www.climbingzine.com/portfolios/what-to-dirtbag-and-what-not>>>

There's no guidebook to dirtbagging, but here's a few hints from The Climbing Zine. Submitted By: Luke Mehall on Feb 11, 2013

someone's on the second pitch of Cathedral Peak! Great route

First tip - photocopy the topo, don't bring the whole book. Oh wait, a dirtbag won't have a job with access to a copier. Get out the paper and pencil.

first we have the master climber promoting his blog and now this? does mtn proj need a "promote your blog " forum so these guys can all promote their blogs to each other?

I thought the blog seemed like it was written by someone who hasnt dirtbagged long enough to tell others about it yet.

I agree, and I think it's pretty obvious to not dirtbag your rope and cams. I was thinking this post would have hints on how to make a meal out of a gas station snack bar, or where to poach a place to sleep. Telling me to shop at a thrift store for climbing clothes?? I just wear the same clothes I usually wear - jeans and a t shirt. Then I don't have to buy any clothes at all.

I will say though, if you get way off route or if you're route is crowded when you get to the base, having the whole book with you can be helpful. That book isn't all that heavy. Not nearly as heavy as the Freedom of the Hills, which I brought in our haul bag up the Washington column for our first aid climb ever (!). Needless to say, we learned a lot that trip, and it wasn't because of what we read in the book...

ive been taking whippers on a 100$ rope for the last few months ... obviously im gonna die ;)

I can't for the life of me figure out why climbers are figuring out how to carry around bags of dirt. It's been abundant pretty much everywhere I have gone.

The internet is likely the worst place to learn how to "dirtbag."

Also, that cam that I found in Zion at the base of that wall buried in dirt holds falls like a champ...

$10 for a pair of belay gloves? I thought the dirtbag thing to do would be to not have belay gloves at all. Do you know how many servings of pasta you can buy w/ ten bucks?!!

Although, if you just sold your laptop you could buy belay gloves AND lots of pasta - the good kind!

Everyone knows there's a huge pile of gloves at the base of the cables on Half Dome...who the fukk is this guy?!

the real key with "dirtbagging" is to find things that help you forget, or just learn how to forget how uncomfortable or cold or hungry you are...

If it's good for morale, do it!

Do aid and big wall climbers wear gardening gloves? You get what you pay for. I've watched a rope burn through cheap leather in a day.

this guy dont know.

free belay gloves are hiding at any major crag across the country

new(to you) trad gear is left in cracks all over the country ready to be added to your rack. all you need is a little ingenuity and a lot of free time

you have 2 options with ropes, find a rich kid who thinks UIAA fall count means thats the max amt of lead falls the rope can take(don't dis-spell the myth, tell him your gonna make a rug out of it)offer him a hemp necklace or something for it

option two is to find the rattiest rope you can find. Most of your climbing partners will offer up there own rope for use. Bonus points if its in fact two short ropes knotted together, when you explain to your new partner that they'll have to go indirect while you pass the knot they are liable to leave the crag and buy a rope.

ps this negates the need of a rope bag... unless you want it to double as your home! rope tarp/rain fly. True dirt bags don't own vehicles(that run at least)

but seriously dirtbagging is relative, to a doctor on a week long trip cooking on a coleman sleeping in a tent and camping at land of arches or rock ranch is dirtbagging.
to a college drop out hitchhiking across the country with nothing but an ounce of weed and a bag of reeses pieces while wearing nothing but pajama pants is dirtbagging(ps yea im referring to you ninja turtle pajama pants guy)
to each his/her own

Agree that the author seems to need a bit more time "dirt-bagging" to understand wtf he's talking about. A very vanilla take on a wild and dirty world.

I guess I don't understand what's meant by "dirtbag:"

Does it mean someone who is:

1. deliberately under-employed, with lots of family money (secret income) who has learned how to stretch the checks from mom as far as possible?
2. acting poor to make a fashion statement?
3. a greasy hustler doing whatever it takes to just get to tomorrow morning, with no family, no trust fund, no nothing?

I'm not sure,but there has been nothing glamorous or cool about some of the hardcore D-bagging I've witnessed (stealing, filth, infections, jailtime, hard drugs, etc.)

Love the idea of the "promote your blog" forum, hilarious!

That said, I did enjoy some of the author's other writing.

I use my gardener's work gloves for belaying.

There should be a dirtbag couch surfing system on mp. Just write in where you want to climb/travel and people who want climbing partners or are just nice enough to let you stay can respond! Buy your host a six-pack and share some stories.

I make my gardener belay me

In my dirt bag days, the only electronics item I owned was a disc man. No cell phone, mp3 player, computer, or digital camera. I had a pair of carharts that I wore pretty much every day for a couple of years. I ate tons of pasta, rice, beans, potatoes, cheese, peanut butter and jelly, and cheap soup.

My strategy was to work 60-70 hour weeks (I work in health care) for 6 weeks or so, living with my parents (for free) and then hit the road for 2 months or until the money ran out. Repeat. I shared alot of campsites, camped on BLM land for free, crashed on friends floors, and my favorite, lived in an igloo on forest service land for a few months. Those years were some of my favorite in my life so far, I had no money, and few possessions, but I saw more beautiful sunsets and felt more connected to the outdoors than ever before or since.

I think the most helpful things for dirt bagging are the mindset and ability to do things on the cheap, dedication to get out there and climb, and the willingness to work hard and long for your freedom. My time working back to back 60 hour weeks sucked, but it was worth it once I got back in the woods.

I agree that the article is pretty uninformative and vague, and I never needed belay gloves.

There should be an article written about what the term 'dirtbag' actually is, defined by the Urban Dictionary...my guess is that Dirtbagging wouldn't seem so cool &/ or trendy...but, who knows, maybe it would make it more 'popular'...

That chick aint no dirtbag