RACK ENVY

Mark Pilate wrote:

wait....what’s the story on this ??

That would be the girlfriends chalkbag that she bought for cheep a couple years back. 

@Sean
True, it's only a double rack, mostly BD with a few dragonflys in there, and the black totem. With time more Dragonflys and aliens will be added. As for the #7 and #8.... I absolutely love offwidth climbing. There's something super satisfying wedging myself into a huge crack and grunting my way slowly up it. That fact that perfect hands for me is a #2 cam, and that I can fist jam up to a tipped out #4 might contribute as well.

As for the guide books, I have a deal with a sporting goods consignment store, whenever one comes in they call me as soon as it's in the system. Normally I buy them sight unseen..... Someday it will fill a bookcase floor to ceiling.

hillbilly hijinks wrote: My favorite is how all the cams in these photos seem to have never been used lol.

So much pretty shiny scratch free gear.  Embarassed to even show my racks.  Though I did get a new belay device and harness recently.  

Matt Castelli wrote:

Hard to follow a box of black totems, but here goes ... 

Do you train on this or is this for storing your cams?  Looks like they are mounted with eye bolts to biners?

rockklimber wrote:

Do you train on this or is this for storing your cams?  Looks like they are mounted with eye bolts to biners?

Train. Yup currently using heavy duty eyebolts, but switching the mounting soon. Was a pleasant surprise that most of the cams fit

Matt Castelli wrote:

Train. Yup currently using heavy duty eyebolts, but switching the mounting soon. Was a pleasant surprise that most of the cams fit

So you just tilt this at an angle, or horizontal, and then just practice jams and locks? Pretty cool.

Ma Ja wrote:

So you just tilt this at an angle, or horizontal, and then just practice jams and locks? Pretty cool.

The intent is a series of cracks that vary through every width from tips to squeeze, and that can be adjusted from vertical to horizontal. My upcoming changes will make it more stable by switching out the eyebolts on the bottom to a system that uses tnuts and bolts (less wiggle!). *edit to add: We can currently flip every set of cracks, so the size you are jamming with your hands/feet changes. Trying to figure out how to preserve this ability with the upcoming changes to the support system. 

Matt Castelli wrote:

The intent is a series of cracks that vary through every width from tips to squeeze, and that can be adjusted from vertical to horizontal. My upcoming changes will make it more stable by switching out the eyebolts on the bottom to a system that uses tnuts and bolts (less wiggle!). *edit to add: We can currently flip every set of cracks, so the size you are jamming with your hands/feet changes. Trying to figure out how to preserve this ability with the upcoming changes to the support system. 

Super effective!

I've had a design in mind that would cut a repeating series of depths down the length of the board that would allow you to practice a single size over distance, but also not limit you to just one size per set. Your's is very inspiring. Thanks.

Here's my standard / base trad rack. I can add to or remove as needed.

I'm pretty happy with this setup. The only thing that bugs me is I need a blue Totem 8^).

If I was starting over I'd probably

• swap out the .5" to 1" (.2 to .5  BD size) doubles for mastercams (good units and good value), keeping the Totems of course.
• maybe swap out one or both the green .75 camalots for 1.25" Totems
• swap out the racking biners for ones with clean nose / keylock

If money was no object they'd be ultralight camalots, but I don't like the idea of having to retire them after 10 years.

Glowering wrote:

Here's my standard / base trad rack. I can add to or remove as needed.

I'm pretty happy with this setup. The only thing that bugs me is I need a blue Totem 8^).

If I was starting over I'd probably

• swap out the .5" to 1" (.2 to .5  BD size) doubles for mastercams (good units and good value), keeping the Totems of course.
• maybe swap out one or both the green .75 camalots for 1.25" Totems
• swap out the racking biners for ones with clean nose / keylock

If money was no object they'd be ultralight camalots, but I don't like the idea of having to retire them after 10 years.

For me, where I climb, would add another Yellow, Blue and Grey C4, and a biner of DMM Offsets. If I had a specific objective, lets say Ruper or Grand Giraffe in Eldo, I would get a couple larger cams to cover the OW. 

What you have is probably a SR for 80% of climbs out there.

Matt Castelli wrote:

The intent is a series of cracks that vary through every width from tips to squeeze, and that can be adjusted from vertical to horizontal. My upcoming changes will make it more stable by switching out the eyebolts on the bottom to a system that uses tnuts and bolts (less wiggle!). *edit to add: We can currently flip every set of cracks, so the size you are jamming with your hands/feet changes. Trying to figure out how to preserve this ability with the upcoming changes to the support system. 

Have you considered using hinges at the bottom and turnbuckles up top to adjust the angle.  You could prob mount the turnbuckles to hinges up top top.  That would make it pretty sturdy

Stan Hamptonwrote:

Have you considered using hinges at the bottom and turnbuckles up top to adjust the angle.  You could prob mount the turnbuckles to hinges up top top.  That would make it pretty sturdy

Edited:  with the right turnbuckles you wont need hinges up top

Thanks Klimber - we're looking at piano hinges, but hadn't considered turn buckles! I'll update w/ whatever we end up with.

Anyone have recommendations for storing your gear in a fairly pretty manner? My rack is starting to get a bit thicc and currently I change the gear I take climbing pretty much everytime I go out, so digging through a bucket is really starting to get old. Additionally, I also just want to look at my gear because I think it's pretty. 

I've thought about a peg board but would love to hear some other solutions too that may require significantly more work for very little gain.

I have found the pegboard solution to be clumsy and take longer than I'd like to get a rack together.

I prefer having single racks on slings in a bin.   My extra/weird gear (ballnuts, big cams, hexes etc.) Is stored on a separate sling.  

Its easy and quick to grab 1-3 sets of cams + any specialty gear I need for a climb. 

Also I mostly trad climb so I leave draws + a single rack and my nuts (gear I know I need) in the backpack.   Then it's easy to add or remove a rope/more cams depending on what a partner is bringing.   

Edit to add: with this method it takes a minute or two to be ready to go versus 10 minutes forgetting cams and rummaging.

This was my solution to the conundrum of wanting my giant rack to both fit in a small area AND have it spread out so pieces aren't all jammed up on top of each other (I'm not sure how successful I was on the latter).

Most gear is split between two daisy chains, the ends of which can slide on the rail to collapse down/fan out.  Less-used gear goes on the back row of cord loops, and I can "part the curtains" to access that stuff.

Ropes are stored on little cord loops using loop and toggle type securement.

greggryllswrote:

I have found the pegboard solution to be clumsy and take longer than I'd like to get a rack together.

I prefer having single racks on slings in a bin.   My extra/weird gear (ballnuts, big cams, hexes etc.) Is stored on a separate sling.  

Its easy and quick to grab 1-3 sets of cams + any specialty gear I need for a climb. 

Also I mostly trad climb so I leave draws + a single rack and my nuts (gear I know I need) in the backpack.   Then it's easy to add or remove a rope/more cams depending on what a partner is bringing.   

Edit to add: with this method it takes a minute or two to be ready to go versus 10 minutes forgetting cams and rummaging.

+1

greggryllswrote:

I have found the pegboard solution to be clumsy and take longer than I'd like to get a rack together.

I prefer having single racks on slings in a bin.   My extra/weird gear (ballnuts, big cams, hexes etc.) Is stored on a separate sling.  

Its easy and quick to grab 1-3 sets of cams + any specialty gear I need for a climb. 

Also I mostly trad climb so I leave draws + a single rack and my nuts (gear I know I need) in the backpack.   Then it's easy to add or remove a rope/more cams depending on what a partner is bringing.   

Edit to add: with this method it takes a minute or two to be ready to go versus 10 minutes forgetting cams and rummaging.

Yes! This!

I'm the guy with the largest # of active and passive pro in this thread (page 17), and the strategy detailed by greggrylls is EXACTLY what I do.

Main trad kit lives in my creek 50: a triple rack (plus a few big pieces and sometimes offsets), anchor material, nuts, bolt kit, rope soloing gear, Gigajul etc. ready for crag days or meeting up to plan a bigger trip. Most of it lives on a gear sling, but the smaller/bendy cams go in harness bags to protect the trigger wires. Standard set of 8 light quickdraws, 6 alpine draws & nut tool just live on my trad harness in the backpack ready to go. Anything other than long splitters at the creek or OW projects that might need an extra big cam I don't have to add anything to my standard crag bag, just grab and go.

Only the extra stuff lives in the closet, separated on slings hanging from a bar. Sport draws are ready to grab as a bundle, as are extra cams (mostly borrowed from a friend taking time off trad) for splitter days. Extra carabiners/rap hardware/slings/cord/webbing/alpine draws are separated out and organized ish in bundles, also hanging.

Ropes live in rope bags in a different dark closet. Guidebooks on the bookshelf.

For rack building for alpine or multipitch objectives, I just take the loaded sling out of my backpack and lay it on the floor, pick out what I want and put all that on a 60cm sling (or take off what I don't want, and just take the rest already together on a sling). Maybe I decide to grab a few more alpine draws and some bail cord/webbing/wiregates/rap rings from the closet and some extra lockers, pick a rope and I'm done. Might seem less elegant than having a big sexy wall of gear all organized and pieced out individually but it saves me a lot of time packing and unpacking every day out.

If you want to display your rack like art work then a pegboard works. I’ve never bothered. To me it’s a means to having fun not a possession I care to display. NTTAWWT  

I have my base trad rack on a sling: cam doubles to a #1, a 2,3,4, a set of nuts, trad draws/ slings on another sling, all in a small light sack that gets put in my crag pack along with the rope, etc. Works on 80% of trad climbs I do. I have another small light sack with my sport rack. I have the rest of my stuff (big cam doubles, triples, aid gear, etc on other slings to be thrown in as needed. I don’t like bins, take up too much room in the car and hard to carry. I have a couple big horizontal zipper duffle bags for storage at home or throwing in the car for a trip where I want multiple options for different climbs.  

Gloweringwrote:

If you want to display your rack like art work then a pegboard works. I’ve never bothered. To me it’s a means to having fun not a possession I care to display. NTTAWWT  

I have my base trad rack on a sling: cam doubles to a #1, a 2,3,4, a set of nuts, trad draws/ slings on another sling, all in a small light sack that gets put in my crag pack along with the rope, etc. Works on 80% of trad climbs I do. I have another small light sack with my sport rack. I have the rest of my stuff (big cam doubles, triples, aid gear, etc on other slings to be thrown in as needed. I don’t like bins, take up too much room in the car and hard to carry. I have a couple big horizontal zipper duffle bags for storage at home or throwing in the car for a trip where I want multiple options for different climbs.  

Racked up on a 30cm Mammut contact sling, ready to use is the way to go, for sure. Hang em up, throw them in the closet, in a grab bag, whatever. Separating everything everytime is a huge waste of time. Keep the things that you use together, together, like Glowering is saying.

The way you store your gear should be whatever is most optimal. I have many friends with doubles or triples so I just bring whatever supplemental gear might be needed. Hence I just throw it into a pile. If I am bolting I generally just bring half a rack put it all an a single sling since racking carabiners are just one more thing clipped to your harness and in the way. If your objectives all require specific gear it seems organizing it is more specific and helpful. If you just need a double putting in a bag makes the most sense.