5 Essential Pieces of Kit for the Beginner Climber

So, you’ve tried some climbing.  You’ve been to the climbing wall a few times, your dreams are increasingly full of visions of you performing complicated and strangely beautiful climbing moves, and you can’t walk past a wall without picking out potential routes for traversing.  Or maybe you’ve had your first taste of outdoor climbing; a classic v diff on the grit at Stanage, or maybe a multi-pitch sea climb in Pembrokeshire, a place where the air thrums with the call of gulls and the pounding of the sea at the cliffs base.

Whatever your introduction to climbing has been – you now know that you are addicted to this climbing lark, and you’re going to want to do some more.
Here’s my guide to the top 5 bits of kit that any beginner climber will soon need to invest in, if they know they’ve been bitten by the climbing bug.

1. Rock Shoes

These are pretty much the number one priority, and depending on what the primary type of climbing you might be doing there are a huge range of choices.
Comfort is of course important, but your rock shoes need to be as tight as you can bear from a performance perspective.  However, if you’re a newbie to the sport, or less obsessed with climbing ‘hard’, then you can afford to chill out and think of the comfort of your tootsies!

The Boreal Joker is a great all round shoe, and is a traditional choice for longer mountain routes and multi pitch climbs because they are super comfortable with split leather uppers and a padded mesh tongue.

If you’re drawn to bouldering and shorter sessions then The Five ten Rogue is just the ticket.  With a more precise fit than the joker, the Velcro means it’s easy to take on and off, and it has a super sticky stealth rubber sole.

2. Harness

Again, comfort is a big consideration here.  I’ve included 2 harnesses that both have adjustable and/or releasable leg loops, so they’ll make the transition from indoor or sport climbing to seconding multi-pitch climbs or mountain routes without too much of a problem.

The Black Diamond Bod is a basic entry level harness, and the price reflects this.  Don’t let that put you off though, it is a seasoned and popular choice for beginners and is a great all rounder with a surprisingly comfortable waist-belt.

The Petzl Corax is all new for 2011, with a double buckle waist belt. The ziplock buckles make for, easy and quick adjustment with no faff!  It’s more padded than the bod, with increased levels of adjustability.  This is the Rolls Royce of harnesses for the beginner climber and comes highly recommended.  Women climbers might like to consider the all purpose Petzl Luna, similar in features to the Corax but with a woman specific fit.

3. Belay Device

This is undeniably a very important piece of kit, if you’re going to do any climbing beyond bouldering you’ll need one of these.

I’d recommend a tubular belay device as they’re compact and easy to use.
The Black Diamond ATC is great for sports climbing and indoor use.  It’s light, with a smooth action, and is easy to learn to belay with.

The Petzl Reverso 3 is the new version of the classic Reverso, perfect for those looking to start their climbing career in the outdoors with trad and multi-pitch routes, as the wide slots allow use of a range of rope diameters. Using it in Reverso mode with its self-braking system makes for simple and ultra-safe belaying of a second when climbing outdoors.

4. Chalk bag

The type of chalk you use will depend on your climbing environment, as will your choice of chalk bag.

Good for boulderers is this bouldering chalk bag from Moon Climbing.  This works like a dry bag and you can stick a whole load of chalk in here to last you the day.  You can attach your shoes, and even stick your sandwiches in the mesh pocket on the front!

A really popular choice in the shops at the moment is the Black Diamond chalk bag which comes in 3 sizes.  This is a great little bag, with a toothbrush holder (handy for brushing down greasy holds!), and it comes with a waist cord.  We have this in a load of different colours and designs, so you can accessorise with your harness and helmet etc . After all, colour coordination of kit is an absolute must at the crag!

5. Helmet

Last but not least we have the climbing helmet.  I’d never climb outdoors without one, and many climbing walls make it their policy for all beginner climbers and those taking part in lessons to wear one.

My first choice highlights the range of women specific climbing kit on the market.  The Elia helmet for women from Petzl is designed specifically for women and has a headband that adjusts easily to a range of head sizes, oh – and if you like to wear your hair in a ponytail the back of the cradle is slightly raised so you can go ahead and do so!

The Black Diamond half dome is very reasonably priced and is our biggest seller for climbing newbies.  It has a good universal fit for a range of head sizes, it’s simple to fit and you can adjust the cradle fit using just one hand.

That’s it for my recommendations, do you have any other kit to add, or suggestions to make?  Please share them in the comments, we’d be interested in your feedback.

Written by Kieran White from Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports

Kieran is standing in for our latest regular contributor, Jeremy Stevens this month as Jeremy is off climbing!