racking question

So, over the weekend I climbed with a guide friend of mine. He had an interesting approach to racking, borne from carrying too much crap on easier routes with clients. He racked three similar-sized cams to a biner and said that he does this for all but his hardest efforts, usually redpoints where he has the gear dialed anyway.
I couldn't really envision having to rerack cams after placing one, but I'd always been looking for a way to eliminate the racking biner. It rained the next day, and I played around with my rack, racking three cams to one biner. The weight/clutter it cut off my rack shocked me! I hung around from my pullup bar and practiced unracking/reracking the cam biners, and it didn't seem all that taxing. Plus, if you can see placements from the ground, you can pre-clip a draw to the cam and it's ready to fire in.
Anybody have any real-world experience with this technique? Is it one of those "good on paper, not-so-good in practice" sort of things?

There was a similar thread to this a few weeks ago.

But I have racked four to a biner for a few years now. I also love the clutter free gear loops and if I am reaching back for a quickdraw or sling anyways, I can put my cams back on the way. It also helps with missing the cam size on the first go.

I catch huge flack from some of my climbing partners who rack cams individually, but it really works for me. I HATE shuffling through biners for the right cam.

I usually rack 2 or 3 on one biner, up to and including BD#2.

For me the tradeoff is:
- fewer racking biners (less cluster and weight)
- better chance of grabbing the right size in one go (cuz you get 2 or 3 chances per grab!)

versus:
- having to fiddle with a biner with more than one piece hanging on it.

That's why for #3 and above, IMO its too much to fiddle with 2 or 3 big cams in one hand, so they each get their own biner. But for smaller cams, its just like having a set of nuts on one biner.

For me it really depended on the route. When I first began to lead trad I racked 3 cams to one biner simply because I wasn't confident in being able to grab the right size cam first try. After practice I began to hate having to find the cam and then clip a draw to it. Now i've switched over to each cam has its own biner because if you know the size you take it off and your done. With three on a biner you have to unclip put cam in, re-clip biner back to harness/sling, then clip draw to gear. It worked great to learn but after a while it felt like it was slowing me down. Now I just plug and chug with 3 alpine draws on me for the rope drag if I need it.

Smaller sizes I rack 3 to a biner. Larger sizes I rack 2 to a biner and largest sizes, above BD 2, I rack on their own biner.

Once I lent some aliens to a guy I was climbing with. He decided to rack them all, plus about 3-4 of his micro-camalots all on the same biner. On the second pitch he dropped this biner.

rhyang wrote:Once I lent some aliens to a guy I was climbing with. He decided to rack them all, plus about 3-4 of his micro-camalots all on the same biner. On the second pitch he dropped this biner.

Another reason to rack one biner a cam. Although i've never heard of this happening, that must've been fun.

Definitely one cam per biner. I'm willing to deal with the extra weight (which I don't find that noticeable) and clutter on the rack for the speed of being able to grab just the cam I need, plug it, clip it and keep moving. It also streamlines swinging leads on multi-pitch.

JL

I rack my cams from wee to #2 C4, two to a biner - Aliens: blue/green, green/yellow, yellow/grey, grey/red, copper/.75 Camalot, C4s #1 & #2. Bigger cams than that get their own biner, because it's too much of a hassle otherwise.

Nuts get split onto two biners, tricams get split onto two biners , and I'm done.

Too much clutter for me, to put all my cams on their own biners.

T

Nick, there is no one answer to this. It's whatever makes you feel comfy while leading.

Sometimes I combine some cams to 2 a biner, sometimes I go 1 biner to a cam. I also split my passive & tri-cams to a couple of biners for the lot.

Some rack on their waist only, some use shoulder gear slings, I combine and put the larger cams on my waist and smaller ones on my shoulders.

rhyang wrote:Once I lent some aliens to a guy I was climbing with. He decided to rack them all, plus about 3-4 of his micro-camalots all on the same biner. On the second pitch he dropped this biner.

While I've often heard this scenario brought up, I've never actually heard of it happening! Yikes...

It seems like this method works best when you can eyeball or have knowledge of the cruxier sections on a pitch. That way, you can preclip the cams you know you'll need to a draw/tripled sling. The non-crux pieces, racked 2 or three per biner, will save you some weight and clutter.

I don't really understand the rationale behind racking multiple cams on one biner under ordinary conditions. You still need either a biner or a draw for each cam you place. Everyone I know who pushes it on trad, racks one cam per biner. I almost never place nuts (with the exception of building anchors) for the same reason. You can place so much faster and more efficiently. Also, if you aren't grabbing the right cam on the first try, practicing will help a lot more than a more lenient racking method.

I like the option of being able to take a piece of gear off my gear loop, and then clip it directly if it doesn't need a sling. No way I would rack cams together. That and you don't want to drop them all...

Unless there is some pressing need to shave weight, I rack each cam to it's own biner except for my 3 smallest mastercams. The reason is mostly to simplify organization for my second, and speed up changeovers at belays.

When hanging off a shitty hand jam on a sketchy route I just want to grab the piece and clip the rope..... All that other BS may come in handy on moderates where you place gear from a stance.....but even then.....naw

I used to rack each cam with its own biner, but on a recent climb, I put 2-3 cams per biner, and I liked how organized it was and the fact that it reduced weight.

Does anyone who racks 1 cam per biner use trad draws with just a single biner on them? That way the sling can just be clipped into the cam's biner, to prevent an extra biner from just hanging there.

^^^^***
Yep, always on wandering routes.......

Not at IC

Lorenzo Tragen wrote:I used to rack each cam with its own biner, but on a recent climb, I put 2-3 cams per biner, and I liked how organized it was and the fact that it reduced weight. Does anyone who racks 1 cam per biner use trad draws with just a single biner on them? That way the sling can just be clipped into the cam's biner, to prevent an extra biner from just hanging there.

But then what if you want to use that sling on a nut?
I carry 1 cam per biner for most cams, and yo-draw my slings. So I have a few extra biners... it works for me.
On the smallest cams, where it is really hard to judge which will fit, then I have multiples per biner, just like nuts.
YMMV, but since you asked, that's my answer.

Tony B wrote:On the smallest cams, where it is really hard to judge which will fit, then I have multiples per biner, just like nuts.

I do the same thing with my hybrid aliens or offset mc's.

Here's the system that works for me...

I rack all my (Metolius) cams 1 color-matched biner to each cam (which makes it easy to spot the one you're looking for) and racked on my harness, even numbers on one side, odds on the other. I use the FS Mini's for the smallest cams (TCU's #1-4 and FCU #5) and Nano's for the rest (#6-10), making for little bulk and/or weight. Regular nuts go on one biner on my right side, offsets on the left.

I have six 12" slings with 1 biner each racked on my harness (3 each side) and two to six 24" slings each with a biner slung over my shoulder. If i need to extend a cam I just add the appropriate sling length, clip the rope and go. If I'm placing a nut or a small Tricam I add one of several spare biners and then add the right sized sling. (I carry 3-5 extra biners on each side of my harness.)

I wear a Misty Cadillac which has 6 gear loops so I can carry all the gear I need/want on my harness and not need a should gear sling. Again, use what works for you..

Wow. Gotta tell ya, it was very weird to click on this thread and see that I'd written the OP over 5 years ago...