Road Rash from hand jamming

So I was learning to hand jam crack climb and i recived a pretty gnarly case of rad rash on my hands from the friction inside the crack...what is the best way to heal up this section or to prevent it other than taping up?

Once you get the hang of it, your hands wont be thrashing inside the crack as much. Tape well when learning...

JaredWatson wrote:what is the best way to heal up this section or to prevent it other than taping up?

FYI they're called Gobies, wear them with pride and maybe toss some salve on em! I hear they build character and will put hair on your chest.

Try not to scrape your hand around in the crack. Look first, where does it look like the good jam is? Then reach in, set the jam, pull as required, and don't move your hand around inside the crack until it's time to remove your hand in a controlled manner. That said, on a rough crack, some scrapes are innevitable, and many choose to tape to decrease the pain/fun ratio.

Learning to jam without tape will make you improve more quickly because there is serious incentive to analyze the crack and locate the good jam, rather than just wildly thrashing around inside it until your hand sticks. That said, you'll loose a lot of skin in the process, which many would not consider to be "fun", and isn't fun the whole point?

You're looking for constrictions to jam around. Typically, that will mean putting your appendage above the constriction, but sometimes you'll want to jam in the bottom of a constriction (it can often be narrower there, making for a better jam, or to use it as an undercling). Also, when the crack is mostly an offsize, those constrictions will turn a harder size into an easier size.

Note also that part of the source of gobies is letting a jam slide, either by underjamming or by hanging on your jams too much. Typically, better foot jams will help with that.

Also, while a great many climbing areas don't feature enough sustained crack climbing to justify tape gloves, there are very few pure crack climbing areas where you can get away without tape for more than a day or so.

Keep also in mind that blood is a fluid like any other, and consider how slick you'll make the climb for your second when deciding on tape or not.

As far as healing goes, scrub 'em clean with one of those antiseptic pads given the rocks are so dirty, then keep neosporin or petroleum jelly or something like the same on them 24-7...staying dedicated to coverage heals them remarkably fast. Light bandaging at night to keep the neosporin from rubbing off. I have way too much experience regrowing skin in places, ugh. Have fun learning Jared...I love crack climbing and you can get to some pretty awesome places with those skills.

don't weight your hand until it's locked in.