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[strandman]

Lockers ?  I used to own two, lost one and never had a need for two again. It goes on my harness and comes off at the end of the day.

Curious, if you're tied into the belay and need to come off onto a leash, what do you do?

Like to rap I clip direct to the anchors with slings and  single biners,get the rap ready.

[wivanoff]

Lot's of good advice here.

When/if you do decide to double up on stoppers, might I suggest getting them from a different manufacturer? ie: if you have BD stoppers, get similar size WC Rocks or DMM Wallnuts. The slight difference in size and shape is sometimes very helpful.

[JBrochu]

Lockers ?  I used to own two, lost one and never had a need for two again. It goes on my harness and comes off at the end of the day.

Curious, if you're tied into the belay and need to come off onto a leash, what do you do?

Like to rap I clip direct to the anchors with slings and  single biners,get the rap ready.

Yeah for a rap. This is where I use my second locker and was wondering what you do with only 1.

[danf]

And since I learned from a lot of reading and some professional guides, and later became a guide, I'd suggest finding one of those as well, unless you can hook up with an awesome mentor, or squared away climbing club/group. A few days with a good guide can be well worth it...

That's in the thought process going forward.  I wish I'd been climbing a year ago- around a year ago I did some work for one of the members on this forum (just now discovered he is here) and found out he was a climber then but had no experience myself at that point.  At a minimum I would have hit him up for more advice at the time.  The guy that taught me to lead climb (sport) also climbs trad and has taught many people over the last several years so he's an option.  But utilizing the services of a guide is definitely something that I've thought about.  But in the meantime, it's a lot of reading and asking questions!

[DMan]

Ah, DMan, now I get it.  Yes, not being a guide,  I do not yet own one of these fancier devices.  Thinking about it though.  On that note, which do you prefer?  Reverso 3 or ATC Guide?

I own both and don’t feel the differences are big enough to make either really stand out, especially the newest incarnations. That being said I almost NEVER use them in “guide” mode, more accurately “direct belay off the anchor mode” as I also carry a Trango Cinch which I do 95% of my 2nd belaying with. Main reason is almost friction-less take in of rope as the 2nd climbs. Even better than the Gri Gri in that regard, and can be installed on a loaded rope as an emergency ascender, handy for leader rescue.

Getting back to Reverso/Guide one nice advantage to carrying one over a regular ATC is they have the ability to function as an emergency ascender, and with practice you could switch from belaying a leader to ascended the loaded rope to help a fallen/injured or unconscious leader with just one prussik added to the system.

Leader rescue is an oft neglected skill in recreational climbers, and it is fallacy to assume the guy your belaying is immune to getting hurt someday. I’ve been refreshing my systems mentally since tomorrow I’m teaching a self-rescue course to a client from one of my avalanche courses last winter.

Somewhat getting off topic, but every trad climber should ask themselves this question:

"If my leader pitches off, whacks himself unconscious, can I get to him safely, stabilize him, and bring him back down to the ground from 3 pitches up Cathedral/Whitehorse/Cannon, etc.”

Skills to be mastered are “Escaping the Belay”, “Ascending a loaded rope”, "Lowering/Counterbalance Rappelling”.

If you know, and practice these skills, you can meet the paramedics at the car, or drive your buddy with a broken ankle to the hospital yourself. If you don’t, you may have to sit tight for hours while rescue services scramble to come get you.

You can learn these skills from books. I couldn’t. I needed hands on instruction. To each their own.

Back on topic:

Forgot the red tri-cam!

I find 8 slings with 2 biners gives me plenty of biners since I rack cams on single biners as well.

5 lockers doesn’t weight shit. Leave the #4 cam at home unless needed. I’m abit OCD so when I have time I’m going to inventory my rack and get an ounce count. I’ll share it at some point.

[Admin Al]

if you're climbing here in the Valley I would definitely get all the basic Tricams (ignore what Strandman says). also, just go ahead and get the blue, #3, Camelot. there are lots of places you will use it.

[strandman]

Tricams should be named "try placin' them" 

How many people have actually ever had to tie off the leader while the leader was knocked out ? You have to detach from the belay?? Wow ! and then what do you do ?
How did the leader get knocked out on an overhang ?

[strandman]

Sorry. i cross posted myself.. getting very confused by Dman and how to lower people. I thought i knew... guess not

[frik]

Most importantly - Ignore all the BS about self rescuing....

It sounds like money is an issue, so don't waste it on gear with limited functionality. As Stand said, start with a set of stoppers - the particular brand is not that important - and you don't need the smallest sizes. I'd add a couple hexes as well, ones that are bigger than your largest stoppers but nothing too big. This should give you a fairly decent set of mid range options. A lot of recommendations are "nice to have" items, rather than "gotta have" - which is what you are shooting for.
So assuming you already have a belay device and locker for it, I'd actually skip buying any more lockers until you've got the
meat of the rack taken care of. So maybe enough biners to rack your gear with 15 free (20 total - or thereabouts). For slings, just buy nylon webbing by the foot and make your own with a water knot. To get a quick draw; double up a regular length sling. Seriously climbers did this for decades without everyone dying, so don't be afraid to tie your own, just remember to check the knots every once in a while.   At this point your rack is pretty much what a lot of folks climbed with back in the day. And remember that most of the climbs you'll be leading, were safely climbed many times with nuts only. I hate to say this, but you should probably invest in a nut tool, or better yet, make one - at this point it doesn't need to be fancy. 
And whoever said a knife, is borderline retarded - or climbs at Rock Rimmon on a regular basis.

[JBrochu]

At this point your rack is pretty much what a lot of folks climbed with back in the day.

That's because that was the only gear available to you guys!

Should he purchase a horse to get himself to the crag? After all, that was all his great grandfather needed and he got around just fine!

[DWT]

 
And whoever said a knife, is borderline retarded - or climbs at Rock Rimmon on a regular basis.

What's wrong with Rimmon princess?  What do you cut old tat away with?  Your toenails?

[frik]

I've never "had" to cut tat away.

[DWT]

Hmmm.... rapping of old shitty tat or getting a dollar store knife that weighs an ounce.  Which is retarded?

[frik]

JB - that analogy would possibly be valid if i was advocating for carrying a pocketful of chockstones, or possibly a single soft steel pin. The fact is, passive gear works almost as well as cams in most of the easier & "moderate" NE climbs.

If the OP hadn't mentioned funding issues then I'd advocate for cams etc ...... money solves all problems.
Also: carrying extra rap rings in you chalk bag is moronic. 

[frik]

Nice false dichotomy you got there DWT.