Climbing Gear:
Climbing gear is a type of equipment or device that is used by the participants during Rock climbing or hiking. These gears protect them from falling and serious injury.
List of Climbing Gears;
1. Climbing Shoes
2. Climbing Harnesses
3. Chalk
4. Climbing Ropes/ Cords
5. Climbing Webs
6. Helmets
7. Holds
8. Climbing Crash Pads
9. Pulleys
10. Ascender And descenders
11. Carabiners
12. Training Gears
The Cost of climbing gear depends on the condition of climbing like weather, altitude, type of rock and also on your level of climbing. A casual climber might spend a few hundred dollars on climbing equipment but an elite climber will spend thousands of dollars on buying climbing gear.
Casual Climber:
| Climbing Shoes | $40- $200 |
| Climbing Harness | $50- $150 |
| Chalk Bag | $15- $20 |
| Ropes | $ 150 |
| Locking Carabiners | $12- $20 |
| Total Cost Approximately | Around $400 |
EXPERT CLIMBER;
| Climbing Shoes | $75- $175 |
| High-End Technical Clothing System | $2000- $3000 |
| Climbing Harness | $50- $150 |
| Climbing Helmet | $50- $150 |
| Crampons For Icy Conditions | $125- $175 |
| Total Cost Approximately | Around $3000 plus |
Details About Climbing Gears:
1. Climbing Shoes:
If you’re doing indoor climbing with your brother or with your friend you don’t need to buy special climbing shoes. You can go with your trainers. It won’t affect your climbing too much.
But If you’re going for outdoor climbing, you must need to buy good climbing shoes. Climbing shoes turn your feet into a foot of a mountain goat and you can easily climb the rock. It can make climbing easier and makes it possible as well.
So, here is the list of best climbing shoes;
1. La Sportive Climbing Shoes
2. Five Ten Anasazi Pro
3. Tenaya Masai Rock Climbing Shoes
4. Butora Endeavor
5. Black Diamond Momentum Climbing Shoes
6. Evolv Venga
7. Evolv Shaman
8. Black Diamond Zone
9. La Sportiva Tarantulace
Features Of Good Climbing Shoes;
So, whenever you’re going to buy climbing shoes you must keep the following features in your mind:
1. Depending on the type of climbing and conditions of rock you can choose between neutral, moderate and aggressive shoes.
2. Laces, straps, linings and rubber all are necessary for good shoes and they all affect the overall performance.
3. Get the shoes with the right fit as they help you to ascend the harder rocks and are not so painful.
4. Shoes upper is made up of either synthetic or leather as they provide the easiest care.
5. Best climbing shoes have a close fit and smooth rubber sole.
6. Prefer the ‘CLIMBING SHOE LAST’. As they give shoes their maximum height, width, and dimension as well. So, most people prefer slip-lasted and broad-lasted shoes.
For more details you can check out the given links:
https://www.amazon.com/rock-climbing-shoes/b?ie=UTF8&node=13315711
https://www.adidas.com/us/climbing-shoes
2. Quick Draws:
Quickdraws are 2 non-locking carabiners connected by belts to protect a climber from falling. Quickdraws usually come in 2 lengths.
A shorter version is 10cm to 12cm long. It is good for straight routes having no hurdles. It is not heavy and has less burden on your harness.
A longer version is 15cm to 18cm long. It is good tricky roads and overhung cliffs. Longer version reduces rope drag. No. of quickdraws depends on the area of climbing.
3. Sport Harness:
The main purpose of a sport harness is to distribute the weight and protect you from falling. Sport harness consists of two thin-legged loops and waist belts. Several parts are eliminated to make its weight lighter. It plays a key role in ascending the rock and allows rock climbers to push harder and easily achieve their goal
without the fear of falling.
4. Climbing Ropes:
Ropes are very essential equipment for climbing. It helps to distribute weight and also helps you in ascending and descending the rock. It keeps you safe during climbing. By using rope, that you can clip easily with harness and that won’t weigh you down and protect you from falling when you are just about to reach your final goal is a very important gear of climbing.
A 9.5mm or 9.6mm rope is lighter in diameter and can still protect you from falling.
5. The Mammut Infinity 9.5 dry rope is lighter weight with high performance and is good for climbing.
6. An Assisted Breaking Belay Device:
The climber uses this braking belay device to stop himself from falling and belay device also increases friction for safety and control. During a fall, shock weighting of the rope activates the camming mechanism (they turn rotatory motion into reciprocating motion) in the device. Since you can suddenly fall during climbing, so it is good to have a braking device.
7. A Chalk Bag:
Chalk dries moisture and humidity from your hands so that you can strongly grip the holds and the sharp edges. Chalk bag consists of a waist belt, a drawcord and soft inner lining. Drawcord prevents chalk from falling. You can fill your chalk bag from Metolius Super Chalk.
8. A Helmet:
The Helmet is used by climbers because they shield against rock falling. It also protects your head from Cranial injury. Helmets are lighter in weight. It is optional for climbers to wear it or not. Petzl Sirocco helmet is a lighter weight helmet of 165g prefer by climbers. This has some form of ventilation as well.
9. A Rope Bag:
A rope bag wore by the climbers is made to hold a rope, climbing shoes and quickdraws. It is very comfortable that everything is placed on one place so that climbers can easily get climbing gear from their car to the site of climbing.
Mammut Neon Gear Pack is the best rope bag for rock climbing.
10. A Stick Clip:
The main function of a stick clip is to tie your first quick draw with the rope that is already clipped with a stick clip. This ensures your safety on the difficult routes.
11. Belay Glasses:
Belay glasses are eyeglasses used by the climbers in rock climbing to avoid neck strain. During Rock climbing, you are in the tension of standing in the first position and want to look again and again at your competitor above you. So, by wearing these glasses you don’t have to tilt your head up. These glasses reflect light rays in such a way that you can easily see what is happening up by looking straight in front of you.
Where To Buy Climbing Gears?
For Details Please Check Out The Given Links:
https://www.gearx.com/climbing
https://www.moosejaw.com/search/climbing_sale
Faqs Related To Climbing Gears:
Question No 1; How Should Wear My Chalk Bag?
There are mainly two ways of wearing a chalk bag while climbing. Most of the chalk bags have a thin belt so you can clip it around our waist. These belts play a key role in holding your chalk bag higher on your back, so you can use both hands freely in climbing. The second way is to use a carabiner, using a carabiner in a sense that you can clip your chalk bag onto your harness.
Question No 2; How Long Do Climbing Harnesses Last?
The life span of the climbing harness depends on how often/ rarely it is used. All harnesses should be checked before purchase and also there is a warranty of 10 years so it can be returned or repaired. If you use it more, it’ll decrease its life span. If it is frequently exposed to UV light or chemicals, nylon is degraded and the harness becomes weak. Many harness models have “wear indicators” which are the red materials or their stitching is exposed indicating that it is the time to replace it.
Question No 3; What Type Of Climbing Rope Do You Need?
This depends on the type of climbing you are doing, whether sport climbing, big walls, tree climbing, or ice climbing. Most of the ropes are made up of “kernmantle” material having a sheath and a core. The main function of the sheath is to protect the core of the rope and makes it tough and rigid.
Questions No 4; Should I Invest In A Dry-Treated Rope If I Don’t Ice Climb?
Very few climbers need a dry-treated rope because the route conditions are sloppy and the climbers who climb in fair weather also want to have treated ropes because these ropes reduce friction and repel dirt, increasing rope longevity.
Non-treated ropes are cheaper in price and are easier to grip because they are not slippery but they are rigid and more easily become kinked
