Climbing Q&A

Do You Really Need to Carry Slings for Sport Climbing?

April 17, 2020 By James Anderson Leave a Comment

The answer to that really depends upon how often you’ll be building or modifying anchors on the sport routes you’ll be climbing.

Even so, you don’t necessarily “need” slings to build an equalized anchor. You can always sacrifice two quickdraws to do that, clipping one to each bolt and having your rope go through the two carabiners that are now hanging down.

The problem with this, is that it doesn’t leave you with very much extension.

If the bolts are too far apart, then the only way to build an anchor with quickdraws is to use four of them. If you use three, you’ll not distribute the load evenly across each bolt. The shorter side of your anchor will take the brunt of the force if you fall.

However, think about this: you can achieve the same thing with a single sling and a locking carabiner.

Now you see why climbers carry slings.

A sling and a locking carabiner is always preferable, even in the case where you’d only be using two quickdraws to build a basic anchor. A sling and a locking carabiner weigh less, cost less, and allow you to equalize three or more bolts without having to sacrifice any more of your gear.

So, this is where it gets back to the question of whether you really “need” to carry slings on sport climbs. While the answer is technically “no,” if you value your safety, your gear weight and your money then it’s absolutely worth carrying at least one sling with you on all your climbs.

After all, they weigh practically nothing, and don’t take up much space at all on your gear rack – especially dyneema ones, because of how thin they are.

Now, before you rush off and buy a load of slings, take a look at this post here where I explain which types of slings are the best ones to get.

The Best Birthday or Christmas Gifts For Climbers

October 26, 2020 By Jamie Taylor 1 Comment

So your friend or family members birthday is coming up and you know they are pretty big into climbing bouldering or just really loves climbing trees.

The problem is you know nothing about the climbing but you still want to get them a great gift.

I have compiled a list of gifts that any climbers will be happy to receive, at the very least it should give you a couple of ideas for something your monkey spirited buddy might want.

General Gifts:

That Wonderful White Stuff

So, if there is something that pretty much every climber can never have enough off, its climbing chalk. The chalk helps keep your hands dry and stops you slipping off any holds or rocks.

Most climbers run through a fair few bags of chalk a year so having some extra in reserve can’t hurt.

One of the most highly rated chalks out there is friction labs animal series.

They offer chalk in 3 different forms.

The Unicorn Dust which as the name suggests is a super fine dust/powdery form it does come with a few little chucks to add more texture.

The Gorilla Grip which is a midpoint where the bag contains a fair few chunks of chalk and a little bit of powder.

And last but not least the Bam Bam which is a super chunky mix for those climbers that prefer the large chalk bits instead of getting powder everywhere.

Liquid Alternatives

So some people have a phobia of dry chalk, I personally love the stuff I think it feels great on your hands!

The Black Widow liquid chalk is a great alternative if your friends hate how regular chalk feels on their hands.

Liquid Chalk can be used with dry chalk – for the best results, I recommend putting on a layer of liquid at the start of a session then keeping it topped up with dry chalk.

Or if your friend hates spiders the Iron American Liquid chalk might be better!

Hangboards

If your friend is getting serious about climbing and you really want to treat them a hang board is a perfect gift!

The hang board is a great way for your friend to train up their grip strength

I would recommend getting them a Metolius Training Board which is perfect for training all different types of grip strength.

If you are looking for a bit more portable you can always get the Metolius Rock Rings.

These type of hang boards allow you to train your finger strength when you are on the move.

This can be a great gift if your friend loves to travel all over to climb!

Chalk Bags

So all climbers love chalk bags, the cooler the design the better!

I think the Metolius access fund is one of the best-looking bags out there and I am pretty sure your friend will agree.

The bag comes in three different styles each just as good as the last.

The first style is the Yosemite – this bag sports a beautifully drawn image of the famous climbing destination.

So, if you can’t afford to get to Yosemite you can at least bring a little bit of Yosemite to you.

The second one offers a beautiful picturesque view of the Tetons which is a range in the Rocky Mountains.

Last but not least in the Metolius access fund set is the famous Smith Rock! This bag shows the rock in a nighttime setting which looks pretty damn cool.

Hand Trainers/Warmer Uppers!

So this next gift idea, in my opinion, doesn’t really do what it says on the tin – these grip strengtheners claim to help up your strength allowing you to hold onto those impossible holds or crimps. Lies and hogwash the lot of it, but they can be very useful to help condition your hands or as a warm-up tool before you climb.

The thing I can say about these grip trainers is they do make nice cheap presents for your climbing friends!

The one I would personally recommend is the Grip Master a friend originally got one for me as a gift which is how I found out they work a lot better as a warm-up exercise rather than a strengthening tool. The great thing about the Grip Mast is it comes in a few different tensions which means you can gift it to veteran climbers or your friend who started last week.

Another product that makes a good little gift is a finger stretcher! Now, these are great for helping to condition your fingers. Or alternatively, if your friend keeps injuring their fingers it can be a good way to help recover and deliver some of that wonderful physiotherapy.

A popular tried and proved brand is the Vooco they offer a pack of 3 which means no matter the condition of your friend’s hands they should be able to make use of the gift!

Gifts Just For Rope Climbers

Now as some climbers purely rope climb, I have picked out a few little gift options that might be suitable for rope junkies.

Carabiners

So Carabiners are fairly cheap and make a great stocking filler or birthday gift as a climber can always make use of them and they will last a lifetime if you purchase the right one!

If you are considering buying one as a gift and know nothing about them don’t worry I have you covered with some crowd favorite recommendations.

The one I would most highly recommend is the AYAMAYA screw locking Carabiner as it’s universally agreed its one of the better ones out there.

If you don’t like the look of the AYAMAYA there is GM Climbing which is pretty much the same product but in different colors.

Ropes!

Climbers can never have enough rope!

Every climber is always happy to be sporting new gear and rope is no exception to the rule.

One thing you need to be careful of is buying static rope for outdoor climbers, if you are climbing outdoors you need to make sure you have a dynamic rope that will stretch slightly when you fall. This will prevent your friend from experiencing the biggest wedgey of their life!

The Black Diamond rope makes a great gift and is available in multiple sizes depending on what your friend might need.

I would recommend this rope for any outdoor climbing as its dynamic and one of the burliest ropes out there.

If your friend happens to be a gym monkey then the PETZL Mambo might be perfect for them!

As weird as it sounds this is a really nice feeling rope, perfect for belay knots or belay devices.

Please make sure you don’t use either of these ropes for any repelling as they are dynamic and not static.

Cheaper Gifts or Stocking Fillers

Some of you out there might just be looking for a stocking filler or a small gift.

Lucky for you climbing balm is perfect for small gifts.

Climbers hands tend to get ruined by sharp rocks or rough holds, the climbing balms are a great way for climbers to look after their battered and bruised hands.

ClimbOn is a great climbing balm and is recommended by a lot of climbers I know.

Its a 100% organic and can be used not just for climbing but for any other small cuts or scrapes.

ClimbOn is even boasted on a few sites as the most powerful skin repair recipe on the market.

Another great balm is the Joshua Tree Climbing Salve.

Toted as a crowd favorite for those that climb hard. The Joshua tree formula helps climbers keep their calluses while providing the right amount of moisture to prove perfect healing conditions.

While the Joshua tree is a bit more oily than ClimbOn I think both are great balms and it’s mainly down to personal preference.

Quickdraws: Explained Simply and Clearly

April 17, 2020 By James Anderson Leave a Comment

If you’re a beginner and you have no idea what quickdraws are, what they’re for, or whether you even need them, then let me answer your questions quickly.

“So, what actually is a quickdraw?”

They’re what you use to clip your rope to a bolt whenever you reach one. That way, if you fall, your rope will be caught at the last quickdraw you clipped in. Quickdraws basically save your life.

They look like handcuffs, but the way you open them is a bit different, and instead of the chain in the middle there’s a “dogbone” of webbing, because it’s lighter.

The openings are called “gates,” and they open when you push in on them from the outside. They’re like that so you can clip them really quickly.

The carabiner with the straight gate is for clipping onto the bolt, while the other end with the bent gate is for clipping your rope through.

Sometimes, the rope-clipping end of the dogbone will have a little rubber cover called a “keeper.” It stops the rope-clipping carabiner from rotating, which keeps nice and secure.

If a quickdraw doesn’t have a keeper, it’ll just be really tightly sewn where the keeper would have been, which mostly does the job.

“Do I need them?”

Yes, you need them. 12 of them.

“Why twelve?”

Because you’ll never have more than 10 bolts on a standard climb, and you’ll need to save the last two so you can clip yourself and your rope into the top anchors while you do all your fancy knot tying stuff in preparation to either rappel down or lower off.

If you’re utterly clueless at the top anchor stuff and don’t mind a bit of wastage, then you can just clip one quickdraw to each anchor point with the gates facing away from each other, then clip your rope through those and lower off that way.

“Why won’t there ever be more than 10 bolts on a standard route?”

Because standard routes aren’t long enough to warrant having any more bolts than that.

A standard climbing rope is either 60 or 70 meters long, so almost every climb you’ll be doing is going to be under 35 meters.

“Why do you need a rope that long?”

Because when you’ve finished the climb, you’ll need rope that’s at least twice the length of the climb in order to get back down again.

The rope will be running from your belayer, all the way up to the top anchor, and then all the way back down to you, which means you’ll be using a length of rope that’s twice the length of the climb by the time you reach the bottom.

“How exactly should I use quickdraws?”

Clip them in so that the gate’s facing away from from the general direction you’re climbing in, and clip your rope into them from underneath so that it’s running out and away from the rock.

These two measures stop something called “back-clipping,” which is what you’d be doing if you didn’t take these measures. Long story short, back-clipping means that it’s actually possible for your rope to push open the gate from the outside when you fall, in which case it would unhook itself completely, leaving you falling without that last piece of protection.

“But the first bolt’s too high! I don’t want to take a ground fall.

Interestingly, a low first bolt offers no protection against a groundfall either. They’d need to be spaced apart by under half the distance from you to the ground in order to prevent a ground fall by themselves.

That means they’d be ridiculously closely spaced near the bottom, which you can sure count on not happening.

“How can I avoid a ground fall then?”

It’s really easy. Just use a stick clip.

They’re weirdly shaped things that you can put on an extendable pole. They let you clip a into a high first bolt or a safe second bolt before you even start climbing.

If you value your ankles: get yourself a stick clip. Sport climbing shouldn’t be about danger. If you want that, go do some hardcore trade climbing instead.

“I’ve seen some weird quickdraws with loops of material in the middle instead of that dogbone thing.”

Yeah, they’re Alpine draws.

I love them.

The best thing about them is that they’re extendable. You see, that loop of material in the middle is called a sling.

It’s made out of Dyneema, which is crazy strong, which is why it’s so thin.

You can loop it between the carabiners to shorten it to a standard length quickdraw, or unloop it to extend it. It’s genius.

“What would you need longer quickdraws for?”

To reduce rope drag. Routes that wander from side to side can make the rope zigzag between bolts, which can build up a lot of resistance to being pulled through – and that can actually be quite dangerous.

Longer quickdraws really help mitigate this. I wrote a post about rope drag and its dangers, here, if you’re interested in learning more.