Monday’s Gear Hacks: 5 Quick Fixes for Common Climber Problems

 

When I need a quick “clip-me-up” but don’t want to drag up a full-sized rig, I’ll MacGyver it: duct-tape an electrolyte-tab bottle to a Kong Panic, insert a selfie stick in the bottle, clip up with the Panic, then retract the selfie stick. (Here, the USB cable is the “rope.”)
—Josh Wharton

I use bowling-shoe covers to keep my rock-shoe soles clean at the gym. They let me move quickly onto a climb so no one has to wait for me to lace up. Bonus: Wear them into the bathroom!
—Kenneth Smith

On a long trad lead, to sort multiple pieces of the same size, clip any additional pieces onto the biner of the first piece: I.e., clip that orange TCU to your gear loop, then, using racking biners of their own, clip the other orange TCUs directly onto the first TCU’s biner.
—Kevin Corrigan

To organize my slings on a trad lead, I’ll sling double-length runners over one shoulder first, attaching the two ends with a carabiner, then throw single-length slings over the other shoulder. When I need a single sling, I simply pull off the top sling; for a double, I unclip the carabiner from one side and pull the sling off my shoulder. For easy ID, buy singles in one color and doubles in another.
—Michael Parker

You know the old, blown-out ropes that gyms keep in rotation despite
them being impossible to push into a tube-style device? My 12-year-old daughter figured out a simple solution: Clip your device to your harness sans rope, then feed the rope end manually into the tube, around the biner, and back out the tube. Genius!
—Jamie Campbell