Rock-climbing equipment

Type of climbing The rock-climbing equipment needed varies materially depending on the type of rock climbing being undertaken. Starting from the least equipment-intensive type of climbing, the general equipment needs are as follows: The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (known as the UIAA) was an important early body—and the only body pre-1995—in setting standards for climbing equipment. The UIAA Safety Commission continues to play a central worldwide role in this area. The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) is also an important major regulatory body for PPE, and which works closely with the UIAA Safety Commission through its CEN Working Group for Mountaineering Equipment. After the United Kingdom left the European Union, it adopted the UKCA certification in place of the CEN. == Ropes and slings==

Ropes dynamic rope|alt=Cross section of a dynamic rope Modern climbing ropes are in length—the longer versions are for multi-pitch climbing—and have a kernmantle construction consisting of a core kern of twisted nylon fibers and an outer sheath mantle of woven colored coarse nylon fibers. They are either dynamic ropes, which can stretch to absorb the energy of a falling climber, or are the less expensive but more hard-wearing static ropes, which are only for use in constant-load situations such as descending (e.g. abseiling) and ascending (e.g. jumaring). Slings slings|alt=Sets of sewn webbing slings Modern webbing (or "tape") is made of strong tubular nylon or the even stronger spectra/dyneema material. Climbers use webbing that has been sewn using a certified standard of reinforced stitching into various lengths of closed loops called "slings" (or "runners"). They can be used in a wide range of situations, including wrapping around sections of rock for abseiling, creating belay anchors, or as passive protection, or tied to other equipment—often via carabiners—to create a longer version of a quickdraw or a makeshift lanyard. Slings can be made into more complex pieces of equipment such as the daisy chain, which is used in aid climbing, such as when setting up abseil or belay anchors on multi-pitch climbing routes, usually using thicker approximately cord. ==Rope connectors==

Several modern pieces of rope connecting equipment help climbers to securely attach items to the climbing rope, such as themselves via a modern climbing harness, or their various protection devices via modern carabiners and quickdraws. Before the invention of these pieces of rope-connecting equipment, climbers used alternative techniques such as looping the rope around the body instead of a harness (e.g. the body belay) and looping the rope around various rocks as a form of protection. In addition to these early techniques, climbers also used various climbing knots to tie ropes and anchor points together, which are now all replaced by rope-connecting equipment such as carabiners. Harnesses Climbing harnesses are used for connecting the rope to the climber via a "belay loop" on the harness. Harnesses are made of strong materials to specific strength guidelines that can withstand the load of a major fall. There are many types of harness designs and materials used depending on the type of climbing undertaken. Examples include minimal "sit" harnesses for sport climbing as they require little in the way of gear-carrying loops, lightweight and detachable leg-loop harnesses for alpine climbing that fit around heaving winter clothing, padded harnesses for big wall climbing that give comfort for hanging belays and abseils, and chest/full-body harnesses for children or carrying heavy loads. Personal anchor systems A sub-class of lanyards is the personal anchor system (PAS), which is a section of rope or interconnected chains of slings, which are used to tie the harness to an anchor point such as a belay station. Traditionally, climbers would tie their harness to anchors using part of the climbing rope; however, the PAS has become popular as a way to avoid reducing the effective length of the climbing rope, and to use a more straightforward connection. Quickdraws Quickdraws are used by climbers to connect ropes to fixed points such as bolted anchors in sport climbing, or protection devices in traditional climbing. The quickdraw consists of two non-locking carabiners connected by a short, pre-sewn loop of webbing. They are used to reduce the friction and drag between the rope and the fixed point that can occur when the rope is just clipped into a carabiner clipped into the fixed point. In competition climbing, the quickdraws are already hanging from the pre-fixed bolts, which is called pinkpointing in sport climbing. The quickdraws used in advanced sport and in competition climbing routes often have a "bent gate" on the lower carabiner to make clipping into the quickdraw even easier. ==Rope devices==

Several devices are used for controlling the rope (e.g. belay devices and self-locking devices), moving up the rope (e.g. ascender devices), or moving down the rope (e.g. rappel/abseil or descender devices). These actions were historically performed by climbers with no mechanical devices (e.g. the body belay for belaying, the dülfersitz abseil for descending, and the prusik knot for ascending), and these mechanical devices help with both control and safety in all conditions (e.g. wet or icy ropes). Belay devices Belay devices are mechanical friction-brake devices used to control the climbing rope(s) when belaying a climber. Their main purpose is to allow the rope to be locked off or fully braked with minimal effort when arresting a climber's fall. There are many kinds of belay devices, such as the original passive braking devices like "sticht plates" and the later "tubers/tubulars" (e.g. the original Black Diamond ATC, or the Petzl Reverso). Indoor climbing walls can provide on-site fixed mechanical auto belay devices that enable the climber to top rope a route alone; more recent lead auto belay models allow the climber to also lead climb the route alone. Descenders Descenders (or abseil devices) enable a climber to descend a fixed or static rope that is hanging from a fixed anchor. They perform the same basic function as the dülfersitz abseil but with more control and less effort. The classic passive descender, and still widely used, is the figure-eight, although it is offered in more complex variations with "ears" and "wings" to prevent the rope from locking up. or the more straightforward top rope solo climbing, for which the Petzl Micro Traxion and Camp Lift have been used. == Protection devices ==

As discussed in types of climbing, rock climbing protection devices are mainly used in traditional climbing and in sport climbing, both of which can be done in single and multi-pitch formats. In addition, clean aid climbing also uses many of the traditional climbing protection devices. Temporary Temporary protection devices (also known as pro, gear or the rack), provide the means to place temporary anchor points on the rock to which a lead climber can clip their rope (via a quickdraw) when traditional climbing; they also can be used for anchor points for belaying and abseiling. The devices are categorized as being active (i.e. they dynamically move or adjust in the case of a fall), or passive (i.e., they maintain a static position throughout). • Big Bros (or tube chocks) are large hollow telescopic aluminum tubes manufactured by Trango whose width can be dynamically adjusted to fit across large off-width cracks that are too wide for standard SLCDs. • Removable bolts (or RBs) are a type of SLCD for insertion into pre-drilled bolt holes, but instead of using cams, the system uses a metal tube that once inserted expands to grip against the walls of the hole. Less frequently in use, their main application is for climbers creating bolted routes. Nuts come in many varieties (e.g. offset-shaped HB nuts, micro nuts, and brass RP nuts). Where the Australian carrot bolts are common, the wire loop can be used as an emergency substitute for a bolt plate, like a rivet hanger. • Hexes are hollow asymmetrical hexagonal tubes attached to a loop of cord, particularly for large hexes, or wire. Often wider than nuts, their asymmetrical shape allows their use in parallel and even widening cracks. They are placed like a nut ideally into a narrowing section of the crack and any fall will cause the hex to twist in its placement, thus exerting sideways force on the wall of the crack. Modern climbers tend to use SLCDs over hexes. Fixed Fixed protection devices are permanent on-site anchors to which a lead climber can clip their rope – often via a quickdraw – when they are sport climbing; they also can be used to create anchor points for belaying and abseiling. The main types are: A bolt hanger is attached into which carabiners and quickdraws can be clipped. Modern stainless steel bolts last for over a decade but have a finite life span after which they must be replaced. Titanium bolts may be used for even greater durability, or in harsher environments like sea-side cliffs, but these are more expensive. Some bolted crags use fixed permadraws, which are on-site wire or chain quickdraws that are permanently attached to the bolt hangers. • Pitons pre-date bolts and are steel spikes – the older versions were made from iron – that could be hammered into cracks in the rock and that have an eye-hole for attaching a carabiner (some would have pre-installed metal rings). Unlike bolts, pitons need a crack into which they can be hammered, and come in a wide variety of shapes and designs (e.g. angles, knifeblades, lost arrows) to fit various cracks, and even micro-cracks like RURPs. Pitons have been largely replaced by the stronger bolts as the fixed protection of choice but are still an important part of big wall climbing, alpine and aid climbing (but not clean aid climbing, which rules out any use of hammers). ==Aid equipment==

Aid climbing uses several of the above devices but in a way that gives "aid" to the climber in ascending (e.g. pulling up on pitons and hooks). There are also a number of other pieces of equipment that are more exclusively associated with aid climbing. • Hooks are steel hooks of various shapes (e.g. bat hook, talon hook, grappling hook, etc.,) that are hung from cracks and flakes (e.g. the fifi hook and skyhook). They are mostly used in aid climbing but have been used in extreme traditional climbing routes as a last resort where the hook placement may not withstand a dynamic fall. A particular type of hook is a rivet hanger that can be attached to old metal rivets–an example being Australian carrot bolts–permanently fastened into the rock face. • Rock climbing hammers are a type of hammer made to insert various types of pitons while ascending routes; clean aid climbing does not allow the use of hammers because all clean aid equipment must only be inserted on a temporary basis. == Clothing equipment ==

Rock climbers use several pieces of specialized clothing equipment including: |alt=Modern rock climbing shoe • Belay glasses allow the belayer to look up at the lead climber without having to strain their neck upwards (i.e. the glasses are tilted upwards by 45 degrees), and are used when there is extensive belaying such as on long routes, or by climbing instructors. • Belay gloves are used to protect the hands and are commonly needed on big wall climbing routes. Their construction from leather or other hard-wearing materials generally improves grip on the rope, which lessens the risk of a failure of the belay system. • Climbing shoes are designed to increase the friction, and thus the grip, between the foot and the climbing surface with a vulcanized rubber sole. Stiffer shoes are used for "edging" and softer soles for "smearing". • Climbing helmets protect the skull against falling debris such as rocks in alpine climbing or dropped pieces of equipment, as well as the impact forces on the head during a fall while climbing, particularly when the falling lead climber is flipped over. == Miscellaneous equipment==

Rock climbers may also use a range of other specialized equipment including: • Bouldering mats are used to protect boulder climbers from the frequent falls that happen in bouldering, which while shorter than other types of climbing, can be onto uneven or hard surfaces from awkward body positions, leading to injury. • Climbing chalk is widely used by rock climbers to help absorb moisture on their hands; • Gear slings are loops of webbing (often with some padding) worn diagonally across the chest on longer traditional climbing routes (e.g. multi-pitch climbing) when the climber cannot comfortably arrange their protection equipment on the gear loops of their harnesses. • Guidebooks are hard-wearing books (i.e. they will be taken on the climb) outlining the key details of the climbing routes including diagram (or topos) of the routes and the grades of difficulty of each individual pitch. • Haul bags are large tubular bags of hardwearing construction (so they can be dragged over rock) into which supplies and climbing equipment can be carried on long multi-pitch routes; commonly used in big wall climbing that calls them "pigs" due to the effort of hauling them up on pulleys. • Knee pads are neoprene pads that are worn on the lower thigh to protect a climber when performing a knee bar; • Medical tape ("tape" can also refer to webbing) is used by climbers to prevent and repair skin injuries. For example, tape lessens skin damage while hand jamming on rough granite surfaces; it is also used to cover skin that has been worn down on the fingers, while crack climbing. • Portaledges are used in big wall climbing as a temporary overnight sleeping platform; they are also used as a resting platform for long belays, which are typical on big wall aid climbing routes. • Pulleys are used by big wall climbers to help bring up haul bags and other pieces of equipment. • Stick clips (or "clip sticks") are long poles with a quickdraw at one end which can be clipped into the first bolt of a sport climbing route by a climber standing on the ground; avoids the risk of a ground-fall before clipping into the first piece of protection. • Wire brushes are used to clean holds, particularly at the higher graded climbing routes where the holds are very small and need to be dry and free of any debris or vegetation to be usable; toothbrushes may be used to clean the smallest holds without damaging them. File:GIO.png|Climber using a bouldering mat|alt=Climber using a bouldering mat File:Lying on the portaledge.jpg|Climber lying on a portaledge|alt=Lying on a portaledge == Training equipment ==

|alt=A hangboard Various items of equipment are employed during climbing-specific training to strengthen the climber's fingers, tendons, and muscles: • Bachar ladder is a narrow and flexible ladder, typically capable of being rolled up, made from metal, PVC, or webbing that is hung horizontally between two points – usually with one point higher to create a slope – that the climber ascends and descends the rungs using only their arm strength with no use is made of their feet; it is an early version of a campus board but that focused on arm strength and not hand/finger strength. • Campus board is a series of horizontal rungs attached to an overhanging surface that is typically climbed up and down without the aid of the feet. When used properly, campus boards improve finger strength and also dynamic or plyometric, muscle strength. • Grip saver – small device that can help in developing the antagonist muscles to those used while gripping with the hand. Use of such a device can prevent the ligament injuries that are experienced by climbers. • Hangboard (or "fingerboard") – is related to the campus board and was developed to focus on building static arm and finger strength; it is a popular training tool for rock climbers and comes in many forms and materials. • Kilter Board – An adjustable angle, app-controlled, fixed-layout climbing wall system with light up holds. Kilter Boards offer multiple sizes and layouts with a database of over 170k problems made by users all over the world. Because of the angle and hold variety, the Kilter Board was designed to be usable for climbers of all abilities. • MoonBoard – A rectangular section of climbing wall, typically overhanging at 40 degrees, onto which climbing holds have been fixed in a dense grid-like fashion; modern MoonBoards have almost 200 holds from which over 55,000 graded boulder problems have been created. ==See also==