What’s in your multipitch kit?

Hi everyone,

I’m just curious what personal gear people make sure to carry in their trad multipitch kit. Let’s say it’s a 6-10 pitch route, with the crux pitch/pitches at your onsight limit, and you’re going to rappel the route. You’ll also be building you own anchors. The season is fall with a high of 50 degrees and the chance of rain is pretty low. Some pitches will be sunny and some will be shady. What are you almost always going to bring for personal gear, besides protection and obvious gear (climbing shoes, harness, nut tool, etc.)? Here’s my list:

Gri Gri (with locker)
ATC (with locker)
Two prussiks
Cordalette (with locker)
Double length sling (with locker)
Petzl spatha
Headlamp 
2-3 extra lockers
Lightweight synthetic jacket (most likely wearing the whole time)
Helium II rain jacket
1-1.5 liters of water in a Hydrapak 
3 bars  
I also just got a Beal Escaper so that might start making the team too. 

I believe that’s it. I’ll also add that in this situation I would very likely not be bringing a pack. How does it compare to your kit?

Six lockers? Dang man. Why are you listing some slings and carabiners but not all of them? What makes a double-length sling "personal gear" and your dozen alpine draws something different?

My list (assuming normal climbing gear is NOT personal gear) is:

• Mammut Alpine Smart and locker for all belay and rappel uses.
• Hollowblock and small locker
• Patagonia Houdini jacket clipped to harness
• Helmet
• Headlamp, space blanket and lighter in tiny pouch clipped to harness
• Chalk bag on 7mm cord that functions as 2nd prussik
• Phone and/or Inreach Mini depending on where I am

Señor Arroz wrote: Six lockers? Dang man. Why are you listing some slings and carabiners but not all of them? What makes a double-length sling "personal gear" and your dozen alpine draws something different?

My list (assuming normal climbing gear is NOT personal gear) is:

• Mammut Alpine Smart and locker for all belay and rappel uses.
• Hollowblock and small locker
• Patagonia Houdini jacket clipped to harness
• Helmet
• Headlamp, space blanket and lighter in tiny pouch clipped to harness
• Chalk bag on 7mm cord that functions as 2nd prussik
• Phone and/or Inreach Mini depending on where I am

I like to carry the extra lockers in case I’ll need to bail/self-rescue. I didn’t list non-lockers that would be used to clip some of those items to my harness. So, there would be an additional 2-3 of those which I would use for the helium, water, and Escaper. The knife, headlamp, and bars are all going into my Tufa chalk bag. I only listed the double length sling because it is something I try to always have on me (for a situation like ascending the rope) and not as a sling to extend pro.

Good call on the phone, forgot to throw that in there. 

For a non alpine less than 10 pitch in a developed area:

• Patagonia nano air light hoody (wearing it)
• Headlamp
• Grigri with locker
• Reverso with locker
• 1.5 liter disposable water bottle with a clip in loop tied on
• Prussik clipped to reverso biner
• 1x attache locker
• Microtraxion 
• A couple bars
• Old booty bail biner
• PHONE!

No rain jacket if the forecast is clear and its reasonably warm.

Sam X wrote: For a non alpine less than 10 pitch in a developed area:

• Patagonia nano air light hoody (wearing it)
• Headlamp
• Grigri with locker
• Reverso with locker
• 1.5 liter disposable water bottle with a clip in loop tied on
• 8mm quadruple length sling (mammut)
• Prussik with wiregate
• 1x attache locker
• Microtraxion 
• A couple bars
• Old booty bail biner

No rain jacket if the forecast is clear and its reasonably warm.

Any particular reason you prefer the quadruple length to a triple length or cordalette?

Also, I’m curious what you use the Microtraxtion for? Hauling a small bag?

Joel M wrote:

Any particular reason you prefer the quadruple length to a triple length or cordalette?

Also, I’m curious what you use the Microtraxtion for? Hauling a small bag?

I edited it out because it isnt really personal gear.

 It makes three piece gear anchors incredibly quick and simple. Throw in a clove hitch here or there and you can connect even 3 distant cams to a masterpoint using only the one sling. For bolted anchors you can fold it over and then tie it into a super bomber quad. It can also be fashioned easily into an aider if needed. It is far far lighter and smaller than a cordalette of the same length, though slightly less versatile because it cannot be untied. I find a triple length can sometimes come up a bit short and doesnt make as good of an aider.

I dont carry a microtraxion all the time, but it is a versatile tool for rescue, hauling a partner, a bag, or even simul climbing, and self belay if short fixing

‘When selecting gear, if you think you might need it...you don’t. If you know you need it...you do.’ -Donini 
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/3154504/donini-aphorisms

Here's a pretty typical multi-pitch kit for me:

https://www.gearshelf.com/kits/175/gear

Sam X wrote: I dont carry a microtraxion all the time, but it is a versatile tool for rescue, hauling a partner, a bag, or even simul climbing, and self belay if short fixing

Brief tangent for clarity: you are using the micro traxion for the follower in a short-fixing situation, right?  Please tell me you're not using a toothed device for lead rope soloing.

PS: Micro traxions are totally dope, really light, and useful for all sorts of tasks.  Totally worth the weight.

ATC
2 lockers.
Headlamp in my chalk bag
Small water bottle on my harness.
Energy Bar in my pocket.
Wind shirt or appropriate jacket.  

That’s it.  No backpack, no specific rescue stuff that can’t be Gerry rigged with my rack and a few alpine draws.

Why are so many bringing a grigri in addition to an ATC?

Kevin Mokracek wrote: ATC
2 lockers.
Headlamp in my chalk bag
Small water bottle on my harness.
Energy Bar in my pocket.
Wind shirt or appropriate jacket.  

+ 2x 6mm prusiks girth hitched to harness back loop

+ Belay gloves

+ Locker for descent shoes (after seeing my partner's shoe become unclipped from a non-locker)

Helmet
Harness
Alpine Up on locker
Petzl connect adjust on harness
couple of extra lockers
Water on harness
1-2 cliff bars or similar in pocket
micro puff or other jacket on body or on harness
beanie on head or in pocket
cell phone (or inreach if out of cell service) in pocket

maybe Webolette
maybe tibloc
maybe crack gloves

Unlikely to take a headlamp or descent shoes up the route because the descent is rapping the route.  I can head down when it starts getting late in the day.

Sam Skovgaard wrote: Brief tangent for clarity: you are using the micro traxion for the follower in a short-fixing situation, right?  Please tell me you're not using a toothed device for lead rope soloing.

Correct, for the follower

chapstick

Lighter or matches!  If you have to forge through an unplanned bivi, you can sit and stare at a warm fire till sunrise. 

Joel M wrote: The season is fall with a high of 50 degrees and the chance of rain is pretty low. Some pitches will be sunny and some will be shady.

With those conditions, I bring my off-white fleece which usually becomes the outer layer during the entire climb.  It really cuts the solar gain when in the sun, helping to even out how warm I feel whether in sun or shade.

If that doesn't work out and am getting too cool, I throw on over it a dark-ish wind breaker.

Sam X wrote:

Correct

I think short fixing is something else. It sounds like you’re using a microtraxion for protecting the leader from the second while simuling. Short-fixing is where the leader fixes the follower’s rope for them to jug or rope solo and keeps climbing with the remaining slack. (either with some kind of self belay or with a PDL/no real belay) Using a microtrax to self belay while short fixing is a pretty bad idea. 

Kit I always carry:-Microtrax, short hollow block, and tiny Trango knife on one non locker-belay device-double length dyneema sling on a small, light locker-three more lockers either for rope soloing or for using a plaquette style device and cloving into the anchor-Sewn double length sling as chalkbag belt
Pretty much everything else depends on the route and the weather forecast. If it’s not going to rain, don’t bring a rain jacket.   Also, don’t carry an escaper. They don’t work the way you think they do.  Also, prusiks and bail gear can and should be built from items already on the rack. It’s not worth the weight and bulk to carry this kind of extra emergency kit because it’s so easy to improvise especially if you’re already carrying a microtrax and you’re almost never going to need it. 

"rope, a rack, and the shirt on your back"..... if it works for the Black I don't see why it doesn't work everywhere

For a more serious reply though:

climb in a hoody.
I bring a knife, and maybe a little water bottle.

no need for 2 belay devices: a backed up munter is bomb incase something gets dropped. 

+1 for Rope, rack, shirt on your back. I then add one biner on my haul loop that has short amount of cord for friction hitch, tiblok, and a knife. 

I've not seen anyone mention a first aid kit?

majority  of the ones out there are mostly  "hiker ouchy" stuff.  to get to bleeding and fractures you need to move up the size scale a bit (c-splint)  I'm trying to find the sweet spot.  right now mine is about as big as IFAK I carried on body armor in military

thoughts?