Multi-pitch Gear

I am looking at getting into multi-pitch climbing and wondering what gear I should start off with. My big question is what size cams should I begin with?

Where will you start climbing? Do you have any trad experience to date? What kind of experience? Single pitch, lead, second, etc.

First get single pitch gear. Then get two pitch gear. If that goes well, get three pitch gear. Then, sell your one and two pitch gear and get the multi pitch.

then gear up by pitching gear into the gear pitcher while gearing pitch on a multi pitch. Thats how i started at least...

Two particular online stores have regular sales on sets of 5 camalots for a great deal, around $250 (0.5-3). Consider finding a friend/partner to borrow/climb with to figure out what you need is another option.

Ps...that shits funny above!

I would start by reading some books and web resources on the subject first. I would then find someone with experience to help teach you.

If you start by following someone that knows what they are doing you will learn what gear you will need, how to properly use it, and how to get yourself out of trouble.

You can see what you will be getting yourself into here...

multipitchclimbing.com/

...and references to good books to start out.

mountainproject.com/v/best-…

More important than the gear is knowing how to use the gear. If you are building anchors there is not one set of gear just for anchors. Each climb is different. Find someone to teach you how to belay from above, how to build anchors, how to rescue, rope work and on and on. Some places have rings or belay anchors. Some have nothing. I found out the hard way once that just because the guide says fixed anchors does not always mean there is or that they are solid. So know how to do both. Best thing is to find a mentor that will take the time to teach you. That is what i did. Only cost me a couple of meals and a sore back hauling all the gear in and out but was well worth it. Good luck and be safe.

Everyone's gotta be a f*#kin' comedian these days.......

Brandon, get a set of .5-3 camalots as already mentioned, a full set of wired nuts and about 8 - 10 trad draws to go along with whatever regular draws you already have. That will be bare bones but hopefully your partner will have some gear as well to fill in the micro cams, bigger sizes or any doubles you might need for certain routes.
And stating the obvious here - a nut tool & a helmet, good luck & climb safe.

Depending on where you will be climb (not indian creek) I think climbing on all passive pro for the first year will do you some good. Placing passive pro is an good skill not everybody seems to place importance on. I started this way and was comfortable up to 5.8, 5.9 in some places. I have friends who have been lucky enough to have access to a rack of cams their whole climbing career who struggle when they have no cam placements.

If get a full set of nuts really small to big and a set of offset nuts. Those dmm torque hexes are awesome for your big pro or just substitute them for a #1, 2 , and 3 Camalot since you won't use them much after you buy cams anyway. Throw in 10-12 alpine draws and you'll have yourself a good foundation.

Also, learn to set up belays using the rope instead of cordalette.

Brandonhill wrote:I am looking at getting into multi-pitch climbing and wondering what gear I should start off with. My big question is what size cams should I begin with?

Either this is a troll. Or, you're missing some big chunks of information, because the "big question" is almost unrelated to the previous sentence. That is, "what do I need for multi-pitch climbing" is almost completely unrelated to "what size cams do I need".

Generally speaking, what you need gear-wise for multi-pitch climbing is not particularly different from what you need for single-pitch climbing -- for example, you can go multi-pitch climbing in many places in Switzerland, or at El Potrero Chico (in Mexico) with 16 (or so) quick-draws, a rope, and a belay/rappel device. That is, about the same as you'd use for a day of sport climbing.

Whereas the question of what size cams really comes down to what gear-protected climbs do you want to climb? And, is not, even then, really a good question. If you're looking at gear-protected climbing, you're looking at a whole lot more questions -- but basically the question needs to be, for where I'm going to be climbing, what is an appropriate set of gear (appropriate rack) for protecting those climbs? What combination of cams, nuts, tri-cams, hexes, etc is the right choice?

Finally, the lack of knowledge in the question suggests you are not ready to go out and do this yet -- try to find someone local to climb with and learn from. Or lessons. Or, at least, do a lot more reading -- there's lots of online articles on this. There's lots of books written -- Freedom of the Hills is a really good, covers everything, introduction to the world of the vertical ascending sports.

Thanks for all the help. My location for climbing right now is in North Carolina. A couple of specific locations are Pilot Mountain and Linville Gorge. The last time I went climbing was at Table Rock in Linville Gorge and I as the second climber on a multi pitch climb.

Pilot to Linville is a pretty big area...
Are you closer to Pilot or Linville?
If Pilot, start going to Moores Wall for multi pitch stuff. It's an awesome area.
Single rack to BD #3 set of stoppers and some tricams should suffice. Make sure you know how to descend a route before you go up.

Also try going to Sauratown. Should be open soon. Check out CCC website for opened dates.

Have fun. I miss climbing in that area.

Awesome!! Thanks! I am closer to Pilot and i will defiantly check those sties out.

You must tell him about the hexes. What about the N00b HEXES MAN!!!!!!

Get at least on set of stoppers, BD equivalent from 4 to 13. All have been useful an learning passive is necessary.

Buy a book on anchor building. Buy all the stuff you see in that book. Or better yet take a class. Draws and nuts are a good start.