Buying your first climbing rack

If you’re reading this, the rock climbing bug has almost certainly taken hold of you and you’re ready to commit to spending money on some climbing equipment.

Buying a climbing rack can be a pretty expensive business. Thankfully you can spread the expense as you progress. This post assumes that you want to do roped climbing rather than bouldering.

Note: This is a really popular post, so I’ve given it a bit of an overhaul (April 2011)

Most people learn to climb indoors, with some lessons at their local climbing wall. After your initial training, you’ll quickly progress to unsupervised top-roping. You can start with the bare minimum of equipment, I’ll refer to this as phase 1.

For most people, the next stage is to start lead climbing. At this point, you’ll need a little bit more kit. We’ll call this phase 2.

The final stage for many is to move outdoors and either climb outdoor sport routes (in which case you can add a couple of slings to the kit you bought at phase 2 and you’re good to go), or you might fancy trad climbing, in which case you need more gear. This I’ll call phase 3.

Phase 1

1. A decent pair of climbing shoes

When you first start climbing at an indoor wall, this should be your first purchase. Make sure your climbing shoes are a really snug fit, but not so tight that they hurt your feet. They may feel a little too tight to begin with, but they will stretch a bit, if they feel uncomfortably tight, go up a size.

There’s a good selection of climbing shoes here, with prices ranging from just under £40 to a little over £100.

Red Chilli Spirit VCR, and Boreal Joker are both excellent choices if you’re new to climbing or if you want a comfortable climbing shoe you can wear all day. I’ve previously written reviews of both Red Chilli climbing shoes, and Boreal Joker climbing shoes.

2. A climbing harness

This is essential for any kind of roped climbing. If you plan to progress to outdoor trad climbing, I would recommend you buy a robust harness with plenty of gear loops.

There’s a good selection of climbing harnesses here. I can highly recommend DMM harnesses, I’ve had mine for 3 years and it’s still going strong. This DMM Renegade harness is a nice piece of kit.

3. A belay device

An essential piece of kit which allows you to belay your climbing partner. Your belay device can also be used for abseiling. You’ll also need a karabiner to be able to use the belay device, a screwgate is perfectly adequate though there are a products designed specifically for belaying; The DMM Belay Master 2 and the Black Diamond Gridlock Screwgate both feature clever ways of preventing cross loading (this can easily happen when belaying with a standard karabiner, as your it can slip and end up sideways).

I use the DMM bug, which although cheap and cheerful is light and easy to use. If you want something with plenty of friction, you might want to consider a Black Diamond ATC device or a Wild Country VC Pro 2, both of which have grooves which bite the rope, offering a bit more braking power.

4. Magnesium Chalk bag

When I first wrote this post I didn’t actually use chalk. 2 months climbing in the heat of Singapore has changed that! If you decide chalk is for you (and most people do), you’ll need a chalk bag, and some magnesium chalk (which can be bought as loose powder or in a chalk ball).

By this point, you have everything you need for top-roped climbing at your indoor climbing wall.

Phase 2

If you want to start lead climbing indoors or outdoors, you’re going to need:

5. A climbing rope

You’re most likely to start with a single rope. I would recommend going for one at least 50 metres long, that way it’ll cover you for most applications. It’s a big subject, so I have written a separate article all about climbing rope.

6. Quick draws

Quick draws are basically two snap-gate karabiners fastened together with a Dyneema® or nylon sling.

On indoor or sport routes you clip one end of the quickdraw into pre-placed bolts, and your rope through the other end (there is a right and a wrong way to do this which I will share with you in another post).

On outdoor trad routes, one end is clipped into whatever protection you have placed, and the other end is for your rope.

This is a great deal: Pack of 5 DMM Pro QD 12cm for £50!

I use Wild Country Wild Wire quickdraws, for which there’s a full review.

7. Sling

If you plan to sport climb outdoors, you’ll need a Dyneema® or nylon sling to enable you to clip in and and sort your rope for lowering off (I’ll cover how in another post). You’ll use a lark’s foot to tie it to your belay loop, and a screw-gate karabiner on the other end. Actually, many people prefer to use a daisy chain sling rather than a standard sling for this purpose, as it enables you to easily change the length. Please note: The pockets of daisy chain slings should only be used for holding your body weight. If you plan to use them for belays or anything which might take a fall, you must use the end loops!

By this point you have everything you need to lead climb indoors and most outdoor sport-bolted routes.

Phase 3

If you want to start trad-climbing outdoors, you must once again open your wallet (or purse).

For trad-climbing you are going to need to place protection into cracks or fissures in the rock as you climb, and setup when it comes to setting up belays.

Here’s what I recommend as a starter for ten:

8. A helmet

Many climbers don’t bother with a helmet. Let’s face it— they don’t look cool.

Personally I always wear a helmet when I go multi-pitch climbing as rock fall is always a possibility (it is at single pitch crags too, though often not quite as likely). It’s a matter of choice.

9. Karabiners

Lots of Karabiners! I recommend at least 4. Like pairs of jeans, you can never have too many!

The next 3 come under the heading of protection. If you have a local crag where you plan to start your outdoor climbing it might be worth heading over there and asking other climbers what pro’ they’re using on the easier climbs. It might just enable you to be able to start with the minimum kit and build your way up.

10. Cams

When I first started using cams, I have to say I really did not trust them. However, since my ass has been saved on several occasions by these wonderful little devices, I’m more than happy to recommend them. Cams are wonderfully convenient devices; a single cam can jam a range of different widths of crack. However, it is crucial that you know how to place them properly.

Practice placing them at the base of the crag until you have the hang of it. One thing to watch out for is deep cracks, cams can “walk” into these cracks. Once they’re in and you can’t reach the release mechanism – they are GONE! You never want to have to walk away from the crag knowing you left a cam behind, they are really expensive.

There’s a good selection of cams here.

11. Wires / nuts

These are wedge-shaped pieces of steel attached to a wire loop. They are placed into tapered cracks in the rock (and pulled sharply to make sure they are properly placed). For a starter rack I would suggest you purchase sizes 1 to 10. Make sure you know how to place them properly before attempting to use them on a climb.

12. Hexentrics (sometimes called Hexes or seagull killers)

Named after their six sided shape, hexentrics can be used in both tapered cracks and parallel cracks. Their shape and the angle at which the loop comes out means that they cam against the rock when loaded. This set of Rockcentrics 3-9 is the same as the ones I use, they’re great. Make sure you know how to place them properly before attempting to use them on a climb.

13. Nut key

When you “second” a route, it’s your job to strip out all of the gear that the leader has placed. Sometimes the leader may have placed the gear really well (i.e. stuck tight). Your nut key can be used to pry it out.

14. Slings

Like karabiners, slings are another essential that you should stock up on. Buy a few different lengths, they are invaluable for building belays quickly.

15. Prussic loops

You can construct these from 6mm cord, and are really useful should you ever need to abseil. I’ll show you how in another post.

If you have any questions or you feel like I have missed anything, drop me a comment below.