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Legpowered wrote:I was hoping for some opinions about what gear I need to purchase that I absolutely have to have to get started. Thanks for your help.

Maybe less important than exactly what gear you should buy, is whether or not you know someone who is an experienced trad leader who can show you how to properly use it.

Generally a basic rack is some variation of the following:
A full set of Black Diamond stoppers
A set of Metolius TCU's (blue to red)
A set of Black Diamond camelots (green to #3)
A dozen draws (slings that are 60cm and 120cm with 2 biners each)
A few locking carribiners
A cordilet

But again...none of this stuff matters if you aren't taught how to properly use it

Cheers!

set of BD C4s from # 0.3 - #4 or equivalent other manuf cams

set of nuts yr choice .... huevos are the cheapest and basically the same as the BDs

a few single length slings and carbs for trad draws, say total of 4-6 draws ... dont go overboard if you already have quickdraws you can use those for now

one or two double length slings and carbs

normal sport climbing gear including lockers, atc, etc ...

one cordelette or really long sling

There are a huge number of choices, but the following are items that are not only good for the beginner, but will remain useful items on your rack forever:

Nuts: full set of any brand. I like Metolius Curve Nuts and BD Stoppers, but ABC Huevos are probably great too (haven't used 'em).

Cams: Black Diamond Camalots (.5 to 3) or Metolius Mastercams (1 to 6). There are many very good cams, but not that many which are good for just about everything you might ever want to dp, AND have a good reputation for reliability and quality. Of course, you pay for it, and these are both on the higher end.

If you're pinching pennies the Metolius TCUs and Powercams are quite functional and have the advantage of being very light (awesome for alpine). The downside is that they are not as easy to place in awkward situations when pumped, and aren't as good for aid climbing (if you ever try that). I'd get 1-4 TCUs and 5-6 Powercams.


'Biners - start with light ones, they rock. I like the Black Diamond Oz, partly because I got them for $6 each. I'd suggest getting about 20 carabiners in the mid-size range (under 30 grams, but not the tiny Mini 23 or Nano), like the Oz, Trango Superfly, Mad Rock or DMM Phantom. I have not used the Mad Rock Ultra Light Straight, but it's the same weight as the Oz (which are really 31gr, not 28 as published), slightly stronger, 1mm wider gate opening, and much cheaper. Looks promising.

Add a bunch of 24" dyneema slings (6-8) and a few 48" as well. Then some light lockers (I like the Wild Country Neon, but BD Positrons are much cheaper and not too heavy).

Since no one has explicitly mentioned a nut tool, I'll do that.

Among the biners, check out the the Wild Country Nitro. Cheap, light for being full-size, and almost as snag-free as the WC Helium (which is the best in that sense, but is expensive).

If you are not going to buy a full set of cams all at once, you may want to start from the C4 #1 (or equivalent) and move out from there: For instance, for the Camalots, you'd go 1, 0.75, 2, 0.5, 3, 0.4. Take into account that the occasions when you carry large cams on Alpine routes are rare.

Finally, if you plan on climbing Kieners, you need crampons and an axe more than any rock-climbing gear (though you may already have them).

Since it seems like you're looking mainly towards intro alpine routes, I'd suggest that you can trim the starting rack down even more. Here's what I would take for the routes that you named:

BD Camalots (0.5-2)
BD Stoppers (4-13)
6-8 shoulder-length slings made into quick-draws with wire-gate biners (I use Neutrinos)
2-4 double-length slings with wire-gate biners
Cordalette

Legpowered wrote:I have been into mountain climbing and scrambling for quite a while now but have decided to step it up and get into trad climbing. I have some long term goals to climb mountains that are too technical for scrambling alone. Besides the basics (i.e. harness, shoes, rope, helmet) what would be a good starting rack for a novice trad climber? My main constraint is that I am a broke college student and will probably have to collect gear slowly. I was hoping for some opinions about what gear I need to purchase that I absolutely have to have to get started. Thanks for your help.

In addition to gear I would also recommend that you find (if you do not have one already) a willing and legitimately knowledgeable mentor. Having one of these greatly accelerates the learning curve. Having all of the gear without some tips from someone with the experience renders things quite sketchy, especially if your goal is to climb in the mountains. Good luck man, it's fun!

I'd echo the statement above about buying some shoulder-length slings and tripling them up into a "sling-draw". On long alpine pitches that might wander, these help to reduce rope drag, and they're just really versatile. I built them sterling slings and BD 'biners, and they cost about 17 bucks a piece, but if you spend more (dynex, wire-gate biners) you could lighten it up a little.

also +1 for the nut tool. If you rescue one piece of pro, it's already payed for itself.

Don't know what kind of basic equipment you have, but plenty of spare biners, (including some good locking ones for anchor shelf/master point) a few longer runners, a daisy chain, and a 16' cordillette are pretty necessary. I'm still learning some of the more advanced trad self-rescue/belay escape stuff, and this type of gear comes in handy.

If you are broke:
Full set of stoppers
Mid range of hexes (like BD 4-8 or something)
Full set of tricams, maybe doubles in the really useful sizes (pink, red)
A few cams for where you can't fiddle in anything else. maybe a .75, 1, and 2 C4

I agree about using alpine draws. You will become proficient at placing natural pro in all sorts of positions, and be able to fly up routes when you get the money for a full rack of cams.