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Topic Date User

Haul bag advice 14-Jan-2016 At 12:51:48 PM Lee C

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On 14/01/2016 The good Dr wrote:
>If you have not hauled or done long aid routes before I would recommend
>doing some before you go over as it can be more back breaking and funtime
>reducing than you think. best to work out if you hate it here than spend
>the cash and find out you hate it over there.

This is good advice but not the type that leads to having your own wisdom ;)

A couple of things...
Once you're hauling anything more than a bag that you can hand-haul things become much slower. Thing is that the hauling does not get drastically slower by carrying a few extra luxury's (i.e. portaledge etc.). Going slow and heavy works well if you are really set on strict free climbing on pitches that are relatively hard for you.

For this reason I'd almost opt for either doing things in a single long push with a hand haul bag and no bivi gear OR do things over 3(+) days. It is a personal choice but the work involved in hauling heavy stuff can easily be spent moving faster and doing a few more pitches in a push. Also, even most tricky long free routes are typically only hard for a few pitches max. As far as whether to get a medium or large bag, I'd be more inclined to go bigger if you're going to spend more than 2 days on the wall. It is not unreasonable to use two big bags on a 4+ day route. It just makes them easier to sort when at hanging belays because they're not as full.

Have fun!!