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Sport Climbers Gear List
- Rope
As the Rope of a Sport Climber undergoes a lot of stress, quality is very important.
Independent what type of climber you are, you should always check that your rope is UIAA-rated.
Always use single ropes between 10.5mm and 11mm in diameter. The length of the rope
should be at least 50 meters, since many new sport routes feature anchors 30 meters
off the deck. A dry-treatment is not necessary. But in order to protect your rope from
chemicals, dirt, and the sun, a rope bag is very useful. This extends
its life by many pitches.
- Harness
Choose a Lightweight Harness with a Belay Loop and 2 to 4 Gear Loops. Padding is ok, but
it is not really necessary. Sport Climbing only makes you stay in your harness for
max. 10 minutes.
- Rock Climbing Shoes
Beginners should choose lace up climbing shoes as these have thicker soles. Many climbers recommend
to choose your rock climbing shoes 1 to 2 sizes smaller than the size you
would normally wear, but as beginner you do need to make sure you still feel
comfortable with it.
Advanced climber can go for slippers. Slippers have thinner soles and make you feel the rocks more
than lace up shoes.
- Belay Device and Locking Carabiner
As a beginner you should choose a Belay Plate with an Autolocking Carabiner that has a very firm brake action, but still
allows your rope to feed quickly in and out. If you start to climb more often, you can opt
for a self-locking belay device. This device is not suitable for beginners, as the rope
tends quite often to jam in this device if not properly used.
- Helmet
Buy a dedicated climbing helmet that is either (or both) UIAA or CEN certified.
- Quickdraws
If you need to lead a climb and therefore need to setup a number of top ropes
that are anchored to bolts, trees, or large rocks, you will need a number of quickdraws, preferably 12 or more.
Each should have a straight-gate carabiner at one end for clipping the bolt
hanger, and either a bent-gate or wire-gate biner on the other end to accept the rope easily.
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