Gear taping and crag love

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to share some thoughts on gear taping the effects it has on crags. As a local working and climbing in a dominantly traditional multi pitch crag it is pretty astonishing how many tape pieces there are to pick up off of the rocks and trails on a daily basis. If you do tape your gear it may be worth considering switching to the nail polish trick to avoid not only the hassle of the tape falling off, but the micro trash you're leaving behind. Especially if you nail polish in the right places (take some time to look at the places on your gear that don't get scratched) it can last a very long time and be much cleaner than tape.

Happy climbing!

My hobby is picking up trash at the base of crags.
Usually sport crags, so possibly my perspective is skewed.
The most common item I find is the little bit of identifying tape that comes on the end of ropes.
I remove them ahead of time since they will inevitably fall off and become litter. And are about as useful as the "Do not remove this tag" tags found on mattresses.

Thanks to everybody else that helps out!

Mark E Dixon wrote:My hobby is picking up trash at the base of crags. Usually sport crags, so possibly my perspective is skewed. The most common item I find is the little bit of identifying tape that comes on the end of ropes. I remove them ahead of time since they will inevitably fall off and become litter. And are about as useful as the "Do not remove this tag" tags found on mattresses. Thanks to everybody else that helps out!

Yes! I make it a point to pick up those pieces of tape whenever I find them at my local crag. I like to think the more tape I pick up, as well as garbage like tape remnants and cigarette butts, the more booty gear I find.

It just feels gratifying to pick up around my favorite crag.
Keep it up!

Good on you guys for picking up.

I've had great success with nail polish as well, plenty of "low traffic" areas on your gear to mark them with a small dot.

Jplotz wrote:I like to think the more tape I pick up, as well as garbage like tape remnants and cigarette butts, the more booty gear I find

Only if you sacrifice the trash to the crag gods once a year in bonfire. Or just throw it away, but that's less fun. Maybe we should start collecting the tape and once we get a gallon ziplock full of it send it to a manufacturer and ask them to quit making the tape. Or maybe send the bag to the access fund and ask them to do a campaign on the tape. Regardless we should sticky this thread

Even better way to mark your gear: Mix the nail polish color of your choosing with 5 or 7 minute clear two part epoxy. Use a pen tip or similar to apply to your gear. Last a LONG time.

Very cool discussion. Although not intentional, this tape litter is something to be mindful of.

Just got back from a weekend at Shelf. Other than tape, how about dog shit? How about not driving cars on meadows? How about not bringing a college age girl who can't take a shot of whiskey and keep her shit together while people are trying to sleep? You're in college, I get it, shut the fuck up already. (I realize this is not a female-specific problem, that was just my experience this weekend.) And for the love of christ, you can play the guitar, I get the point. I don't need your shitty version of Bob Dylan all night.
I realize I'm getting older, but over the few years I've been going to popular crags, for some reason especially Shelf, climbers are getting lazier and more disrespectful towards fellow climbers.