Gear Sling Love
Hi Steph,
I’m glad you have an open invitation to email you in your blog. Like many others, I am a massive fan of your “ness.”One question I have been wanting to ask you (well two actually, if you count the bunny ear knot thing I’ve been wondering about) is what you use to carry your cams and nuts when trad’ing. I’ve seen so many people using so many different techniques like daisy chains over their torso full of cams and such. But I’m just looking for a “best practice.”
So, what’s your method?
Nathan
Hi Nathan,
I am all about the gear sling. Daisy chains over the torso, not so much…
Harness racking seems to be growing in popularity in recent years, despite the fact that it is not efficient or convenient. The only time I harness rack (without an auxiliary gear sling) is when I’m climbing a steep crack and/or if I have just a few pieces of gear to carry.
A gear sling allows you to move the gear around if you find yourself chimneying or in a dihedral. It also allows you to get gear with either hand if you find that you only have one available at an inopportune, gear-placing moment. It makes it easy to rerack in order for yourself if you are following a pitch and going to be leading the next one. It makes it easy to pull the gear off and hang it on the anchor while belaying. It also makes it easy to drop the whole rack, so don’t do that.
Usually I hang it over my right shoulder to left hip (since I’m right handed and normally reach over with my right hand). An exception would be when starting up a long pitch that is clearly all in a left facing corner. I rack the cams biner gate side in, from small to large. I will use the front harness loops for the nut biner, quickdraws and free biners. I use the back harness loops for spare lockers and the belay device, as well as toy biners for hats/windjacket.
Just make sure the gear sling is the right size for you: if it’s too big, it will hang between your legs and be really annoying on lower angle rock, causing you to imagine that you hate gear slings. I like mine to hang above the gear loops on my harness, and I don’t switch the gear sling with a partner when climbing. It’s MY gear sling, and no one else can use it. Ever. 🙂
With the bunny ears: I have it on my list to post a how-to video, and I promise I will do that sometime upcoming. Thanks Nathan for a great question!
Steph
What are your feelings on a bandolier gear harness? Also nut tool on a loop of tiny stretchy coord worn as a necklace – it will tuck under your shirt and not catch on stuff and it’s there when you need it. Not my idea, stolen from a mentor.
It’s hard to relearn techniques and habits but I’m going to try doing it this way because I trust what you say! 🙂
Another thing that makes me imagine hating my gear sling: sliding. Whenever I’m fully loaded the bogger slides around to my front. Because I’m smaller than the gear slings I’ve seen, I tend to use a piece of webbing (an idea taken from you, actually!) — is this the issue? Thanks, steph!
I switched to using a gear sling after taking your Indian Creek crack clinic and I will never go back. I found an adjustable sling that I keep pretty short. It is WAY easier to use than the gear loops on my harness. The biggest advantage to me is never having reach for my back right gear loop with my left hand (or vice versa) from a precarious position.
It didn’t really take any time to get used to using a gear sling once I adjusted it to the right length. It was just instantly easier to manage gear. I also used to have a problem where my cams would catch on the rock when I pulled through a roof or a bulge. That has literally never happened since I started using the gear sling.
Thanks for the great advice!
Glad it is treating you right!
Racking ‘biners just above the gear loops, or gear itself? Thnks.
[…] My gear sling is perhaps the single most cherished gear item I own. Many people have never tried to rack their gear on a gear sling, however once you get used to climbing with one there’s no going back. Racking on a gear sling makes for faster changeovers at belays, allows you to get gear out of your way in chimneys or dihedrals, and keeps your gear loops from getting overloaded. Harness racking is okay in some situations, but 97% of the time I use a gear sling. […]