Black Trad & Aid Climbing

Start by tailoring your rack to the cracks you'll encounter, bringing 3–4 common cam sizes and duplicates for longer pitches. Totem Cams and Black Diamond cams are good examples to carry because their four-lobe and flexible-stem designs cover finger- to hand-sized cracks effectively.

For wet or icy medium-wide cracks, hexes excel because their passive shape and placement hold better than cams in moist or frozen placements, and many are made from lightweight aluminum. Bring hexes alongside offset nuts and consider brass or micro nuts for shallow or irregular features.

Extendable quickdraws and longer slings cut rope drag on wandering pitches by letting you shift the anchor point and smoothed line of pull. Use 120cm slings or quickdraws with 16cm+ extendable runners to reduce rope rub and keep placements bomber.

Most climbers begin with three to four cam sizes plus a couple of duplicates to cover the most common crack widths without overloading their harness. Also make sure your harness has five or more gear loops to rack gear efficiently on multi-pitch leads.

Crack-specific shoes like TC Pros with stiff soles and high-top coverage help with edging and protect your ankles during hand- and off-width jamming. Pair them with durable Dyneema slings and runners to minimize abrasion when placing nuts, tricams, or camming devices.