Sport multipitch hauling

I have a BD Creek 20 pack that I would like to haul on sport bolted multipitches.

At the moment I don’t have any specialized gear for hauling and I am eyeing a 65m PurLine and a pulley like Nano or Micro Traxion.

I never practiced hauling out of training settings so I would like some advices and real life experience.

Since the usage would be with a small and light pack (nothing more than some water, insulation and approach shoes inside) what kind of gear would I need to keep the system as light and simple as possible?

Do I need swivels, cut plastic bottle on the knot, multiple pulleys for a load like this?

Ian Grant wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmN-jcHG7hI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmN-jcHG7hI
adding a space at the end makes links clickable on MP

For a light load like that you don't need to buy anything new. You can haul with a couple garda hitches. One goes on the anchor for your progress capture, one goes on the load strand for your foot loop (girth hitch a 60cm sling to it). The method posted above works well for this situation.

https://www.alpinesavvy.com/blog/pros-and-cons-of-the-garda-hitch 

I haul a small bag on anything I have to try “hard” on above like 6-7 pitches these days.
micro trax and a 6 mil tag is my program. If it’s a medium weight load I’ll take a basic as well cause it’s easier on the hands than just grabbing the cord.

I burned a hole in my BD one pretty quick, but you might fair better

consider climbing with stronger partners and share who follows with the pack on their back

makes a stronger climber

and no tangled tag line to faff about with

The Butt-Shot Whispererwrote:

consider climbing with stronger partners and share who follows with the pack on their back

makes a stronger climber

and no tangled tag line to faff about with

I think this is terrible advice, 

Climbing with the backpack on is for Gumby’s and cavemen

You can also use a munter with a carabineer thru one strand only allowing it to move in one direction.

The Butt-Shot Whispererwrote:

consider climbing with stronger partners and share who follows with the pack on their back

makes a stronger climber

and no tangled tag line to faff about with

For me, usually the follower climbs with the only pack we bring. This is ok on moderate terrain but why do the difficult pitches have to suck for the follower?

I mostly climb sport multipitches for the beauty of the climbing itself, and many times the most beautiful pitches are the hardest. So why ruin the beauty for the follower?

almostradwrote:

I think this is terrible advice, 

Climbing with the backpack on is for Gumby’s and cavemen

We are talking tiny packs, like the kind that holds a hydration pack, a few food bars, and a tiny headlamp. This is the better way. We did that in Potrero Chico for many a trip. Hauling packs on a sport route is gumby city in itself, unless you are on Timewave Zero and you plan to bivy.

Whether this is a good idea will ultimately depend on the length and angle of the route. The steeper the climbing the better it is to haul. Multipitch sport might be a 600m tower in the dolomites with a complicated alpine style descent in shoulder season weather, or it might be a 200m walk off in the middle of Spain in nice weather. 

I like my metolius it's doable for free climbing and great to haul. 

OP appears to know this, but check the grades that folks climb for the pack vs. no pack camp. There's a funny correlation there.

Tim Stichwrote:

We are talking tiny packs, like the kind that holds a hydration pack, a few food bars, and a tiny headlamp. This is the better way. We did that in Potrero Chico for many a trip. Hauling packs on a sport route is gumby city in itself, unless you are on Timewave Zero and you plan to bivy.

Throw in water for a hot day, a day's worth of food for 2 climbers, and 2 pairs of approach shoes and it can get heavy enough to feel tiresome on a climber's back.  Yet the same weight feels very light on a haul. And a 6mil cord really doesn't weigh much at all.  Plus, you get the benefit of double rope raps.  How is this gumby city?

Cole Ingwrote:

Throw in water for a hot day, a day's worth of food for 2 climbers, and 2 pairs of approach shoes and it can get heavy enough to feel tiresome on a climber's back.  Yet the same weight feels very light on a haul. And a 6mil cord really doesn't weigh much at all.  Plus, you get the benefit of double rope raps.  How is this gumby city?

Absolutely right. And I would like to add that pitches feel much more enjoyable without a pack. Do you all climb just to get to the top or to enjoy the climb itself??

Tim Stichwrote:

Hauling packs on a sport route is gumby city in itself, unless you are on Timewave Zero and you plan to bivy.

You're right! Bivying on timewave ups it to a gumby major metro area!

6mm tagline and two nanotraxions is the answer you’re looking for for the most efficient foot haul setup, I use this system all the time. If you don’t want to shell out for two nanotraxions, a garda hitch on the foot would work too.

As far as taglines, I’ve used the Pur line a lot, it is really likely to get tangled no matter how you coil it so it’s best to bring an ultralight grocery bag as a stuff sack for the tag and then it’s a great system.

I was surprised how much I liked the 6mm BD tagline, it’s light enough and really stiff, works great and easy to coil and manage at the belay. And there is enough friction with it to have the tagline threaded through the anchor for rappel. On the Pur line, it is too slippery so you always have to have the rope side through the anchor.

Bonus tip: thicc socks to wear at the belay and a little ibuprofen go a long way for comfortable feet on big days.

Christian Blackwrote:

 

Bonus tip: thicc socks to wear at the belay and a little ibuprofen go a long way for comfortable feet on big days.

Take those socks off and tell me your venmo big boi

Cole Ingwrote:

Throw in water for a hot day, a day's worth of food for 2 climbers, and 2 pairs of approach shoes and it can get heavy enough to feel tiresome on a climber's back.  Yet the same weight feels very light on a haul. And a 6mil cord really doesn't weigh much at all.  Plus, you get the benefit of double rope raps.  How is this gumby city?

That's why the follower wears it.  I think if it can be done this way on multi-pitch gear-protected routes, it can probably be done on sport routes where you're wearing what, a dozen draws or so?  I don't think I've ever hauled on anything that's doable in a day regardless of discipline.  That's just me though.  To each their own.  Each method has benefits and detractors.  Yes, it's a pain to wear a pack.  It's also a pain to have to haul, even something light, every pitch.  Whatever works for you.  

Jake Joneswrote:

I don't think I've ever hauled on anything that's doable in a day regardless of discipline.

So you are arguing against a system you've never tried?  Hauling day gear is MUCH less of a pain than hauling bivy gear, say for a wall.  I don't actually climb really any multipitch sport, but I use this system all the time on long trad climbs.  This system seems even better when the climbing gets real hard, which is kinda the point of sport climbing (even though you don't have the weight of a rack)

Cole Ingwrote:

So you are arguing against a system you've never tried?  

Nope, I'm saying I don't bivvy, or haven't ever needed to.  The most I've done in a day though is like 13 pitches and still had enough time, energy and good conditions to descend at night.  Basically, my only point was that if it's a day-long objective and you're not carrying a ton of gear (which is relevant in the Sport multipitch arena, which is the title of the thread) it seems more conducive to just have the follower carry the provisions.  However, that's just a blanket statement tailored to a best case scenario.  If the pitches are hard, and if you're going to be exhausted or need bearings at the end of the day during fading light and warmth, and you need to carry bivvy gear, then yeah, by all means.  I'm saying that multipitch sport, for me, doesn't automatically mean "we're going to need to haul".  

Hauling day gear is MUCH less of a pain than hauling bivy gear, say for a wall.

Probably.  I'm probably misunderstanding.  I guess when I see "multipitch" sport I'm thinking of things that can be done in a single day, without the need to bivvy.

  I don't actually climb really any multipitch sport, but I use this system all the time on long trad climbs. 

If it works for you, then use it.  I'm not really trying to persuade anyone one way or another.  I was under the impression that input was being solicited, and that was mine.

 This system seems even better when the climbing gets real hard, which is kinda the point of sport climbing (even though you don't have the weight of a rack)

Agreed- but I also think the mention upthread about the overall angle of the route should be considered before a haul/no haul decision is made.  If your haul bag ever gets caught, or the haul line, you'll wish two things:  you'd gone lighter, and you'd just worn a pack.  If you are pro-hauling and anti-pack wearing, and you like that system, it sounds like you've answered the question, at least for yourself.

If we have a substantial pack, the follower wears it. Getting packs stuck on a haul to make the follower's pitch nice is not the gamble I want to take. If you like doing that, have at it. It adds way too much time and complexity to the ascent in my opinion. Curious, but do you also like to simulrap?

Leader hauls the bag while the second follows. Bag gets stuck? The climber is right there to free it, no biggie. It doesn’t add any time and it makes the climbing much more enjoyable for both.

There’s a realm of difficulty where it’s not a big deal to wear a small pack, but the comment above about the reflection of grades and pack style, is real.

Eventually it really matters how much energy you save for the rock climbing.

On a single rope I usually simul, with knots. Not cause it’s so much faster, but I like the buddy checks you can do at the transitions.
Usually im Hauling the bag with the tagline, I’m doing full length raps though and my tag is too thin to rap (comfortably)