Wanted...beginner trad rack without getting bent over.

What he said

Brand new with tag BD C4 set (5 cams, .5, .75, 1, 2, 3) for $255 shipped.

Hey thanks let me check them out and holler back!

I've got a nearly new bd .3 if you're interested. 

i'm trying to get a rack with nuts, hexes, cams, etc...the whole thing. But thank you.

Check eBay  I saw at least one rack with what you mentioned  

Roger thanks DOn!

I know the cams are old (but so many of mine are too) but if this goes for under $200 that's a great start on a rack with more nuts and hexes and biners than you could ever need.

https://m.ebay.com/itm/Rock-climbing-protection-mixed-trad-sport-lightly-used-various-brands-/142518924592?hash=item212eca3530%3Ag%3AeFIAAOSwHPxZydFD&_trkparms=pageci%253Aef4834a9-a7e7-11e7-b252-74dbd180e504%257Cparentrq%253Ae033803e15e0abda6d30dd63ffffe4da%257Ciid%253A1

I have a set of extra stoppers i'd be willing to part with. It may be composed of different brands but it will cover all ranges.  let me know if you're interested.

Who wants to sell me a couple of 4s and a 5?

Kyle Brockel wrote:

I know the cams are old (but so many of mine are too) but if this goes for under $200 that's a great start on a rack with more nuts and hexes and biners than you could ever need.

https://m.ebay.com/itm/Rock-climbing-protection-mixed-trad-sport-lightly-used-various-brands-/142518924592?hash=item212eca3530%3Ag%3AeFIAAOSwHPxZydFD&_trkparms=pageci%253Aef4834a9-a7e7-11e7-b252-74dbd180e504%257Cparentrq%253Ae033803e15e0abda6d30dd63ffffe4da%257Ciid%253A1

Wow good deal thanks Kyle!

Andrew that was some good advise.  

John,  One thing that I did after several years (10) of carrying a double rack of C4's is I switched out the 2nd rack for 4 extended range cams.  I also reduced my stoppers to 1 of each size and only the lower half of the sizes.   It dropped some significant weight once you are comfortably with carrying less gear.  I realized I wasn't using 1/2 of the gear i was carrying even on longer routes and after years of climbing i got comfortable carrying less.  If you are looking for a beginner trad rack i really echo Andrew with the double rack of C4's and a full set of stoppers.

Hi John (or anyone else). 

I've got a lot of stuff that I've been meaning to put on MP but haven't had the motivation to actually do it. Basically 2 sets of BD C4s with biners (0.5/0.75/1/2/3/3.5/4) and several Metolius cams (older but rarely used). The BD cams are old and placed a lot, but no real falls and all triggers in good shape and smooth action. I trust them 100%. Selling my old desert crack multiples. Lots of nuts (WC and BD). The 3 or 4 smallest tricams (yes, including a pink one), a few belay devices... Haven't thought of prices, but not looking to screw anyone and want to be completely reasonable.

Joe

In my experience, someone wants to get out of a rack, AND is willing to take big a loss on it about once a month on this forum. There's an initial flood of folks asking the seller if s/he will part it out. Someone typically swoops up the whole thing within 24 hours (or 10 minutes). You probably won't find everything you want in one purchase, and you'll probably have to part out gear to make your rack cheap on the net. Seems like C4s are a pretty safe bet here. For most given sizes, there's someone on the prowl. Oh, and occasionally a brand new member posts a great deal on a nonexistent rack...

One last note: a number of folks on MP seem to believe that a cam must be retired once fallen-on. Perhaps you can put out an offer to buy such cams...just don't tell the seller you're going to be placing them.

John Kelly wrote:

John Kelly wrote:

For a beginner (and the majority of what you'll climb for several years) the #.3 - #4 C4 range will be an excellent start.  I'd say that most people start with a single rack of this (plus a set of nuts and 6-10 alpine draws) and then move on to a double rack before they start to specialize.  For the most part wide gear (above 4") and thin gear (below .3") is specialized and unless you live in an area where all climbs require it you can go several years without buying those pieces.  I'd ask some locals what they suggest, but in all honesty you won't go wrong if you buy a single rack of .3 - 4.  If you have some extra $$$ get doubles in the #.75 - #2 range.  That will form the meat of your rack for years to come.  

As for nuts, I started on BD nuts and continue to have them (plus random pieces that I've found over the years).  They aren't sexy or light or the newest, but they work great and were cheap to begin with.  I bought a set of hexes early on when I was too cheap to buy a set of doubles.  I sold them after 4 months of rarely using them and I've never considered buying another set, YMMV.  I scrounged up some money and bought the doubles I really wanted

As I started climbing harder routes I needed to buy some specific gear.  I lived in Southern Utah and everything had some wide, so I picked up a pair of #5 on Mountain Project and made friends with a dude who had a #6.  Realized the #6 was a boat anchor, but the #5's were required for most of what I wanted to climb in Zion.  Then I started climbing thinner stuff and needed to expand my lower range.  Hit the market again and bought some offset Metolius cams and some really thin BD X4s (this being about 6 years after I bought that initial rack).  

Lesson is, don't feel that you need to buy the perfect rack all at once.  You'll gain and lose gear, buy, sell, or trade it and borrow it whenever you need to.  Your tastes and skills will evolve, get the basics first and go climb some shit.  Otherwise you'll just be paralyzed by choice after reading too many articles.  

John, if cash flow isn't an enormous issue I'd say just buy a good, used double rack of C4s between .3 and 3.0. Or at least a single rack and doubles between .5 and 2. A problem I see a LOT is that you've got beginners, who really should be sewing things up tight, not doing so because they don't have the gear. Then you have much more advanced climbers with all the gear in the world but hardly using it because they're better/more confident at placements and running things out a bit. It's when you're a beginner that you really SHOULD over protect yourself by placing "too much" gear because, let's be honest, some of your placements are going to suck.

If you find out you bought too much gear or want a different type of cam or whatever then sell the gear you bought used on eBay or here and get your money right back out of it. Think of it as free gear rental.

dani catalina wrote:

Who wants to sell me a couple of 4s and a 5?

Got some in here

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/113636417/mega-memorial-sale-everything-rock-ice-aid-alpine-camping-books#ForumMessage-113642761

Oh yeah, my instructors are not shy about telling me when I picked crappy places. Like with dirt or moss, or placed the nut where the load would pull opposite the way I had the nut in. Plus really I need how to learn to climb better and that's just laps. Why I want to rope solo. I'm 6;1" 227...I'm in excellent shape but still that is not optimal body type for rock climbing. 

Its all about power to weight ratio. Even though I may lift 350 on bench and smaller guy can only do 200, if he only weighs 150-140 he has a huge advantage in power to weight ratio. Sorry I break everything down into science. I'm sure you already know this. 

The only things I do have going for me is a have very thick, strong legs and I use those suckers every chance I get. Also I'm a stubborn SOB. Climbing is supposed to be more legs than upper body anyway right? Starting yoga was an amazing help both in climbing and surfing I would reccomend it highly. 

But will you ever see me hanging one handed off El Capitan, or for that matter upside down like Spiderman, at the local gym....I don't think so, lol!