queasy wrote:cuz I am a noob. I am looking for advice, I dont know the answers. I want something that could be used to setup anchors for TRing at sites that dont have bolts, something that could be used to equalize anchors on bolted routes, and something that i can practice with on knots, and whatever else may come up as i learn.
I see the point of the runners being much simpler, but cant use those for building TR anchors among other things (that I know of). I thought a decent length (maybe my estimate was too long) would be better.
Again, it really depends on where you climb and what you intend to climb.
For TRing, if the cliff has bolts or anchors are closed to the edge, then just pad the end with a t-shirt or carpet, and those runners work fine. If there are not bolts on the cliff, and the anchors are far back, then you probably need static line or webbing (much cheaper) instead of cordelette which won't be long enough anyway.
For trad climbing, a 30ft cord is usually too long anyway since your belay anchors are usually fairly close together.
I'm not as experienced as some of the climbers here on the board, but I haven't found anything that required a 30ft cord. 20ft is usually more than enough.