Climbing with wedding ring?

I used to take my ring off and keep it on a carabiner with my keys. Then one day, somewhere between the gym and home, it came off the carabiner and is now lost forever. Shoulda used a locker...

I replaced it with a silicone band from Groove Rings (my wife's only response when I told her I lost the ring was "don't spend too much on a new one."). It's got a cutout pattern on the inside that's supposed to help keep it more comfortable and airy when I'm sweating. Who knows if it works, since I don't have anything to compare it to, but I hardly ever notice it's there. 

Really, why do you even bother with the idea climbing with a ring? It is not like someone could buy you a drink on the wall...

s.price wrote:

No good reason to climb with a ring. Lot's of good reasons not to.

I encourage my wife to let people buy her a drink. Saves me money and it is just a drink, not a contract.

Ah, good sir, clearly you do not understand the complexities and subtleties of female territorial behavior.

When she wears her ring, she is also, perhaps, letting others know they will have a serious, back alley cat fight on their hands if they try to mess with your cute hunky climber self. This fight may also be so subtle as to be missed by you...

YMMV, of course. Just sayin'.

;-) H.

For me, the main disadvantage of not wearing a ring is that I can't tell myself that men would be hitting on me if not for the ring.

BTW, Helen, how does your necklace make it apparent that you're married? Does it say I AM MARRIED in big letters?

Mitchell E wrote:

I used to take my ring off and keep it on a carabiner with my keys. Then one day, somewhere between the gym and home, it came off the carabiner and is now lost forever. Shoulda used a locker...

I replaced it with a silicone band from Groove Rings (my wife's only response when I told her I lost the ring was "don't spend too much on a new one."). It's got a cutout pattern on the inside that's supposed to help keep it more comfortable and airy when I'm sweating. Who knows if it works, since I don't have anything to compare it to, but I hardly ever notice it's there. 

This is almost identical to my situation except I've lost 2 of my 5 silicone rings thus far and now I just store them on my car dashboard. 

I once forgot to take my ring off before climbing, got it stuck in a crack and pulled my hand out with the ring still in the crack. It then fell out of the crack and bounced off the wall, flying towards the ground, where my son (amazingly) caught it in midair with his L hand while still belaying me. 

Otherwise, I always either take it off and leave it at home or, if I forget to do that, take it off and put it on my key ring before I start to climb. 

Been happily married for a lot of years and would have pissed me off to lose my original wedding ring....

Another possibility: tie the ring onto your chalk bag belt/cord with an overhand knot.  (Better than having something around your neck that might garrotte you.)

Jim Fox wrote:

... where my son (amazingly) caught it in midair with his L hand while still belaying me. 

If the going rate for catching a rope pull is still a beer, I'd say your boy deserves a handle of nice scotch. Especially if he was a minor at the time! 

Fritz N. wrote:

If the going rate for catching a rope pull is still a beer, I'd say your boy deserves a handle of nice scotch. Especially if he was a minor at the time! 

LOL, yeah. He earned a good beer and a shot of single malt with that catch

wendy weiss wrote:

BTW, Helen, how does your necklace make it apparent that you're married? Does it say I AM MARRIED in big letters?

It does to me! ;-)

Edit for spelling.

I either leave mine at home or clip it to a small carabiner to my belt.  Bought a 4 pack of silicone rings on Amazon for about $11.  Never wear them because I'd rather just leave the ring home.

mstolorena wrote: Resizing a ring is quite cheap, definitely do not want to wear it climbing! Put it on some thin cord around your neck if must have it with you.

Bad idea too, if your ring get stuck in a hold while you fall? Result.. Hang yourself... Live the ring home..

My update, since Walter bumped this:

Bought a six pack of silicone rings, quite inexpensive, off of Amazon.

I've been working my hands hard, hard, at work, plus it's been 100 ° for weeks, and the rings aren't annoying at all. It is stretchy, so on and off is no problem with my old swollen knuckles.

You do need your ring size, but anyplace with a jeweler will do that for you.

So far, it has been a great buy! I like having it back, the ring on the finger. It helps me remember what I'm here for on less than great days. :-)

Best, Helen

Helen,  thanks for the update, glad they worked out for you!

I only have experience in industrial painting, Hite Bridge etc not the extensive gear you awesome climbers use, but have seen fingers taken off by nuts and bolts ooch, be safe.

I have spent about 3 hours looking for a documented case of degloving, due to a ring, while climbing.  So far, nada; all cases i've found involve more mundane circumstances, such as falling over a fence or descending a ladder, with the more extreme situations for people working with fast-moving machinery (and for Jimmy Fallon, tripping on a rug). Can someone provide a *documented* example where ring degloving occurred during climbing?  I have seen lots of pulley injuries from over-crimping, but that's the limit.

I have had my ring catch on a chicken head when I was trying to let go for the next move; it was about as scary as having my sticky-rubber soles catch.

Harlan Stockman wrote: I have spent about 3 hours looking for a documented case of degloving, due to a ring, while climbing.  So far, nada; all cases i've found involve more mundane circumstances, such as falling over a fence or descending a ladder, with the more extreme situations for people working with fast-moving machinery (and for Jimmy Fallon, tripping on a rug). Can someone provide a *documented* example where ring degloving occurred during climbing?  I have seen lots of pulley injuries from over-crimping, but that's the limit.

I have had my ring catch on a chicken head when I was trying to let go for the next move; it was about as scary as having my sticky-rubber soles catch.

Ah MR, it's been a constant race to the bottom 'round here lately. Haran missed the point as have others. What do you need a wallet for on a climb? Nothing really. leave it in the pack/car or hidden under a rock if you're worried about someone pilfering.  Also having a wallet makes a good place to put your rings & piercings while climbing. 

 A climber's hands' are tools.  When you use tools to do a job that requires full unrestricted use of the entire tool, one takes care that nothing will interfere with the actions that the tool needs to make to complete the task.

  A reasonable person has no need for a ring to prove fidelity. When your gym-trained soft ethic all-inclusiveness runs off all the real climbers this is what you have a circle of friends who continue to encourage bad ideas.

I don't need a document I don't need a link. THings happen,  'biners (plural) un-clipping in a fall . . . unheard of? . . . There are terms that EMT's use to describe the cause/effect that leads to an injury, I'll need to look the phrase up(maybe) If you can't imagine the potential for disaster one opens oneself up to by wearing a ring (any ring; even a Nose-ring) click the blue words but be forwarned it'z graphic & ~ If it's dinner time, don't look

Harlan Stockman wrote: I have spent about 3 hours looking for a documented case of degloving, due to a ring, while climbing.  So far, nada; all cases i've found involve more mundane circumstances, such as falling over a fence or descending a ladder, with the more extreme situations for people working with fast-moving machinery (and for Jimmy Fallon, tripping on a rug). Can someone provide a *documented* example where ring degloving occurred during climbing?  I have seen lots of pulley injuries from over-crimping, but that's the limit.

I have had my ring catch on a chicken head when I was trying to let go for the next move; it was about as scary as having my sticky-rubber soles catch.

Sounds like you're arguing that it's no big deal because you weren't able to find documented climbing-specific cases. Removing the ring is such a simple mitigation - why risk the injury? More pragmatic, why scratch the hell out of an expensive ring?

Marc801 C wrote:

why scratch the hell out of an expensive ring?

This.

I have rings - wedding, engagement, anniversary - they are fine jewelry.  I only put them ON in circumstances where I want to wear jewelry.  I've actually never understood people who leave a ring on all the time.  But then again, I've worn corrective eyewear my whole life, so I was used to the concept of taking something expensive off and on before I ever owned jewelry.