I found my climbing equipment!
Woot! So last night I was doing some laundry down in the basement and I found my military bag under a pile of clothing! Inside of that was all of my climbing equipment, minus my Boreal "Vector" climbing shoes and my Black Diamond "ATC" belay device.
So I washed the bag itself (it was smelling kind of nasty) and the rope bag (ditto) and my Petzl "Gourou" harness (not as bad, but it could use it) and some dark clothing. My wife is moderately stinky, but I'm not in the mood to wash it. Washing a rope isn't just sticking it in the washing machine. You have to hand wash these bad boys in the tub, "throw" them while they're soaking wet . . . ack. Besides, I don't know if it's even dirty. I'll have to use it a couple of times and see how my hands look. The rope is probably 11-13 years old, but it's been used mostly for top-roping. I've taken a few lead falls on it, but not too many and I don't think any too far. It should still serve as a good top rope.
So I'm going to need to buy some new shoes and an ATC. I can get a pair of shoes locally for 90-130 bucks, depending on the model. I was considering getting some "Mad Rock" brand shoes because they're inexpensive and apparently perform well, but I've heard too much about their durability issues to make that move. I'd rather go with something like the 5.10 Spires, which are very popular (and hence common) but more of a beginners shoe. Then again, it's not like I'm a strong climber right now so they should be good for me. The rock gym also sells some other shoes, some slippers and the like, but the Spires are only 90 bucks and are from Five Ten (a good, solid brand). Typically I'd buy my stuff online, but for climbing shoes I need to be able to put them on because the sizing is inconsistant between manufacturers. There is a place online where you can fax them an outline of your foot and they'll get you the right size based on how tight you want it, but I'm not sure if I want to do that or not.
So I washed the bag itself (it was smelling kind of nasty) and the rope bag (ditto) and my Petzl "Gourou" harness (not as bad, but it could use it) and some dark clothing. My wife is moderately stinky, but I'm not in the mood to wash it. Washing a rope isn't just sticking it in the washing machine. You have to hand wash these bad boys in the tub, "throw" them while they're soaking wet . . . ack. Besides, I don't know if it's even dirty. I'll have to use it a couple of times and see how my hands look. The rope is probably 11-13 years old, but it's been used mostly for top-roping. I've taken a few lead falls on it, but not too many and I don't think any too far. It should still serve as a good top rope.
So I'm going to need to buy some new shoes and an ATC. I can get a pair of shoes locally for 90-130 bucks, depending on the model. I was considering getting some "Mad Rock" brand shoes because they're inexpensive and apparently perform well, but I've heard too much about their durability issues to make that move. I'd rather go with something like the 5.10 Spires, which are very popular (and hence common) but more of a beginners shoe. Then again, it's not like I'm a strong climber right now so they should be good for me. The rock gym also sells some other shoes, some slippers and the like, but the Spires are only 90 bucks and are from Five Ten (a good, solid brand). Typically I'd buy my stuff online, but for climbing shoes I need to be able to put them on because the sizing is inconsistant between manufacturers. There is a place online where you can fax them an outline of your foot and they'll get you the right size based on how tight you want it, but I'm not sure if I want to do that or not.
posted by Adam Skinner at 9/10/2004 01:13:00 PM
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