Buying Guides

Hey everyone,

Quick question for you. What are some topics for climbing buying guides that you would be interested in? And, a question that goes along with that, what are some topics for climbing buying guides that you would have been interested in when you first got into climbing?

I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!

It's a little bit hard to tell what you are asking. Are you wondering what to buy to maximize your climbing with a minimal budget? Or ate you taking about buying a guide who will take you climbing?

Your wording, "climbing buying guides," is hard to understand. Are you talking about guidebooks?

Or how-to instructional books?

I would have at least appreciated having the SuperTopo buying guides. Chris Mac's guides are much better than anything we used to have.**

If I were to dream big, I often think I would have benefited from some long-term-goal-based guidance. For example, if I were dreaming of sending reeel hard, the guide might suggest I buy an atc device that works especially well with reeel skinny ropes. I were dreaming of climbing beeeg walls, the guide might tell me to buy finger sized cams that fit in pin scars, not TCUs or C4s.

** We used to only have gear reviews written in hieroglyphics with lion's blood on papyrus. They were not often helpful.

Sorry, I should've been more clear. Let me try to clarify.

When you go to any of the big online retailers like backcountry.com, REI, Moosejaw, campsaver, etc. and start looking through their climbing categories you're confronted with a ton of options and not a lot of guidance on choosing gear to fit your needs, style, etc. For example, you may be looking in the harness category and be wondering, "should I go with the skimpy arc'teryx harness, the beefy metolius safe tech or the massive black diamond big gun?" Granted, mostly new climbers would be asking these questions but even climbers experienced in one discipline of climbing (such as sport or bouldering) may be transitioning into a new discipline (trad, alpine climbing) and could use some guidance.

Also, lots of gear has specs in it that not all climbers are familiar with. The average rope has all sorts of specs listed on it like UIAA falls, dynamic elongation, sheath percentage and so on. While having the stuff listed is impressive, having a guide to what it all means would be very helpful for some shoppers.

I worked at campsaver.com for about a year and a half as a climbing buyer and we were constantly getting questions about things like, what is the essential gear for a new climber? How should I decide which rope to buy? What should I start with when buying a new trad rack? Some people might have the opinion that if you have to ask you shouldn't be buying it but I don't agree with that. Many modern shoppers do their research online rather than getting their advice from friends or mentors. The advice they get may not always be the best (especially if they have to wade through sarcastic comments on certain forums...) but it's a starting point.

So anyway, back to the original question: when you are online or in a brick and mortar store buying gear, what guidance would you appreciate? Would a guide on buying a rope be helpful? What about something discussing the different cams available on the market, their strengths and weaknesses? Or, what about a bolt buying guide outlining when you would want to buy expansion bolts vs glue ins, etc?

Lastly, while I may not be the oldest climber out there I've been climbing for 12 years now, guided for 5, and have bought way too much climbing gear over this time period. I'm asking cuz I think it would be a great idea for retailers to pair buying guides with the gear they list for sale and am wondering what buying guides you all think would be helpful.

Jerel Lillywhite wrote:Many modern shoppers do their research online rather than getting their advice from friends or mentors.

For new climbers thats also part of the problem ...

Any safe and experienced person should be able to tell a beginner what they need to get started and check their setups

the problem i often see is folks who think they just need to look online as to what to buy, watch a few videos and think theyre good to start taking folks out

if you look around heres tons of review sites and buying guides ... including the mags

what there is a deficit of in comparison IMO ... is sites with a clear listing if the basic skills youll need, the amount you should be practicing them before using them where it matters

which is why i see folks on multi who are building a gear anchor for the first time ... or folks who have been climbing for years who dont know how to tie off a belay device in a releasable manner

gear is shinny and shopping makes you feel good ... practicing skills takes time and effort

;)