Trad gear advice

Well unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) the guy just got back to me. He already sold it all. So back to square one. I did ask him to let me know what the other guy paid, so at least there might be some closure on the cost debate.

I'm leaning towards the C4 suggestion now. What are the necessities for 45 degree to near vertical slabs?

MClay wrote:What are the necessities for 45 degree to near vertical slabs?

Use the route guide on here to see what the most common sizes required are for the area and grades you wish to climb. If you have the guidebook to the area, even easier.

Typically, a standard single rack would consist of every-sized cam from around a .2 X4 (0 C3/ #0 Metolius TCU or Mastercam) up to a #3 Camalot, a set of nuts (which normally comes with about 13 sizes), and some 24" runners.

the more nuts the better

No one can really make a suggestion as to what you need for a certain area without having been there (those suggesting he look at the guidebook or on here missed that he is going to Swaziland and thus there will be no beta anywhere). The best advice on what gear you need based off it being slab is that gear placements will probably be sparse, but no one can say what sizes you will likely need. So maybe go with the largest variety of sizes you can get, keeping in mind cost obviously and what you can fit in your luggage. Hexes and tricams will be very cheap compared to cams, but are slower to place. I would probably stock up on passive gear to get the most bang for my buck, I also started my rack as all passive. Although you are looking at used, it might be better to go with new if you do buy cams. For where you are going I would expect to have trouble sending them out to be repaired if something does break on them, that's generally less likely with new vs. used.

I gave up on finding used cams after all the advice. Did some exploring and was able to find 30% off Helium Friends on Campsaver. Used a 10% online coupon and got my first cams (0, .5, 1, 1.5 & 2.5) for less than $250. That's a lot better than I would have believed I could have done. Cheaper than what I found some people charging for older, used Friends.

Does buying trad gear always bring this mellifluous sense of elation?