[slackline]

  Touche!

[Fiend]

You are all funny fuckers. Despite the brilliance of Bonjoy's ideas, I've plumped for:

DMM Boa 30kN HMS Screwgate      1    
DMM Phantom Screwgate      2    
DMM Sentinel HMS Screwgate      1    
DMM Spectre 2 Krab (Color: Silver)      2
DMM Spectre 2 Krab (Color: Gun Metal)      2
DMM Spectre 2 Quickdraw 12cm      8
DMM Spectre 2 Quickdraw 25cm      2    
Wild Country Dyneema Sling 60cm      2
Wild Country Superlight Rocks      1 - 6 Set

(Helped by RockandRun doing Spectre 2 'draws for a fuck all each).

Pondering on what krabs to get for my set of Cams....ideally want something different to the Spectres so they're more easy to whip off the rack, but have to have the usual colour-coding. Phantoms too small, Alpha trads too pricey n weird shaped....hmmm.

[Muenchener]

Pondering on what krabs to get for my set of Cams....ideally want something different to the Spectres

I don't. Just ordered a couple of sets of the currently-more-or-less-free coloured Spectres from Needlesports, to be collected when I visit my folks at Easter. Lighter than Prowires but bigger than Phantoms - and dirt cheap - seems pretty much ideal

[Fiend]

Aye. That's why I got the 'draws. Only thing is when I'm pumped and terrified, I don't want to waste any micro-seconds looking down wondering if the gear I'm about to grab is a Spectre with the crucial camalot attached or a Spectre with a useless quickdraw attached.

Geeky I know but I need to stack some odds in my favour!

[Muenchener]

 , but the quickdraws come with grey ones whereas I'm going colour-coordinated for the cams.

[Fiend]

  yes you might be right as the colour will make more different to the speed of a glance down, than the feel.

[slackline]

Would racking draws on a different loop to the cams be a viable solution?

[Muenchener]

I had a look at the new Edelrid 19g krabs in a shop today. Good heavens. They're cute little things that should pair nicely with Edelrid's new 6.8mm twin ropes, but people who find Phantoms fiddly should definitely stay away - you need to factor in the weight of the tweezers you'll be needing to operate them.

[Fiend]

19g krabs and 6.8mm ropes?? Fuck that!! Would be too scared to climb stuff.

Regular readers will be thrilled to hear that not only did I buy lighter krabs, I've rearranged my rack so that the two size 7&8 hexes stay in the car along with a second set of Wallnuts, with the Superlights being permanently in my sac. I've got lighter krabs on my windproof and nutkey (might swap for an integrated one) and not bothering with prussik krab.

Camalots are still bloody heavy though. Am seriously considering getting Phantoms for those to make them more distinct from the Spectre drawers. I might be able to put up with tiny krabs on the cams because the cams only get clipped once in placement (draws get clipped twice) and the draws get used sport climbing where I'm often pumped so need an ergonomic krab. One issue is that the Camalots have wide tapes which might be that Phantoms are slightly difficult to flip over if I need the gates away from the rock 

[Muenchener]

the draws get used sport climbing where I'm often pumped so need an ergonomic krab.

I think separate sport & trad draws are the way to go if you're not on an absolute 6.8mm twin rope shoestring budget. Can be done at reasonable cost if you don't need/want the very shiniest Alphas, Spirits etc. and are willing to bide your time waiting for special offers.

I have Aeros as sport draws; got the krabs on special offer from Needlesports (iirc, might have been Field & Trek) and short fat nylon tapes are cheap.

For trad I currently have half a dozen Alpkit-branded Prowires that were the first modern gear I bought when I resumed climbing 3-4 years ago, plus another half a dozen Spectres on order from Needlesports, all on long skinny tapes.

Camalots are still bloody heavy though.

DMM 4CUs and Metolius Powercams are lighter, but have less range and U-stems handle differently, which I for one am not used to and therefore don't like.

[petejh]

Camalots are still bloody heavy though. Am seriously considering getting Phantoms for those to make them more distinct from the Spectre drawers. I might be able to put up with tiny krabs on the cams because the cams only get clipped once in placement (draws get clipped twice) and the draws get used sport climbing where I'm often pumped so need an ergonomic krab. One issue is that the Camalots have wide tapes which might be that Phantoms are slightly difficult to flip over if I need the gates away from the rock 

I use phantoms on everything - cams, draws, slings, except for racking wires - for winter mixed climbing, obv summer too. They're fine, if I can use them with gloves.. The big issue with phantoms is that  the anodising is shit and I go through a rack of them every 18 months, shite durability. Bit outrageous how bad the anodizing is really but they work well for a short time.

Dmm Dragon cams are excellent and lighter than camalots.

4 screwgates? I carry one phantom screwgate and build belays with whatever snapgates are left on the rack when I get there, never missed them, the second can carry one or two screws too for a quick swap over of biners if absolutely necessary. Prussic cord for tying chalk bag (in summer!).

As someone else said, dedicated sport draws the only way to go, with separate lightweight trad gear.

[Fiend]

What do you use for your chalkbag in winter then?

[petejh]

What do you use for your chalkbag in winter then?

I use the rock dust from whichever classic E2 I'm trashing.

[Fiend]

Used this rack in anger over the Easter weekend, actually had the best early start to a year for a long time which may or may not have something to do with having a lighter load for my puny legs to carry in 

Spectre quickdraws good, Superlight Rocks good (once I'd got used to them). Definitely prefer screwgates on my slings as I use them a lot.

Sentinel Screwgate is too small, find it hard to get through double rope loops which is my preferred set-up. Will get another large HMS between this and the Boa size/weight.

Have now got my wires racked on BD Positrons, this is better than before due to the keylock gate and comfy gate feel. But it's now harder to see which homogenous silver krab is which rack of wires from above, and they could be a bit lighter (49g atm), so I'm going to change them:

http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/non-locking-carabiners/spirit-0

or

http://www.camp-usa.com/products/carabiners/photon-straight-191603.asp

Both of which seem to be hard to get hold of in the UK!

Will borrow some phantoms to see how I like them on the Camalots.

Next thing is a lighter rope I think. With a slightly lighter rack I definitely noticed the difference lugging the rope in. Time to study some g/m stats...

[lagerstarfish]

without having read any of the previous posts and completely ignoring the original idea, I suggest climbing at Burbage North, where you could use a wheeled, tartan shopping bag. That way you would feel like you were doing the whole Scottish thing whilst not wasting your legs. I know that's what I'll be doing this year 

[alasdair19]

on rope weight- There is no consistent measure of weight and thickness between manufactures so the g/m thing is handy but is open to manipulation.

I generally found that even relatively small amounts of winter climbing will make a summer sack seem wonderfuly light.

Surely plastic crabs for your windproof/accesories?

[Jaspersharpe]

Just buy a Land Rover and drive to the crag.

[SA Chris]

I generally found that even relatively small amounts of winter climbing will make a summer sack seem wonderfuly light.

Yeah Fiend, go winter climbing, you've always said you fancied it.

[Fiend]

Snort.

At last Jasper is making a useful suggestion

[petejh]

I generally found that even relatively small amounts of winter climbing will make a summer sack seem wonderfully light.

Agree. Although the downside is that lots of winter climbing makes you as weak as shandy.

Ditch the screwgates!