overheard at the crag: post it

anonymous coward wrote:

Hypothetically, and entirely for the sake of argument, if we were going climbing and I said to you “I’ll bring the rack”, what would you understand from this?

If instead I said “I’ll bring one set of cams”, isn’t that actually clearer?

But no one does that. Commonly heard would be... "Let's both bring a single rack and we'll be set." No one says... "Let's both bring a single set and we'll be good."

anonymous coward wrote:

Hypothetically, and entirely for the sake of argument, if we were going climbing and I said to you “I’ll bring the rack”, what would you understand from this?

If instead I said “I’ll bring one set of cams”, isn’t that actually clearer?

Sure, but you've phrased "rack" in an intentionally vague way. In my experience people will talk about a single or double racks. "I'll bring a rack of Totems, and should I bring the rack of Dragons or do you want to bring your rack of C4s?" 

I mean to be clear maybe many people say it and for whatever reason the diverse array of people I have climbed with don't use that language. That's the whole reason why it's dangerous to come to conclusions about societal phenomenon based on personal experience, right? But my personal experience definitely leads me to think people using such language are probably gumbies.  

 Edit to add: I hit the post limit, but people seem to not be understanding my position is this showdown of pedantry. In the example of Chris Mac extra information is provided to clarify what the fuck the "set" is. If you use the word loosely the way people do with "rack" then it's extremely unclear. Saying the word set makes a lot of sense if you then explain what the hell it is -such as a set of hands pieces- it makes very little sense and is extremely confusing if you just talk about the time you were on The Nose with a set.

Holy pedantic jesus…this really is not hard. If I go to Indian Creek, I’m bringing eight “sets” of cams. However, when I start up an actual route, I’m carrying the appropriate “rack” for the route. Clear?

Set of cams is a super common phrase. "Set of offsets", "set of Totems", "set of fingers", "set of hands", etc.
A set doesn't have 2 of them same item. It's literally the definition. I would be extremely confused if somebody said they were bringing a set of cams and brought anything other than 1 of each.

I guess Chris Mac was gumby:

Clear?

Hah, not to this crew. Most don't even know the definition of trad, much less a set of cams to protect the trad climbing.

I’m sure you’re right but I think “rack” has more than one use in this context. If I say “I’ll bring the rack and you bring the rope” it’s inclusive of all the protection and I think is a common statement.

Clearly it’s a pedantic argument and I’m probably a Gumby but I do think that both terms have potential uses. It would be weird to say “I have one and a half racks of totems” and seems more natural to say “ I have one and a half sets of totems”

Obviously if you primarily speak another language it will be even less natural.

Edit: others got there first.   

Deers have racks and bands have sets. Hope that helps everyone

Set it and forget it. Or pull on the cam a few times and risk whatever comes.

God damn, people have the dumbest arguments on the internet. 

Patrick L wrote:

God damn, people have the dumbest arguments on the internet. 

I disagree with you

Trad climbing is dumb anyway #boltElCap

#bringSETback

Fucking lol, nice work guys 

The other Forums have "Over heard at the MP: post it" threads going lol.

Nathan Doyle wrote:

The other Forums have "Over heard at the MP: post it" threads going lol.

There's other forums?

Connor Dobson wrote:

There's other forums?

yeah it's r/climbingcirclejerk

Crimpin Ain't Easy wrote:

And from wikipedia:

"The Bloods street gang feature a network of individual chapters, which are known as "sets". These sets are often loosely connected, having their own leader(s) and operating independently from one another."

Don't get me started on folks and people

abandon moderation wrote:

You guys are all just jealous that you can't climb the nose with a single set.

Heard at another crag: someone calling cams "grippers." That's right, a single set of grippers.

"spreaders" is a term i am more familiar with :)

the only folks i have heard refer to a set of cams as a rack of cams have been complete gumbies.  like  "how heavy is your pack? why do i have to carry two racks of cams"?  ....on their way up to cat wall.

It takes a Set to lead a climb.  It takes a bigger set to solo it.

TBlom wrote:

It takes a Set to lead a climb.  It takes a bigger set to solo it.

I've seen some amazing racks on lead.

ETA

If we're going to argue about pointless sets and then move on to juvenile jokes, we have to do it right.

Matthew Jaggers wrote:

But no one does that. Commonly heard would be... "Let's both bring a single rack and we'll be set." No one says... "Let's both bring a single set and we'll be good."

Who is commonly bringing a single rack? That idea makes me want to vomit. Rope or rack only, for the love of Pete.