Geeking out on going light with trad.
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Brassmonkey wrote: Well you might be right for a certain sect of climbers. These climbers are the same type of bikers that I smile at when they explain to me that this $1000 dollar part is 20g lighter than the $200 dollar part all while they have 20 extra pounds hanging off of their belly. I wonder what that 20 lbs equates to monetarily in that context. (some also just have the coin and like gear) Either way when you start climbing harder trad (I noticed your profile said you lead 5.8, if this is incorrect I apologize) it definitely can matter, in the same way a lighter rope or draws matter in sport climbing. Is some of it negligible? Of course; but when you are trying to, say onsight a 12a on gear, weight definitely can matter. Of course even this is relative as there are climbers who could easliy do this with an extremely heavy and outdated rack. And I am routinely 4-6% body fat, I have no weight to lose.I could stand to loose 5-10 lbs, but fuck that. |
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Ben B. wrote: My small "spare tire" is a spare battery.Mine is a fuel tank for a sex machine, ha! |
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Ben B. wrote: I do not think I'm any kind of amazing speed climber, but I've never met anyone who can out-pace me on vertical gain, whether hiking up or on route. I've climbed with some pretty fit dudes... work out all the time, run, eat right, have Greek bodies. Me? I have a spare tire. The only conditioning I do is climbing a couple times a month. I do have an intermittently physical job, and that helps... but I think the reason I can go full blast and for so much longer is ENERGY RESERVES. My small "spare tire" is a spare battery. That's my theory, anyway. There's not really any other explanation for it.Sounds like you need to climb with faster people. |
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Ray Pinpillage wrote: Sounds like you need to climb with faster people.for real |
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Ben B. wrote: Lets do it, duI'm probably two weeks out, but I'm in. |
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JLP wrote: Or at least compare yourself to them on a known course. Here's the current standard in the trail/ultra/ultralight world for finding out if you're actually fast - or just another wanker... fastestknowntime.proboards.…You add nothing of value to this conversation. Seriously. |
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Good thread with some decent replies. I've been toying with similar ideas over the past couple of months. |
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Brassmonkey wrote: And I am routinely 4-6% body fat, I have no weight to lose.While I don't disagree with your general sentiments, almost no one can stay at 4-6% body fat for any length of time. Shooting to stay steady at 9-10% is a reasonable goal though. [Feel free to look at my profile and say I am soft, like you did with the other cat.] Cheers from Osaka, john |
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I'd like to second that under 9-10% body fat is easily achieved. As a recently retired collegiate swimmer, most of our team is under that body fat percentage and it's routine to see people 5-7%. Though, going as low as 4-5% is often unhealthy and lowers your performance. My peers that run either distance track or cross country typically keep a lower body fat percentage than the swimmers. Unless you devote an inordinate amount of time to training (i.e. 20-30 hours a week like an endurance collegiate athlete), it is quite difficult to get to these percentages. |
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I spent a while in a lab testing body fay percentages (among other things) in some very high level athletes; some of the top runners and cyclists in the country. I can tell you that most all athletes underestimate their percentages. My recollection is that 4-6% was out of the ordinary, even in these top-end athletes. |
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Brassmonkey wrote: What methods did you use?Calipers and a hydrostatic tank. |
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I'm no expert but here is my 2¢. |
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remember to cut all the tags off your cams, harness, shoes, etc! |
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The Ex-Engineer wrote:Belay Biner - A BD Vapour Lock at 51g is the obvious option. [However I'll probably stick with my current DMM Sentinel Locksafe at 61g as these days I dislike standard screwgates for abseiling use due to too many gates unscrewing themselves.]I haven't used the BD VaporLock or Petzl Attache 3D for belaying with yet, but something like: metoliusclimbing.com/elemen… might be easier to feed the rope over, saving some energy at an expense of ~20g. I would probably also find some things are worth compromising functionality for weight, but others might not be - the tiny carabiners come to mind. Do you waste more time/energy fiddling w/ tiny biners to make it worth the weight savings. Sometimes things that are a small bit heavier, but make tasks quicker/easier are worth the weight for speed reasons - which I'm pretty sure is what the whole 'lightweight' argument is for in the first place. |
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Matt N wrote:all you need are shoes, a chalk bag and a North Face button-up:Should probably leave the chalk bag at home, and also replace that shirt with a beanie. |
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Matt N wrote:all you need are shoes, a chalk bag and a North Face button-up:And a big set of cojones . . .but they might weigh you down. |
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Ben B. wrote:...Still trying to figure out what stoppers would be lightest, but I think that's really getting down to a matter of a few grams. Metolius' nuts seem to be the lightest, but literally only by about 20 grams or something ridiculously unnoticeableI don't remember the exact numbers, but the Metolius UL nuts were over 120g lighter than my Omega Pacific 1-13 set and over 100g lighter than DMM 1-11 Wallnuts. I tried to like the Met UL nuts for a long time, but they just don't work for me. |
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Just spotted a new Camp Alp 95 harness ( camp-usa.com/products/harne… 95g in weight!) for sale cheaply on ebay here in the UK. |