CalTopo tip - Try the "MapBuilder Topo" layer

If you're new to using CalTopo mapping software, watch this tutorial to get started.

---

CalTopo, in my opinion the best online and free mapping software, continually rolls out great new features. There’s a (relatively) new map layer, called "MapBuilder Topo” that is a terrific option for printing outdoor recreation maps. It's a big improvement over the standard USGS 7.5 minute map layer. 

What’s cool about it?

• Shaded relief (shows terrain features like ridges and gullies more clearly)

• Easy to see and well-labeled contour intervals

• Roads and trails easily visible and labeled

• Some distracting non-essential map information (such as unnecessary text, public lands survey section lines and wilderness boundaries) removed or made less prominent

• County lines added in yellow (it’s helpful to know what county you‘re in if a rescue is needed)

• Shows approximate vegetation and terrain boundaries, such as forest, rock, and snow/glacier, even crevasses

Have a look yourself!

1. Go to caltopo.com

2. Mouseover the “Base Layer” icon in the top right corner

3. Select "MapBuilder Topo” from the drop down menu (should be the first choice at the top)

4. Zoom in to your area of interest. Swap back and forth between this map layer and USGS to see the differences. (Note that the map tiles may take longer to generate on your computer and also to print when using this layer.)

Here’s an example of Mt. Hood south side in the standard, old-school US Geological Survey 7.5 minute topo map. 

Note that there’s no relief shading, trails are hard to spot, there’s unnecessary “Mount Hood” text in a large font, the chairlift isn’t shown. Not bad, but definitely room for improvement.

Now, here’s the same map area in the MapBuilder Topo layer. Improvements:

• the relief shading makes the gullies and ridges much more obvious

• county line (yellow) is labeled

• ski chairlift is shown (very handy for finding your way back down in low visibility)

• trails are clearly delineated and labeled

• every index contour has an elevation label

• green wilderness area boundary is current and correct

Which map would you rather use? The USGS 7 1/2 minute maps for many decades were the only game in town, and unfortunately that’s what some old-school navigation classes and textbooks still advise you to use. But, for most people and most activities, these are no longer the best choice. 

Get with the modern times, learn to use mapping tools like CalTopo, and you can have a superior map for free!

And, if you think CalTopo is great, I strongly encourage you to support CalTopo with a $20 annual subscription. There is just one guy running this entire software platform, and your modest annual subscription can help ensure that this great service continues on into the future.

Having a subscription also gives you some nice perks, like being able to print on larger size paper, and being able to save and share your maps to the cloud. When you consider that a single commercial map of just one area can cost between $10 and $15 at the outdoor store, a $20 annual subscription to this mapping software is a pretty screaming deal.

---

Need to learn the basics of CalTopo? My tutorial video will get you started.

Add custom map layers to GaiaGPS

Gaia GPS is regarded as one of the best backcountry GPS apps for your smartphone. They offer a wide variety of base maps to choose from, but one of my personal favorites, called Open Topo, happens to not be one of them.

What makes Open Topo a terrific choice for outdoor adventures?  It has nice shaded relief (which makes features like ridges and gullies much easier to see), updated trails and roads, and land cover, such as forest, rock, or snow. (One potential curveball for Americanos - elevations and contours are in meters.)

Go have a look yourself. Go to opentopomap.org and zoom into your favorite part of the world.

https://opentopomap.org/#map=8/45.2188/-122.6871

Here’s a screengrab of Mount Rainier in Open Topo. Pretty cool, eh? Like I said, elevations are in meters.

The one small downside is that it is not part of the Gaia GPS app.

The good news is, with a little computer sorcery, you can add this as a custom map layer to your Gaia GPS phone app. Here's how to do it.

These steps might sound a little complicated, but it's pretty straightforward. Keep this webpage open in a browser tab so you have a reference.

---

Here's a nice video that shows how to do it, using Google Earth.

---

Here are the step-by-step instructions, for a different map source as mentioned above, Open Topo.

1. On a desktop computer (not your phone), go to GaiaGPS.com. Log in to your account, or create an account if you don’t have one.

2. Click your user name (top right of screen), and from the drop down box select "Map Sources".

3. Click "Import an External Map Source".

4. In the “Name the Map” box, give it a name. I suggest a simple, descriptive, name, like “Open Topo custom“.

5. Scroll a bit lower, locate "Paste your modified link here"

6. Copy and paste this link in that box:

 https://c.tile.opentopomap.org/{z}/{x}/{y}.png

7. Scroll to the bottom, click "Add this Map Source"

Go to your phone.

8. Make sure you are signed in to your Gaia account on your phone. [Settings icon > Account > Login) and that “Sync/Backup” is toggled on.

9. Restart the app.

10. Tap the Map Sources icon, top right of your screen. Tap Edit, then scroll to the bottom and tap “Custom Imports”.

11. You should see “Open Topo Custom” here, or whatever you decided to name it. Select this map layer to add it to your viewable layers. You should now be able to use Open Topo on your phone.

Below is a phone screengrab of Mt. Rainier in Gaia GPS Open Topo map layer, with climbing GPX tracks in blue and green.

See the Exact Right Spot with lat/long coordinates on Google

Most of us have suffered through trying to follow well-meaning but wildly confusing directions to get to a remote trailhead or campsite on obscure fire / logging roads.

The directions usually look something like: “Turn off the main road, then go to .7 miles on Forest Road 1234. At the 3-way fork, take the middle fork on road 1234-10, then go 3.2 miles on that, and then . . . ” You get the idea. And if any new roads have been added or removed since the guidebook got printed, or some local yahoos have been shooting up the road signs so you can’t read them, then things REALLY get confusing!

Here’s a superior system for giving a precise location, and ideally directions, to most anywhere that doesn’t have an actual street address. Which is most of the fun places we want to go play, right?

If you type latitude longitude coordinates (preferably in decimal degree format) into a Google search or a smartphone mapping app, it places a marker directly on the spot. You can then get driving directions to it.

Try it!  Here’s the lat long coordinates in decimal degree format for the Mt. Thielsen trailhead in southern Oregon:

43.1459, -122.1277

(If there are any guide book authors reading this, can you please please please start using latitude longitude decimal degree corners to describe Important Places in your book?)

Note:

- Use a comma between the latitude and the longitude.

- Be sure to include the “minus” sign before the longitude. This indicating west longitude rather than east. If your intended map of the Pacific NW instead draws in China, then you probably skipped the minus sign. =^)

Note the number of decimal places. In this example, we are using four. If you use less than four decimal places, Google doesn’t recognize it as a coordinate and thinks it’s some kind of a math problem.

Four decimal places gives you positional accuracy down to about 3 meters. We’re not measuring property boundaries here, so for things like finding your tent in the woods or locating a trailhead, four decimal places is fine. If you use a GPS app on your phone, you may see a coordinate of six or even seven decimal places. This is theoretically accurate down to sub 1 meter, but that’s a little deceiving because the GPS chip on your phone is not that good. When I get a six digit coordinate from my phone or mapping app, I usually just remove the last two digits until I get down to four decimal places. That is simpler and easier to transmit and write down. 

You can get decimal degree coordinates in several ways.

1. Probably the easiest is to go to Google maps and zoom in on your area of interest. Right-click, and choose “What’s here?” This opens a pop up box. The latitude longitude coordinates in decimal degrees, of the exact point you clicked, appear at the bottom of the box. Copy and paste the coordinates into a new Google search to test. If it draws your spot correctly, your coordinates are correct.

2. Go to caltopo.com, the best online mapping software. Using the different map layers from the upper right corner, choose one that lets you zoom in to your area of interest. The coordinates of the cursor are shown in the upper right corner. Change the coordinate type to “Degrees” from the “Config” menu at the top of the page. Also, you can right click and choose “New > Marker”, and you should get a pop-up box with the location of the coordinates, which you can then copy and paste.

Note:

- UTM coordinates, the preferred coordinate system for backcountry navigation with map and compass, are NOT recognized by a Google search.

- Latitude longitude coordinates in the traditional degrees minutes and seconds and the more specialized format called degree minutes ARE recognized with a Google search, but these are harder to obtain and it’s easy to screw them up when you enter the coordinates. (The “degree minutes” system is typically used by electronic navigation systems in ships and airplanes, and usually not much by civilians.) So, it’s usually best to stick with decimal degrees as shown above.

Other examples of coordinate systems, all showing the same location, the Mt Thielsen trailhead:

• UTM: 10T 570913E 4777387N

• Latitude longitude, degrees minutes and seconds: 43°08’46”, -122°07’41”

• Latitude longitude, degree minutes: 43°08.76’, -122°07.68’

Suunto compasses - 3 options for wilderness navigation

Suunto, a Finnish company with a great track record of quality compasses, makes a variety of models. Here's an overview of three that should suit the needs of most outdoor travelers.

Generally speaking, it's best to choose a compass that has adjustable declination, which I think is the most important feature. Having adjustable declination let you measure bearings to true north, and thus eliminates any confusing backcountry arithmetic such as adding or subtracting declination.

Having said that, I realize that a compass a piece of gear that some people will rarely use and want to save a few bucks on. So. I'm going to suggest three different price points, think of it as good, better, best, so you can choose the one that looks best for you.

(Note that Alpinesavvy does not have any affiliate marketing links, so I make nothing from the Amazon links below. I include them more as a convenience for you.)

---

Before we get to the recommended compasses, here are two that I do not recommend. Students often show up with these in me navigation classes, but if you're shopping for your first one, please give these a pass.

The Brunton compass on the left is part of the “TruArc” series. They are unfortunately carried by REI, so a lot of people (unfortunately) buy them there. The problem with these is that the declination adjustment is very difficult to do. They have lots of lousy reviews, and I feel you would do better to buy a Suunto, as recommended below.

The rather strange looking green one on the right is a military style “lensatic” compass. It can be very accurate once you know how to use it, and it's probably good for calling in artillery strikes, But it lacks a lot of the features that civilian users need, so for most people it's not recommended.

---

Good - Suunto A-10 compass

This is a bare-bones compass, but still a quality instrument. It has what is called “fixed declination”, not adjustable declination. But, everything else about it is solid, including the nice curved base plate which ergonomically fits in your hand, always reminding you of the proper way to hold the compass.

Here’s a trick to deal deal with magnetic declination on this compass (or any other similar baseplate compass this does not have adjustable declination). Carefully draw a line with a medium black sharpie pen from the center of the compass to your local declination on the outer dial. Now, when you want to take a bearing or measure a bearing, you line up the red magnetic needle on this pen mark, and not the red orienteering arrow. Of course, this only works if you stay in your local area. If you travel far away where the declination might be different, you may have to erase this pen mark with a little rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover or some other solvent, and draw again. But, it's one option for the frugal climber.

Cost: about $16 (Oct 2018)

Suunto A-10 compass

---

Better - Suunto M3 compass

The Suunto M3 is my personal favorite, which hits the sweet spot between having all the features you need, and none of the ones you don’t.

Here’s what I like about it:

• adjustable declination

• long baseplate (for taking accurate measurements from a map and drawing bearings on a map, a long baseplate is helpful)

• ergonomic design (the curved part fits your hand, eliminating the common mistake of having the “direction of travel” arrow pointing at you rather than your objective)

• low cost (about $15 less expensive than a comparable compass with a sighting mirror)

• simple and sturdy (fewer moving parts and hinges mean fewer things that can go wrong in the field)

• lightweight (no sighting mirror means less weight)

A few words on sighting mirrors . . .

But what about compasses with a sighting mirror, you may wonder.  Don’t offer greater precision when taking a bearing? The short answer:  Yes, they do, but for almost all backcountry uses of a compass, you don’t need this level of precision.  If you’re doing field mapping or walking a straight line when on a search and rescue team, then the slight increased precision of a mirrored compass might be justified.  But for the vast majority of the simpler backcountry uses of a compass, like taking a bearing to an object and then either following it or plotting the bearing on a map, the +/- 2 degrees of accuracy you can get with baseplate compass works just fine.

Also, consider that a mirror compass LACKS most of the good qualities listed above.

Most mirrored compasses:

• are not ergonomically designed

• are expensive

• are heavy

• have more moving parts that can break

I have used my Suunto M3 compass to take a bearing from a map, follow that bearing cross country for more than a mile, and hit my precise objective . . . at night.  With a little practice, you can too. Don’t throw away your mirror compass if you already have one and like it, but if you are looking for a compass to buy, the Suunto M3 or similar model is a better choice for most users.

Cost: about $30 (Oct 2018)

Suunto M3 compass

---

Best - Suunto MC-2

I know that some people will want a compass with a sighting mirror and possibly a clinometer. Both of these features are found on the Suunto MC-2, which is the next model up from the M3 in terms of the whistles and bells. This costs about $40-$45. Again, I feel this model is not necessary for the majority of users, but if you want these extra features, this compass is a great choice.

Cost: about $45 (Oct 2018)

Suunto MC-2 compass

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.

Racking your cordage - Do the Twist

A basic climbing skill is learning to rack your cordage - slings, runners, cordelettes, prusiks - quickly, in a tidy loop, and making sure they never hang below your knees, where they can trip you up.

I've seen lots of people take several minutes to rack their cordelette with some cutesy macramé project. Yes, it may look nice on your harness, but I prefer simple and speedy, especially for gear that you're using every pitch. Here's one good way to rack it:

Do the Twist!

If you take any sort of loop (sewn or tied), twist it a few times, and then hold the ends together, the material will rather magically do this sort of double-helix twist around itself, resulting in a tidy, compact bundle.

It may look like a complete mess, but to deploy, simply unclip it, give it a shake or two, and it should return itself to full length, ready to use.

This also works with 60 cm slings and even a long cordelette. You need to double up these longer slings to get them down to about two feet long before you start.

---

As we'd like to say around here, this one is a better show than a tell. Here’s a quick video demo on how to do this.

Cordelettes - what length and diameter?

If you choose to carry a cordelette, the first questions are: what diameter, and how long? 

• For snow climbing or glacier travel, consider 4 meters of 6 mm cord.

• For rock climbing, consider 5 to 7 meters of 7 mm cord. 

6 mm cord is dramatically less strong than 7 mm. But, on snow or lower angle alpine ice, you can build anchors usually pretty much wherever you want to, and usually the impact of a fall is going to be fairly low. Because of this, you can probably use a shorter, smaller diameter cord. 

On rock, it’s the opposite. You’re going to have potentially higher impacts on the anchor, and your placements have to align with what the rock offers you and the gear you have left, which means they may be farther apart. Both of these point to using a longer, larger diameter cord. 

Cord strength (a kilonewton is a metric unit of force, equal to about 220 pounds)

• 5mm - 5.5 kN

• 6mm - 7.5 Kn

• 7mm - 13 kN

Look at that jump in strength going from 6mm to 7mm! For me, that’s a pretty compelling reason to use 7 mm cord for rock climbing. But hey, don't take my word for it, keep on reading for more expert opinion.

See strength ratings for common climbing gear here.

---

Try tying it “bunny ears” style, with a small figure 8 or overhand loop in each end, rather than the standard configuration of one big loop. Because the bunny ears style gives you a wider reach, you may find you can get away with a shorter length cordelette. But try climbing on the slightly longer cord for a while and see what you like. (You can always cut off a meter if you think it’s too long, but you definitely can’t add one back on.)

Learn the advantages of the bunny ears style here. 

---

Expert climber Steph Davis address the cord diameter issue on her blog, by consult with an expert from Mammut. He says to always use 7 mm cord. (Bold text below is mine,)

From: https://stephdavis.co/blog/cordelettes-for-climbing/

“Although some climbers may use cord thinner than 7mm for constructing belay anchors, it is important to note just how much stronger the slings and 7mm cord are in comparison, especially when you consider that these are often weakened by knotting them and by concentrated wear at the knots.

We definitely do not advise people to use 5 and 6mm cord for anchor construction, and if climbers choose to do so they should be acutely aware that they are putting themselves at extra risk by doing so and take any necessary precautions (frequent wear-checks, being extra conservative in deciding what is worn and discarding it, always placing protection specifically to protect the belay from high impact, using a dynamic belay device and techniques, terrain and belay location choices, etc).

A calculated risk may be acceptable to some people if it is truly calculated, but done out of ignorance or by guesswork it is asking for trouble. Because most people aren’t willing or able to objectively test these out for themselves to see what their true level of safety (or lack thereof) is, if a nylon cord is used I’d strongly recommend using 7mm for anchor construction, and if the weight and bulk is a significant problem using a Contact sling with a 22kn breaking strength, remembering to tie into the anchor with the rope.”

Dave Furman, Hardgoods Category Manager, Mammut Sports Group, USA and Canada

Google Earth screen grabs - The best route beta tool?

Most climbers know that Google Earth (aka GE) is a great tool for scoping out your route at home and getting a feel for the terrain. But, with a few other simple steps, you can take GE to a whole new level of usefulness.

Before we proceed, a couple of tips.

• Have Google Earth Pro installed on your desktop computer. It's now free (it was $$399 before 2015!), and has some additional functionality over the web base software. And, it's a lot easier to navigate than the GE phone app. A desktop computer is easier to use than a tablet.

• At least for my clumsy fingers, GE is MUCH easier to use if you have an external mouse with a scrolling wheel. Highly recommended.

Mt. Stuart WA Cascades, West Ridge route in Google Earth, with imported KML track and waypoints. That's what I'm talking about!

---

As we like to say at Alpinesavvy, having a map or photo is great, but having a map or photo with your route drawn on it is much better. And, when you can see your route in 3-D with high resolution satellite imagery, it gets even MORE better!

Here’s the general workflow, with a longer explanation below.

1. Find a GPX track file of your route.

2. Open it in Caltopo, and export it as a KML file.

3. Open the KML file in GE

4. Make a few screen grabs

5. Annotate your route in photo editing software (optional)

6. Print your images if you want, and/or save the edited image(s) to your phone or Google Drive for offline viewing and sharing with your team

---

Step 1 - Find a GPX track file of your route

You can get track files for more than 70 of the most popular routes in the Pacific Northwest right here at Alpine savvy at this link. If You want a peak that's not on this list, a good place to go is peak bagger.com. We cover how to find GPS tracks at Peakbagger at this article.

Note that if your GPX file has both lines and waypoints, the resulting KML export will have both of these features also. This is great for showing both the climbing route and point features such as water sources, good campsites, important trail junctions, etc. Pro tip - If you name your waypoints in Caltopo, such as (“climber trail junction”, “rappel” or “campsite”), these waypoint names will appear in Google Earth in your KML file. Very helpful!

---

Step 2 - Open it in Caltopo, and export it as a KML file

Caltopo is pretty intuitive. Go to Caltopo.com, import the GPX track, then choose Export > Download KML File from the drop-down menu on the top. (Alternatively, you can download a single zipped folder of KML files for most of the popular mountain peaks in the Pacific NW right from this website.)

Below is a screen grab of what this looks like in Caltopo.

---

Step 3 - Open the KML file in GE

A KML file (or Keyhole Markup Language, for you computer nerds), is a file of geographic data that plays well with GE.

Once you have the KML file on your hard drive, double click it to should launch GE and draw your KML file. (Or, you can launch GE, and just drag and drop the file onto the GE screen.) Zoom in close, and waste another 10 minutes of your life in GE land flying around your route. (Ever notice how it’s always a bright sunny bluebird day in GE land? Apparently it never rains there. =^)

---

Step 4 - Make a few screen grabs

So, you’ve zoomed and rotated GE around until you find a few good spots that show the key points of your climbing route. 

Now it’s time to do a few screen grabs. GE makes this easy.

• Zoom and pan to just the spot you want to capture.

• Go to File > Save > Save Image.

• Click the “Save Image” button at the top of your and it will save a JPEG image file to your hard drive. Don’t be shy, fly around and take several different shots. You don’t have to keep them all.

• Tip: Take screenshots from a variety of different heights, from zoomed out several thousand feet in the air to zoomed WAY in, just hovering above your route. When you zoom way in close to the ground, you get a more realistic view of what you are really going to see, a big help in making route finding decisions. It can be a little tricky to find just the right spot, that's where the external mouse with the scroll wheel can come in handy.

Below - GE screen grab from the start of the Fisher Chimneys section, Mt Shuksan WA, a notorious place to have route finding difficulties. This shot is taken zoomed in quite low to the ground, and looking up the route This more realistic “human-eye” view like this can be a great help in the field.

And notice with the high resolution satellite imagery, you can actually see the climber trail, very helpful also.

Here's a more oblique, birds-eye view of another route on Mt. Hood.

---

Step 5 - Annotate your route in photo editing software (optional)

Most of the time having a simple redline in the photo from the KML file is going to be enough, but if you want to get fancy you can add additional route info / text onto the photo. 

Open your JPEG in some simple image editing software. You don’t have to be a Photoshop wizard to do this. I happen to like some free software called “PhotoscapeX”, but there are many options.

Add in arrows showing hazards, maybe mark where the rappels are, add elevation to key decision points, show the descent route if it’s different than the way you went up . . .  You get the idea. 

---

Step 6  - Print your images if you want, and/or save the edited image(s) to your phone or Google Drive for offline viewing and sharing with your team

If you like hard copies, print out your screen grabs and bring them with you on your climb for reference. A color laser printer is more weatherproof than an inkjet. Be sure and put them in something to protect them from the weather, a 1 gallon Ziploc bag is perfect.  

Email the photos to the rest of the people on your climbing team, so they have the benefit of your efforts. 

Finally, get those photos back on your phone so you can reference them on the route if you need to. Email them to yourself, save to photo roll, or whatever crafty thing you like to do on your phone to save photos. Now you have a free and weightless back up to your printed photos.

(Or, as we cover in this Tip, a convenient way to keep a lot of image files like this handy on a climb or hike is to store them in Google Drive in a designated folder, and then select each of them to be available offline. This lets you view the photos when you don't have cell coverage.)

---

A slight caution: GE tends to flatten out pointy peaks

If the summit area is especially steep/pointed, at present (2018) GE may display it as significantly flatter than it is in reality. Do not be suckered into thinking that the most technical part of the climb is an easy walk up, always check route descriptions and look at a contour map to see for yourself.

Here's an example in the Oregon cascades, Mt, Thielsen, probably the “pointiest” summit in the whole state.

This is what it looks like in a Google Earth screen grab (Amazing detail, you can see the climber trail.)

This is what it looks like in real life - Quite a bit different! There is one pitch of 5.easy climbing at the top but it has about 2,000 feet of exposure, so pay attention.

---

Now, this procedure may sound a little complicated and time-consuming when you’re doing it for the first time or two. But trust me, when you get this down it takes literally a few minutes. 

Google Earth is a great way to visualize the terrain before you leave town, and also have a great navigation tool en route in addition to your map, compass, and navigation brain.

Gearspeak: What’s an “HMS” carabiner, and why do you want one?

Note: thanks to Richard Goldstone for some German proofreading in this post.

---

A techie climbing term you may come across is an “HMS” carabiner.  What ‘da heck does this mean? (Hint, it’s not “Her Majesty’s Ship.”

If you don’t speak German, it’s a reasonable question.

It’s actually an acronym for “Halbmastwurf sicherung”, which loosely translates as “Munter hitch belay carabiner.” Let’s break it down.

• “Halb” = half

• “mastwurf” = mast hitch, aka clove hitch

• “sicherung” = to protect or secure; in climbing it refers to the belay

So an “HMS” carabiner is, roughly, the “half clove hitch belay” carabiner, a large, locking pear-shaped carabiner, suitable for belaying with a Munter hitch.

(Side note - belaying the second with a Munter hitch directly off the anchor might seem a little old-school, but it’s a very useful technique that every climber should know. Read more about how to do it here.)

In American climber slang, this sometimes gets shortened to a “pearabiner”, which is certainly more descriptive.

Look, they’re almost cousins!

One of the advantages of using a pear-shaped carabiner like this is that the bottom edge is wide and relatively flat. This offers a few benefits.

One, as the name implies, you can easily belay off of this with a Munter hitch, because the wide gap in the bottom allows the knot to flip back and forth as you take in or let out rope.

Two, the wide and flat bottom allows you to clip other carabiners onto it, and add them and remove them fairly easily, even if one carabiner is loaded. If you were to use an asymmetric or “D” shaped carabiner on your master point, the loaded carabiner will often pinch down on the other ones, making removal much more difficult.

This can be especially helpful on big wall climbing, when the first step to build an anchor is usually clipping a large pearabiner into each of the bolts, and locking the gates. Everything else you add to the anchor typically gets clipped into those primary carabiners.

And, there are some old school safety police out there reading this, who are probably having a FREAKOUT right now that I’m advocating clipping one carabiner onto another. Don't worry, they’re lockers, and it's fine to do it at an anchor. But if you don't like it, you don't have to.

Close up of master point with an HMS / pearabiner, showing 2 carabiners clipped to it under load.

Expedition hygiene - 6 items for your kit

If you add these small and lightweight items to your personal kit bag for your next extended trek or expedition climb, you’ll be a most happy camper.

1) Q-tips.  You’ll be amazed what you can (carefully) extract from your ears after a week or so at a dusty base camp. (Of course follow the manufacturer’s and your grandmother's recommendation not to put them in your ear canal, yeah right.)

2) Ear plugs.  Be sure and bring the ones connected with a string, so you can find them when you lose them in the sleeping bag, which you will.  An extra pair is a fine idea too. Available at any hardware store. Vital for a good nights sleep with a snoring tent made or flapping tent.

3) Ayr Nasal saline gel. This is simply saline solution in a slightly watery gel form.  The air at altitude holds less moisture, and it can really dry out your nasal passages.  If you dab a tiny bit of this gel into each nostril (not as gross as it sounds) you’ll have instant relief from irritating dry nose. Get at any well-stocked pharmacy. (Side note - I had a friend who got up to 26,000 feet on Mount Everest, got an incredible gushing nosebleed from the cold dry air, and actually had to come down because of it. He was convinced that if he had some nasal saline gel, he would've made the summit.)

4) Foot powder.  It can help keep your feet drier, smelling much nicer, gives you a nice psychological boost of “Ahhhhh” when you put it on along with a pair of dry socks, and can help avoid blisters. I like Gold Bond brand.

5) Small travel sized bottle alcohol gel sanitizer. Put a dab of this on your feet every night to keep them fresh and kill any bacteria. This can be especially helpful if you are not being so diligent about changing and rotating your socks.

6) Small package unscented baby wipes. A quick wipedown of your more fragrant body parts with a few baby wipes can (almost) make you feel as though you had a real bath. Be sure to get unscented; (you don’t want to smell like a clean baby, do you?) Note, Packets like this may not work if it's seriously cold, like Denali, because they may freeze into a solid block. Instead, looked for individually packaged baby wipes that you can thaw inside your clothing if needed.

---

Not shown, but can (literally) save your ass: Calmoseptine ointment. This is a zinc oxide and menthol-based thick cream that does an amazing job healing rashes and irritated skin.

Okay, we're getting into the messy details here: if you have some chafing in the sensitive crotch area, it can be debilitating and there aren’t many ways to fix it. This ointment works overnight and you’ll be good to go the next day. Typically it comes in a large tube, but you can buy individual very lightweight packets like this one online. (If you can't find this exact product, I think most any ointment that has zinc oxide based should work in a similar way.)

---

And here's one intriguing option to the baby wipes, as mentioned by an Alpinesavvy reader: Wysi-Wipes. This clever product is a sort of dehydrated and ultra compressed heavy duty paper towel. It sort of looks like a big antacid pill, and weighs basically nothing. When you add about a tablespoon of water, it magically swells up to be a 9” x 12” useful towel. You can even compost them. On trips where weight is more important and you don't want to carry the wet baby wipes, this could be a great option. (When dry, it looks like a big gauze pad; I’m curious about how these might work in a first aid kit?)

A bag of 100 cost about $12. Here’s a purchase link. (As always at Alpinesavvy, there’s no affiliate marketing, I add just the link so it's more convenient for you to check out this product.)

Use the rope to make an anchor - 2 knots

Climbing multi pitch routes with bolted, side-by-side anchors? You might want to leave the cordelette and anchor slings at home. All you really need is the rope you’re attached to and two carabiners.

Many experienced climbers (like Peter Croft and Steph Davis) prefer this approach, because it's simple, clean, and requires less gear.

This can also be a good approach if the climbing is tough and run out right off of the anchor, and thus a greater chance for a leader fall to put a large amount of force onto the anchor and belay. Having the entire anchor made out of dynamic rope gives more stretch to the system and will lower the force on all the other components.

Because the leader is directly tied to the anchor, this generally works best of each partner is swinging leads every pitch. If you are not changing leads every pitch, it's usually easier to use a more standard sling or cordelette style anchor, because you have a single master point.

If you are going to use a rope anchor as described here, and are not changing leads, typically climbers will swap the ends of the rope at every belay. The easiest way to do this is to connect your harness to the rope ends with a figure 8 on a bight knot and two stout locking carabiners, rather than the standard rewoven figure 8 knot.)

Rescue geeks, I can hear you now: “But how are you going to escape the belay if you need to rescue your partner?” The answer is, yes, it’ll be a little more difficult, but you can do it. But, here’s a question to ponder - have you, or anyone you personally know, ever had to actually do this in real life? Climbers who use this method generally feel the simplicity, weight savings and lower cluster factor of tying in directly with the rope outweigh highly unlikely rescue scenarios.

There are many other options for using the rope to tie in directly. We cover one in another article, using just clove hitches, read about it here.

Here are two different knots you can use to tie directly to a two piece anchor.

---

1 - Bowline on a bight

This is my preferred technique. This is essentially a bowline knot with two loops rather than one. The knot is easy to learn, fast to tie, and easy to visually inspect to see if you did it right. You can adjust the size of each ear to equalize the anchor.

Typically, bowlines are not popular with many rope professionals for securing the end of a rope, because the knot can loosen up unexpectedly. However, in this application the bowline works fine, because the end is secured to your harness and can’t possibly pull through the knot.

John Long tried to popularize this in one of his rock anchor books about 15 years ago, but it never really seem to catch on. Too bad, it's a great knot. Maybe it was the cheesy name I think he gave it, the “atomic clip”. Just call it a bowline on a bight; that’s the common name and describes it perfectly.

Here’s a video showing how to tie a bowline on a bight.

Here's what it looks like, from the leader’s point of view.

You can clip your belay carabiner to the shelf (both of the loops to go to the bolts) to bring up your partner.

---

2 - “Bunny ears” Figure 8

This is a variation on the figure 8, familiar to every climber. This might take a little practice to tie neatly with no twists, and to get the length of the loops correct. This knot is popular with professional ropeworkers, who use it to secure one end of a fixed rope. (Tip: start with a larger bight than you think you need to, at least 2 feet.)

This knot has a cool feature of being able to slide the “ears” to two different lengths, to accommodate one bolt that may be a little higher than the other. This is actually sort of magical, you just need to play with it to see how it works. You need to do this when the knot is relatively loose. After you snug it down, the “slide” feature does not work.

One more thing: some people think that the bunny ears figure 8 is not redundant, meaning that if one strand were to be cut, it could conceivably pull through and the knot would fail. This has been tested many times and does not happen, so yes, the knot is redundant.

Here's a short article that covers it nicely, from Australian rigging expert Rich Delaney and Ropelab.

Here’s a video showing how to tie a bunny ears figure 8, by expert climber Beth Rodden. (She calls at the “super 8”, same thing.(

Here's what it looks like, from the leader’s point of view.

Same as with the bowline on a bight, you can clip your belay carabiner to the shelf to bring up your partner.

"Triple locking" carabiners

A triple locking carabiner (also known as a “3 way”, “twist lock”, or “triple action” or a “tri-act”) can be a good choice for certain climbing uses. (And, not such a good choice for others . . .)

The idea: there are three separate actions that are required for the gate to be opened. Typically, that’s 1) sliding a metal sleeve, 2) twisting the metal sleeve, and then 3) opening the gate.

These carabiners are common in rock gyms, climbing schools, industrial rigging, high rise window washers, mountain rescue, arborist work, and with Professionals Who Do Dangerous Things Far Off the Ground, so that ought to tell you something about how safe they are.

But, safety does not always mean ease of use. Let's read on.

---

The Petzl William is a triple locking belay style pear-shaped carabiner.

image - moosejaw.com

The Petzl Am’D is a more all round “D” shaped carabiner.

image - moosejaw.com

---

Twist lock carabiners have some nice features . . .

1 - When the gate is closed, you know that the carabiner is locked, and that’s it’s very likely going to stay that way. With a normal screw gate locker, there is always that little nagging background voice that asks “Well, the gate is closed, but is actually locked? And, if the gate rubs against the rock or some other weirdness, is there a chance it could unlock itself accidentally?” If you use a twist lock carabiner, those two concerns are much gone. This makes them a good choice for beginner climbers, because you can be pretty much sure it's going to work as intended, without reminding the beginner all day long to be sure and lock the carabiner. That's one of the reasons guides like to use them for clients.

2 - It’s easy to open the gate even after the carabiner has been severely loaded. If you put a big load on a standard screw lock carabiner, tighten the gate, and then unload the carabiner, sometimes the screw sleeve locks in place and it can be tricky to open. No such issue with a twist lock.

They also have some not-so-nice features . . .

1 - They are not well-suited for snow/ice climbing, because A) they can be difficult to open if you're wearing gloves, and B) bits of snow and ice can get stuck in them, causing them to fail in various ways. (Yes, people have been known to pee on their carabiners to get them open, but I don't have a video tutorial on that one yet. =^) The same concern applies to dirt and mud, so probably not so great for caving and canyoneering, but I don't have any direct experience with this.

2 - They can be tricky to open with one hand. Often it's helpful, especially at a more complicated belay, to be able to operate a carabiner easily with one hand. There is a bit of a trick to doing so: Hook your ring finger in the bottom of the carabiner to apply a little downward pressure, and then use your thumb and index finger to slide twist and open the gate. Like most things in life, pretty easy once you know how.

---

Here's a quick video I made showing the technique.

---

3 - They are a bit heavier and more expensive than a standard screw gate. Below: Petzl Am’D 79 grams, Black Diamond screw gate, 55 grams, difference of 24 grams. Probably not a dealbreaker for most people, but if you're a lightweight nerd, it might be a consideration.

---

So, what's the best use for twist lock carabiners?

Should you use them for every part of climbing that requires a locker? No.

Like almost all aspects of climbing, it comes down to personal preference, so here's mine: When you absolutely positively want it 150% bomber.

1. Setting up top ropes or fixed lines in an instructional setting where you’re not around to keep an eye on them.

2. Various things on big walls, where large loads hanging at strange angles and super-secure connections become more common and important (such as fixing the rope for the second to ascend, connecting a tag line onto the haul rope, or connecting haul bags to each other and the haul rope.)

3. Making a carabiner block, so you can rappel on a single strand. (This is an advanced technique for canyoneering and crafty climbers that I'm not going to cover right now, but you can Google it.)

Here's the easy solution: buy one and see how it works for you.

---

One other option - try the more modern flavors of auto locking carabiners. I'm not going to try to summarize them here, but many of these have some innovative designs to try to address some of the problems with twist locks mentioned above, such as not working well in the snow, or being able to open them with one hand easily. I have both of the carabiners below and they work great.

If you want to read more about this, here’s a good summary of the different flavors of auto locking carabiners.

Black Diamond Magnetron. Clever design uses magnets to keep the gate closed. Easy one hand opening, works with snow and ice.

Edelrid Slider HMS carabiner. A nice belay carabiner, easy one handed opening, works well in snow and ice.

Locking carabiners for sport anchor quickdraws

A standard anchor is for the leader to simply clip two standard quick draws to the bolts (opposite and opposed at the master point) and lower off.

Two quickdraw sport climbing anchor with non-locking carabiners.

Gates on the quick draws are facing away from each other, or outward. This makes the bottom gates opposite and opposed and also mostly keeps the bottom gates from potentially messing with each other.

Nothing wrong with this setup.

This is certainly safe enough. The fact that it is been done literally millions of times without incident should probably tell you that it's an acceptable practice.

Having said that, many people prefer at least one designated “locker draw” as part of the anchor.

If you’re in an instructional setting, with many people top roping off the same unattended anchor all day, without a more experienced person going up regularly to check things, locking carabiners can add great peace of mind.

Because it's a top rope, you’re not right there next to the anchor to see if any carabiners are getting cross loaded, gates getting unscrewed, or other strangeness that could lead to an anchor being compromised.

(Sidenote: there are lots of other handy uses for having a locker draw, you can learn them here.)

Personally, I pretty much always use one locker draw on top rope anchors.

This is an easy and inexpensive set up. You probably already have a few extra locking carabiners around, and the long “dogbone” draws are only $5-$6 apiece.

If you’re inclined to be a little more cautious, using lockers on your sport anchors can be a little extra insurance, with low cost and high confidence factor. Look at it this way: Other climbers might call you a little paranoid, but there's really not much downside to doing this.

“I don't want to climb with that guy, he's too safety conscious.” That's the kind of criticism many people don't mind hearing. =^)

As I like to say here at Alpinesavvy, it's YOU who’s accountable for your level of comfort and acceptable risk. It doesn't get to be dictated by anyone else, regardless of their experience or credentials.

Now, we have a locker draw in place of one of the regular quickdraws. Definitely a bit more security here. (The angle of the rope running through the carabiners will going to add a bit of friction, but it's still acceptable.)

Here’s an (overly cautious?) alternative. Similar setup, this time with two locker draws. Long dogbones, round stock carabiners at the bottom for a smooth lower, and super secure.

There's no way to objectively prove this but personally I don't think that extra locker draw offers much tangible improvement and safety. But hey if it gives you a warm fuzzy feeling and you want to do it, go right ahead.

Are you more likely to get lost going up or going down?

Quick question: Are you more likely to get lost going up a mountain, or on your way down?

Answer is: going down. This is true for several reasons.

1. Terrain features like ridges and gullies diverge you go downhill away from a summit, magnifying the mistake of choosing the wrong feature.

2. On the way down, you’re physically and mentally more tired, so you're more prone to navigation errors.

3. Returning to your last known point (usually the best way of getting unlost) usually involves going back uphill, which sucks. It's easier to keep going down, which can turn slightly lost into completely lost.
   

Learn to belay with a Munter hitch

Note - This post discusses techniques and methods used in vertical rope work. If you do them wrong, you could die. Always practice vertical rope techniques under the supervision of a qualified instructor, and ideally in a progression: from flat ground, to staircase, to vertical close to the ground before you ever try them in a real climbing situation.

---

At Smith Rock in Central Oregon many years ago, I came across a group of Eastern European climbers working on a hard sport route. They looked a little scruffy from weeks of sleeping out of their car, and their off-brand gear gear was well worn, but the thing that really caught my eye was no belay devices. They were working a 5.13, with the leader taking more than a few falls and takes, with the belayer only using a Munter hitch.

Now, belaying a leader with a Munter hitch is something that hasn’t quite caught on (yet) in the United States. But belaying a second with a Munter is a simple and useful skill that should be in everybody's toolbox.

Why might you want to learn this technique?  The most common reason is to belay your second directly off the anchor.  Belaying directly off the anchor is usually a preferred technique if your anchor is super strong, as in two bolts, but people typically do it with fancy belay devices like the ATC Guide or Petzl Reverso.

These devices generally work great. But if you ever need to lower someone while the rope is under load, they have the downside of requiring a rather complex, potentially dangerous, and easy to forget sequence of steps, known by some as “defeating the plaquette”. (If you want to learn how to do this, have a look in our video section.)

And, if you do this wrong, you can have a serious accident in a split second.

image: Multi-Pitch Belaying- Potentially Fatal Errors to Avoid - www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9np7B1Zao4

---

With a Munter hitch, there is no such futzing around. Your second calls for a take and needs to be lowered a few meters? They lose their mojo and need to be lowered all the way to the ground?  No problem. Just release a little tension on your brake hand, the hitch will “roll” over to the other side of the carabiner, and you can lower away.

Want to make lowering with a Munter hitch even more secure for your second? Just add a friction hitch (prusik or Klemheist) to the brake strand of the rope, and clip it to your belay loop.  Now, of course you should still never take your brake hand off of the rope, but this friction knot does give you a little back up.

And of course, another benefit to learning this is if you ever drop your belay device, you can still easily continue the climb.

Many people think that using a Munter hitch in any form is going to twist your rope into some evil tangle. Not if you you use two hands. Your ”feed” hand pulls in slack rope up, and the the “brake” hand simultaneously pulls it down. If you only pull on the brake side of the rope, you’re going to get a lot more friction, do more work than you need to, and potentially get some twists into the rope.  

Lowering with a Munter: You can minimize rope twist by keeping the brake strand parallel with the load strand, as seen on the left. Holding the brake strand out to the side, as on the right, can increase pigtails in your rope, as well as reducing braking friction.

As always when using a Munter hitch, it’s best to use a large pear-shaped “HMS” belay carabiner with round metal, which helps minimize friction. 

There’s a crafty trick that makes your Munter hitch auto lock when belaying your second. Learn how to do it at this article.

Using a thinner rope or a new one with a sheath that’s a bit slippery works best. I’ve tried it with my ancient 10 mm workhorse rope with a fuzzed up sheath, and it’s quite a bit of work to feed that rope through the hitch.

If you’re climbing with snowy or icy ropes, the munter hitch is sometimes the only belay method that can work.

Note: When belaying with a munter hitch, you get maximum braking friction when both strands of rope are parallel to each other. This is exactly opposite to the normal braking action when using a belay device, so this may require you to un-learn what might be engrained in your head. Give this some practice in a controlled environment (a staircase is a fine choice) before you use it in the vertical. (This is covered briefly in the video below, starting about 2:00.)

As with most climbing things, it's a better show than a tell. Watch this short video to learn how to belay the second with a Munter hitch.

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.

“Wrap 3, Pull 2” - about the strongest anchor possible

The "wrap 3, pull 2" has long a preferred anchor method with rescue teams and others who need a super strong anchor, but this Crafty Rope Trick (CRT) can also be useful for recreational climbers.

As it takes a few minutes to tie, it’s not really feasible to use it regularly as part of snow or rock pro.  However, it can be useful when setting up top ropes in an instructional setting, making a rappel anchor, or pulling your car out of a ditch.  All you need is a long (9+ feet) length of webbing.

Note that you cannot make this anchor with a sling that's sewn into a loop. You have to have a single long piece of webbing.

To make this anchor, make three wraps with the webbing around a large solid object. In many cases this will be a tree.  Tie the free ends in a water knot with at least 2 inches of tail on each side of the knot. Now, pull the two strands of the webbing that do not have the knot in them, leaving the actual knot against the tree. The knot, normally the weakest part, is isolated by the friction against the tree and has minimal load on it. Four strands of webbing share the remaining load. This makes it super strong.

Diagram: Freedom of the Hills, 7th edition, The Mountaineers Press

Glove storage for your first aid kit

While gloves aren’t mandatory for a minimalist first aid kit, many climbers choose to carry them. (If you don't carry gloves and are treating someone else, do your best to wash your hands before and after you touch your patient.)

But, it’s a hassle to neatly store them.  Gloves easily tangle with other gear and can get punctured. Many people put them in a small sandwich bag, which works okay but can still allow damage.

One solution:  put the gloves in a 35mm film can. Two rolled gloves fit perfectly.  A clear film can lets you see what’s there. A label makes it easy for others to find if needed.

Yes, film cans can be hard to find these days. You can find ‘em on Amazon.

Or, another option, if you live in one of the progressive and liberated states in the US, your friendly neighborhood cannabis store sells fine herbal products in the perfect container. Dispose of the original contents in whatever way you like, and reuse the nice plastic bottle. =^)

Another option is a 50 ml Nalgene snap top bottle. You can get these at the excellent Wild Med Center website, a great place to stock up on hard to find wilderness first aid kit supplies.