For beginning climbers, it’s easy to think you need more than just your basic climbing kit. With any new sport or hobby, the temptation is to stock up on all the fancy equipment. But if you’re just starting out, you only need a few select pieces of climbing equipment to get going.
Your Basic Climbing Kit
Essentially what you need for any climb is a secure anchor, whether that’s a strong and tested tree, a fissure in a rock, or a boulder (that has also been tested to ensure it hasn’t been resting precariously on a fulcrum for the last 20,000 years waiting for an unwitting climber to use it to secure their line). In our arborist supplies, we have plenty of climbing slings. For example, the STEIN Dyneema Loop 12mm can handle 22Kn of force, which is equivalent to 2.25 tonnes of weight. So these things might look slim, but they can take a LOT of weight. The important thing of course is first to ensure it’s adequately secured. And also remember that it can only handle that much weight if the load is slowly added. Any sling or rope will have a much weaker tolerance for force if the load is added suddenly.
Securing the Line
You’re also going to need a harness. When you’re hanging from a tree, you’ll need a saddle harness that has wide thigh padding to distribute your weight more evenly. This prevents fatigue, abrasions and other issues which can affect you if you’re dangling from a height for any sustained period of time.
You’re also going to need some karabiners. About ten of these should be more than enough for any situation. These come in a screw-lock or snap-lock configuration. Both are good, and both need to be tested to ensure they’re properly locked. This reduces the risk of a rope slipping through. While not as safe, you can also use two standard karabiners and have one facing up and the other facing opposite, this reduces the risk of failure as the rope would not have to slip through two different locks facing two different directions. You may also want a figure 8 so that you can safely and easily zipline from height.
Most importantly, you’re going to want some climbing rope. Whether that’s a static rope for securing an anchor, or rope with a bit more give to help arrest a fall without jarring or impact injuries.
If you have any questions about our range of climbing hardware, you can give us a call on 021 4965 132