Starting a Rack From Scratch

Plan to start building my first rack now before everything thaws out what should it consist of?

That is a big question with very little information.

Where do you plan to do most of your climbing?
What type of climbing do you prefer?
Have you done much lead trad climbing in the past?
How much money do you plan to spend?

I think it is great that you are asking this question. Regardless of how you answer the above questions here is my 2 cents. If you are relatively new to leading trad don’t buy anything. Use your friends gear until you discover what you like best. I’m sure this post will be bombarded with what type of gear is best, active vs passive pro, and how many of each piece to have. However, the best gear is the kind you like best. People will argue BD Camalots vs Wild Country Friends or any other brand. The reality is that what ever you feel comfortable with is the best piece. So use everyone else rack and make your own decision after some experience

If you do decide to buy I gear I would recommend checking out all the used gear people sell on this site and others. This way if you buy something your not crazy about your not out as much money. When buying pro I would stick to (in my personal order of preference) BD, Wild Country, CCH, or Metolius. There is a reason why these are the most common brands you see at the crags. If you are going to have only one set of cams I would also recommend that they are mostly all the same brand. Or at least have all your micro cams one brand, and the rest another.

I'll bite, but you should probably do a search either here or rockclimbing.com. This is probably the most repeatedly covered topic known to man. However, since I am bored and find myself unable to not talk about climbing, I'll give you an idea of what's on my TRAD multipitch rack.

Set of nuts 4-13
Set of tricams small sizes (.5- 3)I also added the new black .25 Some people like, some don't, but I think they are invaluable to any rack
Set of BD C4 Camalots .3 - #3 Later on start to double up either with more C4's or another set of Metolius or DMM cams for diversity. I use metolius.
8-12 trad draws. Make at least 2 of them 120 cm, the rest 60 cm
1-4 micro cams. I use old BD's and master cams, but this one is strictly preference. Some like C3's, mastercams or aliens.
Hexes are up to you, but I keep a few of the mid sizes at home. I also cycle a few of the smaller size metolius wire hexes on my rack, more of the small nut sizes. They have there place occasionally.
1 double length runner
2 single legnth runner
1 20 ft. 7mm cordellette on a locking caribiner
1 spare locking caribiner
3 spare caribiners - I use BD Nuetrinos, but WC heliums make for a great lightweight rack
1 nut tool - DON'T FORGET!!!
1 regular quickdraw - to attach my pack etc. to a belay or to extend and anchor arm. Just good to have.

Of course your rack will grow and probably triple in size. Also talk to the locals in your area and find what works best for your particular area.

thanks everyone, my apologies for such a redundant question.

sergio to answer your questions:

Where do you plan to do most of your climbing? All over Utah, mainly northern Utah though (eventually I'd like to climb all over)

What type of climbing do you prefer? I'm still trying to figure this out.

Have you done much lead trad climbing in the past? Zero, i guess i should elaborate i was asking for pretty much a beginners rack

How much money do you plan to spend? Lots, i know its not cheap. luckily right now i have no bills and a decent job.

Few follow ups as well.

are most potential partners OK if you don't have your own rack?

is there any particular equipment i should absolutely stay away from?

thanks again for all your help everyone, i really do appreciate it!

Chase, Get a good comfortable harness, a belay device, a 6 pack on your way down from Wyoming, bring a good attitude, be willing to help out. With this most people will be fine with you using there gear.

If the weather looks good for this weekend, PM me and we'll go climb something.

Robert

As a relative noob I can only offer this. Learn to place passive pro well, don't just stick in. I still am learning more each time I go out and also when doing some good reading (Long's 2nd edition anchor book right now).

If you start out having cams you are lucky, they sure are handy but passive pro got me a long way to start with. I do have one cam now, a 0.75 C4. It's sweet and I sure feel good placing it and climbing above it. :)

I think most partners are worried about a lot more things like your safety and compatibility with them vs if you have a rack or not.

Oh yea, trad freaking rules so have fun and be safe!

Robert 560 wrote:Chase, Get a good comfortable harness, a belay device, a 6 pack on your way down from Wyoming, bring a good attitude, be willing to help out. With this most people will be fine with you using there gear. If the weather looks good for this weekend, PM me and we'll go climb something. Robert

I've got a Metolius Safe Tech Harness that i love and a DMM bug that i'll take over any other simple belay device anyday. Whats your Brew Robert?

Thanks again everyone!

Robert 560 wrote:Chase, Get a good comfortable harness, a belay device, a 6 pack on your way down from Wyoming, bring a good attitude, be willing to help out. With this most people will be fine with you using there gear. If the weather looks good for this weekend, PM me and we'll go climb something. Robert

The best deal you'll get. Find an experienced partner who has all the gear you could want and is more than happy to climb with a new guy so long as they have a great attitude and will bring post climb beers. I like a lot of cams. Metolius, BD, Wild Country, aliens are all good and have advantages in various sizes and attributes. That said if you insist on buying gear ahead of time you cant go wrong with BD from .75 and up but going up the a #3 would be enough. For smaller sizes I like Metolius from the beautiful little yellow tcu to red but aliens are pretty sweet also. For nuts grab a handfull up to an inch and be sure to get pink, red and brown tricams. AVOID the tricams slung on dyneema.

If you must buy gear going with Camalots from .4-4 is not a bad set of cams, the ABC stoppers are a good deal, and tri cams are great. that would be a good starter rack. Don't forget slings and draws rope cordelette, webbing, guide books and all the other nessisary items.
-Tom

anybody know anything about C.A.M.P. Tricams?

Chase, how is the search for ice coming??? I live in Salt Lake and if you want to hook up to try some gear... I can arrange that... I think the idea of trying out a lot of gear is a great one. It is hard to say which gear you will like until you try the different brands. If you want to get out let me know. PM me.
Dallen

Sunny-D wrote:Chase, how is the search for ice coming??? I live in Salt Lake and if you want to hook up to try some gear... I can arrange that... I think the idea of trying out a lot of gear is a great one. It is hard to say which gear you will like until you try the different brands. If you want to get out let me know. PM me. Dallen

I got my snowmobile running just to shorten the approach to my spot. let you know how that ice is in a few days. and thanks for the offer i may take you up on that!

Joshua, Just wondering, why would you say to avoid the dyneema Tri cams?

Chase, Logan has some great trad spots that are really great for learning. It is a bit cold right now up there though. Little has some sunny crags that can be climbed any time of the year. Let me know when you want to get out.
Dallen

Really? I had no idea there were any trad climbs in Logan. I know there's tons of Sport spots, but never heard anyone talk about trad routes, rad. although yes, it was very cold I went snowshoeing up woodcamp with my dog in just a softshell.. bad idea.

Chase Gee wrote:anybody know anything about C.A.M.P. Tricams?

Yes, they are great when you have the right placement for them, but like anything else they take practice.

Sunny-D wrote:Joshua, Just wondering, why would you say to avoid the dyneema Tri cams?

Chase, Camp tricams are great up to the blue. See below about the dyneema.

Sunny, The problem with the dyneema is that its not stiff enough when your flipping around the cam. When you place a tricam you pull it off your rack and flip it into position, then shove it in a crack. With the dyneema its too flimsy to control how the cam sits and won't be as easy to reposition. This is especially important with tricams that are most popular (pink, red, brown) that for most people are too small to use their fingers to reach into the crack and adjust the placement.

Oh I and forgot to mention, that getting a rack is more of a journey than a process. I actually started building mine a while before I started leading. Sometimes I would second my friend leading on my rack! It's a long process for most of us, I don't think most people buy the sets you see on mountain gear. Maybe a cam a month or every other month etc. It will take time slowly over many years. THEN you start to get greedy and end up with 3+ full racks!!

Doug S gave me some good advice when it comes to placing pro...stick in the piece and move on...

Wait...maybe he was giving me relationship advice...

Scott has it right about the journey. I started out with a set of nuts and a few quick draws. If possible, see if you can find an area where passive gear will get you through safely. From there you can see what kinds of cams you need, then work your way up. I spent about 2 or 3 summers on my rack before I got it to a place where I'm very comfortable with it.

By the way, yellow aliens are an amazing piece of gear.

chase, while this is the most repeated post i'll admit it the most fun to answer to as well. Here goes as far as the rack, not soft goods but I'll include draws.

1 1/2 set of nuts- the 1/2 being in the small to medium range. go with nuts you have used as a second since you'll be most familiar with.

Cams- Metolius powers/or Masters- 00-3, eventually double up on 1-3

Camalots- .5-4, doubles in .75-3

slings- 15 24" runners, some spectra/dyneema and some nylon (that way if you have to set up an anchor with only slings you can retain some dynamic properties to the anchor. You can do this with an anchor set up out of rope but, well, it takes up rope on long pitches)
2 shoulder lengths, more if you climb in an area in Utah that has lots of wandering.

Biners- for racking and draws a mix of neutrinos and hotwires. nuts you'll probably want on ovals.

Knife- this is standard to cut mank and reuse a solid steel rap ring, I have the Trango pirhana and it goes on the biner that holds my chalk bag.

you'll now more about what you want/ don't need as you climb more
have fun

Chase,

This is how I started collecting gear;

Start with a set of BD stoppers #3-10 and full set of BD hexes( others will argue this until the 'cows come home'), eight slings, about twenty light-weight biners, one cordelette, two locking biners, one nut tool, etc. Gear selection is a personal decision and opinions will vary greatly. I seldom place hexes except when I'm climbing easier routes in the mountains, otherwise, they were a great learning tool, plus, they sound great at 2:00 AM.

I recommend climbing everything within your ability that will take passive protection and lead as many routes as humanly possible. Practice building anchors and placing passive protection until you are solid and confident. Then, start buying cams, one at a time. You don't want to walk into a climbing shop or REI and drop $800.00 on cams and gear, then show up in the Eldo parking lot with a shiny new rack(SNR Syndrome).

One last bit of advice; buy gear slowly and when needed. I used to reward myself by buying a new cam after I climbed a route that challenged and scared me. Your rack should grow with experience, not because cams look cool and are fun to buy.

Good luck and be safe,

Shane