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Climbing gear changed after that demo in Portland back in 2017
I was at the TCIA expo in Portland a few years ago and watched this old timer demonstrate a footlock ascent using just a Blake's hitch. He made it look so smooth and easy, but that got me thinking about how much gear we pile on now. After that demo, I went home and stripped my harness down to the basics, no extra carabiners or fancy pulleys I never used. It actually made my climbs faster and less tangled, especially on tight jobs in Seattle backyards. Anyone else feel like we sometimes overcomplicate our setups with too much hardware?
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josephf1012d ago
Have you actually tried going back to a simple rope wrench setup after stripping down? I did the same thing a couple years back - pulled off my foot ascender and micro pulley - and it cut my setup time in half on those tight residential jobs. The trick I found was keeping a spare prusik cord spliced short and tucked in my back pocket, so I still had a backup if things got sketchy without all the hardware dangling off my saddle.
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