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Multi pitch rack

Original Post
Tony D · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2015 · Points: 0

What would a standard multipitch rack consist of, around 3 pitches. I've seen guys leave the ground with a rack of nuts and 6 cams, they probably climbed it before but your using up 6 peices for anchors. Are people not protected routes as much these days cause everyone is "extreme". I carry 2 full sets of cams and 2 sets of nuts with 12 draws along with 6 lockers for the anchors. Is that overkill?

lozo bozo · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2015 · Points: 30

6 lockers is overkill yes

KeithGDains · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2015 · Points: 25

Belay stations can be bolted negating any reason for a gear anchor. I would also assume that they have gear beta for that route to bring such a light rack

jdejace · · New England · Joined Sep 2013 · Points: 5

Do whatever you're comfortable with. There are no trophies in climbing.

Paul Zander · · Bern, CH · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 739

It depends. For some multipitch all you need is 6 quickdraws. For some you need a kitchen sink. No one rack fits all routes.

Wilson On The Drums · · Woodbury, MN · Joined Dec 2010 · Points: 940

I find mountainproject.com to be very helpful when considering multi-pitch climbs. Many multi-pitch route descriptions on mountain project.com will usually inform on what rack is necessary for the climb. Unless otherwise informed my rack includes the minimum: bd nuts 3-13, bd c4 cams 0.4-3, metolious ultralight 00-3, 6 quickdraws, 6 alpine draws, 3 lockers and a bigger locker with an ATC guide or similar (also a prussic and gri).

Pete Spri · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2009 · Points: 347

I've been able to pull off a lot of multipitch routes with 1.5 set of nuts, 1.5 set cams, pink,red, brown tricams and two hand and fist hexes. This works for setting your own belays too.

For harder stuff with bolted belays, 2 sets of cams, one setof nuts works pretty well.

David Gibbs · · Ottawa, ON · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 2

It absolutely and completely depends on the climb. Are all the pitches bolted? Do the pitches take similar gear? Different gear? Do you need to build gear anchors, or are the belays pre-established? (Could be bolts, could be trees, could be pins, could be fixed gear, could be a natural thread, ...) Are the pitches long or short? How much gear is available? How hard is the climbing relative to what you feel comfortable on?

Tony D · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2015 · Points: 0

Thanks everyone. I'm talking about multipitch at lovers leap. I took a break from climbing for years and when I came back people had the smallest racks ever. I think the weekend warrior climbers there now are climbing the same routes over and over again.

Jeff G · · Colorado · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,098

The obvious answer: It depends on the route.

Joe Prescott · · Berlin Germany · Joined Apr 2013 · Points: 6

For me, it depends on the difficulty of the route also. Maybe it shouldn't, but I'll skimp on easier routes and load up on routes near my limit. Loading up ultimately isn't the best strategy often because I carry more weight, stop to place more gear, and lose confidence.

Marty Theriault · · Quebec, QC · Joined Apr 2011 · Points: 310
Jeff G. wrote:The obvious answer: It depends on the route.
+1000000
Jason4Too · · Bellingham, Washington · Joined Apr 2014 · Points: 0

I recently climbed a route that is 5 pitches or so with my fiance with a set of nuts and BD C4 .75, 1, and 2 cams based on a trip report that she read. I probably should have left the nuts at home since they didn't fit anywhere. Most of our pro were slings around alpine bonsai trees; I think she has a life insurance policy on me. I went back and climbed the same route again this summer with a full set of cams and the stress level was much lower. Nuts still didn't fit anywhere.

There's also a video of the Smileys climbing something in California with 8-10 nuts for the entire climb. Be cautious with beta but if you're confident at the grade and creative with pro/anchors you can climb with a really light rack.

Zac St Jules · · New Hampshire · Joined Dec 2013 · Points: 1,188
jdejace wrote:Do whatever you're comfortable with. There are no trophies in climbing.
Certainly you've read the headlines about climbing in the olympics...
PRRose · · Boulder · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 0
Tony D wrote:Thanks everyone. I'm talking about multipitch at lovers leap. I took a break from climbing for years and when I came back people had the smallest racks ever. I think the weekend warrior climbers there now are climbing the same routes over and over again.
A full set of WC rocks, three or four medium hexes, a few Friends, and eight slings would have been my standard rack for Lover's Leap thirty years ago. I'd probably take a few more cams and ditch the hexes today--but, as has been pointed out, it depends on the climb. The rack expands if it's continuous, wider or narrower than fingers, or hard.
rgold · · Poughkeepsie, NY · Joined Feb 2008 · Points: 526

It is true that it depends on the climb, but that doesn't mean you can't have a generic rack that works for many things, and is tweaked for others, understanding that if you are climbing very uniform cracks your rack will have to be specialized to the occasion.

My generic non-crack climbing rack is a set of (10) nuts, some additional brassies, double cams from micro up to green camalot size, and then single cams in the red, yellow, and blue camalot sizes. Twelve trad draws and six free biners, all of them the lightest available, plus maybe four more slings and a double-length sling over the shoulder. I don't normally carry a cordelette.

This rack has worked well for me for moderate climbing (up to 5.10-, say) in places like the Gunks, Eldorado Canyon, Red Rocks, the Adirondacks, and the Wind Rivers. I've pared it down for the Tetons. I'd double up on the bigger sizes in some cases, and maybe add a bigger cam if I know I'll need a wyde piece. At the other end, I might add some ballnuts and maybe a black, red, and pink tricam. Of course if full-pitch uniform cracks are involved, all this goes out the window, but at that point those of us who aren't specialists have to pool gear to get enough single sizes.

Every now and then I've wished for a second cam in one of the mentioned single larger sizes, and on some long pitches I have occasionally wished for more nuts.

Joy likes trad · · Southern California · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 71
Tony D wrote:What would a standard ... rack consist of
For me if the climb is unkown to me I carry doubles from 00 - 3 C4s, a set of stoppers, a set of offset nuts, a set of bress nuts, 5 alpine draws, 5 regular draws, two alpine draws with lockers (small screw gates).

If I have gear beta I bring only what I need.
Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0
Tony D wrote:What would a standard multipitch rack consist of, around 3 pitches. I've seen guys leave the ground with a rack of nuts and 6 cams, they probably climbed it before but your using up 6 peices for anchors. Are people not protected routes as much these days cause everyone is "extreme". I carry 2 full sets of cams and 2 sets of nuts with 12 draws along with 6 lockers for the anchors. Is that overkill?
6 pieces for an anchor seems really overkill to me but it all depends on where you are setting the anchor. I have set anchors with 2 extremely bomber nuts on a decent ledge with a good foot rest that I could probably have held a fall without even having an anchor.

Also some routes have bolted belays so you need nothing for an anchor on those. I have seen someone set an anchor with a single 0.3 X4.

As everyone else says it just all depends. I personally climb normally with 2 sets of nuts, 8 big slings, 4-6 quick draws, good number of tricams, 2 sets of 0.5 to 3 C4, few larger / smaller cams for any onsight route (have left slings in the car to many times only to wish I had them later). Once I know a route or if it involves a large approach I generally start leaving stuff I know I don't need in the car. More times than not I would rather drag extra gear I don't need up the wall than be up a few 100ft and wish I had something I left behind.
csproul · · Pittsboro...sort of, NC · Joined Dec 2009 · Points: 330
ViperScale wrote: 6 pieces for an anchor seems really overkill to me but it all depends on where you are setting the anchor. I have set anchors with 2 extremely bomber nuts on a decent ledge with a good foot rest that I could probably have held a fall without even having an anchor. Also some routes have bolted belays so you need nothing for an anchor on those. I have seen someone set an anchor with a single 0.3 X4. As everyone else says it just all depends. I personally climb normally with 2 sets of nuts, 8 big slings, 4-6 quick draws, good number of tricams, 2 sets of 0.5 to 3 C4, few larger / smaller cams for any onsight route (have left slings in the car to many times only to wish I had them later). Once I know a route or if it involves a large approach I generally start leaving stuff I know I don't need in the car. More times than not I would rather drag extra gear I don't need up the wall than be up a few 100ft and wish I had something I left behind.
3 pieces in two different anchors (start of pitch and end of pitch)...6 pieces.
Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0

ahh yea completely misread thought 6 pieces for a single anchor.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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