Posted by Securitas So ive got some friends that are into rock climbing and ive enlisted them to help me out this summer in learning to repel and climb, as there are a few places i know im going to need to repel to get into. So i was wondering what kind of gear i should buy, I was leaning more toward some cheaper gear (Found everything i need on a chinese website for 160$)
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Securitas,
You have brought up a difficult question. Purchase less expensive gear and potentially risk hardware failure OR spend money you don't have on top shelf gear. As someone who spends a lot of time using this type of gear rappelling into and out of mines, I lean towards purchasing the best you can afford (without cutting into your school money). This may require you to postpone some of your on-rope adventures until you can afford the proper gear.
The problem I see with a lot of cheap Chinese products is that they spend time making it
LOOK like a well known piece of gear with no regard as to whether it
FUNCTIONS as well as the piece that they copied.
One other thing I want to address is the difference between climbing gear and caving gear. (UE ropework is much more similar to caving than it is to climbing) A climbing harness is designed and constructed to catch a climber if he/she falls. The rope attachment location is normally quite a bit higher than a caving harness which results in less effective rope ascents. Also, many climbers use figure 8's to rappel with. While the price of a descending 8 is cheap, it does tend to introduce twist into rope. Additionally you have to remove it from your harness in order to attach it to the rope. Not a problem unless you accidentally drop it or have to do a on-rope changeover from descending to ascending.
Here are a couple of links you should probably read through before you lay down your hard earned money!
'FROG' system Another 'FROG' system If you are super interested learning all about ropework, this 10 part series will teach you a lot. Yes, it's all about cave exploration but it translates almost directly to UE ropework.
Caving ropework Abby Normal