lead rope solo gear guide
Did you watch our lead rope solo video? Feel like you are ready to try lead rope solo? Don't want to use our search bar? You're in the right place. Here are all of the things you need for Brent's lead rope solo system. If you haven't watched it yet, check out our full lead rope solo video here!
Chest Harness
A chest harness is important to hold your belay device in the correct orientation while climbing. If you don't do this, the device will not auto-feed well. This can be a safety concern if your device locks up mid crux, causing you to fall. We prefer to use the Avant Climbing LRS Chest Harness due to its lightweight minimalist design.
Lead Rope Solo Chest Harness
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Pros
- Lightweight
- High attachment point
Cons
- Might not be comfortable on bare skin
Belay Device
Brent uses a cam assisted belay device to self belay. There are many devices that match this description. Each device will provide a different balance between auto-feeding and grabbiness. We prefer to use the grabbiest possible device that we can still coax into auto-feeding because they will engage most reliably in a fall while allowing us to climb relatively unencumbered. The Petzl GriGri+, in top rope mode, is our preferred device. When hung upside down from your chest harness it feeds surprisingly well, but engages almost instantly in a fall. Plus it comes in purple!
Anti-Crossload
Each grabby device needs a carabiner and we recommend an anti-cross loading carabiner since both of your hands will be occupied with climbing. There are a lot of these style carabiners, but grabby devices have two parallel plates and therefore don't sit well on a D shape carabiners. We recommend pear shaped (HMS) or hourglass shaped carabiners.
HMS Bulletproof Triple FG
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Pros
- Stainless steel insert to prevent wear
Cons
- Belay loop keeper opens the opposite way to what we'd expect
Flex-Link Anti-Crossload Protector
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While your carabiner will stop your carabiner from cross loading on your belay loop, the device itself can still slip down the spine of the carabiner and get caught. The Avant Climbing Flex-Link keeps your device in place on the basket, negating this risk.
Pros
- Securely hold your device in the basket of your carabiner
Cons
- Doesn't work well on non I-Beam style carabiners
Backfeed Prevention
One of the biggest dangers in lead rope soloing is back feeding. This is when the weight of your rope causes slack to accumulate at the bottom of your climb. If you take a fall with a bunch of unnoticed slack in your system, your fall length will be significantly higher than expected. The Avant Climbing Soft-Cinch is a rubber widget that attaches to your quickdraw and pinches the rope just enough to stop rope from back feeding, while not impacting the strength of your rope in a fall.
Soft-Cinch Lead Rope Solo Backfeed Preventer 5-Pack
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Pros
- Engages with your normal clipping action
Cons
- Pricey
Inline Anchor
Slide-Cinch - Lead Rope Solo Anchor Tensioner
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Express Dogbone
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Stainless Steel Quick Link
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HMS Bruce Steel Triple FG
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Anchor Carabiner
Steel Oval Pro 3Lock
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Structural Gear Loop
Tech Web Sling - 12mm
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Rope
Opera 8.5mm Unicore
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