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What type of activities are you buying gear for?

Have you actually started leading yet ? The usual advice is to use more experienced partner's gear first, to get an idea of what you actually like. Try as many brands as possible.

Nuts aren't too difficult: for a beginner, get something shaped like BD's or WC rocks. Maybe the cheapest are the ABC Heuvos. Those were my first set.

Tricams: only one company makes these, so they aren't hard either. Watch for sales. You can buy them used of course, but then you will wonder what condition the slings are in. You can get them reslung, but that's kinda pricey.

Cams: there are a million threads by n00bs on mountainproject.com asking which cams they should buy. You are going to have to make up your own mind. If they are CE certified (pretty much all the mass-produced stuff) then they are safe, though some suck more than others (also a matter of opinion).

CCH Aliens have acquired a bad reputation, and I've ebayed almost all of mine. You can pretty much only get them used these days anyway. I'd steer clear.

Speaking of mountainproject, check out their Dirtbag Deals section and the For Sale ads. Good luck !

For draws, get 8-10 shoulder-length slings (24" or 60cm), plus a couple of double-length (48" or 120cm). The double-length draws come in handy for slinging trees, chickenheads and such, and can also be used for 2-bolt anchors.

There are two common ways to handle the single-length draws. Some people like to clip a biner to them and carry them over the shoulder, and then carry extra biners. The other way (my preference) is to put two biners on them and carry them tripled over, usually on the harness -- the so-called "trad draw". Each way has its pros and cons -- you probably have partners who do it both ways, ask them why and then decide for yourself. Carrying a couple extra biners for anchor stuff is a good plan in either case.

Some people like to use wiregates on everything. I prefer solid gates on the pro side of the trad draw and wire on the rope side. I am just anal that way