Basic gear to practice building anchors??

Hey, So I am planning to build a small section of wall in my garage and i live in a place where i could practice building anchors pretty well. I was wondering if you guys could help me with what basic stuff would be useful to try building different anchors? Any help would be appreciated.

P.S. I do not plan to go climbing outside until i have taken a class i found on building anchors so don't worry about me doing anything stupid! and my old neighbor was a very experienced climber and he said around where i live has great places to build anchors, And he showed me how to build different environmental features and bolts, Etc to practice with anchor building and knot tying!

Just find a section of chicken wire fence, or shelving, or bricks, or a window frame, or anything else. Hang 3 quick draws off it. Build your anchors.

It takes 45 minutes to learn the cordellete, equallette, and any other tomfoolery. You should really focus your time on good gear placements. That's infinitely more important.

I like a double shoulder length sling when there are 2 bolts. Get 2 biners for the bolt ends and practice equalizing and tying knots.

When building from gear (3 points or more) I use a cordelette. 21 feet of 6mm if I remember correctly. Tie into a big loop with a double fishermans.

buy this book:

amazon.com/Rock-Climbing-An…

Gif Zafred wrote: When building from gear (3 points or more) I use a cordelette. 21 feet of 6mm if I remember correctly. Tie into a big loop with a double fishermans.

If you are talking about going outside and building anchors in real rock (safely from the ground I hope) I would suggest any full set of nuts, half a dozen or so various biners, 3 or 4 2ft slings, 1 or 2 4ft slings, and a cordelette. You can buy the runners and cord off the spool at your local shop and tie them up. And the cord can be used in as a cordelette or tied into and cloved etc. to the gear to practice tieing in with the rope. Add a good mentor or failing that a good book on the subject. Good luck.
Tip:I have found that a 2ft runner requires almost 5ft of webbing and a 4ft runner almost 9ft (water knot plus tails>3in).

Dave77 wrote:buy this book: amazon.com/Rock-Climbing-An…

I'll second Robbie's suggestions. You're at a point where you can try out all kinds of gear and approaches until you stumble across what works for you.

Definitely practice outside, yes safely on the ground. As you get a little more proficient, try this: build an anchor. Remove it. Set those pieces aside. Build another anchor from what you have left. Remove that. Set those pieces aside. You get the idea.

Books could be good. I'm not familiar with the one mentioned above, but John Long's books on anchors are informative, well (and entertainingly) written and have decent illustrations. Still, nothing will teach you like doing it yourself.

Lessons, yes. You live in an area where there are good ones available. If they're still around, try to find Bob Culp's climbing school. Stuff you learn from gyms runs the gamut from pretty solid to disturbingly inept.

Good luck, have fun, be safe!