First Sport Rack

Hello, I am looking to get outside and I would like some input on gear I would need.

Here it is,

Mammut 9.8mm dry rope

A Rope Bag

Mammut Sender QuickDraws, or BD litewire, a few alipine draws

Bluewater 7mm accessory cord (for anchor)

Some slings

Extra carabiners

Helmet

I think that should be all. Let me know if I’m missing something.

Already have stuff for indoor climbing, shoes, harness, atc, etc.

Thats a good list as is - you can get a lot done with just a dozen quick draws.  

It is best practice to make a proper self-equalizing cord-or-sling plus lockers sliding-X for your sport anchor, esp if its an unattended top rope with other friends lapping on it.  Color coding you carabiners for bolt vs rope all the better.

But, there it is also especially fast, secure, and safe to just do a quick draw into one side of a bolted anchor + a locker-quickdraw on the other side. I think thats a good compromise btw the best-practice (sliding-X + lockers) and the common practice (two non locking quickdraws).

Most beginner sport climbs would also be made a bit easier with a stick clip.

-

Ymmv, learn from professionals, etc etc

I’d recommend a 70m rope (may come in handy some routes and rapping multipitch)

And I’d go with the senders or any other keylock on the bolt side quickdraws, even if it costs a bit more

Anchor building can usually be accomplished with just lockers and slings. On that note, steel-insert (Edelrid bulletproof) lockers for belay and top rope anchor carabiners are quite nice, keeps your ropes cleaner and wont wear out 

I would skip 7 mm cord for sport climbing anchor. A burly sling is more convenient. 

I would skip the slings and accessory cord and get or make a stick clip.

Awesome you are getting out there!! A few things that I feel like are really nice elements in my sport kit that I wish I bought from the start: 

• A single 240cm nylon sewn runner for an easy quad (kind of an uncommon length, Edelrid and BD make them though) 
• Edelrid HMS Bulletproof FG lockers for the top rope
• A single Edelrid Bulletproof quickdraw for the first bolt for way less oxidized aluminum dust on the rope.
• Grigri or similar locking belay device (aside from the Revo). When my partner is up there really working a route, it’s nice to not need to be applying constant resistance to a belay device. (Note that one still needs to hold or tie off the rope with a Grigri.)
• A backpack that unzips like a duffle bag to carry the rope/gear/whatever instead of a classic rope bag. It’s nice to only carry 1 bag, and also stay organized at the crag (I use the Blue Ice Octopus, it also comes with a rope tarp)
• Stick clip

I have a few quick questions, are solid gate quickdraws better then wire gate, and for a 240cm sling should it be dyneema or nylon?

Thanks for all the input so far

A M wrote:

I have a few quick questions, are solid gate quickdraws better then wire gate, and for a 240cm sling should it be dyneema or nylon?

Thanks for all the input so far

Regarding gates, I like solid for sport climbing, but it's really personal preference.  I'd more look at what model feels better to clip rather than solid vs wire.  My personal favorite draws are the Petzl Spirits, it appears that Outdoor Gear Lab agrees with that too lol

For the 240cm sling, I use nylon for single pitch top rope anchors. There are a lot of threads here on the forum re dyneema vs nylon, and I am sure if I elaborate any more on my reason for material choice, people will come in and derail this thread completely. I do use 240cm dyneema slings for multipitch sport and trad anchors, but those are slightly different use cases than you are asking for. 

I also often use a couple quickdraws with lockers on each side instead of a quad.  You can fairly cheaply make this by using the lockers you already are buying for your quad and just buying 2 extra quickdraw dogbones.  It's a bit faster to rig and less bulky on the harness, but less versatile.

Edelrid bulletproof plus one for Edelrid bulletproof

Have you climbed outdoors before? Do you have any experienced outdoor climbing partners?

FrankPS wrote:

Have you climbed outdoors before? Do you have any experienced outdoor climbing partners?

Yes

Save your sling and locker money for a gri gri or equivalent. My sport rack is draws, 2 alpines for weird anchors or cleaning, rope, harness, chalk, gri gri. Don’t even bring an atc these days.

quad at a crag signals the same thing as a PAS at the gym.

John Clark wrote:

quad at a crag signals the same thing as a PAS at the gym.

Not sure what you are getting at here, I believe the quad to be one of the best options for anchors?

Finn Lanvers wrote:

Not sure what you are getting at here, I believe the quad to be one of the best options for anchors?

Better than 2 draws? Please regale me with the advantages over two draws.

I say this having used a quad for a few years and now my 4 quads collect dust in my garage. Just trying to help beginners avoid the pointless gear acquisition.

2 draws is all you need for a TR anchor at 99% of bolted sport climbs. Quad and cord are great for efficient trad anchors and would be quite excessive at a sport crag. Don't bother with locker draws either unless you are real paranoid, just set them up opposite and opposed. Definitely agree with what others have said about getting a Grigri or other assisted device. Mammut Smart is a good budget option that adds a bit of security over an ATC. I watched a kid get smoked in the head with a fist sized rock and thank god he wasn't using an ATC because he fully let go of the rope.

Matt Griffin wrote:

Don't bother with locker draws either unless you are real paranoid, just set them up opposite and opposed.

I used to feel the same way but have been caught by surprise sometimes coming up to a quickdraws only anchor and finding dogbones with weird twists etc.  Especially with newer climbers (who often haven newer partners, climb in groups) i feel like a single locker draw adds some peace of mind for laps/groups, without requiring the complexity/faff of something like a quad.  Also, protects against something like the recent groundfall that happened at Auburn Quarry recently.

John Clark wrote:

Better than 2 draws? Please regale me with the advantages over two draws.

I say this having used a quad for a few years and now my 4 quads collect dust in my garage. Just trying to help beginners avoid the pointless gear acquisition.

You have dedicated slings just for quads? For 15$ you can get a mammut contact sling, furthermore the options that they provide are invaluable should you have to rescue yourself or others.

Don Frijoles wrote:

Why not just get the gear that will cover 100% since it costs maybe $20 more and can be used for many years.

$20 for a quad you will never use vs. $0 for two draws you already have... Given enough time climbing it would make sense to get one along with many other pieces of gear, but as a requisite for basic outdoor cragging that seems unnecessary.

Finn Lanvers wrote:

You have dedicated slings just for quads? For 15$ you can get a mammut contact sling, furthermore the options that they provide are invaluable should you have to rescue yourself or others.

Had. Never use quads now, even for multipitch trad anchors. Just not needed.

I think the a 120 cm Edelrid aramid sling is a very secure and convinient top rope anchor, instead of using a quad. Two draws is fine if the climb is vertical, but if it is some shitty beginner ledgey slap, it is not optimal. 

Don Frijoles wrote:

I didn't say quad.

For TR anchors: A couple of basic 60cm nylon slings with dedicated rope-side carabiners: thick round-stock (or steel if you want to splurge), one of them a locker, will cover 100% of sport anchor bolt configurations and last a long time. Probably doesn't cost more in total since you need two fewer draws.

The problem with relying on two draws every time is that when you encounter an anchor where they don't quite work you may be tempted to use them anyway.

Fair enough, just assumed on my end. You didn't exactly lead with a different solution either though.

Yeah, lots of ways to skin that cat, just trying to keep people from getting gear they will regret. $20 seems trivial with a closet full of gear, but is enough to keep some out of climbing starting out.