A Few of My Favorite Things

We all have them. Those go-to pieces that, once placed, cause your whole being to relax, and you can continue upward with confidence. Here’s our favorite gear that gets us all warm and fuzzy inside.

Red Black Diamond C3

I never really got into Aliens, but I love Black Diamond C3’s. Bomber little units that fit where many other things wont, my favorite of the lot is the red one. It seems to come in handy just when you need it most, and it’s still big enough that you don’t worry too much about whipping on it, unlike some of the smaller ones. There’s nothing like thinking you still have a ways to go on runout terrain ’til the next piece, when suddenly you spy a bomber red C3 placement and all is well again!

Blue (#8) DMM Offset Nut

Start climbing with offset nuts, and I’ll bet you have a hard time going back to “regular” shapes, they just seem so archaic. The DMM Offsets are an integral part of my trad rack, and I’ve particularly fallen in love with the blue one. Slot one of these into a textbook placement, and you can feel your soul leap with joy. Sadly I had to leave one on a route in RMNP last summer, but it was quickly replaced, as the idea of life with out it was just too much to bear.

Gold Camalot

Maybe the grandaddy of all the coveted gear placements, there’s nothing as glorious as a perfectly placed gold Camalot. Whether you are in Indian Creek, or happen to find a big enough horizontal at the Gunks, these things can hold a truck, and are often the foundation of many a multipitch trad anchor. I could write a song about how much I love placing these, but this little paragraph will have to suffice for now. As an added bonus, if you are placing these, it likely means you are on a perfect hand crack, and that’s about as good as it gets!

Bolt Hanger

OK, so you don’t place these, but is there anything that matches the feeling of clipping into a solid bolt, especially after a dicey or runout section of a climb? My whole being wants to shout “I’m gonna live” once the rope drops through the quickdraw, and all is right in my world again. On the flip side, there’s not much worse then clipping some ancient relic, thinking, well, at least it will slow me down some!

What’s the gear you can’t live without?