Etiquette for found gear

https://youtu.be/KxDYHaW6z2M?si=svvu7GrdXTswv6or

 "She was McMad": Woman calls 911, twerks during McDonald's outburst

Pretty sure this lady wants her cam back.

I’ve been in many permutations of the lost gear scenario:

I’ve mailed gear to somebody at my own expense because they tried to help a hiker who died after falling from a cliff. I’ve happily slid booty onto my throbbing rack. I’ve gotten my damn link cam back from a guy who clearly wanted to hang onto it but reluctantly handed it over. I’ve had a partner drop a cam and draw and only got the draw back (months later) from one of the party that miraculously found it while the other partner adhered to their stance on keeping booty even though he’s an ER doc (looking at you, Clay) and could clearly afford his own alien cam. I’ve straight up left booty for the next climber….

All that said, if you leave it, the expectation is that you have lost it. You can ask, but nobody is really under any obligation in your garden variety dropped, forgotten, or fixed gear situation. Yeah, the party following behind and keeping it knowing it was your gear is a dick move but what are you going to do? Play on.

You know you can rack color matching Airtag hangers with your cams and never lose one again right?

Andy Shoemakerwrote:

You know you can rack color matching Airtag hangers with your cams and never lose one again right?

Can those work as avy beacons?

"This climber is no longer detected near you."

Mark Pilatewrote:

Can those work as avy beacons?

No, for a variety of reasons. Start here: https://beaconreviews.com/apps_search.php

Plenty more discussions via Google search.

Marc801 Cwrote:

No, for a variety of reasons. Start here: https://beaconreviews.com/apps_search.php

Plenty more discussions via Google search.

There's chatter on the turns-all-year-dark-web about Elon partnering with Apple to make it so your Airtag not only works as an avy beacon- but his space laser will melt the snow around you to excavate you from the concrete lickity-split.  In summer you can use said space laser to scare off potential booty pirates scouring the base of the cliff for your dropped cam while you finish out your climb.  For a fee of course.

Andy Shoemakerwrote:

There's chatter on the turns-all-year-dark-web about Elon partnering with Apple to make it so your Airtag not only works as an avy beacon- but his space laser will melt the snow around you to excavate you from the concrete lickity-split.  In summer you can use said space laser to scare off potential booty pirates scouring the base of the cliff for your dropped cam while you finish out your climb.  For a fee of course.

Is Elon Jewish?

J Lwrote:

Can't have your cake and eat it too (read: brag about it and risk being an asshole)

Mmmm cake.....

landow 69wrote:

Mmmm cake.....

Marc801 Cwrote:

No, for a variety of reasons. Start here: https://beaconreviews.com/apps_search.php

Plenty more discussions via Google search.

It was really originally tongue in cheek, but then again, it doesn’t sound outrageous and after reading the “propaganda” link (seemed a little pearl clutchy and market guarding to me) I’m intrigued to test/explore  further. 

I don't have social media aside from MoPro and Reddit so I don't have a means to see if anyone lost gear. This is intentional.

A couple weeks ago I was climbing with my partner when the party on a route to our right was yelling about not being able to get a cam unstuck. My partner and I were listening carefully, waiting for our moment to get on the route to rescue the cam the other party was trying to get for around 30 mins. We finished our route and hung out at the base of the next climb. We noticed the other party's bags and shoes at the base, so we stopped for lunch to make sure they were clear of the route and picked up their stuff before attempting to get the cam. We didn't want them seeing us trying to get the cam out. It took all of 15 seconds for me to free it not even letting go of the rock with one hand. Gave it to my partner, it was his first 0.4.

If you leave a cam and it takes 15 seconds for another party to free it one handed, then you just donated gear to someone else.

Mork, have you considered that the other party merely loosened the cam for you?

Food for thought.  

Climb trad long enough (which is not long at all) and you will find far more gear than you lose.

"Lose" here meaning drop off a pitch, have fall out through a hole in your backpack, get hopelessly stuck in a crack, purposely abandon to bail (or big wall context: sacrificial pieces for lower outs) follower forgot to clean, fumbled the handoff, etc...

Climb long enough and you will even accumulate trad gear you manage to find at sport only areas... somehow.

In general I just suggest shrugging it off.

In your situation it sounds like it was a crowded enough climb that maybe you could have communicated with those below you and gotten it back at the top or had them toss it down towards your packs, etc... but I don't know.

Mork Mwrote:

I don't have social media aside from MoPro and Reddit so I don't have a means to see if anyone lost gear. This is intentional.

…We didn't want them seeing us trying to get the cam out. It took all of 15 seconds for me to free it not even letting go of the rock with one hand. Gave it to my partner, it was his first 0.4.

If you leave a cam and it takes 15 seconds for another party to free it one handed, then you just donated gear to someone else.

Not my vibe. None of this is my vibe.

Mork Mwrote:

I don't have social media aside from MoPro and Reddit so I don't have a means to see if anyone lost gear. This is intentional.

A couple weeks ago I was climbing with my partner when the party on a route to our right was yelling about not being able to get a cam unstuck. My partner and I were listening carefully, waiting for our moment to get on the route to rescue the cam the other party was trying to get for around 30 mins. We finished our route and hung out at the base of the next climb. We noticed the other party's bags and shoes at the base, so we stopped for lunch to make sure they were clear of the route and picked up their stuff before attempting to get the cam. We didn't want them seeing us trying to get the cam out. It took all of 15 seconds for me to free it not even letting go of the rock with one hand. Gave it to my partner, it was his first 0.4.

If you leave a cam and it takes 15 seconds for another party to free it one handed, then you just donated gear to someone else.

Why do you need to avoid social media? You know exactly whose gear it was.  You twitched at the bottom like Gollum until they walked off and then you seized the Precious.  

If you drop a piece and the person can see who is on the wall they should give it back. If you are say 1000ft up and drop a piece there isn't normally a way to verify who dropped it and it is up to the finder. If you leave gear in a wall to bail and come back the next day to get it and it is gone then it is up to the finder.

Andy Shoemakerwrote:

You know you can rack color matching Airtag hangers with your cams and never lose one again right?

Until that person is screwing with you and takes it off and hides it in that really hard to find location with a note!

John Smithwrote:

If you drop a piece and the person can see who is on the wall they should give it back. If you are say 1000ft up and drop a piece there isn't normally a way to verify who dropped it and it is up to the finder. If you leave gear in a wall to bail and come back the next day to get it and it is gone then it is up to the finder.

If you drop gear on those below you, then you definitely know who took it 

A call to 911 would most certainly be in order 

Dow Williamswrote:

If you drop gear on those below you, then you definitely know who took it 

A call to 911 would most certainly be in order 

So if you are 1000ft up on a 1500ft multipitch and were to drop a piece of gear... the people on the ground know which of the 4 groups currently climbing it that day dropped it? and they can just wait at the base for a few hours for them to get down and hand it back? I am sorry but if I was walking along the base of a climb and found a piece of gear I am just going to take it unless I can look up and see the people who dropped it. Heck the people who found it when you are talking about those heights may not even be able to see who dropped it.

Imagine walking along the base of royal arches in Yosemite and finding a piece of gear on the ground. There is no way to know who dropped it or when they will be back. You can leave the gear sitting there but the climbers don't even know where that piece will be or if it even made it to the ground. If it was me I wouldn't even look for it and just call it a day when I got back down so if someone finds it good for them and a prize to take home.

On the other hand if it fell down on a ledge 1-2 pitches below and there was a group following I would expect that they saw it and would return it. I have personally had this happen with 2 groups of climbers in front of me on the same route and seen people return the gear no questions asked.

Cory N wrote:

Pretty sure they were joking saying that if a piece of gear was dropped and hit someone, you might need to call 911 because they would be injured…

Maybe I didn't read it as hitting them just dropped near them so guess I maybe overlooked that and was thinking they dropped it on the ground next to someone and they took it so they were calling 911 to arrest them for stealing since they watched them take it.

(Stupid post limits)