Guessing at pieces

Kevin Friesen wrote:Wear a helmet and don't look at the piece while testing it. It is not pretty if it pops out.

+10. Got a couple of shiny new teeth before I learned this lesson.

johnL wrote: I'd rather blow Ron Jeremy before racking like that.

holy crap! If you add it up that's like 50 pieces of random gear on 12 biners!

As many have said before find a racking system and stick to it. It helps build your muscle memory. I learned from a climber with one eye who racks on his harness. He racks with OCD precision and can count the biners on his harness by touch and grab the correct piece. I rack with the same precision and its a life saver. Sometime you are in an awkward chimney and can't see your gear so you have to go by feel, the same occurs often when pulling through roofs or in dihedrals. It makes it quicker as well when fumbling with gear. If i'm pumping out and grab the wrong piece that won't fit and i can't find a place in the crack that it will fit, I always have slings over my shoulder i can quickly clip it to rather than putting it back onto my harness. I can then organize it back into my rack later while at a good resting spot or ledge.

Other than learning what cam relates to what size jams for your handsize, there is no easy solution to better gauge size. Just keep climbing and it will progress with you. Its all part of the challenge.

Though it doesn't look like rock, when I was learning how to quickly pick the right cam, i would get my rack on and just walk around the house placing cams in any crevice I could find. Your roommates will think you're weird but who cares!

Also +1 on associating cam color and size to hand size.

All of this advice is real helpful. I think I'll improve from "sucks" to "moderately sucks" soon!

The Bobby wrote:Austin, three things: (1) Which sizes do you have the most trouble with? And is it predominantly nuts or cams?

I'm struggling with both nuts and cams but nuts seem to give me the most trouble. With cams, anything between a .3 and a .75 (Camalot) is my problem size and with nuts I'm straight retarded. I'll try to put a number 11 in when I should really be trying a 3.

The Bobby wrote:(2) Are you scoping out good stances and good placements ahead of time? This saves a lot of energy. When you have a good stance, place gear.

I think this is another problem. I try to place when I like the crack and not necessarily when I'm in a good stance.

The Bobby wrote:(3) It is great to lead close to your limit, don't stop doing that. But you can also take a day to try to do a TON of pitches far below your limit. Focus on placing lots of gear, quickly. Time yourself with both the lead and building an anchor (or have a partner time you).

I've had this recommended to me by several people. I try to not climb easier than 5.8 though, just because I'm really hoping to get sponsored. There's a lot of sponsor money out there for 5.9 trad climbers, right? :)

Austin Baird wrote:All of this advice is real helpful. I think I'll improve from "sucks" to "moderately sucks" soon! I'm struggling with both nuts and cams but nuts seem to give me the most trouble. With cams, anything between a .3 and a .75 (Camalot) is my problem size and with nuts I'm straight retarded.

It's just about practice and time and getting used to your own gear. When i first bought my Totem cams, it was difficult to judge placements of the smallest two sizes. They're basically the same size as #1 and 2 Metolius, which i was used to at that point but they look bigger so it was confusing what size to pick at first. I would always pick a cam smaller than what i needed. You'll get it.