Miscellaneous equipment

Helmet
A Petzel Elios climbing helmet designed for caving and mountaineering
See also: Helmet

An often disregarded item of safety equipment that has saved many climbers from serious injury or death. A helmet is a tough item of headwear that primarily protects the skull against impacts. In well-developed and popular climbing areas, these impacts are more commonly caused by falling objects (such as pebbles or climbing equipment) than by a falling climber hitting the rock or ground.

Depending upon the type of climbing being undertaken, helmets are more or less common. There are a number of valid reasons for a climber to choose not to wear a helmet, including concerns about weight, reduction in agility or added encumbrances. However, sometimes the reason can be just vanity. In a gym environment there is no discernible advantage to wearing a helmet but on multi-pitch adventure routes or ice climbing routes only the most foolhardy would not wear a helmet. Between these two extremes, a personal judgement call needs to be made.

Many climbers refer to helmets as brain buckets.


Tape

Medical tape is useful to both prevent and repair minor injuries. For example, tape is often used to fix flappers. Many climbers, who choose not to rest adequately, use tape to bind fingers or wrists to prevent recurring tendon problems. Tape is also highly desirable for protecting hands on climbing routes that consist mostly of repeated hand jamming.

"Tape" is also used to refer to nylon webbing.


Haul bag

A large and often unwieldy bag into which supplies and climbing equipment may be thrown. A rucksack or day pack often has a webbing haul loop on the top edge.

Haul bags are often affectionately known as "pigs" due to their unwieldy nature.
Gear sling

A gear sling is usually used by trad or big wall climbers for when they have too much gear to fit on the gear loops of their harnesses. The most simple forms are homemade slings of webbing, and the most elaborate forms have padding and two slings on each side.