Dumbest outdoor gear purchase

I got one of those weird petzl carabiners at rock and snow annex for something like $3. It's fine. I think I racked my tricams on it for a while, now it lives on my #4 and will probably only touch a rope a few times this season. Not the worst carabiner I've ever owned, but far from the best.

Locker wrote:Everyone can post all they want and it's still not going to come close to this winner. What were they thinking? LOL! EDITED: "My body feels great, but my arms just snapped off from being FROZEN".

finally a solution to the age old problem of cold chest hot hands and forearms

Crack Gloves. I'm still mad at myself for getting persuaded into getting a pair - that POS fell apart after a couple of uses. For the amount of money I spent on them I could've bought a lifetime supply of Eurotape.

Club Intrawest timeshare if you take the words outdoor gear outta the title.

Eric Fernandez wrote: Just wondering why you would be clove hitching into a wire gate? I have one small locker that I use to anchor in almost every time, is this an aid thing or useful to use the rope to build an anchor or for an equalette or something similar?

I clove hitch into wiregates all the time. Using the rope for an anchor is fast and strong—really makes multi-pitch go fast IF you're swapping leads (otherwise I use cord or slings which eats up a lot of time).

Larry S wrote: People often build anchors by cloving the rope in series into 2 or 3 pieces with non-locking carabiners and only use a locker at the master point (if they have one) Not the best illustration of it as all the pieces here are horizontal, but see this classic picture

Wow, that's a *terrible* example!

I'll at least pseudo-equalize my anchor. If the pieces aren't in a line I'll use slings to make the biners offset (often the anchor is made with nuts/tricams anyway) or if they're really far apart I'll do something like a bowline (or 8) on a bite.

FoamFinger wrote: +1 for a dumb piece of gear! For me its probably... those stupid yellow egg carriers that let you take eggs camping with you. Who the hell takes eggs with them backpacking?!

I do!! They last longer than you think!

Especially since I winter camp.... :-D

Garret Nuzzo-Jones wrote: Three rules of climbing are: 1. Look Good 2. Have Fun 3. Be Safe

If you're not doing the first two you have no business even being there. That's why safety is third.

Gold Plated Rocket Pony wrote:Alpine Up. Just horrid

Gold Plated why is this horrid? I have the "click up" version and its my go to for lead belay, I love it. I was actually looking to upgrade to this to consolidate my belay devices, I'd love to hear if theres something wrong with the Alpine Up.

Might just be me. Others seem to like it just fine. I thought it'd be easier to use and not so big.

The first 30 below synthetic bag REI offered. Weighed 6 pounds and took up 2/3 of my backpack. I used it once. Dumbest purchase I ever made. :(

they are too small, the lock sucks but hey i got them with my BD .5 i bought off my roomate for 30

Frigging Spider Cams!!! Shite!!!

Hmm I have a few:
- 4 link cams, one exploded just like the picture posted earlier and I stopped using them
- Rigid 29er SS (not my style of riding)
- some aid gear I got and never use
- Nemo gogo bivy, luckly sold it for what I got it for
- Top Rope solo setup (2 mini traxion and a Cinch) Worked well, just don't use it

FoamFinger wrote: +1 for a dumb piece of gear! For me its probably... those stupid yellow egg carriers that let you take eggs camping with you. Who the hell takes eggs with them backpacking?!

I just freeze egg beaters in the carton.

3.2% beer

Coffey wrote:Hmm I have a few: - 4 link cams, one exploded just like the picture posted earlier and I stopped using them - Rigid 29er SS (not my style of riding) - some aid gear I got and never use - Nemo gogo bivy, luckly sold it for what I got it for - Top Rope solo setup (2 mini traxion and a Cinch) Worked well, just don't use it

you lookin' to get rid of that top rope setup?

Ball wrote: Wow, that's a *terrible* example! I'll at least pseudo-equalize my anchor. If the pieces aren't in a line I'll use slings to make the biners offset (often the anchor is made with nuts/tricams anyway) or if they're really far apart I'll do something like a bowline (or 8) on a bite.

I would have called that an excellent example of pseudo-equalization. I don't understand what you mean? I also don't understand what you mean about "offset" biners?

EricF wrote: Just wondering why you would be clove hitching into a wire gate? I have one small locker that I use to anchor in almost every time, is this an aid thing or useful to use the rope to build an anchor or for an equalette or something similar?

As originally written, it sounded like Ball was clove hitching the gate itself. I think he just meant he liked big biners, and preferred wire gates on those biners. Is that what you were asking about?

Serious use for 6" slings:
re-slinging used and/or sketchy cams.
Particularly older BD forged-end single-stem cams, the Metolius dyneema little 6" guys JUST fit through that hole with both ends clipped on the biner-side, so you can keep using structurally solid metal with the decade-old nylon cut off and not have your rack ride at your kneecaps. Worth making, though it's a niche market for sure...sorry my only available picture is of a Metolius cam with a nylon BD 6" used as replacement(I left all the ratty old BD gear at my parents' when I moved, still trust this one)...it goes either way I suppose.


More on-topic: My dumbest outdour gear purchase was a Petzl SS bladed folding knife with a carabiner-sized hole at the end, orange plastic handle, and the damn thing never held an edge or cut through rope or webbing as well as any other mediocre real knife-maker's blade I compared it to. Wouldn't sharpen well either. Total crap.