Hey all, this is my page with me and all the gear that I use (but note that it is SERIOUSLY out of date), with pics included for free! Woohoo! Ok, I also rant and rave about the products I have personally bought and/or used and feel free to form your own opinion and respect mine! Ok, without further ado, let's go climbing! Here I am with all my gear ready to go!
My Harness:
Ok, before you go climbing, if you plan on roping up, you are obviously going to need something to rope up into. Yes, of course you can just take the rope and tie it around you, and call that good. Don't try this. People will laugh at you. Or you can take some webbing and make some sweet harnesses using some ultra bright colors of webbing. I wouldn't sugguest this, but in a quick pinch, it can get the job done. What I would suggest however is spending $30-70 on a good harness.
I currently own two harnesses. Both are made by Black Diamond. Black Diamond is one of my favorite climbing brands. They are expensive, but their products are tried and true. The exact model of the harness I am wearing is the Black Diamond Bod Harness..also, not pictured though, I own the Black Diamond Alpine Bod Harness. The only difference being that the Alping Bod is lighter because it doesn't have gear loops and doesn't have padding. My Bod harness I got for $50 and my Alpine Bod was $30. I haven't experienced any technical difficulties with these harnesses yet, however I do wish the Alpine had gear loops, but hey, you gotta love the Black Diamond patented M-buckle.
My Shoes:
So you wanna dyno like Chris Sharma, and you want to stick to the wall like Spiderman, well, lemme tell you the most important step in learning how to achieve this fairy tale is to go out and buy you some climbing shoes. I was not believing anybody when they said that climbing shoes made all the difference -- boy was I ever wrong.
The shoes I own are made by FiveTen and are Spires. They are really cool for two reasons, one, they are extremely cheap ($79) and two, they are purple. Now, I am not a big fan of Barney or anything, but you can definitely tell who has these shoes on a mile away. Also, after a good day of climbing, you can tell you were wearing purple shoes, cause your feet are now that color as well! Hehe. Anyhow, I didn't think that climbing shoes work as well as they do. They fit like ballet shoes, and they work their magic. Just trust your shoes, and use your legs to climb and you will improve 10 fold instantly. My shoes have held up really well and I like them for being an all around shoe, however they do lack in smearing ability...but that's ok though, I didn't bust out $150 for a good pair of climbing shoes...well...not yet anyway. :)
My Rope:
Ok, so you have a harness and a cheap pair of shoes, now, where or what are you going to do with those? Well, you can go boulder in them, but if you ever want to be safe (hahaha, what are you talking about Matt, go climbing and be SAFE!?) then I would suggest buying yourself a rope.
Pictured here is my Blue Water 50mx11mm dynamic rope. It cost me about $150. Trust me, you don't want to just go out to any ol' place (Walmart) and buy yourself a rope to climb with. You want one that stretches and one that will last a while. I have had my rope for under a year, so it hasn't really seen any major wear yet, but I think it will last me quite a while. I am happy with it, and if you are serious about climbing you need to get a rope, a 10.5 mm will do if you are only top roping but I would suggest going with 11mm. A fifty meter rope is good for just about all climbs up to around 80 feet. If you need to climb something higher, then go with a 60m rope instead.
My Chalkbag:
Heh, can you tell I took all these pictures in one day!? Yes, my bright yellow shirt is very bright. Anyhow, on to my chalkbag. If you don't want the Oklahoma Humidity to get to your hands and dampen your climbing ability then I would STRONGLY recommend getting a chalkbag. (and chalk of course)
I use a sweet colored Metolius chalkbag, however you can't really see it in any of my pictures, but it's the thing that's attached to my back. I got it for around $10 and I love it. It has a huge opening on the top of it which makes it easy for me to reach back and grab some more chalk when I don't really have the best grip, however it also is bad when climbing around on roof sections at a local clmibing shop, I have lost lots of chalk spilling it out the back. OH well, I'm learning.
My Rack:
Ok, you are starting to become a hardcore climber when you start getting enough gear to start forming a rack. I for one don't really have all that much stuff yet, but here is a pic of my stuff.
Attached you can see some of the essentials for climbing. If you are going to go rappelling I would suggest getting a figure eight and if you are belaying, an ATC. If you are top roping, I would suggest a few cams, pictured here I have two Black Diamond Camelots and a few Wired Hexentrics. If you are going into sport climbing, I would suggest some quickdraws, which are also pictured. If you are a lead climber (which I'm not yet) you need a lot more stuff than I have, including wedges, more cams, more hexes, more knifeblades, etc etc. Also pictured are just some various biners such as locking ones and sport ones and your standard oval and D.
My Pack:
Hahaha, alright, if you want to see a picture on how NOT to pack your backpack just click on this picture for a close up. Notice how it's not on very well and it's not straight and it's not packed evenly at ALL. Well, that's because I was in a hurry so that Ted could take a pic of my pack and I could get it on the web.
I own a Gregory Shasta pack. It's frame is a size large, and the hipbelt is Large but the shoulder straps are Medium. This was the most expensive part of my climbing gear as it was about $250. (ouch!) But hey, it has more uses than ever dreamed of. I can not only fit all my stuff in it with it's HUGE storing capacity, but I can use it to take on trips and stuff that are not necessairly climbing trips cause it packs really well and is easy to carry around. This pack works great for long trips and is perfect for a pillow at night! I love it!
Ok, so that's all my personal gear (well not all of it, but most of it) and I hope you liked my little page of what I have. I will add to it I'm sure, however for now, I am happy just to get this up, lemme know what you think! You rule!
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