Geeking out on going light with trad.

I've done some searching, but haven't found a good thread on this.

I want to go light on trad by getting the lightest gear and have been looking. I know that this gets expensive (but let's pretend money isn't a concern), and yes, I know that eating less twinkies and drinking less beer is cheaper! :-) But lets geek out on the lightest gear.

Here is what I am thinking:

Harness: Camp Air (240 Grams) Lightest "real harness with 4 loops"?

Rope: Mammut Serenity 8.9 (52 Grams per meter) or Sterling Nano 9.2 (1 Gram per meter heavier) Lightest single rope?

Biners: Camp Nano 23's. (23 Grams) I have these and LOVE them. Lightest Carabiners? EDIT:Early posters suggest the Edelrid-19G! (Can't find them..)

Runners: Mammut Contact 8mm Dynema Slings...Have/Love! Lightest?

Cams: Hard to not go with C4's...even though not the lightest. Love Metolius TCU's...what is the lightest in all sizes? This is obviously the heavist part of my rack. It seems Dragons are slightly lighter in some of the sizes. NEED HELP HERE? What's Lightest?

Nuts: Currently have Wild Country Rocks...what's lighter?

Belay Device: I got a free "ATC" made by mammut with a rope I bought that is tapered and super light (40grams!); I can't find this for sale anywhere...but love it and think it's the lightest ATC made.

Locking Biner: Metolius Bravo Locker (43 Grams)..have/love! Wild Country Neon is 41 Grams! Is the neon the lightest locker?

whatever you do make sure to spend as much money as possible. climbing is all about showing the other yuppies what cool shit you have. having the sweetest gear is crucial to success.

Kevin Connolly wrote:whatever you do make sure to spend as much money as possible. climbing is all about showing the other yuppies what cool shit you have. having the sweetest gear is crucial to success.

For sure! And color scheme'ing it all too! Matching colors is key. Thanks for your insightful post! Just having fun here...sorry to offend your non-yuppie non-consumer dogma. I lived for years owning only what I could pack in my car...but moved on. This is the gear thread...you know...where people talk about gear..and stuff.

The real question is, do you want to go light? Or do you want to go fast?

David Appelhans wrote:The real question is, do you want to go light? Or do you want to go fast?

Fast is more a question of SKILL (and risk tolerance)! :-) I am working on that...but this is purely a gear discussion.

lightest biner is now the Edelrid 19g

The easiest way to ditch weight is to carry less.

nanos are no longer the the lightest. the edelrid 19 is now the king of too small fiddly biners. dragons are way lighter untill you get to the the 1 camolot then its meh. the UL TCU's are about as light as they get there are lighter slings than the Dmm or even Mammut contact slings, but they are total floss that will survive for a few pitches max. on the WC rocks they make Ultra Light rocks. the phantom locker from DMM is pretty damn light and not made in china like most of WC biners

DannyUncanny wrote:lightest biner is now the Edelrid 19g The easiest way to ditch weight is to carry less.

Good beta. Can't find that for sale online, but I hear they are like $9.50 a piece! Ouch...I guess I did say price was not an issue.

Carry less...yes.

Rob Warden, Space Lizard wrote:nanos are no longer the the lightest. the edelrid 19 is now the king of too small fiddly biners. dragons are way lighter untill you get to the the 1 camolot then its meh. the UL TCU's are about as light as they get there are lighter slings than the Dmm or even Mammut contact slings, but they are total floss that will survive for a few pitches max. on the WC rocks they make Ultra Light rocks. the phantom locker from DMM is pretty damn light and not made in china like most of WC biners

Don't know how the Edelrid 19 feels..but the Nano is easy to fiddle with. UL TCU's...will look at them when replacing my old TCU's.

What's lighter than Mammut contact slings...that's what I meant..Mammut...not DMM.

DMM Phantom Locker 41.6Grams. Light. I only carry one locker..so my Bravo is good at 1.4Grams heavier.

Thanks Rob!

Sandy Crimp wrote: Fast is more a question of SKILL (and risk tolerance)! :-) I am working on that...but this is purely a gear discussion.

Raw climbing skill plays a role in moving fast, but so does convenient gear systems. I'm just going to presume you want to go light for alpine or at least multipitch, because I can't see why you would want to go ultra light on single pitch cragging.

A piece of gear like the Reverso4 that lets you bring up a second in autoblock is heavier, but faster, since you can more easily do things like put on a jacket and eat while belaying.

David Appelhans wrote: Raw climbing skill plays a role in moving fast, but so does convenient gear systems. I'm just going to presume you want to go light for alpine or at least multipitch, because I can't see why you would want to go ultra light on single pitch cragging. A piece of gear like the Reverso4 that lets you bring up a second in autoblock is heavier, but faster, since you can more easily do things like put on a jacket and eat while belaying.

Good info. I do like the guide-mode style belay option. This is all about multi-pitch for sure! Not really alpine...mainly long days at Red Rock, but also at other regional areas.

Reverso is probably worth the weight...I know this is counter to the weight topic...but for fast..I even like the gri-gri option.

My biggest challenge with fast is risk-tolerance...if the route allows, I like gear every 10 feet. This definitely slows me down, but keeps my head in order.

Sandy Crimp wrote: Good info. I do like the guide-mode style belay option. This is all about multi-pitch for sure! Not really alpine...mainly long days at Red Rock, but also at other regional areas. Reverso is probably worth the weight...I know this is counter to the weight topic...but for fast..I even like the gri-gri option. My biggest challenge with fast is risk-tolerance...if the route allows, I like gear every 10 feet. This definitely slows me down, but keeps my head in order.

I think gear every ten feet is reasonable. Just don't waste time at bad placements, try to place good gear and move on until the next good gear spot. Place and move on.

If my head is not in order, I'm climbing slow and tentative. Running it out can actually be slower for me, if I'm not confident.

Also, where is the helmet on your list?

I am digging this thread. Light is right for long days in Red Rocks for sure, but this question really get exciting when you start thinking about long alpine routes!

You might want to check out weighmyrack dot com. They have a bit of info on biners and other gear. Kind of awesome, kind of pointless.

Runners: Mammut Contact 8mm Dynema Slings...Have/Love! Lightest?

Be aware these are a consumable item with a 2-3 year life, don't keep climbing on them after year three like you might with a regular sling.

dragons are lighter if you tend to put a quickdraw on cams .... you actually save quite a bit of weight

and if yr going alpine the DMM hexes have an extendible sling

you have to decide between "light" and practical ... you want a real belay biner either a dmm sentinal or something similar ... youll likely also want a real belay device like the reverso4 ...

as for ropes the 8.9 serenity maybe the lightest, but it is less abrasion resistant than even the 8.5 genesis half rope so mammut says ... youll want a 9.2mm revelation ... or something similar

the smaller biners will work for draws UNLESS you need to wear gloves, then you may have issues

the WC light rocks are the lightest, but the size is limited, so either way youll need real nuts

and of course its useless to talk about the climbing gear if yr wearing those heavy jeans, youll need to be wearing nylon short/pants and light mesh shirts ... or in winter the lightest gear and packs, etc ...

the point is that there is something called STUPID light ... where in the UL backpacking community some people chase the absolute lightest gear, which may not work outside fairly ideal situations ... bring what you need to do the job

lightness for the sake of lightness is a self defeating principle UNLESS it allows you to achieve certain goals ... i sometimes run into some overweight trad climbers who brag about having this or that piece of $$$$/very light gear ... i politely ask them what they are using it for, usually the answer is some moderate route (not even alpine)

sometimes they get huffy and puffy ... in that case i just stare at their big belly and smile ;)

Why stop with TCU's? Metolius does also make Ultralight powercams. They're lighter than both double axle cams on the market.

Jarmland wrote: Totally. I try to go reasonably light and basically only attempt the classics within my limit. After years of climbing I realized that this is how I have the most fun and memorable experiences. I normally bring tcu 1-4, powercams 5-6 complemented by a 2-3 camalots of the sizes I see fit for the route.

Even the largest 2 powercams are bad. And for the most part, it covers you up to a #3 BD size(+/-). And the supersizing supercams might be worth looking at for sizes larger.

Why don't you just loose 10 pounds?

Metolious lightest cams. Most bitch mightily about them b/c 1- they r lemmings stuck in BD's and won't suffer the learning curve, 2- less range, 3-walk more. Metolious are bomber tho. BD better at your limit due to range.

Healyje wrote:Runners: Mammut Contact 8mm Dynema Slings...Have/Love! Lightest? Be aware these are a consumable item with a 2-3 year life, don't keep climbing on them after year three like you might with a regular sling.

uhm, why only 2-3 years? do they self destruct after i send?

JMo wrote:Metolious lightest cams. Most bitch mightily about them b/c 1- they r lemmings stuck in BD's and won't suffer the learning curve, 2- less range, 3-walk more. Metolious are bomber tho. BD better at your limit due to range.

walk more? Are you sure about that? Seems to me, and Im pretty sure its been tested (though dont ask me where) that a single axle unit is going to walk less than a double axle piece. Things just rotate and swivel, rather than walking.