What width runners for alpine draws?

About to start building my trad rack. Curious what width runners people prefer for alpine draws? I looked at 10mm at rei the other day and that seemed a little thick 

I’ve used and whipped on 60 & 120 cm Mammut slings for years.  

I agree with not hobo about supporting your local shop, and I have found that I like the cheap, bright orange with blue carabiner sets from trango more than more expensive ones, they're slicker or a tighter weave and they don't fuzz up like a lot of other dyneema slings. 

If you ever want to make a friction knot - Bachman, Kleimheist etc. - out of  a sling - to ascend a rope or whatever - you might want a couple of fatter ones.

Edelweiss 7mm. It's the only product I like from that brand, but these are very sleek, supple and compact. I started using them four years ago and have never bought a different brand of dyneema sling since.

 It's a little unnerving hanging off of one girth-hitched to your redacted when you're several pitches off the deck, but you learn to trust them after a while. Paired with a single Camp Nano 22 biner, you can have four of them over your shoulder and not even feel that they're there.

A couple of nylon runners are nice to have in case you need to rig a second prussik, bail off a tree or tie/untie masterpoints at every pitch. (My semi-unpopular opinion is to ditch the cordalette and bring a 120cm nylon sling carried bandoleer-style across your chest, with the two ends clipped together at your sternum. It does most everything a lette does with none of the bulk or secondhand noob-fume exposure potential).

Buy a lot! When I'm at my limit on 150-200' granite pitches, I have fourteen extensions. That's usually eight 30cm trad draws, four 60cm alpine draws and two 120cm slings with single biners. And I still end up using my Hollowblock from time to time as a draw!

I always go to REI when I have to try on something. Then I go a few blocks away and buy local.

And for alpine gear, I make that as thin and light as possible. It’s strong enough to whip, so why carry something as thick and bulky as nylon sport draws. 

You want 8mm of some variety

F r i t z wrote:

Edelweiss 7mm. It's the only product I like from that brand, but these are very sleek, supple and compact. I started using them four years ago and have never bought a different brand of dyneema sling since.

 It's a little unnerving hanging off of one girth-hitched to your redacted when you're several pitches off the deck, but you learn to trust them after a while. Paired with a single Camp Nano 22 biner, you can have four of them over your shoulder and not even feel that they're there.

I've been using them for over a decade - no complaints at all. I love how light, low bulk, and supple they are.

I've also been toying with the idea of switching over to Mammut Contact slings...

Ryan Bowen wrote:

I always go to REI when I have to try on something. Then I go a few blocks away and buy local.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showrooming

I use the skinny Dyneema ones for my extendables. I also carry 4-8 fat nylon ones with a single one ‘biner over my shoulder. 

Consider color coding the dyneema slings by length. My 30’s are green, 60’s red and 120’s blue. Mmmm tidy. 

So far, the only ones I’ve used that I don’t like are the metolius ones. They’re too firm. Fritz has a good recommendation with the edelweiss 7mm. I can see some people not enjoying how supple they are, though.

I have 10mm Camp alpine draws. I can’t imagine wanting/needing to go any thinner or lighter than those… Honesty, when I wear these slings out I’ll probably switch to 11mm Trango for a bit of extra durability.

I try not to over think slings because they get replaced every few years anyways.

Like so much other gear, slings are a price, weight, durability tradeoff; the skinny stuff doesn't last as long as the nylon.  If I were just getting started, I'd consider getting one (or other small integer) of every make/model; your partners who lack inquiring minds will think you're the Frankenstein monster and be unable to dress appropriately to compliment your sling colors. But you'll know all your slings by name and which are optimized for different situations. Once I know what I like, I get (almost) all one type/color in one purchase so I can remember to swap the remaining survivors to the B-team after some appropriate number of years.

https://trango.com/products/phase-matte-alpine-draw-4-pack

If you are truly just doing alpine climbing and want to save weight go with the skinny draws but for a day of trad cragging go with nylon and just sling them over your shoulder with one or two on your harness.   I have gone full circle with alpine draws, I started with nylon then went to skinny dynema and now am back to almost exclusively nylon.  I just have more trust in nylon.   

Not Hobo Greg wrote:

What does that even mean? They’re both rated to 22kn. Nylon has a little more stretch, but only a little. I feel like people are always saying “I don’t trust that dental floss” while using another material that’s rated to the exact same load.

Like you said, a little more stretch.  After watching the DMM drop test between nylon and dynema I decided to start using nylon when weight saving isn’t a big issue.   I still use the skinny alpine draws from time to time but for a day of cragging I use nylon.  

FrankPS wrote:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showrooming

Not exactly, This actually kinda sounds like the opposite to me. Trying it at REI (huge online retailer) and then buying local. If I was REI I'd rather someone do this than do the "buy shoes, wear them out, and return for full credit" crap that a lot of people seem to do.

One other thing about the skinny dynema alpine draws I have noticed.  They are super light compared nylon and it has caused them to act kinda funky at times.   Last week I had one unclip from a biner on fall.  It totally could have happened with a nylon runner but what I have noticed using a super light runner is that it moves around a lot more because its so light and that can cause it to cross load or get into a funky orientation more than a nylon runner that is a little heavier and seems to sit better in the carabiner.   Like I said I use the skinny alpine draws but nylon is more robust and its going to sit better than a lightweight skinny runner.  Both have their place, I just don't think skinny draws are that well suited to say a day of cragging at Joshua Tree, I don't care that much about weight savings during a day of cragging.

I disagree with the Franken sling idea upthread. Any sling is good for a thousand things. You don’t need a thousand different types of slings. Simplicity/matching is more my style.

Beal 6mm no question