The minimum necessary kit:
For the climber: rope, harness, locking carabiner, chalk bag & chalk ball.
For the belay person: harness, belay device, locking carabiner (a carabiner is also called a 'biner').
Building up to necessary extras, depending on the circumstances, including: Helmet, chest harness, extra carabiners (locking and spring-gate), tape slings, prusik cord in various lengths (1m, 1.5m, 2m), more climbing rope, climbing shoes, gloves, daisy chain, bags for carrying it all.
My stuff:
- Rope: 10.0 Vertex classic blue (Mammut), 40m, 10mm dia, rated for 8-9 UIAA falls, 8.9kN impact force, 6.5% elongation in use, 31% elongation at 1st fall, 0mm sheath slippage, 36% proportion of sheath, article no. 2010-01630-0150. Suitable for all-round gym and sports climbing.
- Harness: x1 Black Diamond Momentum AL climbing Harness, large (waist 33" to 36").
- Harness: x1 Black Diamond Primrose AL climbing Harness, small (waist 27" to 30").
- Belay devices: 2x DMM Belay Bug, can be used with ropes of 8.5mm - 11mm diameter.
- Asymmetrical Locking carabiners: 1x DMM locking connector & belay master. 1x Mammut HMS Element screw gates.
- Slings: 2x DMM nylon slings, 16mm x 1.2m. 2x Lyon 25mm polyamide anchor sling 120cm
- Symmetrical "D" style locking carabiners: 1x Petzl/OK Oval Screwgate)
- Pulley: 1x Petzl sheave (for use with a symmetrical "D" style carabiner only).
Notes on what the stuff is:
- Parts of the climbing harness include: belay loop, tie-in points (waist and leg), waist band/belt/webbing, leg loops, rear straps, gear loops, buckle/staps on waist band and leg loops.
- Parts of a carabiner include: gate, nose, lock, major axis, minor axis. Never 'cross-load' the carabiner along the minor axis.
- Parts of a belay device include: face plate, slots (usually two, 1 per rope, to allow for double ropes), wire loop for clipping-in, which also acts to identify the feed-in side (face plate) and the locking side (friction side). A belay device is used with a carabiner clipped into the loop (and the rope) on the friction side.
- Any anchorage point is called a 'belay'.
More notes on essential knowledge:
- The harness waist band must be worn above your hips, i.e. fit around your waist.
- The harness leg loops must we worn at the top of your inner thighs.
- Tighten the buckle/straps on the waistband and leg loops.
- The harness buckle/straps should be adjusted tight enough such that you can skip two fingers between the waist band and your waist.
- If fixing or tying yourself into one end of the rope, tie in through both tie-in points (waist and leg), not into the belay loop. Your climbing partner (anchored), called the belayer, will remove slack from this safety line in case the climber falls, in which case the fall will be limited to the slack length to the next anchor.
- Climber ties in to the end of the rope using a double figure-of-eight knot.
- The belayer, should in turn be tied into a safe anchor point through his/her own tie-in points (both) with one rope. The belayer belays through their own belay device using the rope tied to the lead climber.
- IN A RESCUE SITUATION: For rescue you would use a carabiner at the end of a lifeline to clip directly into the belay loop for winch rescue e.g. via a helicopter rescue hoist.
- Seat harness does not act to keep the climber upright and cannot keep an unconscious climber upright, in which case a chest harness is also needed.
- A carabiner is used to clip the belay device into the belay loop of a climbing harness only, not the harness's tie-in points.
- Never clip or tie into harness gear loops or rear straps; they are not load bearing.
- The correct loaded orientation for a carabiner is along the major axis, fat end away/above.
- A belay device acts in conjunction with a carabiner to produce a tight bend in the climbing rope, as a friction brake to slow or stop a climbing rope.
- A belay device works by introducing controllable rope friction linking the rope to the belay point (anchorage point or belay person).
- The belay person clips into both the belay device wire loop and the rope fed through the belay device from the carabiner attached to his/her harness; the rope must not cross over the wire loop.
- The belay person must lock the carabiner gate clipped into the belay device.
- The belay person arranges the narrow end of a locking carabiner into the belay loop of his/her own harness.
- The rope must not cross over the loop wire of the belay device.
- Carabiner clipped into a sling anchor should produce an accute angle (90 degrees or less).
- Never tie an overhand knot in a sling.
- Never join a rope directly to a sling! Use a carabiner to connect the two.
On controlled descent, abseiling or rappelling
- A belay device can also be used by the climber for controlling descent down a fixed rope, i.e. for abseiling or rappelling.
- The climber clips his/her belay device by carabiner into the belay loop for controlled descent down an separate anchored abseiling rope (i.e. for abseiling or rappelling) .
- A double rope system should be used for controlled descent, this implies a separate anchored abseiling rope (i.e. for abseiling or rappelling). The first rope is tied into the climber (figure-of-eight) and controlled by a belay person at the climb base. The second anchored rope is for descent controlled by the climber using his/her own belay device.
What Knots to Know (in order of need)
- Figure of Eight (follow through) - for tying into the harness tie-in points (waist and leg).
- Figure of Eight (double loop) - for anchoring rope without need to thread an end.
- Double Fishermans - for making a Prusik loop.
- Prusik - a slide and grip knot for loading the climbing rope.
