What to take sport climbing?

I love the simplicity of going sport climbing: minimal gear, lots of great routes, being able to push yourself until you fall without the worries that come with hard trad climbing: it's a great way to enjoy the rock and keep your climbing fitness over the winter whilst it's a bit too cold for trad (not to mention going away for a sun rock trip to Spain or Greece).

Theres loads of great kit out there but here is my take on the minimum needed for a single pitch cragging trip.

Quickdraws

Sport climbing draws tend to have 'solid gates' rather than the wires found on lightweight trad draws. Solid gate draws give better durability over wire gates for carabineers which are loaded regularly as happens sport climbing. The weight savings of wire gate carabineers are good for trad/winter/ice/mountaineering but in a single pitch sport setting this saving is negligible and most of the time you'll be leaving the quickdraws on the bolts for your repoint attempts or partner to try.

Most sport draws will also have a carabineer with a straight gate for clipping to the bolt and a carabineer with a bent gate which is held captive by a little plastic ring. The bent gate crab is for clipping the rope to. Always ensure draws are used this way around to prevent rope damage from burred carabineers. The bent gate helps to make clipping easier.

My personal pick are DMM Alpha Sports. I think these are the best all around sport draw. The shape makes them easy to clip and unclip, the tape is easy to pull on when working routes and they are super durable. A second choice would be Petzl SPIRIT draws but post-Brexit these are looking like a much more expensive option compared to the DMM offering. 

I find a selection of lengths useful. Most are 12cm but I have 4x 18cm and 2x 25cm draws for bolts where a longer clip is useful. I also take one 60cm trad climbing extender in case of needing a really long draw.

Having said this, any solid gate quickdraws will do the job for general use. Decathalon sell packs of 5 Edelrid solid gate quickdraws for £49.99 which is good value, and other similar priced packs are available. UKC have done a good (but slightly old now) roundup of sport draws here: https://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/climbing/quickdraws/sport_quickdraws-8719

Belay Devices

There are a huge range of belay devices on the market but suffice it to say that the Petzl GRI-GRI is the final word in sport climbing belaying. Don't mess around, just buy a grigri. Of course any belay device you already own and know how to use will also work, but the assisted breaking on a grigri makes it much easier to hold a climber who's working a route or struggling to get up a hard section.

Other Useful Climbing Gear

I always take a few other pieces of gear to the crag when I'm sport climbing. 

• A few locking carabineers are good for setting top ropes and needed for cleaning a route. 

• A few 120cm slings for setting top ropes, cleaning routes and extending clips. Mammut magic slings are really easy to untie after toproping. 

• A Petzl CONNECT lanyard makes cleaning, working, clip-sticking and generally faffing much quicker and easier.

• A clipstick. Some cliffs require a clipstick to make the start safe. Sometimes it's nice to top rope. I think a clipstick is a vital piece of sport climbing equipment. I use an old Beta stick but the new Pongoose and BetaStick Evo are ace bits of equipment. 

• A helmet. Yes it's sport climbing, but these days helmets are so light it seems odd not to wear one. 

Rope

The most important thing to look for in a rope is that it's single rated. This is marked with the number 1 in a circle on the packaging and the end of the rope. Any single rope will do, but skinny ropes will wear out faster than thicker ones. I would look for something around 9.5mm. Fancy dry treatments aren't required because who goes sport climbing in the rain!? 

I've had ropes from Beal, Mammut, Fixe, Edelrid, Stirling and Edelweiss recently and they've all performed well: take your pick from any bargain to be had! 

Check the route heights at the cliffs you're likely to visit and buy an appropriate length rope. Remember you need a rope twice the length of the route to lower off safely eg. a minimum of 50m of rope for 25m routes. Many European routes are 35m or longer so a 70m rope is required. 

Many sport crags are dusty so a rope tarp can help prolong the life of your rope and gear by keeping them clean. 

Other Kit

Recently I've got a Lowe Alpine Outcast 44l and it's a great cragging bag, but obviously any bag will do. 

I always take a big down jacket to keep warm whilst belaying and resting. 

Pack your shoes – I usually take a comfy pair for warming up and general use and a performance pair tailored to whatever specific style I expect to encounter on a given day. I’m currently using Scarpa Vapour and VS Laces.

A nail file, some nail clippers and a roll of tape can be useful. Add some chalk, a drink and your lunch and you're all set!

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Not Sure What You're Doing?

Feel like you need some help with your climbing? Why not book onto a skills course and get some professional input, learn some new tricks and take your ropework to the next level.