On almost every climbing course we deliver we get asked what we carry on our trad climbing rack. In this blog post I’ll cover what I carry when I’m heading out climbing for personal and work related climbing.
To start with there needs to be a lot of thought put in to the kind of routes you’re climbing and also the rock type you’re climbing on. What I take up a route will vary dependant on these factors so when planning a rack for the day I’ll think hard about what items I won’t need to take so that I can keep my bag and climbing weight down as much as possible.
Below is a list of key gear that I would keep on my rack which I can then add and remove from depending on the days objective.
Nuts
DMM wallnuts 1 – 11 and another 1 – 8
1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, on a red snapgate carabiner
4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, on a yellow snapgate carabiner
7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10, 11 on a green snapgate carabiner
DMM Offsets 7 – 11 on a snapgate carabiner
On harder routes with small cracks I’ll add a set of micro wires, DMM imps 2, 3, 4 DMM offsets 2, 3, 4 DMM micro wallnuts 0.5, 0.75 on a snapgate carabiner.
Cams
DMM dragon cams 00 – 5 each on a colour coded snapgate carabiner
On harder routes with small cracks I’ll add a set of micro cams, DMM Dragonfly’s in red and yellow each racked on a colour coded snapgate carabiner.
Quickdraws
4 x 18cm – 4 x 25cm – 4 x 60cm sling draws
On long/wondering pitches and routes with poor rock quality where ill need to place more gear than usual ill add more sling draws.
Slings
3 x 120cm slings each on a snapgate
1 x 240cm sling on a snapgate
Personal kit – per person
Belay plate on an HMS carabiner
2 x prussiks on a snapgate carabiner
1 x big HMS carabiner (DMM Boa) and 2 x small screwgate carabiners
Nut key
Abseil Tat
5 meters of at least 6mm+ rated cord to leave behind in case of the need to abseil during the route which would be left behind rather than leaving slings or ropes.
This kit should cover you for most climbing routes you will ever encounter, but as with most things around safety equipment, it needs to be used correctly and placed properly otherwise it’s not going to be much use, so good judgement and experience is key!
fluidcombinations.com 
I also like your recommendation to “traffic light” your nuts onto coloured carabiners – Red for smaller nuts, Orange for mid-size and green for large. It’s a useful reminder when placing gear that if you’re using the Green nuts, there is a good chance it’s going to be a bomber placement, but if placing Red nuts, you may want to back them up sooner.
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