great route.

 

[Pete_H]

You post the most irrelevent fucking photos.

[denalidave]

You post the most irrelevent fucking photos.

[wetslide]

A few examples of racking. I agree with the most the sentiments and explanations stated thus far. Sometimes I thank God for the private school system.

Photos: Todd K. on Total Soul, Zach G. on Breakfast of Champions and Thin fingers, and Mark S. on Toxic Shock. (Rocketparrotlet) (Sorry for the obnoxious watermark I don't have small versions of the watermark-free version.

[counterfeitfake]

Also not that relevant. Come on, we know you have some pictures of dudes sitting on stuff.

[Tyson.g]

Also not that relevant. Come on, we know you have some pictures of dudes sitting on stuff.

... ha,ha

[wetslide]

Also not that relevant. Come on, we know you have some pictures of dudes sitting on stuff.

You have me mistaken for the OP.

[billcoe]

Nice pics Colin!

 

Clearly the point is (spelling it out here for the slow....you know who you are LOL) get a frikkan single over the shoulder style "padded" sling rack. As you plop yer ass down on a multipitch ledge, no matter on a small Arapiles ledge (I really do envy you 4 years there, great place and Natamook is a tidy town ) or on a small US made ledge, move the crap out of the way. Furthermore, when you are trying to turn and burn, and get back to the car after a 25 pitch day followed by a long death march hike out, gear trade offs are hella faster with a sling than clipping crap to your harness and unclipping it every pitch. Even if you save 2 min a pitch, that's close to an hour saved in the day. The difference between sleeping in dirt and cold someplace near a cliff where a false step means death while storm clouds approach your exposed position, or sitting 5 feet from your tent and drinking beer in your camp site. So get sling and don't sit on cams.

 

...especially if you are pregnant.

 

...and have hemorrhoids.....

 

...just sayin', I feel for you pregnant women.....check these selections out (close your eyes if you are sensitive as MORE inappropriate pictures are about to follow!):

 

Classic Climb High brand from Ebay ($16.50) great price.

 

 

Classic padded adjustable Black Diamond:

 

 

Classic padded NON-adjustable Yates:

 

 

Metolius multi-loop:

 

There is a lot of personal preference here: for myself, the Metolius single over the shoulder padded multi-loop sling looks the best in the store, but I rate it lowest. In fact I frikkan hate it and don't even use it for racking shit for toproping, preferring a hand tied 1" tubular webbing sling or an old school POS Chouinard that will rub ya raw if you actually wear it on a lead, the loops suck. The front loops of the Metolius get full and you can't slide the gear around. Thus, you seem forced to accept it where it is and might actually sit on it on a small ledge in Aus. The Black Diamond is a single loop and all the gear is next to each other: this works great. Because the design is so good, it's been copied a lot. In fact, the BD is a copy of the old Chouinard, Forrest and Climb Highs and works great. REI has copied it, as have many others. The Yates is very similar but a tad stiff, but as with all Yates items, so burly that it will outlive you. Whatever you get, get an adjustable one or fit it to yourself first. Yates makes both an adjustable, and 3 different sizes of non-adjustable. If you are going to to primarily singe pitch routes and not find ledges to sit on, by all means, use your harness. For long gear intensive trad routes, get an over the shoulder gear sling.

 

In fact, they make over the shoulder double gear slings for those :"extra burly moments and heavy times of the months"

Some do double duty as both gear slings and as chest harnesses, some don't. (OMG !!! "It's a floor wax AND a desert topping!) which is great for soloing or aiding with large heavy weight on the racks where you might flip upside down if things go south. Misty Mountain, Yates, Fish, Black Diamond and Mammut all have solid and good models out. I own them all as it turns out, and a few others too. But in fact, the Metolius double is the schnizz for that as they have a stash place on the back to put some water, a snack bar, a lost Neutrino and a wind shirt. So does the Mammut and the BD, but they are less burly. I've even worn the Metolius up Epinephrine with crap in the pack part without too much issue on the chimneys. Note that the ass, despite being world class wide and taking up excessive real estate, is NOT sitting on any cams. They have 3 loops which seems to work pretty good, unlike the single over the shoulder 5 loop model. Again, it's a personal preference thing. The Metolius will take all the pitons, biners, lead fishing weights, blow up sheep and all the other crap you want to put on it for long routes. Looks like this topping out on Epi:

 

or a different view without the fat and the grey hair-

 

Of course, that was years ago so although the Metolius thing is the same, there is no hair, and age has hit me a bit. That's why you want to be looking at Colins pictures, cause they all look so young...and in shape too LOL! Chachch changes! Woot!

 

 

Good stuff.

[Sol]

After swearing by gear slings for the first 8 years of my climbing career, I gave them up because I noticed that none of the pro trad climbers, or friends, that inspire me, wear them. Now I will use one on easy ground up to 5.9 if we really have to boogie, if not it goes on my harness.

 

Racking on my harness keeps me more balanced and I don't have to keep adjusting the sling and throwing it around my back when all the cams slide forward everytime I lean forward. Plus, you can't drop the whole rack if one fumble...

 

It's totally your own perogative, but it's gotta mean something that i've never seen anyone lead hard trad with a gear sling.

[JasonG]

Sol, just admit it. You like sitting on cams. It's OK.

[A_Little_Off_Route]

I've noticed that rock climbing is really not friendly to their less experienced participants.

 

Bullshit. I spend hundreds of hours every year instructing beginners. Nobody has ever asked me anything as stupid as "how do I not sit on my cams?" If you lack common sense to this degree, I would advise you that climbing is not a sport you should be involved in.

 

 

In retrospect, it's a stupid question. I'm not going to apologize for wasting your time though because you are the one who keeps coming back and keeps replying.

 

Your last sentence is once I've seen hundreds of times on rock climbing forums during my research and lurking. Ask a question: and either get called a n00b or told "yr gunna die" or "if you ask questions that stupid you're not smart enough to climb."

 

As for trolling, I was starting to let your posts get to me and seriously considered just departing CC.com entirely. I am pleased however that others have taken the time to answer my less than stellar question with good advice, or have the good manners to ignore my question if it's really that bad. So I'll stay here, since I think the good outweighs the bad and I found the ignore button! Troll problem solved! If you think my posts are wasting your time, I suggest you try it. You can find it under my profile by clicking on my name.

 

Thanks again for everyone else's responses. I'll try and ask better questions in the future.

 

Regards,

 

Off_Route

Edited July 26, 2012 by A_Little_Off_Route

[Buckaroo]

I swear by the multi-loop Metoleus, rack the draws on the harness, and the shoulder length slings opposite shoulder from the rack.

[rocketparrotlet]

Thanks buck. I hadn't thought of it from the angle of intentionally using up the big gear. Makes sense, and is exactly why I asked this kind of question.

 

The title was used to add some levity and humor, and I'm not sure why it would be seen as a troll post. In my experience posting on forums (anyone remember bulletin boards and 14.4 modems?) troll posts are usually when people are trying to piss other people off. If my post looked like a troll post then I offer my apologies for that!

 

I'll ask a better n00b question next time. Promise. Thanks for the answer though....

 

Off_Route

 

It's because you posted in the "Newbies" section about a cam up your ass. C'mon man, how could you NOT think that would get sarcastic responses?

 

Anyway, I like to rack smaller cams in front for the most part. My racking system is more complex than that and wouldn't make sense at quick glance, but I tend to need a piece faster oftentimes when I'm in a smaller size because I won't have a footjam holding me secure. Hence, smaller cams up front and quick to grab.

 

This forum isn't THAT hard on newbies. I've only been climbing for 3 years and I've gleaned a lot of information from here. It's just the obviousness of your question- if you don't want to sit on a cam, move it. And no, you are not the only one who has sat on a 12-inch ledge, but it's pretty damn easy to get the cam out of the way before/after you sit on it. I've never really thought of it as any more than a minor inconvenience.

[G-spotter]

Rack the GEAR on your harness and the DRAWS on the shoulder sling.

 

That is all.

 

 

 

[Pete_H]

 

When I really got into climbing in the 90's, it was the Yosemite climbers of the 70's and 80's we were trying to emulate (in climbing and partying). They seemed to always use gear slings, so I started using one. I still think it looks cool and it makes sense on longer routes, especially in the mountains.

 

But then again I never climbed anything too hard. Bt I did climb a lot of sketchy 5.10 using a gear sling.

[A_Little_Off_Route]

Thanks buck. I hadn't thought of it from the angle of intentionally using up the big gear. Makes sense, and is exactly why I asked this kind of question.

 

The title was used to add some levity and humor, and I'm not sure why it would be seen as a troll post. In my experience posting on forums (anyone remember bulletin boards and 14.4 modems?) troll posts are usually when people are trying to piss other people off. If my post looked like a troll post then I offer my apologies for that!

 

I'll ask a better n00b question next time. Promise. Thanks for the answer though....

 

Off_Route

 

It's because you posted in the "Newbies" section about a cam up your ass. C'mon man, how could you NOT think that would get sarcastic responses?

 

 

Are you kidding? Sarcasm is what I was hoping for (and a little good advice). I was expecting jokes about lube, camming range based on the "experience" of the climber, jokes about kilonewtons of sphincter tightness etc.

 

It was the "that's the dumbest question I've ever had anyone in world ask, and by the way all your other posts suck too" comments that I took offense to. I think you can see the difference.

 

I'm all about the sarcasm and humor. Which leads me to my next quesion, is Metolius the smoothest cam lube???? :-)

 

Off_Route

[genepires]

if you want sarcasm, post in spray. if you want newbie advice, post it here. But your desired mix is like a peanut butter and mayo sandwich, it just don't taste right.

[G-spotter]

But your desired mix is like a peanut butter and mayo sandwich, it just don't taste right.

 

You need to put dried cranberries or raisins in between the peanut butter and the mayo. Then it's classy.

 

Dick Culbert made the FA of Serra V fueled by eating peanut butter, raisins and mayo sandwiches - true story. It's in the CAJ

[jon]

Happy Friday.

[rob]

OMG WHAT IF MY CAM SLINGS ARE TOO SHORT???????

[KaskadskyjKozak]

 

Doc: how did that cam get up your ass?

OffRoute: I was walking in my garage naked, and I fell on my rack that I left out to dry...

[Whatcomboy]

Ya got to admit, CC is a tough crowd.