Daily Climbing

A couple of climbing enthusiasts spill the beans about all the best practices in rock climbing and bouldering.

Jake Traynor

Why So Many Climbers Don’t Wear Helmets

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You’re already thinking it, but you just wanted to be sure.

Well, I’ll say it:

Lead climbers and top ropers who wear helmets are often looked down upon as being newbies.

It’s the age-old stigma about “optional” safety gear being basically training wheels.

Don’t get me wrong: the climbing community is about as a chill and non-judgmental as it gets, but that feeling is always in the back of everyone’s mind when they see climbers wearing helmets at a popular crag, alongside other climbers who aren’t wearing helmets in the same place.

For some reason, it isn’t standard to cringe when you see someone without a helmet. It’s the other way around, even thought it’s just silly that it’s like that.

Besides, there’s some really nice looking climbing helmets out there like the Black Diamond Vector that are so light that you forget they’re even there. Ventilation isn’t an issue either with a design like that, even on a hot day.

Anyway, the misunderstood thing about climbing helmets is that they aren’t primarily for protecting yourself against hitting your head on the rock wall accidentally. Sure, they protect against that, but it’s not why they’re absolutely necessary. Thinking that this is what they’re for, is pretty much what leads to their never-ending stigma of being “optional safety gear for newbies.”

Trad climbers and ice climbers tend to wear helmets more because have a better idea of what they’re really for.

“What’s that?”

What Climbing Helmets Are Actually For

They’re for protecting your head against rockfall and falling gear.

You’d be surprised how many people only start wearing a helmet for outdoor climbing once they get hit in the shoulder with a rock the size of their fist, realizing how much damage it would have done to them if they were stood just a few inches to the right…

If you’re belaying and you get incapacitated by a rock, it’s not just your own life that’s in danger. The climber’s left stranded up there without a belayer, which is arguably worse depending upon how far up the climb they are.

If you’re trad climbing, there’s also the risk of dropping fiddly gear such as nuts, which can easily be just as damaging as rocks when dropped from a height. That, combined with the increased risk of an uncontrolled fall from the temporary protection placed by trad climbers, is the reason why trad climbers tend to wear helmets more often than lead climbers or top ropers do.

Now, you might be thinking, “but what about climbs where rockfall isn’t as common?”

Well, if there’s basically zero chance of rockfall, like in outdoor bouldering, then you don’t need a helmet. That is, unless the boulders you’re climbing are below a tall rock wall.

There’s also overhang climbs to consider. As a belayer, you absolutely need a helmet for those, but as a climber? It’s less of an issue for sure. Even if your foot gets caught on the rope as you fall, and you flip, you’re not going to hit anything.

However, there’s still a problem here in that’s this reasoning only really applies to pure overhang climbs. Like, I’m talking climbs where there is nothing but an overhang from bottom to top, which is super rare to say the least. Even in that case, walking under such a precarious overhang without a helmet is just as risky as not wearing one for any other kind of climb.

In the end, your brains are far more valuable than the cost of a helmet anyway, and when your helmet sacrifices itself to save your life, you’ll be so glad you bought one.

Do You Really Need to Wear a Helmet for Climbing?

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For indoor climbing? No.

There’s no reason to wear a helmet for indoor climbing, which is why basically nobody does.

Even for indoor lead climbing, the only risk you could have for hitting your head would be if you were climbing with the rope under your leg rather than over it like it’s meant to be. Simply following standard safety practice is enough to make it pretty much impossible for the rope to flip you upside down if you fall.

However, for outdoor climbing of any kind, you should always be wearing a helmet. …And that goes double for belayers.

No, I don’t mean that belayers should wear two helmets at once. I mean that the chance of rockfall causing a head injury when you’re belaying is significantly greater when you’re belaying than when you’re climbing or sitting back from the wall, resting.

You see, rockfall is the main reason why you should be wearing a helmet for any kind of outdoor climbing other than bouldering.

You’d be truly surprised how much damage a falling rock can do. Even a pebble falling from a great height can really hurt.

What About Bouldering?

With outdoor bouldering, wearing a helmet isn’t really necessary unless the boulders you’re climbing are right under a tall rock wall. There’s also no ropes in bouldering. You can’t get flipped upside down by a rope that isn’t there.

In addition to this, you have bouldering mats in bouldering, so hitting your head on a groundfall isn’t an issue, because groundfalls are an ordinary part of bouldering. They’re already made safe by bouldering mats and having good spotters to guide you to the mat when you fall.

Falling Gear

Falling rocks aren’t the only danger that you need to protect your head against. If you’re trad climbing, there’s always the chance of gear being dropped – especially things like nuts. These are just as dangerous to get hit in the head with as small rocks are.

Also, trad climbing is inherently more dangerous than any other form of climbing, with the exception of ice climbing. That’s because temporary placed protection isn’t as reliable as permanent bolts are. Because of the increased risk of uncontrolled falls, it’s extremely important to wear a helmet when trad climbing or ice climbing.

Why Doesn’t Everyone Wear a Helmet Outdoors?

You want the truth?

It’s because people think that wearing a helmet makes you look like a newbie.

Now, there’s a huge problem with that. You see, the more advanced you are at climbing, the more you need a helmet, because you’ll be doing harder routes on bigger walls, which means more chance of rockfall.

Even pros are no exception to this. The more you climb, the more chance you have of taking a bad fall.

“So, considering that pros aren’t going to be self-conscious about looking like newbies, why is it that most of them don’t wear helmets?”

The answer to that is that most people feel that wearing a helmet detracts from the climbing experience. However, this makes no sense when you consider really good ultra-light helmets like the Black Diamond Vector, seen below.

The Vector is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. Anyone who’s tried this helmet would agree that it’s so light and well-ventilated that you don’t even notice you’re wearing it. If that’s the case, then how could wearing a helmet detract from your climbing experience?

I say, protect your noggin. Forget about “being too cool for safety gear” – you’re climbing!

The cost of a helmet is far cheaper than the brains underneath them anyway.

What Should I Wear for Indoor Climbing?

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That’s an easy one if you’ve already got gym gear or sport gear: just wear that. It’ll be loose enough and comfortable enough to go bouldering or rock climbing in.

However, if you don’t already have a decent set of gym clothes, then your best bet will be to do as follows:

  1. Get a comfortable t-shirt or tank top. Any will do, as long as it doesn’t restrict your arm and shoulder movement.
  2. Get some pants that are comfortable to move around in.

The pants are the most important part to get right. You can’t really go wrong with a standard t-shirt or any other casual top, but most pants aren’t particularly suitable for climbing.

Unlike gyms, you’re allowed to wear jeans when you go climbing. Outdoor climbers do this more often than indoor climbers do, because jeans offer a bit better protection from scrapes and bumps against the rock than flimsy sport pants do.

However, the vast majority of climbers you see are going to be wearing some kind of comfortable pants. For examples, check this Amazon search page for men, and this page for women.

As for recommendations, pants like the Silver Ridge Cargo Sun Pants are a perfect example for men’s climbing pants. They’re loose without being baggy, they’re comfortable without being flimsy, and they’re also moisture wicking, which means you can stay cool and dry on intense climbing sessions.

Remember, you will sweat when climbing, so moisture wicking clothing is pretty nice to have. Make sure to order one size up from what your usual size is with these pants in particular.

For women, the Outdoor Research Ferrosi Pants have everything you’re looking for. They’re abrasion resistant, wind resistant and moisture resistant; not that there’ll be much wind with indoor climbing.

The only thing is that they might be a little long for some, so if you always need shorter pants when you buy them in clothes stores then there’s Black Diamond’s Notion Pants, which are specifically designed for climbing. Black Diamond is also a top brand for climbing safety gear, so they know what they’re doing.

What About Shoes?

UPDATE: We reviewed the best climbing shoes for beginners and the best budget climbing shoes in our guide to the best climbing shoes of 2019.

You’ll need some climbing shoes. No other shoes will do.

Well, you’ll need a normal pair of shoes to get to the climbing place with, but once you’re there you’re going to need to slip into a pair of climbing shoes.

On a budget? The Evolv Royale climbing shoes are the cheapest ones that you can get which are actually good. The design is also super beginner friendly, with the thicker sole and symmetrical toebox. I wrote more about them in my post about climbing for as little money as possible.

However, for anyone who wants to get the climbing shoes that the pros wear, then your best choice would be the La Sportiva TC Pro. They’re super comfortable, unlike some of the more aggressively down-curved shoes out there. I’d actually say they are the most comfortable climbing shoes. I wrote more about them in this article about the most durable pro shoes out there.

The Ultimate Guide to Indoor Bouldering Safety Precautions

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So, you’re probably googling this because you need to know this stuff to be able to climb unsupervised. Either that, or reading this anyway because you value your own personal safety.

In any case, I’m going to cover everything you need to know in order to be able to climb at your local bouldering gym unsupervised.

Before I get into it, I just want to say first, that the single best thing you can do to get a feel for the standard etiquette for indoor bouldering is to observe what the other climbers do at your local bouldering gym.

Have a look around while you have a rest in between climbs, at a safe distance from any would-be falling climbers, and observe these things in particular:

  • The distance between climbers starting routes on the same wall.
  • The distance everyone keeps back from the climbers
  • The places where people leave their stuff, and what they leave there. (Water bottles might not be allowed. Go ask a member of staff if in doubt.)
  • The way climbers land when they fall. I’ll go more into this later.

Anyway, let’s start looking at the basic safety precautions that you’ll need to know.

Keep Away from Climbing Climbers

This one is for obvious reasons, but I’m going to spell it out:

Don’t be anywhere near where a climber could fall.

However, here’s something less obvious:

Watch out above you when you’re moving around the place. There are often walls that lean back quite far, so the fall zone is extended more than you might think if you didn’t look up.

As standard practice, look up often when moving around.

Another aspect of this, is the distance you keep between yourself and other climbers when you’re both climbing in some proximity to each other.

Again, check the distance that other climbers in your gym keep from each other when attempting routes, but as a rule of thumb, make sure there’s no way you could crash into each other if one or both of you fell.

When you fall, you take up a little more space when you stumble, so take that into account. You don’t want to stumble into the fall zone underneath another climber.

Falling Safety in Bouldering

When you’re climbing, you’re going to be falling at some point if you’re doing it right.

“If you’re doing it right?”

Yep, because if you never fall off, then you’re holding back too much. Go and have fun, but make sure you know how to land properly when you fall.

The way that you do that, is as follows:

  1. When you feel that you’re about to fall, look downwards at the spot where you’ll land. That’ll make it so much easier to be prepared when when you touch the ground.
  2. Be aware of your legs and get ready to land on your feet. Make sure your legs aren’t locked (fully extended at the knee). That’s the biggest mistake you can make.
  3. As you land, bend your knees. If your legs were locked, you wouldn’t be able to bend your knees because of the impact force, resulting in a world of pain.
  4. Place your hands on the floor as you land. This will help for two reasons: First, it’ll help soften the impact. Second, you’ll stabilize yourself better, so that you don’t roll your ankle or anything.

As for the kind of falls you can end up taking with the more advanced routes, you can check out this guide Jamie wrote about them.

Keep Your Stuff Out the Way

Basically, keep everything you’re not using in the lockers or cubby holes.

Of course, you’ll need your chalk, so take your chalk bag or pouch of chalk with you, and possibly your water bottle too if your gym will allow it. Otherwise, just leave it with your other stuff or wherever everyone else leaves their water bottles.

When you climb, leave your chalk bag or chalk pouch away from those same dangerous areas that you yourself should be keeping away from. Chalk left under where a climber falls would cause them to try to avoid landing on it, which means not landing properly. And, as you might imagine, not landing properly can cause injury.

Basically, as a rule of thumb, you should leave your chalk where you’ll probably be sitting down for a breather after the climb you’re doing.

Report Loose Holds

While it’s rare to find a loose hold, make sure you report it to a member of staff immediately if you find one.

Do remember though, that holds might have a little bit of give when you grab onto them, but they shouldn’t actually rotate or anything.

A small amount of wobble is completely fine, but if you grab a hold and think, “whoa, what’s up with this?” then go ahead and report it to a member of staff. They’ll be glad you did, because it’s down to the climbers to mention this stuff when they notice it.

Climb Down Whenever You Can

Yeah, falling can be fun in itself, but do try to climb down whenever you can.

Once you’ve reached the top hold and put both hands on it, you’ve completed the route. Use any color holds you like to climb down, because there’s no need to stick to a color at that point, unless you’re setting yourself a downclimbing challenge or something.

Chalk Up Regularly

This one’s for you. It’s not so much a safety concern, more of a “minor injury” prevention thing.

Well, I guess that does make it a safety tip. Anyway, make sure you use chalk, and use enough of it.

Without enough chalk two things can happen:

One: you can tear your hands to shreds. I did exactly this on my first time, and it took two or three weeks to heal. I don’t have the pictures anymore, but you probably don’t want to see that kind of thing.

Two: you can slip off unexpectedly, which can lead to injury in any number of ways, from bumping holds as you fall down to just plain not landing properly. This is also one of the reasons we use climbing shoes rather than sneakers or something.

Here is a chalk ball that comes in a resealable ziploc bag, which will probably be cheaper than the chalk for sale at your local bouldering place. Chalk balls also last longer than loose chalk, they spill less, and they apply chalk in a less “chunky” way on your hands.

Anyway, that’s it. Have fun, and climb safely. You’ll get used to the whole thing in no time.

As a final note, I’ll say that you should make sure you’ve had enough sleep before you go climbing, because sleep plays a huge role in the level of awareness you have. If you have trouble sleeping, or simply can never fall asleep early enough, then this guide is a great resource on how you can fix that.

Everything You Should Know Before Your First Time Indoor Bouldering

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Okay, the first thing that you should know is that there’s nothing crazy that’ll be expected of you on first time.

Honestly, don’t worry. The staff at your local indoor bouldering place will be lovely, accommodating people that’ll help you out with anything you need to know.

However, it’s nice to know before you go isn’t it? So let’s sort out all the questions you have about starting bouldering once and for all.

First of all, let’s start with the burning question:

What Do I Need To Bring?

Clothing

You’ll need to wear gym clothing that lets you have a comfortably wide range of movement.

The reason for this is pretty straight forward. You can’t climb in tight fashion jeans or other restrictive clothing because climbing requires you to be able to move your arms and legs around all the time.

First of all, it’d get pretty tiring. Climbing is already a physically intense activity, and working against your own clothing is going to get in the way of your first time.

Secondly, when you fall, you’ll want to be able to land on your feet and bend your knees without any difficulty. Honestly: any difficulty in being able to do something like that just puts you at unnecessary risk for spraining an ankle or something.

Thirdly, you might actually damage your clothes if you make sudden movements in restrictive clothing. There’s also the chalk. You’ll get your clothes absolutely covered in it.

Basically, It’ll work out cheaper in the end to just get some suitable clothing.

Here’s what I suggest:

  • Sport pants, cargo pants or loose, non-restrictive jeans
  • T-shirt
  • Hair bobble for long hair

Notice how I left shoes off there? That’s because you’re going to need to hire climbing shoes when you get there.

No, normal shoes won’t do. Climbing shoes are completely different. You wouldn’t want to walk around in them in daily life.

If you want to get your own pair, either to save money or to get something nicer than rentals, then take a look at this guide to the different types of climbing shoes.

Also, for those on a tight budget, I wrote a guide to spending as little money as possible with your starter bouldering gear here.

However, if you want something absolutely top end, like, what the best climbers in the world use for bouldering, then take a look here instead.

What Should I Start With?

When you’re starting out in bouldering, you’re not going to tackle the high grade routes. That even goes for heavy gym goers, because climbing uses all the muscles, tendons and ligaments that you don’t use in the gym.

Besides, the higher grades require holding onto such tiny holds that you’ll think that they’re impossible until someone else comes along and does it like it’s nothing. That’s what bouldering is like.

But you know what? That’s completely expected. This isn’t like the gym where you get small ego-battles around the bench press.

Start with the easiest routes.

To find them, take a look at the color coded charts that are dotted around the place. It’ll tell you which color holds belong to which difficulty.

Then, of course, remember what color the easiest one is, and go do all of them.

At my local bouldering gym, green is the easiest. If you’re doing a route that’s colored green, it means that you’re not allowed to use holds of any other color. That’s how indoor climbing works.

You might see big blocky shaped jutting out of the wall that make it look less flat and more like an actual rock face. By all means use those. They’re called “volumes.”

Just don’t use any holds of the wrong color that are on those volumes, because that’d be cheating.

Oh, and try to start with your hands on the clearly labeled holds, in a sitting position with your feet off the ground, resting on the little holds of your route that are down below, right by the floor. If that’s too hard, you can skip it at the start, but that’s the way it’s meant to be done.

Of course, when you’re done with the entry-level routes, then move on up the colors. It’ll get much harder after a couple levels, but don’t worry, the routes will reset each week, so you’ll have a fresh set to try next time if you run out of the ones that you can manage.

Just don’t overdo it on your first time. I tore the skin on my hands to shreds by doing routes that were above what my poor hands were used to. That was only because I was slipping off constantly, grating my hands each time.

Your hands will be fine afterwards if you don’t go crazy like I did, but if you do, then make sure to use a lot of chalk. It’ll help protect your hands and stop you slipping off the trickier holds.

Chalk

Chalk isn’t just for pros.

You’ll absolutely need some. You can’t climb without it.

If your local bouldering place doesn’t rent out chalk, then you can certainly buy some, but it’ll probably be cheaper online. Here‘s the chalk ball I recommended in that “climbing on a budget” article I mentioned earlier.

A chalk ball will coat your hands better, spill less, and generally last way longer than loose chalk.

However, if you want to get some standard equipment rather than make-do with using a chalk ball in the resealable ziploc bag it comes in, then get Black Diamond’s loose chalk, which is great value for money, and a chalk bag.

Whichever option you go for, just be sure to dust your hands with chalk regularly, and don’t worry about spilling a bit on the floor mats. It’s all expected.

Well, that’s it. That’s all you need to bring with you. Let’s move on to the next question.

What if I Fall?

Oh, you will fall.

And that’s not a problem.

As soon as you walk in, you’ll notice that the floor is absolutely lined with bouldering mats.

These things are amazing. They’ll break your fall perfectly as long as you remember to land on your feet and bend your knees.

The first time you fall? Yeah, it’s scary, but when you land you’re like, “Oh, that was nothing.”

You basically had more chance of hurting yourself when climbing in the local playpark as a kid.

Generally, you’ll want to climb down from the top of each route if you can.

What Do I Do When I Reach the Top?

To complete a route, you’ll need to be able to place both hands on the highest hold of the colored route you’re taking, without cheating by using any other colors.

Once you’re done, climb down using any colors you like. The downclimb is just about getting down so you can collapse on the bouldering mats a safe distance away from the wall and have a rest.

What Are the Basic Safety Precautions?

  • Always keep away from other climbers who are climbing the route. Don’t stand under them or anything, and don’t do a route that could cause a clash if one of you fell. If you have a look at the other climbers around the bouldering place, you’ll get a good idea of the etiquette.
  • If you grab a hold and it’s loose, then go immediately tell a member of staff. However, it’s normal for holds to move ever so slightly when you grab them, so just use your common sense. “Is it dangerously loose? Then report it to a member of staff.”
  • If you fall, look down where you’ll land and make sure you land on your feet and bend your knees. Placing your hands on the floor as you land can help soften the impact too, and it’ll keep your balance a little better.
  • Don’t leave your stuff in the areas where climbers will be falling. You’ll either break your stuff or break the other climbers.
  • Climb down whenever you can. Use whatever color holds you like to make it easier.

What’s the Most Important Piece of Advice?

Have fun!

No really, go wild. You’ll soon be completely in the state of flow, the hours will just fly by.

The greatest thing about bouldering is that it’s basically the only socially acceptable way to climb around as an adult like you did in playparks as a kid.

Take advantage of that… because very other climber at the place will be!

The Best Cam Set for Trad Climbing

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Whether you’re starting out with your very first trad rack, or if you’re looking to update your rack with some of the best gear out there, a cam set is a really cost efficient way to get what you’re looking for.

Without a doubt, as a beginner, the easiest way to get your trad rack started is to get a cam rack like the one I’m about to show you, along with a full set of nuts and a nut tool.

As for the other stuff:

If you’re an avid outdoor climber, you’ll likely already have a lot of the other standard equipment you’ll need for a starter trad rack. Stuff like prussik cord, quickdraws, slings, locking carabiners and non-locking carabiners can be cannibalized from your existing equipment stash pretty easily.

But anyway, it’s cams you’re after right now, and you’re looking for the most versatile set that doesn’t cost a bomb.

Well, there’s really only one choice. There’s a reason it’s the gold standard when it comes to cam sets, however, most climbers will just say it speaks for itself. I’ll talk all about it anyway, and you’ll soon see why it’s perfect for any trad rack, which is pretty why you need one if you’re starting out with your very first trad rack.

Let’s take a look at it:

The Gold Standard for Cams: The Black Diamond Camalot C4 Cam Set

The Black Diamond Camalot C4 cams are simply the gold standard for “everything.”

To sum it up: the versatile range, light weight, unparalleled reliability and ease of use of these cams are what make them outclass everything else out there. That, and Black Diamond being known for having ridiculously good quality control. Defects just don’t happen with these.

Sizing

They come in three size ranges: .3 to 3, .5 to 3, and .5 to 4. For a universal “standard rack,” I’d highly recommend getting the .3 to 3 size range, which includes the first seven cams you can see on that size chart right there.

The only exception to this is if you’re looking to make a standard desert rack, which is a bit tricky. You’d be much better off with the .5 to 4 set for a desert rack and supplementing it with some 5 and 6 singles.

Anyway, let’s take a look at what’s so good about the C4 cams themselves.

Features

The thing you’ll notice when looking at that size chart above, is just how much range each of these cams have. It’s just crazy how much they can expand.

The way that they’re able to achieve this is by having a double-axle design.

Yeah, sure, the double-axle adds a small amount of extra weight, but if you think about it, the increased range they offer actually save you weight, because there’s much more overlap between their ranges.

That means you don’t need to double up on anything. Besides, I’ve always taken the stance of using better, more versatile gear over more gear. It’s just so much nicer to have a cam set you can totally rely on to do the job in one way or another.

As for the overall design, the high quality c-loop continuous cable stem is what makes them so reliable. They also have thumb loops that you can hook your aiders into.

Black Diamond says that the Camalot C4 has a life span of over 10 years if used properly, with the exception of the dogbone of webbing needing to be replaced in under 10 years, depending upon the eventual fraying and UV damage that they accumulate over time.

That really just shows you how trustworthy these cams are. If you’re looking for some fancy numbers, then take a look at these tech specs:

Tech Specs

Weight

Here’s the weights of the .3 to 3 pack I recommend:

[0.3] 75 g (2.65 oz)
[0.4] 83 g (2.93 oz)
[0.5] 99 g (3.49 oz)
[0.75] 119 g (4.18 oz)
[1] 136 g (4.8 oz)
[2] 155 g (5.47 oz)
[3] 201 g (7.1 oz)

And here’s the bigger ones for you desert dwellers who’ll be better off with the six cam .5 to 4 set with some 5 and 6 singles added on:

[4] 289 g (10.2 oz)
[5] 380 g (13.4 oz)
[6] 557 g (1 lb 4 oz)

Strength

[0.3] 8 kN(1798 lbf)
[0.4] 10 kN (2248 lbf)
[0.5] 12 kN (2698 lbf)
[0.75-6] 14 kN (3147 lbf)

Range

[0.3] 13.8-23.4 mm (0.54-0.92 in)
[0.4] 15.5-26.7 mm (0.61-1.05 in)
[0.5] 19.6-33.5 mm (0.77-1.32 in)
[0.75] 23.9-41.2 mm (0.94-1.62 in)
[1] 30.2-52.1 mm (1.19-2.05 in)
[2] 37.2-64.9 mm (1.46-2.55 in)
[3] 50.7-87.9 mm (2.00-3.46 in)

And the bigger ones:

[4] 66.0-114.7 mm (2.60-4.51 in)
[5] 85.4-148.5 mm (3.36-5.85 in)
[6] 114.1-195.0 mm (4.50-7.68 in)

Final Thoughts

For a complete trad set, you’d ideally supplement your C4 set with some micro cams, as well as some offset cams for flaring cracks. Black Diamond’s Offset X4 would be perfect for those.

However, with the Camalot C4 cams you’ll never need anything else for parallel cracks in their size range. They’re almost entirely sufficient by themselves, since you’ll want to avoid flaring cracks if you can anyway.

The only thing is needing those micro cams. If you’re wanting to save money, they you can just use a complete nut set, supplemented with plenty of smaller nuts to replace those micro cams. This is what I’d do if I were starting a new trad rack on a budget.

You can click here to view the Black Diamond Camalot C4 Cam Set on Amazon or you can buy singles from Black Diamond Here