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When I'm half crimping I would have to move way up into a more full crimp angle of my fingers to get my pinky into a real half crimp position. I guess I have a super short pinky or something. Am I doing it wrong if my first three fingers are properly 90 degrees, but my pinky is more open?
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May 5, 2020 20:09
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 16:37 |
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Welp I finally started my trad rack bought some cams. Feel like I should have bought some nuts first but oh well. It's the offset pack of Metolius Ultralight Mastercams, 6 pieces from their 00 to 4/5 sizes.
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May 5, 2020 20:44
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Been running loads which means I'll crush the walk-ins, but I've shed 3 kilos out of the 60 I had to start with and I think that's all come off my top guns. I'd been doing my best ever in the wall over winter and I had big plans to transfer that outside. This was on the radar for summer https://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crags/pabbay-3512/prophecy_of_drowning-67068#photos but I might have to reel in those plans. Ordered a fingerboard today though, and I might help stimulate the economy by getting some new half ropes.
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May 5, 2020 22:03
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Jester Mcgee posted:When I'm half crimping I would have to move way up into a more full crimp angle of my fingers to get my pinky into a real half crimp position. I guess I have a super short pinky or something. Am I doing it wrong if my first three fingers are properly 90 degrees, but my pinky is more open? Technically yes. I like to try to keep my pinky half crimped too as I think this will be more transferable to 4-finger crimps on real climbs, but in the scheme of things I think my index dropping into a chisel grip was more of a problem than my pinky. I’ve also found that the edge specs make a big difference with the pinky. Harder to keep it crimped if the edge has a big radius or is variable depth (both true on the Trango board I use), and easier to keep it crimped with a uniform-depth, incut edge.
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May 5, 2020 22:17
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Suicide Watch posted:Welp I finally started my trad rack bought some cams. Feel like I should have bought some nuts first but oh well. It's the offset pack of Metolius Ultralight Mastercams, 6 pieces from their 00 to 4/5 sizes. First pieces offsets?
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May 5, 2020 22:38
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spwrozek posted:First pieces offsets? Oh wow yeah I glossed right over that detail. That's an extremely strange choice for a first bit of gear, unless maybe your climbing partner already has a full rack that lacks offsets and you also climb in an area where you need them.
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May 5, 2020 22:43
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armorer posted:Oh wow yeah I glossed right over that detail. That's an extremely strange choice for a first bit of gear, unless maybe your climbing partner already has a full rack that lacks offsets and you also climb in an area where you need them. Unless it is DMM offset nuts. Then you made the best choice ever.
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May 5, 2020 22:45
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spwrozek posted:Unless it is DMM offset nuts. Then you made the best choice ever. Agreed, I have them and love them.
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May 5, 2020 22:52
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spwrozek posted:First pieces offsets? armorer posted:Oh wow yeah I glossed right over that detail. That's an extremely strange choice for a first bit of gear, unless maybe your climbing partner already has a full rack that lacks offsets and you also climb in an area where you need them. So these were the ones I got. Should I just cancel the order and get something more normal? I thought these cams could be used for all pockets of similar size. https://www.metoliusclimbing.com/offset_master_cam.html
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May 6, 2020 00:37
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Where are you climbing at? I like offset cams (although I don't own any) for pin scars and flaring placements. Generally "regular" cams are going to be more useful.
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May 6, 2020 01:52
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They're good gear, but I've climbed trad for about 8 years now and never added offset cams to my rack. It's not that I haven't seen places where they'd be good, it's just that a regular set of cams has always been fine.
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May 6, 2020 01:59
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spwrozek posted:Where are you climbing at? I like offset cams (although I don't own any) for pin scars and flaring placements. Generally "regular" cams are going to be more useful. armorer posted:They're good gear, but I've climbed trad for about 8 years now and never added offset cams to my rack. It's not that I haven't seen places where they'd be good, it's just that a regular set of cams has always been fine. I think I'll get the DMM offset nuts. Would those go well with the Peenuts too? I can probably get 4-5 cams too. I've read that for larger sizes, BD C4s are the way to go, and for smaller go Metolius or Totem. I'm building this rack for New England rock (North Conway), but since I'm moving to CA, it should be adaptable for Tahquitz and JT as well. A bit of Googling says I'll eventually need something up to a BD#3. Should I focus on smaller range cams, larger, or a mix?
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May 7, 2020 05:28
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It's pretty standard to buy the entire set from ~.1 to 3 and then expand from that point based on where and what you climb.
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May 7, 2020 06:50
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Most of my trad climbing has been in the Gunks, but I've climbed up in North Conway and other places in NE (as well as many other places) and my rack has been more than sufficient everywhere. I have a set of C4s up to a 4 (I think? I rarely bring the big ones out). I doubled up most of them with Totems (pricey, but the head is narrower at the same expansion size than the C4s so they fit different places). On the small end I have an assortment of C3s, and I get a lot of use out of them in the gunks. I have two full sets of nuts because I originally bought BD stoppers and used them for several years before getting the DMM offsets. If I were out doing long desert crack lines or something like that, I'd need different gear because some of them require high multiples of the same size piece. At that point though I would probably try to pool gear with my buddies rather than buying several extra #2s or something. Edit: A pretty standard rack building process is: Get a full set of nuts and start filling in singles of a major cam offering like the C4. You'll need alpine draws, but you can get away with using quickdraws depending on how the route goes. So maybe build 6 alpine draws to start. Ideally you can climb with someone else who has gear during that time. At that point you have a "half rack" and you can prioritize building it to a full rack based on what size gear you find yourself using most where you regularly climb. Edit #2: Just saw your question about the Peenuts - Yes, that's what I paired mine with and they fill out the range nicely. armorer fucked around with this message at 13:42 on May 7, 2020 |
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May 7, 2020 13:04
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Good advice there about the offset cams. They're like the electric nipple clamps of the climbing world. Useful in certain circumstances but largely shunned, except by a few diehards who think they're acceptable anywhere from a wedding to a funeral. I think I'm starting to suspect why you're all so hooked on offsets in the USA. If you've started out a rack with BD stoppers which are sort of rectangular in cross section, you're going to really notice when they don't sit well in a flared crack. Then you go in search of something that does and wind up with peenuts/HB offsets. In the UK quite a lot of people start out with DMM Wallnuts, which are sort of trapezoidal in cross section and sit better in flares, so people never feel like there's that offset shaped space in their lives.
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May 7, 2020 23:15
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BD nuts are trapezoidal when you look at their widest face and curved when you look at the skinny face. I started trad climbing in NH, my mentor who guides there told me to start with this rack: BD C4 0.5, 0.75, 1, 2, 3 Metolius TCU red orange yellow blue a set of nuts 2 nut tools (one for you, one for your follower) 8+ alpine draws 2 double slings 2 cordelettes guide style belay device spare belay device stowed in your backpack enough lockers for anchors belaying and tethering, plus one one racking biner for every cam, all the nuts on one or two biners That setup has been great for a bunch of climbing around NH, MA, and WA. It's sufficient for multipitch once you've put in time to learn how to make good placements and are comfortable spacing things out a bit. I can recommend some crags in your area that have good entry-level trad if you're looking for more options.
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May 8, 2020 02:52
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Momentum opening up in Texas next week with a reservation system. This should be fun.
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May 13, 2020 01:47
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How long do they let you climb for? I assume you book a specific time window
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May 13, 2020 01:57
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Sab669 posted:How long do they let you climb for? I assume you book a specific time window Yea you get the ability to book a 2 hour window 4 times a week. I have no idea how they're going to enforce that window though. You can climb more if you walk up and fill a no show spot. All the usual trapping of being in public. Spaced out, mandatory masks, and the like.
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May 13, 2020 02:50
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That seems fair. Unfortunate, but fair. Unfortunately I'm in New York, so nothing is going to open any time soon here but goddamn I can't wait to get back to it. When I started climbing - and subsequently started reading this thread - a year ago, there was a bit of a discussion about how climbing has helped some people's issues with depression and I've noticed it's been really good for me over the past year. The last 2 months haven't been too bad in general for me, but drat yea I miss climbing. Came across my shoes today and it just really bummed me out knowing they're just going to sit there for at least another month, probably more.
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May 13, 2020 02:57
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George H.W. oval office posted:Yea you get the ability to book a 2 hour window 4 times a week. I have no idea how they're going to enforce that window though. You can climb more if you walk up and fill a no show spot. All the usual trapping of being in public. Spaced out, mandatory masks, and the like. For climbing gyms in particular, it seems like a spectacularly bad idea regardless of social distancing. All the holds and grips will be loving nasty and it's not like you can use a hand sanitizer after every climb.
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May 13, 2020 03:17
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Sab669 posted:That seems fair. Unfortunate, but fair. Unfortunately I'm in New York, so nothing is going to open any time soon here but goddamn I can't wait to get back to it. Word. Felt pretty good to get out a little this weekend, even if we only got a few easy trad routes in. I've been hangboarding more & more lately (up from roughly never), but I don't think I realized how much I miss actually climbing.
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May 13, 2020 04:17
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enraged_camel posted:For climbing gyms in particular, it seems like a spectacularly bad idea regardless of social distancing. All the holds and grips will be loving nasty and it's not like you can use a hand sanitizer after every climb. It seems to me that a mask should continue to be mandatory, and just do your best to touch as little as possible until you wash your hands at the end of your session, which you drat well should be doing at the gym even before all this Corona Crap started  Wash when you get in, don't touch your face, wash when you get out. Is that really any different than the grocery store where people are sharing carts, touching boxes and putting them back on shelves etc?
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May 13, 2020 11:35
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Two sets of gyms in Dallas are opening on Monday also with similar reservation systems. They're enforcing it by having 20 minute windows between each 2 hours to kick people out and let the staff clean before the next group comes in. It sounds kind of OK, although I'm not going to go. One is limiting it to 10% of capacity, but they didn't say what that was for any of their gyms, and the other gym said they're "staying under 25% capacity" at 75 people at a time. Just can't imagine the gym's big enough for 75 people to feel safe regardless of capacity. That gym finished construction in April so its grand opening is Monday. The new gym is also either encouraging or forcing people to use liquid chalk between climbs for the disinfectant properties. I'm kind of skeptical of the disinfecting properties of 40% IPA and chalk, but maybe it's better than nothing. I think the danger is more a bunch of people breathing hard in a relatively confined space, and not the shared touching of holds. I never touch my face when I climb anyway because of chalk. Maybe masks are enough, guess we'll see in a couple weeks.
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May 13, 2020 14:15
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Hauki posted:Word. Felt pretty good to get out a little this weekend, even if we only got a few easy trad routes in. I've been hangboarding more & more lately (up from roughly never), but I don't think I realized how much I miss actually climbing. Nice. Where did you go? I haven't climbed since IC right before the lockdown. This year will be another mountain bike year for sure. I can't see going to the gym anytime soon and the front range crags are always pretty crowded.
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May 13, 2020 14:24
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Liquid chalk seems fine, I agree it's probably not significant but better than nothing. A twenty minute cleaning window in between sessions sounds... insufficient unless the gym is tiny? And also really expensive burning through cleaning chemicals for hundreds of holds 6+ times a day whatever it works out to.
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May 13, 2020 14:42
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Our gym is open
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May 13, 2020 14:51
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Those Texas gyms are loving dumb
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May 13, 2020 15:30
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Sab669 posted:Liquid chalk seems fine, I agree it's probably not significant but better than nothing. A twenty minute cleaning window in between sessions sounds... insufficient unless the gym is tiny? And also really expensive burning through cleaning chemicals for hundreds of holds 6+ times a day whatever it works out to. The cleaning break is probably for the other high-touch spots in the gym: check-in ipads, counter, credit card machine, door handles, stuff like that.
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May 13, 2020 15:57
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Hot Diggity! posted:Those Texas gyms are loving dumb It’s just in line with what our governor is doing.
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May 13, 2020 15:58
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Electoral Surgery posted:The cleaning break is probably for the other high-touch spots in the gym: check-in ipads, counter, credit card machine, door handles, stuff like that. That makes way more sense 
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May 13, 2020 16:50
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spwrozek posted:Nice. Where did you go? IC? We were down at parachute rock, pretty quiet except for all the gunshots & atvs echoing through the woods. Yeah, I’m kinda leery of the easier to reach crags, seems like a lot of people out right now without much else to do. Are any of the gyms here even open yet? Not touching those with a ten foot pole right now in any case.
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May 13, 2020 18:45
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Hauki posted:IC? Indian Creek. I don't think I have been to parachute rock. I haven't seen anyone open besides doing gear shop sales and selling old holds and stuff.
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May 13, 2020 19:18
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They officially put outdoors rock climbing in the like 10 sports they are allowing for the coming weeks/month here. I was yelling in ecstasy in my car. Can't wait to hit the rock in good more popular spots. I did manage to get a couple of sessions in unknown areas, but the great spots were sort of off limits KingColliwog fucked around with this message at 23:37 on May 13, 2020 |
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May 13, 2020 22:08
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I went climbing for the first time since March yesterday. It was the best, the sun was out and I didn't lose as much strength as I had feared. Climbing is cool and good.
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May 13, 2020 22:40
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spwrozek posted:Indian Creek. I don't think I have been to parachute rock. Not many people have. It's pretty out of the way. Not a bad spot, though. I've been out at places my friends have been developing with my band of retired dudes. Probably climbing 4-5 days a week. I'm beat.
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May 13, 2020 23:38
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Sab669 posted:Side shot: I finally got a chance to feel around this big boy. As many of you guessed -- as I feared -- many parts of the front face just exploded into tiny pieces under any sort of pressure. If I came back with a broom and brushed all the loose shale and were really determined, there's definitely solid rock under there but it just isn't worth the time I think. I tried the opposite face, to the left of the first photo:  Definitely some problems to be found. It felt really good to climb a little bit again, even if it was less than 30 minutes total. Climbed for such a short period because the approach to this single boulder is pretty tough IMO. Walk a mile, go down 300 poorly maintained, uneven stone stairs that sprawl a series of switch backs down into this gorge, then walk another mile. So I left my pad at home and just brought my shoes and decided not to be bold. It's an extremely popular hiking destination, but there is zero established climbing so I got quite a few weird looks from other hikers while I was on the rock or just standing back looking at it and planning  Hope to go back tomorrow with my pad though and explore a bit more.
Sab669 fucked around with this message at 13:51 on May 15, 2020 |
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May 15, 2020 13:45
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remote control carnivore posted:Not many people have. It's pretty out of the way. Not a bad spot, though. Yeah, we’ve been working our way through that area a bit, but never been to that particular spot before. We had some good times at Radio Head this past fall too. Kinda jealous, going out 4-5 days a week right now sounds great.
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May 15, 2020 15:14
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Well if the pandemic did one thing good for me it's getting me to climb outdoors. Thought I might try sport climbing this summer or next summer so I can do cool stuff with my kids down the line, but turns out I'm going full outdoors bouldering mode for the moment and I'm enjoying it way more than I thought. Now that it's officially ok and everything is open I'm going to try and go 2-3 times a week. I'm not a big fan of how risky it feels, but being outdoors and mostly having to figure out the problems is the one thing I didn't expect liking that much. I thought it would be annoying more than anything, but it feels so good to find the way up something that seems completely impossible the first 10 tries.
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May 15, 2020 17:18
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It blows my mind that anybody could think outdoor bouldering wouldn’t be fun. Did you not have any outdoor climbing near you when you started climbing?
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May 15, 2020 20:34
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