The Importance of Properly Labeling Your Rock & Mountain Climbing Gear

Series Summary

Rock and mountain climbers require a wide variety of tools, equipment and specialized clothing before beginning their adventures. Much care is required to maintain high quality and dependability with these items, as well as the overall usefulness of them. The point of properly choosing and maintaining good climbing gear should be obvious even to the novice: protecting yourself from falls or other mishaps during the climbing experience is the absolute most important thing to consider. With the right combination of equipment and knowledge, you can protect yourself against dangerous circumstances and concentrate on enjoying your climb.

In this free instructional video series, our expert will discuss these topics, offering you some insight into the world of climbing and showing you how to choose and care for your gear and equipment. Learn how to choose helmets, shoes and harnesses, as well as tips on checking your gear and giving it the proper attention. Did you know that your gear should always stay out of the sun? Or the difference between static and dynamic ropes? Whether you're a beginner or a pro, these short clips about climbing safety and gear will be useful and beneficial for you.

This series is an Equilibrio Films production.

Video Transcript

" Hi! My name is Dan, and I am here with Expert Village to talk about a very important aspect of keeping your gear together, that a lot of people don’t think about, and that is labeling your gear. There is not always a great place to write your name on every object. Also, sharpies and magic markers often times will corrode the material that your climbing gear is made out of. So what I like to do is use 2 different colors of tape, typically that don’t match the color of my climbing gear—sometimes it is unavoidable—and make a little black and green band. The reason you do this is because lots of people will have very similar gear to yours. So to be able to separate it all at the end of the day, if you have been climbing on someone else’s rope and there is a question as to whose quick draw or whose carabineer this is, this will halt any complaints. Also, in the unfortunate event that someone does try to steal your gear, you can simply point out that hey, that carabineer and that quick draw or that carabineer and that ATC has my colors on them. I like to do it as soon as I get a new piece of gear and that way, at least in my mind, it is catalogued and I know that there is no question as to who this belongs to. So something to keep in mind, pick 2 colors, maybe your school colors, get some black electrical tape, 2 spools will last you a life time and label your gear. "