How much does your trad rack weigh

I am building a budget rack and i think it is coming out to be pretty heavy. I am wondering what other people's racks are weighing in at. i know that ounces add up to pounds and am curious as to where the weight can be shaved most quickly and most cheaply.
Any imput?

It depends on where I'm going...

Good wiregates are usually a solid bet for shaving weight cheaply. You can usually find bunches of them for sale on the forums here.

I shaved half a pound off my runners by switching fom old BD Quicksilvers to Trango Superflys. Kept the Hotires on the rope end but switching 12 biners saved me 8oz. Skinny slings help too.

muttonface wrote:You're about in the same skill range as me Phil. I used to think about the weight of my rack and shaving oz's and what not. Now I kind of look at it like hiking. Yeah, geeking out on the technical side of things is fun, but in the grand scheme doesn't make much difference. The way I look at it, I like to hike, but I'm not ever going to do the AT in a one-season push so dumping extra $$ on super light gear and employing techniques to go with the bare minimum doesn't suit me. The same with climbing. At our level, a lb or two isn't going to make a difference. At 5.8 or 5.9 if 2lbs, or even 4 is holding you back, you probably just need to get more hours logged, build technique, strength, endurance, what have you. Now, having said that, I can also appreciate not wanting to have a bunch of heavy ass ovals and solid stem friends on my rack. I don't know your age, or stature or anything else. I do know that if you're just trying to trim a few lbs and feel emboldened a little as a result, the easiest way to do it (and the way that will pay the most dividends) is body weight. If you could stand to lose 5 to 10 lbs, doing so will benefit you much more than shaving a lb or two on your rack. Also, when you're talking about shaving weight, the lighter/stronger stuff generally costs more. So usually you can shave weight, or shave dollars, but it's rare that the two coincide. Just my $.02 Take it with a grain.

All excellent advice.

1. wiregates help ... you dont need to spend $$$$ ... WC nitros are as good as any of the other $$$$ biners ... dont believe the notchless hype for trad ... its not like yr cleaning overhanging bolted routes

2. get good at nut placements ... theyre lighter and it saves cams for pumpy cruxes ... for long moderate routes tricams can also save weight if you like em ... i would of course still have cams generally

3. dyneema slings for draws help ... they are lighter and less bulky ... i just buy the BD ones which are reasonably priced ..

4. i use skinny light draws for both sport and trad, WC nitros are reasonably priced, there are others as well ... it saves money to use something like 6 draws and 6 slings vs buying a while set of slings just for trad

while a bit of weight shouldnt hold back yr climbing ability ... there is utterly no reason why you cant get a fairly "light" setup with the price of modern wiregates that arent the fancy smancy ones ...

the most important thing however is yr brain and skill ... if you have an idea of the route before hand, bring what you need, nothing more ... also the more and better you climb, the less gear you may find you need

stronger legs = a pack that feels lighter

the one thing a bout skinny slings is you have to replace them just about twice as often. Lightweight biners on a full rack can save a good bit of weight for a minimall cost increase. On the other hand i like functionality. So for example i dont own the metolius ultralight tcu's because i have a hard time fitting my hands around the trigger and opt for a slightly heavier cam that is more user friendly for me.

Since i rack primarily on my harness the weight just sits on the core and legs where +/- 2 lbs is marginal.

Todd i think hit on the best advice...strong legs = lighter load. something i am constantly reminded of when my chicken legs are trying to haul ass on an approach

T

Don't over-rack.
If you have good gear beta for a route - listen to it and bring what you need, not everything and the kitchen sink. If you're swapping leads, anchor with the rope = no cord weight & bulk.
I used to always have my nearly full rack on me (mental comfort thing probably) - the more routes I ended up with leftover gear, the more I tried to plan ahead the next time.

Weight of trad rack is inversely proportionate to weight of one's balls. If you have steel balls all the better!

I just think of it as weight training! I'm usually not trying to climb near my limit so hiking and climbing with most of my heavy ass rack just helps me get in shape. Or so I'd like to think.
I'm really bad at trying to do climbs with a minimal rack for the route. I'll bring ~12 cams, 8 slings, quick draws, and a biner of cow bells on a climb where I place 3-4 pieces. I always figure its better to have extra gear then run out before the end.

Scott O wrote:It depends on where I'm going...

Yep. I never bring the whole thing unless I'm aid climbing. When cragging I bring most of it, but then rack for each climb after I eyeball it.

Lee Smith wrote:Weight of trad rack is inversely proportionate to weight of one's balls. If you have steel balls all the better!

Leaving pieces behind and running it out certainly keeps the rack lighter. In some cases, it's easier that way. Being lighter and less bulky helps the climbing feel easier, and when you place less pieces you don't pump out as fast. Of course, you also want to not get hurt...

Another good technique is to bring smaller pieces when they will work. Sometimes you're climbing a hand-crack, but constrictions and horizontals will take small gear. Some small cams and nuts weight much less than extra hand-size cams, and won't take up good jams. This almost always applies at places like the Gunks - placements abound, so bring smaller, lighter gear and just use the smaller cracks.

I weighed all my gear for a trip to the Bugaboos. I made an effort to cut some weight. For the plane, I had about 10 lbs of rope and about 10 lbs of carabiners, protection, slings etc. On any given route, I would usually try to bring about half of that gear. At the lightest, that was a half set of nuts, 6 draws, some cord, and about 5 cams.

Be careful with the idea of a budget rack--you don't want to sink a few hundred dollars into a rack only to decide you want to upgrade everything with better gear in a year or two. My advice would be to buy good gear, just less of it (which resulted in a fairly terrifying first season for me). In the long term, though, you won't need to buy anything but ropes.

+1 on placing nuts.

I posted this up a little while ago, it may shed some light on rack weight (pun intended). Of course this thread devolved quickly into a conversation about fecal weight....
old camalots vs new camalots

I agree with much of what's been said already.

1. Buy quality gear from the get go. Stay away from the cheap shit, especially when it comes to cams. You want gear that inspires confidence.
2. Skinny runners and cheap wire gates are the way to go as far as I'm concerned. Tripled shoulder length runners are the most versatile. Plus maybe a couple double length runners. I rarely bother with conventional dog bones anymore.
3. Strategically plan your rack according to what you expect to climb that day. Take what you think you'll need plus maybe a few extra pieces. I think most of us start out carrying tons of gear and eventually learn how to plan better. That learning curve is part of the fun and will happen naturally.

Phil Raymond wrote:I am building a budget rack and i think it is coming out to be pretty heavy. I am wondering what other people's racks are weighing in at. i know that ounces add up to pounds and am curious as to where the weight can be shaved most quickly and most cheaply. Any imput?

Are you talking about weight for a multi-pitch climb where you don't know what to expect, or for single pitch climbs where you can see what you might need and/or have some beta for the climb? It would seem to me that the first scenario is the only one that might stay relatively constant, and in that scenario, I think what everyone else has said sounds spot on; carabiner weight savings add up quickly, particularly with locking carabiners.

take the cycling mentality. It is easier to take 5 pounds off of yourself compared to your bike. It is also cheaper.

MY RACK

Raze (Taylor) wrote:MY RACK

My sack.

Sorry. Too easy.

not as much as your mom.

j/k. I'm not sure exactly. Fully kitted out it feels about 2/3rds as heavy as my rope, maybe .... 10 lbs? 15?