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Crag & Route Beta

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Topic Date User

Beginners trad rack Sydney sandstone/ Barrenjoey 14-Sep-2013 At 5:22:28 PM Superstu

Message

If you are a beginner wanting to learn trad, ideally you learn from someone who has a scratched-up well-used rack, in which case climb on their rack.

Failing that, useful bits include
- a bunch of bolt hangers for the hangerless bolts
- a range of cam sizes from small (1/2 inch) to med-large (3-4 inch)
- a set of nuts
- a set of hexes

Don't bother with micro cams, small wires and micro wires, as they are fairly unreliable in the soft rock and probably unnecessary for any moderately graded climb.

Decide if you love trad climbing first before you shell out the $$$ for the big cams (5-6 inches).

Hexes are unfashionable, but a well-placed hex is the best bomber placement you'll ever get. Cams are popular because they are faster to place, they are also popular for placing badly and ripping.

But cams do work well in the horizontal breaks where the hexes are fiddly.

Come to the Barrenjoey Bushcare & Climb Day on 2 November and you can meet and climb with other climbers with (hopefully) scratched-up well-used racks.