Climbing with a wedding band

I'm wondering if people climb with their wedding bands on or off. I'm getting married in February '07 and I don't know if I want to take the band off for a day of climbing or leave it on and risk scratching it. Any suggestions or past experience?

I am a firm believer in not wearing it on your hand. I used to take it off at the cliff, but sometimes I would forget, and 20 feet up the route, 2 chalk dips later, I would struggle getting it off and tossing it to my partner. Then I would worry about losing it. I, now, wear it around my neck. My wife, initially thought I was hiding it, but I told her I would make sure I took off my shirt and show off my chest to every inquisitive eye, and she has accepted it. Oh, and you have to tie a figure 8 as the knot, so it won't come undone. You could tie the European Death Knot, but then it might come undone just as a cute blonde came by, and your wife would kill you.

i take mine off to climb, but as nathan says it is a pain when you forget and have to stuff it into your chalk bag. i also take it off when i am doing renovation work on my house.

if you are getting a relatively inexpensive one, buy 5-6 identical rings at the same time. then you are safe when you inevitably lose one.

bad idea climbing with a ring. I also wear mine around my neck on some very small cordage, it's titanium so Super fly light.

I would never suggest wearing any sort of ring while climbing. I have come pretty close to tearing my finger off when it caught an edge. Just assure your wife that she will love you better with all of your phalanges, and take that ish off.

I always take mine off when climbing, usually putting it in my pack. She does too when climbing. I think the light band that shows from wearing it otherwise is a tell tale sign that I am married and wear it at all other times.

Well my plan of action seems clear. Thanks for the responses. I'm looking at titanium rings...Michael's story is an extra incentive to take it off!

I am in the same boat as you. Getting married in september. I am going with a Tungsten Carbide ring. Its a fairly new metal that is just as strong as titanium and looks exactly the same, but wont scratch at all, and its got a pretty good price tag on it.

That Tungsten is cool...but HEAVY. Titanium scratches...but weighs nothing.

I concur with the consensus to not climb with any rings. I just put mine on my keys until i am done climbing and then put it back on my hand. There are definitely safety risks such as breaking a finger and de-gloving (where all of the skin is pulled off your finger).

Recommendation: Don't climb with a ring! Legend back East tells of a climber who parted with a finger on a climb due to his ring. There was a school gymnastics coach who lost a finger to a ring. Seen finger injuries due to rings.

Back years ago, my wife & I made an agreement. She got a ring, we saved money (more to put into her ring) & I didn't have to worry about a finger (I need all 10 to barely be an average climber unlike Tommy or Malcolm) and losing it and feeling awful when I did. Commitment comes from the heart. Mine is strong with or without a ring.

No rings, I don't even climb with my watch on. I put my ring on my watch and secure it in my pack or attach it to my harness.

Likewise, no ring or watch. A ring especially is a bad idea. It gets in the way all the time and its easy to lose! The ring and watch stays in my pack at the bottom if I'm cragging or in the car on bigger days.

"they have to cut your finger off b/c to get the ring off b/c the ring cutters cannot cut through titanium. Probably not true, but cool to tell"

You're right that can't be true. Please do not let me railroad this thread to discuss Titanium.. Titanium is WEAKER and SOFTER than even Aluminum (i.e. AL 6061-T6). It's the strength to weight ratio thats attractive, not just it's strength. See matweb.com if you don't beleive me.

Anyway, the coolest thing I ever saw, was a married couple with "ring tattoos". (we wear our rings on a locker.. or leave at home)

I take it off and place it on a biner and take it with me. It is extra wieght but I like having it and I always have an extra biner with me if I need it.

My sister had my great aunt's ring on when she got it stuck and fell. Not to mention the dislocation of the finger, sewing the "peeled" finger back together seemed like it pained her- I'd recommend against it. This stuff is not just urban legend.
Other than that, why totally ruin your band- you'll scratch it all up & if it has stones, surely knock the stones out of it.

google "Ring Avulsion"...and select the images search. tasty persuader.

grega wrote:"they have to cut your finger off b/c to get the ring off b/c the ring cutters cannot cut through titanium. Probably not true, but cool to tell" You're right that can't be true. Please do not let me railroad this thread to discuss Titanium.. Titanium is WEAKER and SOFTER than even Aluminum (i.e. AL 6061-T6). It's the strength to weight ratio that is attractive, not just it's strength. See matweb.com if you don't believe me. Anyway, the coolest thing I ever saw, was a married couple with "ring tattoos". (we wear our rings on a locker.. or leave at home)

Dho... railroad completed...
No, Titanium is heavier than aluminum. TI is a little below 5, but I can't remember what. Al is 2.7 and most steels are ~7.2 I remember those because they are reversed and also ~3X apart. Ti is not as easily machined as AL either.
AL hardness is ~700-1800Mpa depending on the alloy and test. I don't know the numbers for Titanium, but I know it's more than AL. The point is that Ti is both lighter and weaker than steel, but stronger and heavier than aluminum.
More importantly, it has a much-higher 'toughness' and that makes it hard to machine, because chip-formation is different. And that's why you can't cut it easily.
If you don't believe me, put a block of Ti into a metal cutting machine and set the speeds and feeds as for aluminum or steel. Regardless of if you are cutting with HSS, Carbide, or a Ti-Ni coated tool, please get behind some bullet proof glass before you engage and end-mill, fly-cutter or drill. Ti is not as workable and is hard to cut.
Still, you can cut it if you MUST- try a diamond blade or another ceramic. But you'd probably need to go to the burn-unit afterwards.

when I first got married I wore my ring a few times bouldering until I hucked for a jug and dented the ring. I had a hell of a time getting the thing off - it looked like a "D" rather than a circle after that. I now have a new ring and I leave it at home whenever I go out climbing

Mike G. wrote:I'm wondering if people climb with their wedding bands

Did not have a wedding band but would not mind climbing with one. General suggestions would be keep an eye on the drummer - they can be a little flaky as their minds tend to wonder (always check their knots). Singers tend to over estimate their abilities but can make good rope guns in run out situations. Horn sections are useful for hauling loads into remote alpine routes but not that useful on sport routes. Watch the bass or better yet leave them on flat ground.

I've always taken my ring off before climbing and attached it to my keychain (I finally found a use for "Mickey Mouse" carabiners). Watches are no good either. My watch has hung me up when getting down out of trees from picking fruit and getting down from fixing stuff on the roof. I guess that I only think to take off my jewelry when I'm climbing.
My sister-in-law and her husband have tribal tattoos around their fingers because the military often requires them to remove their rings. I wonder what will happen if they divorce?