- Basic equipment can be as simple as gloves and a climbing helmet. Gloves prevent the chance of rope burns and helmets protect the head not only from hitting hard or sharp objects but also from falling objects.
- Another simple piece of safety gear is a crash pad. A crash pad is a dense, foam pad that folds and has straps like a backpack for portability. Pads provide a soft landing for short falls, and are used for smaller cliffs and boulders, or when a difficult section of a route is close to the ground.
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The most common climbing equipment is of course a rope and a harness. However, other pieces of gear are used with a rope and harness to create a functioning safety system. Carabiners and belay devices make a system complete.
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Carabiners are basically modified chain links, with gates that allow them to attach and connect harnesses, ropes and other points in a safety system. Belay devices allow a person to control a rope, so she can lower a climber that has finished or catch him if he falls. Belay devices are also for rappelling, or lowering oneself on rope.
- There are also pieces of gear that attach the rope system to the cliff or wall. In a climbing gym, there will be bolts in the structure that provide anchor points for the rope. They can be at the top, or at intervals going up the wall.
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Outside, special safety gear is used to create anchors. This sort of gear falls into two categories, passive and active. Passive equipment is usually pieces of wedge-shaped metal, with wire loops, that fit into cracks like a key. Active equipment will be a mechanism that collapses when a lever is pulled, which allows the mechanism to be placed inside of a crack, and then expands once the lever is released.
