It's Knot That Easy

http://commons.wikimedia.org

I spent more time looking into climbing equipment this week and focused on carabiners, harnesses, and climbing rope. Locking carabiners are the huge metal clips that can connect ropes together or connect a climber to a rope. Since they play a huge role in securing the ropes, it's imperative that they are strong and are not prone to accidentally open and cause the climber to fall, so there are two type of carabiners that are commonly used by climbers: a locking carabiner gate and a screw gate type. Both of them have a metal sleeve covering the opening gate of the clip that locks or keeps the clip from opening on its own, and they both can be operated with one hand. For a locking carabiner gate, the climber needs to twist the sleeve in order to open the clip. The screw gate type is thought to be the most secure because it needs to completely unscrewed to open the clip.

http://www.moosejaw.com/

Next up is the harness. Most harnesses are generally the same structure which includes the waistbelt, buckles, leg loops, gear loops, hual loops, belay loop, tie- in points, and elastic straps. The only loop a climber uses to attach himself or herself to the rope is the belay loop. The belay rope is attached to the ceiling of the gym and is controlled by the belayer, someone on the ground that is also attached the the rope. Next week, I'll go more into the role of the belayer in climbing. The shape and size of the harness is adjusted for men and women of different ages and sizes.

The harness is not the only piece of equipment responsible for the protection and safety of the climber. Climbers need to know how to tie various knots to tie gear or attach themselves to their climbing rope. I've looked at rope tying tutorials, and they aren't that easy to learn at first. It's hard to just look at pictures or even just videos to learn how to tie these knots. When I go to the gym, someone will hopefully help me. Below are some common knots used in climbing .

Double Figure 8 Knot
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dvojit%C3%BD_osmi%C4%8Dkov%C3%BD_uzel.jpg

Stopper Knot (AKA Double Overhand Knot)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgeon's_knot

Bowline Knot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowline

It's been a lot of fun researching so far. I'm amazed on all of the things you need to consider when going rock climbing. Also, with the help of a friend, I've found a mentor; his name is Steven, and he's currently a college student. He's been climbing for many years and has a lot of experience with indoor rock climbing, and he is a member at Stone Summit to prove it. Hopefully I'll be able to go to the gym next week and have him help me with the basics. I was planning on going this weekend, but things came up, and, unfortunately, I have to wait another week. I'm still feeling pretty optimistic about climbing, but I'm a little nervous for it because the more I learn about it, the more difficult it seems. For the upcoming week, I'm going to look into belaying and safety precautions.