Quickdraws for trad climbing

In order to connect the protection you place on the rock to your rope, you will need extenders -or more commonly known- as quickdraws. For trad climbing, I would go for lightweight wire gates such as 'DMM Spectre' quickdraws. In these connectors,top carabiner is loosely connected to the sling to allow for rope movement without affecting the position of the rock protection.

Usually, the bottom part of the quickdraw has a narrow slot to help with rope management: correct orientation and clipping. Carabiners should have a minimum gate open strength of 8kn and preferably 9kn. For starting out trad climbing, we recomend a set of 12 quickdraws, 4 of each lenght: 12,18 and 24cm.

Climbing Slings

Climbing slings are high strength tapes sewn into an open loop with multiple bar tacks binding the two ends together. Slings are used by climbers in 3 main ways: 1: as a direct anchors by being threaded through 2:around rock features or trees to create anchors and 3: as a connector to extend a safety system.

1. 60cm (4ft) - These slings have a linear length of 60cm and a circumference of (about) 4 feet. This length of sling is great for extending runners on long pitches and for connecting yourself quickly into anchors before setting up the main rope belay. Very skinny versions of this sling are brilliant for using as extendable quickdraws.

2. 120cm (8ft) - Probably the most popular and overall most useful length. Great for rigging belays, slinging over spikes and generally linking items together.

3. 240cm (16ft) - Really useful for setting up belays with distant anchors, but quite bulky to carry on your harness.

Slings and their properties

The most common slings carried by climbers today are generically referred to as "dyneema" slings. Dyneema is the registered trademark name of an Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibre that is manufactured by the company DSM.

Slings that use UHMWPE fibres are popular because of their low weight and bulk combined with high tensile strength. UHMWPE slings used in climbing always have a second component - normally nylon - that is used to add durability to the finished product. Dyneema fibres are very hard to dye and so they are white in colour. That is why when you look at a dyneema climbing sling the coloured fibres are (generally) nylon and the whites fibres are dyneema.

The other main material used for making climbing slings is nylon. Each material has advantages and disadvantages.

Climbing slings sold within the EU countries have to be able to hold a force of 22kN as defined in EN566:2007. Nylon tape can not hit this minimum value consistently unless it is 15 -16mm wide, whereas dyneema slings can meet this value at widths as low as 6 - 8mm; thus dyneema slings can be narrower, lighter and more compact than a nylon sling with equivalent strength. A narrow sling can be threaded through narrower gaps and this is certainly an advantage.

The durability of any sling will depend on the exact composition of its fibres and how those fibres are woven together. It is fair to say that nylon slings are generally more durable than dyneema slings - resisting abrasion better and being more resistant to fluffing/pulled threads. Always look for a nice tight weave on skinny slings.

These properties are: the relatively low melting point of UHMWPE fibres (144 - 152 degrees Celsius), low friction (similar in value to Teflon) and an innate inelasticity.

The key things to avoid are: using dyneema slings as prusics,'larks footing' skinny dyneema slings and bouncing on them directly or indirectly via a top rope system.

Also, the low friction of UHMWPE fibres leads to poor knot-holding ability. Avoid making your own dyneema sling - even using a safe knot to join its ends-. It might unravel easily.

Finally, the innate inelasticity of dyneema means that it should not be shock loaded.

Standard Nuts:

These are the mains tools of any beginner trad climber. You should choose wisely because, although the may look similar, there are significant differences in how they perform.

These nuts are manufactured by swaging alloy nuts onto steel wire. The shape of the nut head, the thickness of the nut walls, the alloy material used and the thickness and construction of the wire will together dictate the overall performance and characteristics of the nut.

My favourites are the DMM Wallnuts. They have a great shape that allows really versatile placements, but also makes them harder to clean...but then that's the seconds problem and stopping a fall is the main priority. They are also light.

Also, the DMM Offsets have a brilliant shape that works very well in flared cracks. They are based on the HB design and a good reminder of the genius of Hugh Banner.

UK climbers usually choose mid-size nuts to maximise placement options. It is important to have a good variety of sizes into your rack of passive protection.

Large Nuts - Hexcentrics

A small collection of large hexcentric nuts can be really useful, especially when you are starting out and have no -or a limited selection of- medium or large cams.

I love the DMM Torque, as they lock /cam into placements really well, cover a wide size range per unit and can be fully extended using an integral double sling.

Wild Country Rockcentrics on dyneema are also good.

Large hexcentric nuts on wire are not as good as those on dyneema because they tend to lift out of placements more easily and offer a far more limited number of placements.

Micro wire placements: these are the smallest nuts in a climbers tool kit. They are generally weaker than larger nuts because they can only be connected to thinner, weaker wires. They are invaluable in protecting harder climbs because they fit where nothing else will go.

Micros are either manufactured by silver soldering a 'brass' nut onto a stainless steel wire or swaging an aluminum alloy nut onto a steel wire. The ultimate strength of a nut will depend on the thickness of the wire used - the thicker the wire the stronger the nut. On any given size of nut there is maximum size of wire that can be inserted into it - no matter whether soldered of swaged.

Micros in comparison, are relatively weak (2kN to 8kN), so always try to place them in clusters. And remember to ask your belayer to give you a dynamic belay in the event of a fall.