Gumbiest thing you've done?

Helmets certainly have their place in our vertical game. I’ve had them save my life four times in 41 years of climbing (& I still climb @ a high standard on all genres of climbing)  Steep rock climbing & bouldering are not one of the genres that warrant a helmet. They; prevent a pure straight arm dead hang, block rose moves, throw off balance, block preview of moves on an overhanging while on a shakeout hold, add weight,  block a one arm shakeout & are the tell for lower grade climbers at crags. Free country, keep wearing your helmets if you like. Add the carabinered chalkbag, cordelette, crag snacks, & baseball cap under helmet for full value. Trust me on this one folks. 

Spencer Oldswrote:

In a few years helmets will go the way of skiing-not wearing one makes you look like a Gumby.

Nah.  Big difference. In skiing, jeans and no helmet is the mark of the Gumby ( a proto-gaper if you will, cuz can’t technically even be a gaper without a helmet)
in sport climbing, jeans and no helmet is the mark of the poser.

The latter hates being confused with the former. 

@jens 1, you must be trolling.  In a thread specifically for new climbers and encouraging others to not use helmets? Dangerous.  

Jens 1wrote:

Helmets certainly have their place in our vertical game. I’ve had them save my life four times in 41 years of climbing (& I still climb @ a high standard on all genres of climbing)  Steep rock climbing & bouldering are not one of the genres that warrant a helmet. They; prevent a pure straight arm dead hang, block rose moves, throw off balance, block preview of moves on an overhanging while on a shakeout hold, add weight,  block a one arm shakeout & are the tell for lower grade climbers at crags. Free country, keep wearing your helmets if you like. Add the carabinered chalkbag, cordelette, crag snacks, & baseball cap under helmet for full value. Trust me on this one folks. 

Roughly how much harder can you climb without a helmet?

Jens 1wrote:

Add the carabinered chalkbag, cordelette, crag snacks, & baseball cap under helmet for full value.

It’s now uncool if you eat at the crag? Only gumbies need sustenance, real climbers fast. 

Jens 1wrote:

Helmets certainly have their place in our vertical game. I’ve had them save my life four times in 41 years of climbing (& I still climb @ a high standard on all genres of climbing)  Steep rock climbing & bouldering are not one of the genres that warrant a helmet. They; prevent a pure straight arm dead hang, block rose moves, throw off balance, block preview of moves on an overhanging while on a shakeout hold, add weight,  block a one arm shakeout & are the tell for lower grade climbers at crags. Free country, keep wearing your helmets if you like. Add the carabinered chalkbag, cordelette, crag snacks, & baseball cap under helmet for full value. Trust me on this one folks. 

Cool, if it's just a matter of looking like a gumbie and possibly not climbing as hard then that's good to know.  I can totally believe that I just haven't been climbing hard enough to find a helmet limiting.  It'd be rad to be good enough that a helmet is what is holding me back.  Maybe someday.

Mark Pilatewrote:

Nah.  Big difference. In skiing, jeans and no helmet is the mark of the Gumby ( a proto-gaper if you will, cuz can’t technically even be a gaper without a helmet)
in sport climbing, jeans and no helmet is the mark of the poser.

The latter hates being confused with the former. 

I wear jeans more often than a helmet...helmet at a sport crag?...is that a brain worth protecting?  Oh..aren't All climbers at a Sport Crag Posers anyways?

John Reevewrote:

Cool, if it's just a matter of looking like a gumbie and possibly not climbing as hard then that's good to know.  I can totally believe that I just haven't been climbing hard enough to find a helmet limiting.  It'd be rad to be good enough that a helmet is what is holding me back.  Maybe someday.

You are good enough. Grade does not matter. 

While Jens is at the crag staring down us gumbies wearing helmets and eating snacks (I even brought water to the crag yesterday!), guess what we are doing?

Not caring. Having fun. 

0/10 flex 

Jens 1wrote:

Helmets certainly have their place in our vertical game. I’ve had them save my life four times in 41 years of climbing (& I still climb @ a high standard on all genres of climbing)  Steep rock climbing & bouldering are not one of the genres that warrant a helmet. They; prevent a pure straight arm dead hang, block rose moves, throw off balance, block preview of moves on an overhanging while on a shakeout hold, add weight,  block a one arm shakeout & are the tell for lower grade climbers at crags. Free country, keep wearing your helmets if you like. Add the carabinered chalkbag, cordelette, crag snacks, & baseball cap under helmet for full value. Trust me on this one folks. 

Yeah man, bad look. And coming from someone who used to be an instructor? Performance over safety, huh?

Ok so to set the record straight, wearing a helmet on a sport climb is NOT a bad idea. For the miniscule weight and volume price of a modern helmet, you can be protected from an accidental desperate step behind the rope before a fall (or any weird fall for that matter), rockfall or other objects being dropped off the cliff, etc. Sure, if you're on a 45 degree overhanging cave maybe not but how many of us are climbing on that terrain? I personally don't care if I look a little bit dweebly if it means potentially saving my life. I've been saved by my helmet, and I'm far from the only one.

Hmmm. I wear a baseball cap under my helmet to keep the sun out of my eyes. I guess that explains why I can’t climb the hard stuff. Thankfully, I’m old enough now where it no longer matters if folks at the crag think I’m a gumby.

Reminds of...

“It’s not how you feel... it’s how you look!”

—-Saturday Night Live skit from BITD

Jens 1wrote:

... Add the carabinered chalkbag, ...

I'm genuinely curious because I hear this a lot - why are so many people opposed to, or judgemental about, chalk bags clipped to the harness? 

My gut instinct is to not care what people think about where I store my chalk, but I almost wonder if I'm missing something? I've used waistbelts, they work fine, but I tend to attach to the harness and think that works too.

mike hwrote:

I'm genuinely curious because I hear this a lot - why are so many people opposed to, or judgemental about, chalk bags clipped to the harness? 

My gut instinct is to not care what people think about where I store my chalk, but I almost wonder if I'm missing something? I've used waistbelts, they work fine, but I tend to attach to the harness and think that works too.

Hi Mike...I use a piece of 7mm cord for my chalk bag that can be used as a bail anchor if need be. I also like the fact I can slide the chalk bag around to wherever I need it if I go into an offwidth or squeeze chimney. A fixed chalk bag in these instances are a PITA. 

And people shouldn't be judgemental about it, I carried mine on a biner for years before a trip up Tulgey Wood taught me different. 

mike hwrote:

I'm genuinely curious because I hear this a lot - why are so many people opposed to, or judgemental about, chalk bags clipped to the harness? 

My gut instinct is to not care what people think about where I store my chalk, but I almost wonder if I'm missing something? I've used waistbelts, they work fine, but I tend to attach to the harness and think that works too.

I'm skeptical that most folks care about this, but to me it looks really hard to access when it's hanging off a biner... I've seen lots of folks have difficulty with it.  But they are all better climebers than I am so I can't really judge em.

And then, I usually forget to bring my chalk bag altogether and don't usually climb with chalk.

Now that I think about it, climbing without chalk might be the gumbiest thing I still do on the regular.

Dave K wrote:

I got a chalk bag and within a week I was chalking up before I even tied in.

I got my chalk bag in the mid 90s... I should probably use it more often.  A lot of the places I climb at are pre-chalked, so that helps when I forget the bag, but using other folks chalky holds and never replacing that chalk is probably kind of a freeloader thing to do.

I bought a chalk bag before I even bought a harness - maybe before I bought shoes.

I still don't own a dynamic rope. 

I was silently laughing at some Gumby with his chalk bag clipped to his harness (and congratulating myself at how much cooler and badass I am) until he onsighted a 12b I had been working on. He even hung out on the holds I had been falling off of and casually chalked up. 

Actually was gumby

mike hwrote:

I'm genuinely curious because I hear this a lot - why are so many people opposed to, or judgemental about, chalk bags clipped to the harness? 

My gut instinct is to not care what people think about where I store my chalk, but I almost wonder if I'm missing something? I've used waistbelts, they work fine, but I tend to attach to the harness and think that works too.

Two broken backs in my experience (not my backs). Look at how the spine of the biner hangs on an overhang. Hitting the ground will make you a Christopher Reeve because of your biner.   Also ever try a heinous dihedral or slot?