Where can I find used trad gear?
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After climbing my first 5 pitch trad route with a friend's gear, I decided I'm hooked. Any advice on where I can find used Cams and Nuts so that I don't have to pay retail? Also, what are the most important questions I can ask other than have any of the pieces been fallen on? |
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Mountain Projects for sale section is good. Not sure where you are, but in Denver area Wilderness Exchange is good, and in Boulder, Boulder Sports Recycler is alright. Don't put too much emphasis on gear history. My experience is that most of the time you can tell how rough people were by looking at them. Just pay attention to the slings/wires. As far as color coding I belive it's the only way to go. I have Camalots with Nutrinos. That's my 2 cents! |
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Yup MP is the best I have a full rack of doubles in tcu's and mastercams(metolious) and just picked up 5 more friends. I got all of them off MP. Plus nuts and biners and tricams. And all sorts of other goodness. The folks here know their gear and give you honest reports on it. |
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ask about the history of the piece, and ask for photos. |
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I normally wouldn't post a link to an ebay auction but this is a full rack of singles i'm selling.PM me if you have any questions. |
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color coded nuetrinos aren't necessary since the sling and lobes are usually colored, but they can a be a little nice. About 8 months ago there were rack packs of nuetrinos for sale online for about $4.50 a biner so getting colored nuetrinos for about the cheapest price of any wiregate made a lot of sense. I wouldn't pay an extra $2 per biner just for color. |
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Check place like Gear X.com....they have great prices especially on blem 'biners! Mountain Gear has specials too on dome 'biners when you buy 10 as does Campmor as well. EMS has been having a lot of 20% off sales as well... |
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Usually you can find used gear at the base of easy/moderate routes after a busy weekend. Also on the route after a storm. |
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Buying new carabiners is a cheap way to update your rack a little. The rack pack is kind of nice, but when you rack your gear on your harness, you usually know which pieces are where. As you lead more and more, you'll get better at rack management. I would say then just go for some inexpensive new biners instead, but the rack pack is actually pretty cheap. Have a blast man, climb safe. |
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JeffL wrote:Where can I find used trad gear?solo classic routes early monday morning. |
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+1 for the color coded neutrinos. Not necessary of course, but I love them (and I initially disliked the idea), so if you need to buy some biners anyway it might be worth it to spend a few extra bucks. Nice thing too is you can use your REI 20% coupon on the pack.. |
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Mountaingear.com has 25% off cams right now, pretty good deal. |
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B.S. Luther wrote:Mountaingear.com has 25% off cams right now, pretty good deal. mountaingear.com/webstore/C…ffffuuuuu I wish I had known this earlier in the month. Any idea how long it will last? |
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"ffffuuuuu I wish I had known this earlier in the month. Any idea how long it will last?" |