DIY - Anchor practice board

Disclaimer - Hopefully this is blindingly obvious, but this is ONLY to be used when your feet are firmly on the ground, and NEVER for any kind of training at height! Do not use this for full body weight or rappelling!

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Here’s an easy and inexpensive way to make your own anchor practice board.

• about $5 worth of hardware

• 5 minutes of work

• a few basic tools

I’ve seen some commercial versions of these selling for well over $100. If that works for you, then great. This version is for the Frugal Climber. (Take that money you saved and go buy another Totem cam instead.  =^)

There are many approaches to building a board like this. I'm showing one that works for me. I've made a few different versions (with T nuts, eye bolts, plywood, etc) and I think this is the winner in terms of simple, inexpensive, and versatile.

The trick with this method is that the bolts/nuts are recessed into the wood on the back, so there’s nothing sticking out. This means you can use it on a car or a door inside your house, and nothing will get scratched by hardware sticking out the back. 

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Here's what you need:

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Notes:

• If you want to be SURE nothing you hang the board on (like a car) is going to get scratched, you can glue a piece of scrap fabric on the back, like a towel. 

• This version is pretty simple, with only two bolts. Feel free to add another bolt and hanger if you like.

• While stainless steel hangers are best for outside routes, for your anchor board you can use the less expensive plated hangers, which are made for indoor/rock gym use.

• Support your local climb shop and buy your hangers from them if they have ‘em. Or, if you ask nicely at your local rock gym, they might sell you a couple. Try those options first.

• You can also order hangers online, a 10 pack is about $25, or $2.50 each. Make 5 boards and give them to your friends. Here’s an option: Fixe Plated Steel 3/8 3.5mm Bolt Hanger - 10 Pack

• The bolts and nuts should be at any decent hardware store.

• You should be able to get a free piece of 2x6 in the scrap pile at just about any construction site. A 2x4 works too, more on that below. (Be polite and ask before you take anything from a job site.)

• I'm using a board that's 15 inches long. That makes it easy to put the bolts 1/3 of the way across, every 5 inches. If your board is a bit longer or shorter, no worries, it'll work fine.

• If you don't have these tools, I bet you know someone who does.

• When you hang this board on something and put weight on it, it's going to swing out. If you find this annoying, you can drill another hole in about the middle, on the bottom edge, and put some additional cord in here so you can tie down the bottom. I don’t do this on mine, but you might find it helpful.

• I’m using ‘Merican dimensions, cause that's where I'm from. (If you're in a country that's sensible enough to use the metric system, which is anywhere other than the United States, Myanmar and Liberia, I'm sure you'll figure it out.)

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Materials:

• Piece of scrap 2” x 6” board about 15” long

• Two bolt hangers 

• Two hex head bolts, 1.5” long x 1/4”

• Two nuts that fit on the bolts

• About 4 feet of parachute cord or something similar

Tools:

• Saw to cut your board

• Drill

• Drill bit that’s slightly larger than the bolt, here 5/16”

• Spade drill bit that’s slightly larger than the nut, here 5/8”

• Socket wrench or pliers to tighten the bolt 

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Let’s make it!

• Along the centerline of the board, and about 1/3 of the way in from the edges, make two marks for the bolts. You can use a tape measure and square if you want to, but eyeballing is fine. (We're not building a piano here.  =^)

• Make two more tick marks about 1 ½” down and in from the upper corners of the board. 

• Drill out these four holes with the 5/16” drill bit. 

• With the larger 5/8” drill bit, drilling from the back of the board, drill down about half an inch. 

• Be careful here! Do NOT drill all the way through the board!

• Insert the bolt and hanger from the front. Thread the nut on in the back. 

• Tighten the bolt with a socket wrench or pliers. (If the nut is spinning in the hole, pinch it in place with a screwdriver or something similar when you tighten the bolt.)

• See how the bolts sit below the surface of the board? No metal sticking out that can scratch anything. =^)

• Cut paracord into two sections about 2 feet each. Seal the ends with the flame so it doesn’t unravel. (Do this outside, it’s toxic and stinky.) 

• Put a strand of cord through each of the top holes and tie ‘em off into a loop. 

• (If you have a sander and want to smooth it down, or a router and want to round off the edges, go for it to make it Purty.)

Give yourself a high five, you’re done!

You can also use a 2x4 instead of a 2x6. It's a little smaller to store and lighter. But, there's not much room there to add another bolt if you decide you want a three piece anchor, so personally I'm a fan of the 2 x 6. Either one works. Remember, it's for on-the-ground training only, not for real body weight!

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Where can you use it? 

My favorite: chain link fence

Around a tree. A cam strap works great to tension the board.

On a door; put the paracord knot on one side and the anchor on the other, and close the door. That's why we're using small diameter cord here, you can fit it between a door and the frame more easily than larger cord.

Of course if you get distracted and open the door, the whole thing will fall down, whoops. Ask me how I know this . . .

On a car door, or car roof rack.

On a single point. That's where the slightly longer paracord loops are helpful, they both can come together to one point. Using an oval carabiner here helps the board stay level.

Add quick links, chain or rings if you like. Pro tip: buy a length of chain with an odd number of links, such as the five shown here. When you add a quick link to the top, then the bottom link hangs perpendicular to the board, making it slightly easier to thread the rope. 

If you buy quick links, cheap ones from the hardware store will work fine, but I recommend getting proper CE rated for climbing, such as those offered by CAMP.  That way, when you borrow these off your board some day for actual climbing, you know they are up for the task. 8 mm is a good size; not too big, not too tiny.

You can make a three-piece anchor by simply clipping a carabiner to one of the paracord loops.  Or if you like, there's room on the board to add another hanger.

DIY tether with the Kong Slyde

Kong Slyde + 2 meters of rope = low cost adjustable tether.

This clever device works much the same as the Petzl Adjust tethers, but costs a lot less, around $12. Kong has it in the “aid climbing” category on their website, but I think it’s better as a personal tether.

Note:

• Not all carabiners fit in the Kong Slyde. Some wider D shaped lockers may not fit. Here I’m using the Petzl Sm’D twistlock, which fits great and has a twistlock for extra security.

• 8.5-ish to 9ish mm dynamic rope is the best choice for this. Anything smaller the strands can invert and the Slyde fails! Much bigger and it’s really hard to pull the rope through. Dynamic is good because, ya know, it stretches.

• My friend Ryan at HotNOT2.com tested different rope flavors, and he likes the Beal 9.1 mm Joker rope for smoothness and adjustability. Buy that rope by the foot, along with the Slyde, at his sweet online gear store.

• You can buy rope by the foot from Arbsession. Arbsession can add custom sewn eye splices into your rope, which could be nice. I have not tested this rope myself with the Slyde, but the diameter looks about right.

Two meters of rope will give you a tether that's probably a bit on the long side, but that's better than having it too short. Feel free to trim it down if needed after testing. For me, I'm about 5’ 10” / 180 cm, and these measurements work for me. If you're much taller, you probably want to add a bit more rope.

1. Start with 2 meters of 8.5mm or 9mm rope.

2. In the tail end of the cord, tie a stopper knot. Cinch it down well. I took the extra step of securing it with a zip tie so it can never come undone.

3. Correctly thread the cord into the Slyde, see photo below.

4. In the other end, tie an overhand on a bight, with a loop that's just big enough to girth hitch through your belay loop. Dress and cinch down the knot. Done!

5. To extend the Slyde, grab it with your palm down, and the rounded end of the Slyde pointing toward you. Tilt your hand up and push forward, and the Slyde should extend. Little hard to describe, watch the short video clip below. Practice and you’ll get the hang of it.

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Check out this short video on using it.

Reverse your crampon straps

Credit for this tip goes from British Guide Sam Leary, who made the video at the bottom of the page where I first saw this clever trick.

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Short version: remove the straps from your crampon heel levers, and reverse the straps. This lets you move the buckle rings to your toe, rather than your outside ankle, which makes threading the strap through the rings and cranking it tight MUCH easier.  

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It’s time to put on crampons on the side of a dark, steep icy mountain. It’s cold, you have gloves on and lots of puffy layers. You plunk the crampon into the snow, carefully insert your foot, clip down the heel lever, . . . and then attempt the spine torquing, black belt yoga position of twisting to the outside of your boot, trying to thread the strap through the double rings that you can’t really even see . . .

At this moment, you may think, “why the HELL are crampons designed to be put on in this incredibly awkward way?!”

Good news: there’s an easy modification (for most crampons) that makes this process a LOT easier. 

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Disclaimer #1: The industrial designers at crampon companies (who are of course far smarter than I am) may not approve of this.

Disclaimer #2: This does not work with all styles of crampons. A quick look at yours should tell you whether it works, or not.

Disclaimer #3: If you try this modification and screw it up, your crampon straps might become unusable. Do not try this on the mountain, and you probably shouldn’t try the night before a climb either. You’ll need a few simple tools like scissors (and probably) needle nose pliers. Read this article, watch the video at the end, and be fully aware of how this works before you ever try it for yourself. 

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Crampons with a heel lever are typically set up with the strap threaded counterclockwise on your left crampon, and clockwise on your right crampon. With this set up, the buckle is on your outside ankle, and you pull the strap forward, or toward your toe, to tighten.

We’re going to reverse this. Instead:

• Thread the strap CLOCKWISE on your left crampon, and

• COUNTERCLOCKWISE on your right crampon.

This lets you put the buckle up near your toe, where you can see what you’re doing with no contortions and double back the strap with ease. You also tighten the strap by pulling toward your body, which is more ergonomic.

Doing this also puts the buckle on the outside of your foot, which is where it should be, so you don’t accidentally loosen it by clipping the inside of your ankles together.

You could move the buckle to the front without removing it from the heel lever. But if you do this, the buckle will be tensioned on the inside of your foot. This is no bueno, because you’re much more likely to kick it unintentionally with your other foot and release the tension on your strap.

I’m showing it here with my Grivel G12 crampons, so I can’t speak to other brands. According to the video below, it works the same with Petzl and some models of Black Diamond. (It does not work with my Black Diamond Contact universal crampons, because the strap is sewn in to one of the holes on the rear cup and can’t be unthreaded to do this.)

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Notes:

For my Grivel G12s, I found that cutting the crampon strap with scissors to make sort of a “V” point, rather than a 45° angle, made it quite a bit easier to thread through the heel lever.

After you make this cut, melt the ends of a strap in a flame and when melted, give it a quick squeeze with pliers to make sort of a hard tip.

When you’re completely done with this project and the straps look good, you MIGHT, repeat might, want to cut off some of the excess extra strap, assuming you’re not going to use these crampons with any larger boots (like ski boots) or loan them to anyone with size 15 feet. 

You will probably need needle nose pliers to pull the crampon strap through the heel lever. Take it slow, be patient. A small flat blade screwdriver can help push the strap through too.

Before you thread the strap through the heel lever, lay it all out and figure how the strap is going to lay on your boot, ideally with no twists. With the Grivel‘s, the black leather tab needs to end up lying flat against your boot, on top of the other ring. The way it ended up working for me, the strap is not showing the Grivel logo on the inside of the boot, and it is showing the logo on the outside of the boot. This way means no twists when you’re done. If you do and up with a half twist, it’s certainly still going to work fine, it’s just not as aesthetic as it could be. So, take some time before you thread that heel lever and see that everything is lined up correctly with no twists. “Measure twice, cut once”, as they say.

Do one boot at a time.  If you mess it up on the first one, you have your original strap on the other crampon as a reference.

Here's what mine looked like when I was done. The buckle is threaded through the toe piece, and is easily tightened to the outside of the boot by pulling back toward you.

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The video below shows this process in detail. Watch it before you try it! Thanks to AMI (Association of Mountaineering Instructors) Guide Sam Leary and LeadingEdge Mountain to show you how it works. She has lots of other solid Youtube instructional videos, give her a subscribe.

Repair a cam with trimmer line - tutorial

Photos (used with permission) are all from Pacific Northwest climber Dave Hill, thanks Dave!

Original idea from British expedition climber Andy Kirkpatrick.

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Got a frayed or broken wire on a cam? You might be able to make a quick fix with plastic trimmer cord from a weed whacker. (Other options are Dyneema string, and bicycle brake cable with small swages.) Trimmer cord comes in different diameters, experiment to see what works with your equipment. This example is for a Black Diamond cam. Other makes and models might have a slightly different procedure.

How long you can expect a trimmer cord repair to last? Good question. While some people have got years of use out of a fix like this, others might consider it more as an temporary “field repair” than a long-term solution. It’s probably a good idea to replace the trimmer cord with something more substantial once you get home.

Black Diamond replaces cam trigger wires for about $15, not sure about other manufacturers. (Web search: “Black Diamond cam repair”.)

Finally, here’s a link to a PDF tutorial from Metolius of how to repair their Master Cams with Kevlar cord, sent to me by @dumbanchors.

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What you need:

• wire cutters

• needle nose pliers

• lighter / flame

• weed whacker cord - get a couple of feet from your neighbor with all the tools, or from a yard maintenance person

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DIY - Homemade alcohol stove

It's easy to be seduced by the sexy merchandising at your big outdoor store, especially the dizzying array of high-tech stoves. (Yes, I‘ve used it, and it’s an amazing snow melting inferno, but $240 for an MSR Reactor stove, seriously?!)

But, if you're tempted to get one of these, ask yourself this simple question. When I’m on a fair weather backpacking trip or climb, do I REALLY need to boil water in three minutes, or can I wait a few more? You know the answer. You can probably wait.

So, try this. How 'bouta stove:

• that costs about $0.50 in parts

• you can make in about 10 minutes with simple household tools (or even a Swiss Army Knife)

• burns cheap, readily available fuel

• burns silently

• weighs under 1 ounce

• has no moving parts that can break

• boils a pint of water in about 8 minutes?

Check out the link at the button below.

Homemade alcohol stoves are big with long distance hikers, and have been solidly field tested. One popular model is called a "cat" stove, simply because it’s often made with an empty cat food can.

I've made a few of these stoves and they works great. It’s not designed to melt snow on an expedition, but for a shorter trip in mild weather it could easily serve as your main backpacking stove. If nothing else, it’s a fun evening project, good for scouts, and could well serve as a disaster preparedness item - with some rubbing alcohol and a few cat food cans, you can cook food after The Big Earthquake when gas and power may be down. A windscreen made from heavy duty tinfoil and a paperclip is a fine addition.

Here's a shot of my cat stove in action. Just a cat food can with two rows of holes.

(Note, the soot on the pan is not from the stove, it's from cooking over a real fire)

DIY - Make a rug from a retired climbing rope

Got a newly retired climbing rope? Feeling crafty? Turn that rope into a lovely rug.

As always, YouTube is your friend.

DIY - measure UTM coords with your baseplate compass

If your map has a printed UTM grid on it (which is a good idea for various reasons, covered on this tip) you can, with a little practice, be able to estimate your position down to about 100 meters or so. This should be good enough for most applications.

However, if you’re into precision navigation, or want to make your map positioning a bit more accurate, here’s a quick DIY compass hack to increase your accuracy. 

Side note: You may have read of a little clear plastic device (above) made to do this, which is known as a “Romer” (supposedly after the British military officer who invented them.) These do allow you to do various bits of map and compass wizardry a little more easily, but they are small, easy to lose, only work for maps with a certain scale, and in general are not very suitable for civilian users, so I don’t recommend them for most people.

Let’s get to it.

You need:

1. a roll of athletic tape

2. a map with a kilometer scale bar divided into 100 meter increments

3. fine tip pen

(Note that if you print out a map from CalTopo, it should have a perfect scale bar for doing this.)

Put a thin strip of athletic tape on the top and right hand edges of your compass base plate. Trim away any extra tape.

Place the top right corner of the baseplate on the one kilometer mark of the scale bar.

At each 100 meter increment, draw a small tick mark onto the tape.

Repeat this for the right-hand edge of your compass.

When you're done, your compass should look like this:

Now, you can measure UTM coordinates on your map. Put the top right corner of the base plate on the point you want to measure, and then read the tick marks in 100 meter increments to the left for easting and down for northing.

Example: Put the top right corner of the baseplate on a map feature, in this example Sisson Lake. We can see at glance that, within the 1,000 meter grid square, the easting is about 500 meters and the northing is about 300 meters.

(Note - If you change to a map with a different scale, you’ll need to start over and copy the new scale bar.)

DIY - Nail polish marks The Spot on your crampons

If you wear your crampons with one and only one pair of boots, you can stop reading.  But many climbers swap crampons between different size shoes, such as stout boots for a more technical climb, and maybe lighter ones for later season travel.

Unless you remember the right crampon setting for each boot, switching from one shoe to another can lead to a trial and error process of finding the correct size setting.

(Do I use crampon hole number 6 or 7 for the light summer boot I’ll take on my moderate glacier climb?)

After you get your crampons dialed into the correct length for the boots you use most often, try this simple trick to be sure you can easily reset them.

Dab a spot of fingernail polish around the crampon hole that matches your most-used climbing boot.  That way, if the crampons ever are moved from that adjustment, it’s easy to see the right setting and move it back.

If you want to get fancy, you could use two different marks, one for each different sized boot.

Fingernail polish is also great for marking metal climbing gear like rock and snow pro.

DIY - Add gear loops to your pack for alpine climbing

On alpine rock routes, you’re probably wearing a pack. Even on longer one day routes from basecamp, at least one pack (maybe carried by the second) is usually needed for water, munchies, shoes for the walk off, and maybe a cap or windbreaker. But one of the Big Hassles with wearing a pack is that the pack waist belt can interfere with accessing the gear loops on your harness.

Counter this by adding two loops of parachute cord and tubing onto your shoulder straps.

These shoulder strap gear loops are a super handy place to keep some rock pro, a few extra carabiners and a nut tool, without fighting to get at the gear on your climbing harness hidden by your waist belt. Also, when cleaning a pitch as a second, it’s a fast and easy-to-reach place to clip gear. Of course you're not going to keep your entire rack for a long pitch on these gear loops, but more like a handful of pieces you anticipate needing between one good stance and the next.

(Some climbers may rack snow pickets and ice screws here as well.  But, keep in mind what this sharp flying metal in close proximity to your face might do to you if you take a fall. Not my first choice . . . )

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Here's how to do it.

Supplies:

• 12 inches of 3/8 inch plastic tubing (internal diameter - “ID” of 1/4 inch, get this at any well-stocked hardware store)

• About 32 inches of parachute cord

• 2 zip ties (optional)

• knife/scissors

• lighter

Cut the tubing and cord in half, so you have two 6” pieces of tubing and two 16” pieces of parachute cord.

Patiently push the parachute cord through the tubing. Note, do NOT burn the ends of the cord before you do this, otherwise it won't fit through the tube. Ask me how I know this . . .

Bring the ends of the tubing together, and tie an overhand knot in the parachute cord around your pack strap, as close to the tube ends as you can. This should make the tube into a nice oval shape, and give you an inch or so of tail in the parachute cord.

Now you can burn the ends of the parachute cord to seal them. Do this outside or in a well ventilated area, use a candle or cigarette lighter, and have a small bowl of water to dunk the ends in once they are burning a bit.

This next step is optional, but nice to do if you have zip ties. Take two zip ties, and secure the tails of each loop of para-cord to your backpack strap. This helps keep the gear loops vertically aligned so they don't flop around. Trim off the zip tie after you’ve cinched it tight. (Below left, untrimmed zip tie, on the right, trimmed zip tie.) (Note that the zip ties are not loadbearing at all, they're there to keep the loop oriented up and down.)

Ready for action.

DIY - A Better Way to carry your cleaning tool

Your nut cleaning tool is a vital bit of gear, and you don’t ever want to drop it. Most climbers typically tie a few feet of string/cord to their cleaning tool, allowing one end of the cord to be always clipped to their harness.  The main problem with this method is that the extra cord constantly tangles with all the other goodies on your harness gear loops.

Note - it’s a fine idea is everyone on the team has a cleaning tool, leader included.

I tried a modification of this, with the short loop of bungee cord. That was working pretty well until I was cleaning a stopper at eye level, let go of my cleaning tool, and almost lost my eye as the little bastard shot past my head from the rebound of the elastic. Bad idea!

Here's a hybrid system, that keeps the tool always attached to you, has a little stretch bungee type system to let you extend and retract the tool, but not enough stretch to take out an eye.

With about $3 worth of hardware and 10 minutes, you can craft a Better Way.  This system lets you fully extend the nut tool to clean a placement, yet stays neatly out of the way when not in use.  It’s a good rainy day project. (You can likely figure it out from the photo alone, but here’s some directions anyway.)

What you need:

• A single mini “keychain” carabiner, ideally one rated to carry a decent load. Kong makes what they call an "Mini D accessory carabiner", rated to I think 600 kg.

• About one foot (unstretched) telephone cord - remember those? I got mine at Goodwill for $0.50, or get it new online

• Two aluminum double sleeve swages from the bulk rope/wire section of a decent hardware store. Bring the phone cord to be sure you get the right size swage

• Wire cutters and sturdy pliers, Vise Grips, or bench vise

To make it:

• With wire cutters, snip off the phone jacks from the ends of the phone cord.

• Pass about 2 inches of the cord through one sleeve of the swage.

• Run one end of the phone cord through the nut tool. (Do not pass the cord through the butt end of the nut tool, as the cord will get mangled when you have to smack the tool with a rock or hammer to remove a really stubborn placement.) Note the Black Diamond nut tool in the photo, which has a very handy bottle opener on the butt end.

• Run the free end of the cord back through the second sleeve on the swage.

• Clamp hard on the swage with your vise, pliers or vise grips, mashing the swage together around the phone cord.

• Repeat on the other end of the phone cord with the carabiner. I wrapped some athletic tape around the phone cord/carabiner connection, to be sure the loop never can come off the carabiner.

When on your harness, the butt end of the tool is clipped to the carabiner, keeping it well out of the way.

That’s it, and happy cleaning!  That next welded tri cam you find will be your wall booty.

DIY - Replace that gaiter cord with a cable

A weak point in the design of some gaiters is the cord that runs under the sole of your boot. While some models have a beefy (and heavy) strap, some have just a nylon cord. After stomping around on rough terrain, the cord gets frayed and cut.  As it’s on the bottom of your boot, it’s hard to notice when it’s almost cut through.

Here’s an easy modification that will eliminate this hassle. Head to the hardware store, and buy 3 feet of 1/16 inch cable from the bulk spools and 4 1/16” aluminum sleeves.

With wire cutters and a bit of patience, you replace the cord with the cable. Clamp the aluminum sleeve onto one side of the wire with pliers, or smack it with a hammer. Note that this is non-adjustable, so size it to the shoes you’ll use most often with the gaiters, and measure carefully before that final smushing of the second aluminum sleeve.

Cut the cable, and repeat for your other shoe.

When you're done, it should look like this.

DIY - Rope protector for a fixed rope

You’re taking a friend on Monkey Face at Smith Rock. The plan is for you to lead the aid pitch, fix the rope, and have your partner ascend the fixed rope and clean the gear in standard aid climbing technique . . . but you remember that from the anchor, the rope goes over a rather sharply angled edge before drops to your partner.

Yes, thousands of people have done this pitch without any damage to the rope, but you'd still feel a little better if your rope was protected. This is a pretty common situation in aid climbing, making a fixed rope anchor, or caving. Anytime you have a loaded rope over a rock edge, padding the edge or protecting the rope in some way should be considered. (Even more so if the rock has sharp crystals, like Joshua Tree granite.)

You can do this on the fly by putting a backpack under the rope to protect it. But if you know you're going to have this situation, it's more secure to have a designated rope guard that you bring with you.

Yes, you can buy a commercial one like these for about $20. If you’re in an instructional environment and find yourself doing this often, this is the way to go.

image: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Anchors/PROTEC

or something like this:

image: https://www.mtrsuperstore.com/products/rescuetech-rope-guard

But, it’s easy and cheaper to DIY. You can use either heater hose from the car part store, which is convenient because you can buy it by the foot, or a section of cut up retired garden hose, if you have access to that. You need about 18 inches / 45 cm of hose.

Steps:

1. Go to the car parts store, and buy a couple of feet of 1/2 inch heater hose. It shouldn’t cost more than about $1.50 per foot. (Some hoses used in cars are reinforced and cost more like for $5 a foot, don't buy this type.) The 1/2 inch hose works pretty well with about a 10 mm rope. You probably don't want to be using a fixed line that's much smaller than that anyway. You may want to actually bring your rope into the car parts store, and buy a hose with a diameter just slightly bigger than the rope you think you're going to use.

2. Carefully cut a slit the length of the hose with a utility knife or something similar.

3. Drill out a small hole an inch or so away from one end, and put in a keeper cord of shoelace, 2 mm cord, or some similar material. Remember, everything you take with you climbing needs to have a way to get clipped in.

4. To use, open the slit in the hose, insert your rope, and slide the hose so the middle of it is over the loaded edge. If you want to be extra cautious, you can wrap athletic tape around the hose, as well as a bit on the rope to secure it in place, Alternatively, you can put a prusik knot on the rope above the hose, and clip the prusik to the keeper cord to hold everything in the right spot.

Gates “green stripe” 1/2 inch heater hose

close up of Gates “green stripe” 1/2 inch heater hose

carefully slit it lengthwise . . .

insert your rope. Be sure and drill a small hole AND add a keeper cord to one end.

Rope inside and ready to use.

To really make it secure, you can wrap the whole thing with athletic tape.

DIY - Protect shoe threads with super glue

You can increase the amount of mileage you can get out of trail runners and lightweight boots by coating all the threads on the seams with super glue.

It protects the threads and stops any fraying from spreading if it does start.

image - blog.buyskateshoes.com

DIY - Duct tape on the Jetboil pot

Do you ever use your Jetboil pot as a coffee cup or soup bowl? 

Sure you do.

Tip - Put a small bit of duct tape on the rim of the pot so you don’t burn your lips.

DIY - Fix that rip with seam grip

Repairing small tears in your outdoor gear is a fact of life.  Some folks like the old standby, duct tape, but the results are usually Less Than Ideal - an unsightly blob of grey tape on your gaiter, pack or jacket, peeling adhesive, and usually a short life span.

A better alternative is to use Seam Grip, an adhesive available in most any outdoor store. Or, most general purpose household clear adhesives like Shoe Goo work as well. Plus, Shoe Goo dries a bit faster and comes in small sized tubes you can treat as single use, see below.

To fix a tear, put some tape (most any kind will do) on the outside of the gear you’re fixing - in this example, a gaiter.  Next, turn the gaiter so the inside is facing toward you, and reposition the flapping piece by pressing it down on the tape so it’s temporarily held in place. Now, put a good layer of adhesive on the tear, spit on your finger and rub it in, let it cure overnight, and then remove the tape.  You’ll have a fix that’s durable and almost invisible.

For a more substantial tear in a thin fabric that's going to have some tension on it, such as a tent fly, try this:

• Tape the edges together with duct tape on the outside of the tent.

• On the inside of the tent, put down a layer of seam grip, then smoosh in a section of cut mosquito netting, and then put some more seam grip on top of that. Read more on this technique at this tip.

DIY - Candle lantern with sand in a bag

A slick way to make a candle lantern requires a plastic bag, some sand or gravel, a candle (ideally a tall taper) and a couple of sticks.  Pour a few inches of sand into the bag. Stick the candle into the sand. Poke the sticks into the sand, and use them to keep the sides of the plastic bag from getting too close to the candle flame.  This works well in the woods, as the sand forms onto the (often irregular) surface of whatever you put the bag on. This can be a very nice alternative to the hissing harshness of a propane lantern. This is more for car camping than backcountry use.

Thanks to the creative river guides on the Sun Kosi river in Nepal for teaching me this tip.

DIY - Glove Retainers

Here’s a simple way to make some glove retainers, crucial if you are to whip your gloves and mitts on and off when climbing. All you need is two lengths of 4mm or 5mm shock cord and two cord grips. Tie one end of the cord through the cord grip with a figure eight or fisherman’s knot, then pass the cord back through the cord grip forming a loop. The other end can then be tied via a strong point or through a hole melted in the hem of the glove.

By pulling on the cord you cinch down the size of the loop, which is best on the forearm so the gloves stay out of the way and the loop is opened by pulling on the cordlock with your teeth. If you’re removing your mitts to carry out a delicate task and don’t want them flapping around in your face, then loosen the loop and slide them up to your shoulders out of the way.

from: https://andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/one_mitt_sytem

This tip and image is from "1001 Climbing Tips" by Andy Kirkpatrick.

DIY - Make a “cheater” quickdraw for reachy clips

Are you feeling “height challenged” on some sport climbing routes, stretching on your tiptoes to clip that just-out-of-reach bolt?

How about aid climbing on a bolt or rivet ladder, where you’re sure the first ascensionist must’ve been Wilt Chamberlain’s big brother, because the dang bolts seem like they're 6 feet apart?

Here's your answer - the DIY “cheater” quickdraw.

It’s long enough to significantly extend your reach, and it has a magic carabiner at the top that clips a bolt hanger without you ever touching it. Here’s how to make it.

There’s two key items of gear you need to make the cheater quickdraw.

1. 25 cm Petzl Express sling

2. Mad Rock Trigger Wire carabiner

The Petzl Express sling is wide, stiff, and sort of an old school looking “dogbone”.  You want to use it here because it’s extra stiff from the sturdy webbing and wide bar tacks.

The Mad Rock Trigger Wire is a specialized carabiner that has a cleverly designed metal “trigger” that swings down and holds the gate open. Tap the little trigger into a bolt hanger and the gate immediately snaps shut. (Every time I use this carabiner I think of a mousetrap. =^)

Mad Rock Trigger Wire

Need to make one at the crag on the spot, without these two items?  You can try taping two sticks to the webbing, and then prop the carabiner gate open with a twig. It might work, but then again, it might not. This is a fairly inexpensive project; the sling is about $8 and the carabiner is about $7, so it’s probably within budget.

(Kong makes a similar device, with the great name of “Panic”, but it’s about $40. I prefer $15, thank you very much.)

Note #1: Now, you can make this without using the Petzl Express sling. But most slings are not stiff enough to stand up on their own.  If you use a different dogbone sling, you're probably going have to add some extra stiffener and some tape to the side of the draw to make it stand up properly. Try some plastic cut from a bottle. But hey, don't be a cheapskate, just get a Petzl Express draw and you'll be happy.

Note #2: Petzl draws come with a little u shaped rubber band thing (Petzl call it a “String”) that's designed to hold the bottom, or rope clipping carabiner, in place so it does not rotate. In this case, you need to use the “String” on the trigger wire carabiner, which is going to be on the top. This is not the ideal way to use the String, because it's possible that the gate can become unclipped or the carabiner can become loaded in a dangerous way, if the draw rotates as you climb above it. So, you should ideally swap out the stiffy draw with a regular one once you get up a little bit higher on your route.

Petzl string. image: http://www.gearexpress.com/petzl-string-10-packs.html

Note #3: If you can procure another “String” rubber band thingy, or even a stout DIY “rubber band” cut from a bicycle inner tube, add one of these to the bottom carabiner. This may give you enough extra stiffness so you don't even have to hold the draw, you can hold the bottom of the lower carabiner and give yourself about an extra 3 inches of reach.

Get this gear in Portland Oregon at Next Adventure.  Support your local climb shop!

Mad Rock Trigger Wire carabiner

Petzl Express sling, 25 cm

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About to clip.  Note the L O N G extra reach.

The trigger wire about to contact the bolt hanger . . .

and CLICK, you're safely clipped.

DIY - Homemade chalk ball

Tired of paying $5 plus for a chalk ball, when loose chalk costs about 1/3 of that? Here’s a way to make your own.

1. Take a woman’s nylon stocking/pantyhose. (Guys, how you procure this is up to you!) =^)

2. Cut off most of a leg

3. Put powdered chalk in the toe area. Do this outside, it makes a mess!

4. Tie an overhand knot in the leg. Instant chalk ball!

If the chalk comes out too fast, just invert the toe back into the stocking to make a double or triple layer of fabric.

DIY - heavy tinfoil - ultralight, foldable pot lid

Use a square of heavy weight aluminum foil for a pot lid.  Packs well, and it’s super light. Put a pebble on the top to keep it in place.

Or, try a circle cut from a disposable pie tin.  Crimp the edges down around the top of your pot.