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Author

Gear slings, or rack up on harness?

J Qui

13-Nov-2009
8:50:16 PM

G'day

I am thinking of returning to using a gear sling for trad. Having a small waist means that most harnesses
don't have sufficient size on gear loops for a full rack. I have used a gear sling in the past but found that
it redistributes my weight incorrectly.

What do others do, and why?

Cheers


ambyeok

13-Nov-2009
9:06:46 PM

I use a small mens harness. Im always annoyed about the smaller loops on small harnesses but I guess there is less room. But even with the big wall rack I pack on for the tiny routes I do I still have never had a problem. Whats a full rack? I get cams from 0.3 to 4 as well as 2-4 C3's plus a couple of hexes plus three biners with nuts plus 8 long slings plus up to 12 quickdraws on the gear loops, and a couple of cordalettes and lockers on the haul loop.

citationx

13-Nov-2009
9:23:18 PM

Wild country (used to) make a harness with 9 gear loops. i use it for my tradding. sure, i don't use all the loops, but i can be very specific about where my gear goes, and if i need (??) a double rack with 25 qds and belay gear it easily fits on.
otherwise you can save space on your harness by doing little tricks like clipping qds in pairs, multiple bits of gear (ie cams) on single biners etc.


Chuck Norris

13-Nov-2009
9:37:22 PM

Use your bloody gear loops. Little people don't need to place as much gear because they are lighter.


Chalk Free

13-Nov-2009
9:50:19 PM

Gear sling, can't fit it enough on my harness.

Olbert

13-Nov-2009
10:24:55 PM

I have never used a full gear sling with everything on it but I do find that if I rack my double set of cams, double set of nutes, 14 quick draws and a few lockers all on my harness it is rediculously packed. I dont take all this on every 5m sport route that I do...only the ones that look scarey.

There is a couple of tricks that I use so that my harness isnt so cluttered. Firstly I rack multiple cams per carabiner. This means that there is less things clipped to the loops, works quite well-but means you have to bugger round more when your placing gear.

Also sometimes I put all the gear I can on my harness, comfortably, then put a few of the crucial pieces, I know that I will need, and clip them to a sling on across my chest, either gear sling or normal sling. This means that when I am pumping and searching for the right sized cam, it is right in front of me(literally).

Wendy

13-Nov-2009
11:12:55 PM

Gear slings are tedious. I've gone back to check out this opinion a few times, because in theory, they could make changing over gear quicker, I do carry ridiculous amounts of gear and Anthony uses one so it would save lots of reracking if one of us would give up our distast for the other way of racking, but still, I just reconfirm that they suck. I must be a bit thick though, because just occasionally, on some short easy pitch, I think it can't be that bad and just grab the bandaleer. But, no, it really is that bad. The gear dangles somewhere around my knees, it moves around willy nilly, refuses to stay on whatever side i try and swing it to and just generally gets in the way. Plus it sucks to find gear on. Then there's trying to climb a roof with one - an ascent of Kachoong convinced Lou that they were sucky when in order to place gear, she had to swing the whole rack around onto her tummy in order to see the gear.

It is possible to get 4 gears loops on a small harness. I have a BD Iris - 4 decent gear loops plus a haul loop. Mostly I just crowd them up, but if you found that getting out of control, sometimes I clip my second set of cams into the biners of the same size one - that is not rack the cams on the same biner, which also drives me nuts to climb with, but a whole seperate cam with biner attached to it's matching cam and biner. You can always manufacture and attach some loops if you desperately needed them, but I carry a stupid amount of gear on a small harness regularly. On a really bad day, I take a 120cm sling and manufacture a chest harness out off it, and clip a few things into that. Still a bit annoying, but much much better than the gear sling. You can get specially made chest harnesses with gear loops too.

J Qui

14-Nov-2009
8:03:21 AM

Interesting posts. Cheers.

I have to say that I agree with all of the posts. I normally just use my harness, but similarly with you
Wendy, am always tempted to re-introduce the gear sling, and have always been disappointed.

Yeah, I'll have to start racking qd's off biners, and likewise with cams and so forth.

Perhaps the gear sling is better reserved for big wall aid, which I have not explored yet - would love to
one day.


mattjr

14-Nov-2009
8:50:00 AM

I also find gear slings tedious.. and I also wear a small harness. Lately I have been sub-grouping with extra biners, having a couple of oval biners on either side so I can clip multiple draws or sets of nuts to the one point seems to reduce the 'jam-packed' gear loop syndrome. Plus it reduces the need to use one biner for more than one cam which I also find tedious.

mikepatt

14-Nov-2009
10:59:42 AM

I've got a Metolius gear sling which had 4 seperate gear loops on it, good to keep the gear unbunched. However most of the people I climb with at the moment don't like gear slings so I'm happy to just rack on on my harness. Gear slings are OK but can get in the way on some climbs and may need to be adjusted when slapping leads which slows it down a lot.

I also tensd to rack up according to the climb. It's sometimes liberating to only carry a small rack.. at other times it can be a nightmare..


foreverabumbly

14-Nov-2009
11:20:33 AM

I use a BD Zodiac chest sling, a chest harness thingy with a gear sling on each side. I love it, it make organising a rack very easy, it keeps the wieght of my gear from pulling down my harness, it has nipple clips to attach gear I know I will need in a hurry, and is easy to swap leads with people who are willing to use it too.

But, as Wendy said, it sucks on roofs and overhangs as all your gear swings out behind your back, tantalisingly just out of reach. The gear tends to sway alot and gets in the way when you want to hug your hips into the wall, and it is at exactly the right height for cam heads to get wedged inbetween yor leg loops and your crotch.

I would say the main reason why I use it is because I hate having everything dangling on my harness, it always turns into a cluster, and you can feel the weight of every bit of gear.

bakerf

14-Nov-2009
12:56:13 PM

I think gear slings are nuisance, you go for a move and it swings around in an annoying position. Plus on
overhanging climbs it swings "out of reach". You also seem to be always repositioning your gear sling.

I find that your trad rack systematically positioned on your harness is the best way. You are free to move
you don't have weight hanging off your shoulders making you off balance.

Also i think that when you have more space to hang gear. You are more likely to take more gear. Which
is often not necessary. I place lots of gear and find a never run out.

jamief

14-Nov-2009
3:27:03 PM

On 13/11/2009 J Qui wrote:
>G'day
>
>I am thinking of returning to using a gear sling for trad. Having a small
>waist means that most harnesses
>don't have sufficient size on gear loops for a full rack. I have used
>a gear sling in the past but found that
>it redistributes my weight incorrectly.
>
>What do others do, and why?
>
>Cheers

you can always just rack multiple draws indirectly on additional single biners "yosemite racking" style.

kieranl

14-Nov-2009
8:47:03 PM

I used gear slings for many years but hate the way they move about so that you have to orient the sling before getting the gear.
I usually rack everything on my harness but for a climb with long, sustained pitches where I am going to use a lot of gear I'll rack all of the cams and nuts as usual.
I then hang the majority of the draws on a gear-sling, keeping just a few on my waist.
That way everything is where I expect it when I need it quickly.


IdratherbeclimbingM9

15-Nov-2009
10:27:55 AM

Interesting replies.

I have found most systems of harness racking/bandolier racking/chest harness racking; have pros and cons, especially if one is in the habit of taking more gear than required.

For those who dislike the idea of a bandolier swinging around, or out of reach on steep territory; I have found the solution is an accessory krab on it clipped to a gear loop on the harness..., use a girth hitched hero loop to extend it if necessary...
~> Get your offwidth system sorted beforehand otherwise that tip will give you grief!
(~> mentioned that tip a while ago too!)

One can get systems dialled for carrying lots of gear. Through my aid climbing experience, I've found being meticulously organised for type and placement when racking stuff is key.

I have always preferred harnesses that let the individual tie on their own gear loops, and even then, I add extras!

Tips for saving space on gear loops, that imo apply to bandoliers and chest harnesses as well...
I often clip one QD to a gear loop and then clip three or four others off that one.
Same for SLCDs, but in identical (or sometimes grouped), sizes.
Same for third and fourth sets of nuts!
Heavier and larger stuff gets racked lower and further back, lighter stuff more to the front or on top, if in a layered system (eg chest harness with double gear loops both sides).

There are other threads on this topic.
Here are a couple;

Racking cams

A poll that may have a relevant result somewhere?

bl@ke

15-Nov-2009
12:35:53 PM

i like the idea of yosemite racking. Or isnt there some shoulder slings that have a strap that keeps them in place??. Iv got a petzl calidris harness and i havnt run out of room yet and when i do ill yosemite rock and then ill have more room :)


Cranky

15-Nov-2009
8:11:29 PM

I have always used a gear sling, or bandolier. I have only one eye, so I find I have to move gear into my field of vision. Maybe I find that the bandolier works better because I have always used one. I use gear loops on my harness for qd's, divided evenly on both sides, and prussics/nut key on left rear, and screw gates /belay device on right rear.

simey

15-Nov-2009
9:07:04 PM

On 13/11/2009 Wendy wrote:
>The gear dangles somewhere around my knees, it moves
>around willy nilly, refuses to stay on whatever side i try and swing it
>to and just generally gets in the way. Plus it sucks to find gear on.
> Then there's trying to climb a roof with one - an ascent of Kachoong convinced
>Lou that they were sucky when in order to place gear, she had to swing
>the whole rack around onto her tummy in order to see the gear.

You can buy adjustable gear slings Wendy, so I don't see why the gear should hang any lower compared to it hanging from your harness. And I'm surprised that you talk about how bad gear slings are for climbing roofs when most of your time is spent thrashing up wide cracks. I find it much more of a problem to access gear from my harness when half my body is wedged against the rock. A gear sling is great for swinging out of the way during body thrutching moves.

I generally carry most of wires and cams on a gear sling and my draws on my harness. Gear slings allow you to swing all the gear in front of you so you can see exactly what piece you are reaching for (even if you do have to swing it onto your tummy whilst climbing Kachoong). You can also comfortably reach for your gear with either hand using a gear sling.

I agree that carrying the gear off your harness is more comfortable but once you adjust to carrying a gear sling you will probably find it has some advantages.


Phil Box

15-Nov-2009
10:28:40 PM

If you are swinging leads on a multipitch then I reckon a chest harness type of big wall rack is the way o go. I love my Yates chest harness for this reason. I've been out all weekend at Frog dialling up multipitching systems as I get ready to head to Taswegia after the NewYear.

It's just sooo quick to rerack and hand over the gear when all of that cluster is seperate from ones harness. The Yates keeps the gear fairly low so the centre of gravity is not altered greatly.

Oh yes, clint and I have been working on a techy knot for using the rope to set the anchor. Anyone heard of the triple figure of eight. It slides into position and virtually self equalising. Not for beginners though as it is easy to get wrong.

widewetandslippery

16-Nov-2009
1:45:15 PM

On 13/11/2009 J Qui wrote:
>G'day
>
>I am thinking of returning to using a gear sling for trad. Having a small
>waist means that most harnesses
>don't have sufficient size on gear loops for a full rack. I have used
>a gear sling in the past but found that
>it redistributes my weight incorrectly.
>
>What do others do, and why?
>
>Cheers

You have answered your own question "cheers". A diet of beer and pork belly will solve all your problems

There are 29 messages in this topic.