De-confuse yourself....
There is loads of gear, or “pro” (protection) used in climbing and it is not always easy to understand. This page aims to help give you some basic idea of how it all fits together.... but is no replacement for trying the real things out on rock!!
A rack is the term for a complete set of metalwork needed for climbing. A sport rack only comprises of quickdraws and slings since the bolts are already firmly placed in the rock for you. Trad gear is much more complicated because on top of quickdraws, you need the contraptions which replace the role of the bolts in sport climbing – i.e. keeping you from hitting the ground if you take a bit of a whipper (fall).
First things first – carabiners and quickdraws look like this:
You’ll see them in climbing centres where they are used by leading climbers (see section on different types of climbing). The principle behind trad gear is that as you ascend, you create points where the rope is fixed to the rock face by placing various bits of metal, which are connected to your rope by a quickdraw.
The mainstay of this metalwork is nuts and cams.
Nuts are wedges of metal which can be shoved into a crack as long as the crack tapers or narrows preventing the nut from sliding out.
Variations on nuts are hexes which are hexagonal in shape and have a camming action.
When the route you are climbing turns a corner, traverses or goes over an overhang, the gear you place in the rock usually has to be extended which means placing an extra quickdraw between the gear and the rope, or using a sling. Slings can be used on their own as gear, too. They can be hung over pinnacles/stalagmites with a crab (carabiner) connecting it to the rope, or passed around threads which is a rock formation where 2 bits of rock look like they have fused together.
When a climber gets to the top of a route, the first thing they must do is “get safe”. In sport climbing terms, this usually means clipping a sling from their harness to a ring or maillon.
In trad terms, they have to create an anchor (made of at least three bits of protection) and then clip themselves on. You can use your own rope to do this, too, for instance by looping it round a big boulder.
KCLMC can lend you any of the gear mentioned on this page when you are happy with how to use it. If you are interested in buying any of your own stuff, we recommend that the first bit of metalwork you buy is your own belay plate or ATC, with a carabiner. Also important is having your own harness (we can lend you them but they are not great for climbing outdoors in) and pair of shoes. If you’d like any advice on buying gear or borrowing it from us, get in contact with Martin, our Gear Secretary, or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
By Jen Oliver
