Climbing equipment
Harnesses, ropes, carabiners, belay devices, quickdraws and helmets. Climbing equipment is personal protective equipment — every piece has to be certified, and you have to know how to use it. Choose by what you actually climb, and always by the manufacturer's instructions.
Climbing equipment
On rock it is not one piece that holds you, it is a chain: harness, rope, belay device, carabiner and the protection in the wall. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and that link is more often a handling error than the gear. Choose your kit for what you actually climb, then, and learn to work with it before you hang on it.
Harnesses, ropes and carabiners are the foundation. A harness is chosen by discipline and above all has to fit — sport harnesses are light and stripped back, alpine ones have adjustable leg loops so they sit over layers of clothing. Ropes divide into dynamic, which catch a fall and absorb its energy, and static, which are not used for belaying a climber. A locking carabiner belongs anywhere an accidental opening would cost you something.
Belay devices and quickdraws are what actually stop a fall. Devices differ in the rope diameter they work with — the range marked on the device and the diameter of your rope have to match, or the rope will either slip or jam. Choose quickdraws by sling length and gate type.
A helmet protects against rockfall and against your head hitting the rock in a fall; outdoors it goes on your head without debate. Alongside it come slings, chalk, rock shoes and rope bags.
Certification and retirement matter more than anything else with this gear. Buy only pieces marked to the relevant European standard and to the UIAA. Look your kit over before every use, and after a hard fall, an impact, contact with a chemical or the end of the lifespan the manufacturer states, retire it — damage need not show on the outside of either textile or metal. And above all: equipment is no substitute for training. If you are starting out, take a course or climb with someone experienced. The manufacturer's instructions take precedence over any general description.