Buying first rack

I'm in Northeast texas and not many climbers around these parts. I've traveled up to Horseshoe Canyon Ranch a few times, and have a love for crack climbing. Most are not bolted so I need a rack. I'm looking at ordering two sets of the BD C4 from .5 to 3 and adding a .3, and a set of BD stoppers. I think this will be a good start. I have tons of slings, biners, and draws to get started. Anything I'm missing?

ditch the 2nd set of cams, get a set of TCUs (0-4). if you still think you don't have enough gear get a set of tricams from black to red. i wish i had the money to just order 2 sets of cams and a set of stoppers...

Start with nuts, .3-3 and tricams if interested. Racks are best built over time so you know what you need and learn to get buy with less. You will quickly figure out what doubles are useful in your area and work from there.

I have the lump of cash now. Would rather cover the big expense first. I can always suplement the low cost items slowly. Finding $50 is no problem. But $800 doesn't come available too often. In my area it's pretty much wide #2 and #3 cams. Haven't even seen anyone with nuts where I climb just figured that would be a good addition to a basic rack.

My guide book show multiple #1, #2, and, #3s on most routs.

in that case i would suggest getting WC rockcentrics in those sizes. and when doubling up on the same size cams, choosing a different brand will give you more options with sizes, other than C4s and DMM Dragons

Your plan sounds pretty good. I started climbing on that same rack (Tahoe/Yosemite) and made it fine without the small cams for a little while. I also had the benefit of knowing what rack would work because my friend had a rack.

Having a 0.3 and a 0.4 will definitely go a long way. You can worry about doubling on small cams later on.

Check out the online gear deals thread and try to get your BD cams for at least 25% off. They go on sale for 20% off extremely often and 30% on occasion.

Good luck, feel free to skip the hexes and tricams, and as a beginner having more gear is better than having less gear (I don't recommend building a rack piecemeal). A double rack and stoppers is a good base to build on. If you're climbing on single pitch, you'll probably end up placing only a couple nuts anyhow.

Where is the online gear deal thread?

I got c4 doubles .5-3 and aliens blue to red and a set of nuts. You can probably skip one .5 if you wanted since .4 (red alien) is close (although with the set price maybe get .5 anyway). I have hexes and tricams and never read climb with them. A handful of alpine draws, some double length slings, binders, cord, nut tool, that's most of it. I also have one #4 which allows for doing some more climbs.

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It would be ideal to get some input from experienced locals at the crag you're most focused on. Most people I know would add at least a single set of small and medium nuts to what you've listed. Micro nuts are sometimes essential at my home crag. I'd way rather have a 0.3 and a 0.4 and only singles of 2 and 3 to start. Cams in the C3 range are pretty essential here in the Gunks, but again, your locals may tell you different. If you're not going to get any small cams I'd definitely get some nuts if you want a rack you can use across the country.

Tricams are incredible pieces, I seriously use mine all the time, especially the pink. But I am in NH, not sure what the rock around you looks like, but if you can find them inexpensively, i.e watch the for sale section on here, I highly recommend picking up some. I have doubles in pink, red and brown and a blue. They weigh next to nothing and work where sometimes nothing else will, and you get a warm fuzzy feeling when you place and clip a bomber tricam.

nut tool and if your local crag has horizontals / flaring cracks than grab some tricams. Use pink one all the time, red and ones smaller than pink once in a while. Work on adding aliens or x4 if you ever get down to needing stuff for smaller cracks.

Prolly gonna add a set of x4s next but most of my crack are #2s or bigger.

Chase, if you have the cash, your original post would be a killer first rack, but add the .4 C4.

A lot of people will recommend them, but do not get Tricams or Hexes. They were great in a time before spring loaded camming devices, but are slightly outdated, and you can just place a cam where ever you would have placed a hex or tricam. I realize there are areas of the country where people LOVE hexes and tricams, but you don't really need them.

As you progress, you will want to get some small cams too, look into aliens, they are awesome. X4's are pretty sweet too for small stuff...

half-pad-mini-jug wrote:you can just place a cam where ever you would have placed a hex or tricam.

try placing a cam in a super muddy and/or icy crack and tell us how it goes. plus if you take a big ass fall on a cam in a horizontal you risk kinking/breaking the tigger wires and/or stem. you take a huge whipper on a tricam in horizontal and the worst thing that could happen is you abrade the sling a little. and even if it cuts the sling, which would you rather replace, a cam or a tricam? plus hexes and tricams are significantly lighter then their springloaded counterparts.

I'm trying to get the most for my money. So the kits make sense, and I have enough in the budget for one extra cam. Was gonna go with the .3. Is that the best option or the .4? I can add single cams pretty quick if I need them. I get a monthly bonus at work, usually about $150 a month. That's gonna be my addition money as I find more needs.

i haven't climbed in texas but in my experience a .4 is more useful. it's roughly equivalent to an orange TCU, which is by far my most frequently used cam.

.4 is more versatile. I climbed on a skeleton rack for years up to 5.9 trad. I had single cams up to #1 camalot and a number 4 camalot! Half a set of stoppers and a half set of hex's I re-slung. Then I had a full set of tri cams.....those bad boys saved my bacon more than once! Funny thing is there were many routes that said "multiple #2 and #3 C4's.....but I could still climb them fairly safely. Some people have tunnel vision and have a hard time finding alternatives to cam placements. Like Durrance on Devil's tower.....there are people who say it's tough to find pro in spots unless you have a number 4 C4....but I found multiple ways to protect those spots with no cams at all. Go figure.

I would get a full single rack of C4 from .3 to #3 before I started doubling up. It is sometimes the case that if you can place a larger cam there will be smaller cracks nearby as well.

I would rather have the full range of sizes and be confident you could fit a cam in almost any placement rather than having a narrower range of doubles. You can double things up as you find them necessary, especially if you can climb with someone who can share a rack with you as you learn.

However, if you know the area needs doubles of X size, go for it.

A set of big Hexes, despite their shortcomings, could be a useful investment since a full set costs you ~2 cams and would give you the large size doubles you want at less cost and allow you to tweak your rack later. I'm not sure this is the route I would personally take, but it is an option.

Make sure you practice placing nuts regardless of whether or not you have a cam that fits. It's super nice to know how to place passive pro when you need it.

Happy climbing.

I would recommend getting X4's or Mastercams over the TCU's. I think the single stem units will be more versatile for the type of rock you're climbing.

Definitely get doubles in the hand sizes (BD #1-3) considering where you are climbing. Next on the list should be more small cams (don't skip the .4 C4) and maybe a #4 (more than a few of the HCR take 'em)?

I would get some small-med nuts to supplement the small sizes, but hold off on the tri-cams and hexes until you get to try them out yourself.

Way to go on taking the plunge.