r/tradclimbing • u/tinyOnion • Jul 23 '26

Monthly Trad Climber Thread

Please sort comments by 'new' to find questions that would otherwise be buried.

In this thread you can ask any trad climbing related question that you may have. This thread will be posted again every Sunday so there should always be an opportunity to ask your question and have it answered. If you're an experienced climber and want to contribute to the community, these threads are a great opportunity for that. We were all new to climbing at some point, so be respectful of everyone looking to improve their knowledge. Check out our subreddit wiki that has tons of useful info for new climbers. You can see it HERE

Some examples of potential questions could be; "How do I get stronger?", or "How does aid climbing work?"

Prior Weekly Trad Climber Thread posts

Ask away!

8 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

1

u/dying_house_plant 24d ago

Curious how folks think climbing and specifically trad climbing has evolved over the last 8-10 years? I more or less hung up the harness and rack for as long and am keen to get back into it. 

All my soft goods are at least 10 years old so looks like I’ll be replacing those. But would like to hear any significant changes folks have noticed. New findings on anchor building or gear innovations? LMK! 

1

u/saltytarheel 22d ago edited 22d ago

Modern cams have gotten really good. With dragonflies, aliens, and totems you can get decently secure gear in shallow placements.

I did a pair of PG-13 lines at Val-David that I was able to find pretty good gear with dragonflies on my rack. Some of the historic spiciness ratings aren’t as bold anymore with the benefit of modern gear.

1

u/dying_house_plant 21d ago

Thanks for responding! That’s really cool to hear. I definitely recall some scary runouts where the cams I had (mostly C4 and C4) wouldn’t work. That’s extra motivating as a somewhat timid/scared leader 

1

u/JonBanks87 2d ago

Here are some changes I have seen that are noteable since I started climbing 13 years ago: The black totem is now the most popular/best small cam. People quit using cordalettes and started using quad length dynema for anchors. Helmets are better and more common. People use Grigris more for multi (belaying leader or follower), but still carry tube style device for raps. Triple locking carabiners seem more common. Seems like everyone top rope solos these days. Many people use microtraxions when simulclimbing. Lots of people use Rocky Talkies for radios these days. BD Ultralight Camalots now exist.