and the other karabiner is used to hold the rope. For most styles of climbing a selection of different-length extenders can be carried, from around 15–30cm. This enables runners off to the side of the climbing line to be used effectively.
Types of extender
Extenders can be bought ready set-up with karabiners, or you can buy the sewn tape loops and add your own karabiners – buying ready-made sets will often work out cheaper. The sewn loops are either open like mini-slings, or have the middle parts attached so that the karabiners sit in their own loops on the ends. Make sure that neither of the karabiners is held too tightly by the stitching or by any rubber keeper device, as this will affect how they react when moved by the rope. If there is a separate keeper remove it to allow the karabiner to hang freely.
Slings
Slings are available in a number of lengths and widths, but the following are particularly useful (note that sewn slings are generally sold in flat measured lengths in centimetres, but are still often referred to by circumference in feet).
4ft (60cm) sling made from a narrow fabric such as Dyneema. This length is very useful when equipped with two snapgate karabiners as it can be used as a long extender for off-line runners. The narrow fabric makes it easy to handle.
8ft (120cm) sling made from a wider tape is extremely useful, and should be equipped with a screwgate karabiner. It can be used as an anchor or a running belay and, being made from thicker tape than the 4ft sling, is a little more robust.
16ft (240cm) sling is the ‘Big Daddy’ and has many uses. For general outcrop use a wide fabric will be hard-wearing, but if you are going to venture on to multi-pitch routes you may wish to go for the thinner Dyneema, as this makes the sling very easy to handle when tying into anchor points. This sling should also be furnished with a screwgate karabiner.
(Left) Short slings with two karabiners on being doubled. They can then be carried like extenders.
(Right) Carrying an 8ft (120cm) sling
Carrying slings is sometimes a problem, although with a bit of thought can be made quite easy. The short slings can be carried on your harness doubled through each other (see below). The medium-sized sling can be doubled, taken over the shoulder, then under one arm and clipped into itself. This enables you to take it off with one hand (not possible if you wrap it over your head). When carrying the long sling, double it and clip it into itself, then take it over your shoulder and under the other arm.
Belay device
This crucial piece of kit has a number of jobs, such as belaying a leader, belaying a second, and also doubles up as an abseil device.
There are two main categories:
Passive where you control all the braking of a fall.
Active where the device itself – although not hands-off – helps you by locking off, either through rotation or by internal moving parts (akin to a car seatbelt). A passive device is ideal for the techniques covered in this book.
Belay devices can be split further into different categories, the main two being:
Slick which has a large aperture through which the rope fits. If the rope is thin – say less than 10.2mm – it may have difficulty holding it in the event of a fall.
Grabbing devices often allow more control on thinner ropes (and sometimes too much on thick ropes, especially if abseiling), either on account of their shape or by the use of a channel through which the held rope is run. This channel will usually have a ribbed surface, providing extra friction that makes controlling the rope easier.
Variety of belay devices
Devices will normally have two slots to accommodate two ropes at the same time, useful for both double- or twin-rope techniques. This is also an important feature for abseiling, which is often done using two lengths of the same rope at once.
Wires
This is a generic name given to wedges of metal attached to the end of a swaged wire loop, often simply referred to as ‘nuts’ (the use of these and other equipment for protection is covered in detail in Chapter 7). They are, in fact, very technical pieces of kit and have been designed to exacting standards and great tolerances, and are the basic protection equipment for most climbers. The heads measure from a couple of millimetres to a couple of centimetres across, and the strength varies from 2kN (see Appendix 1) on the smallest to 12kN on the larger sizes. Most climbers will carry a rack of wires made up of two sets of 1–10, all doubled up, although the final make-up will be down to personal preference. These will often be carried on the harness on two karabiners; I tend to have sizes 1–6 on one krab and 7–10 on the other. This means that you have a range of sizes to hand, useful once you have learnt to recognise which one fits which crack. Many wires are colour-coded for ease of identification.
Set of wires
You may see very tiny wires called ‘micro-wires’ for sale, as well as some others with very irregularly shaped heads. These are intended for a specific purpose, often for a one-off placement on a particular route. It is best – at least in the early stages of your climbing career – to stick to regular concave/convex designs.
Camming devices
These are often known as ‘SLCD’s (spring-loaded camming devices) – see Chapter 7. Most climbers will refer to them by the trade name – such as Friends or Quadcams – but camming devices or cams is generic enough for us. They are an extremely useful, albeit expensive, piece of kit. You don’t need to buy them when setting up a basic rack, but once you get hold of one and try it out you won’t know how you survived before!
The smallest cam/crack size is about 12mm, and the largest weighs in at a whopping 140mm (even bigger ones are available for specialist purposes). Two main considerations that will affect your choice:
Firstly, they come in rigid-stem and flexible-stem versions. The rigid stem gives a good solid placement, but many climbers will now opt for the flexible-stem version as it is more forgiving when placed in a horizontal crack and fallen on – some rigid stems, especially older designs, could bend or even snap.
Secondly is the decision of whether to go for three- or four-cam units. Three-cam units are generally narrower across the width of the cams, so are useful in the smaller sizes. Four-cam units are very stable, so are well suited to bigger sizes that will be used in wider cracks. It is unusual to find a three-cam unit on anything bigger than a size 2, so most people go for four cams.
(Left) Four- and a three-cam unit
(Right) Size 0 and size 4 cam
Some designs incorporate a sewn sling that can be extended. This can help to avoid rope drag around
