Climbing gear for kids - argh

Decathlon supplied all our kids climbing gear.

Compare it with the cost of mountain bikes and it's a bargain....

Yeah... I think taking advantage of a sale price rope at Tiso and Decathlon prices for everything else, it's £220.

Shame wife is panicking about household budget and meanwhile wishing I hadn't just treated myself to a special '40th birthday' road bike frame, useful parenting lesson for the future, prepare for new and unexpected expenditure!

I got a 30m rope from decathlon for £35 (on sale) the other day so great for short routes. Basic harnesses shouldn't be too expensive either, only get pricey when weight and features start to factor in but simple ones for top roping are reasonable.

How does it add up , piece by piece. Rope, 2 harnesses, belay device , a karabiner and so on ... ? shoes etc....

Cheap compared to bikes

What's on your shopping list for that and what age kid?

2 harnesses, belay plate, 40m rope and couple of screwgates should be £150ish.

I'd consider a second hand rope if I knew it's province, age and only used it for top roping. Is there a club you can join?

Decathlon prices:

Three harnesses, me + 2 kids. £50 + 2 x £35

30m 10mm rope £60

2 carabibas for the anchor, one for the belay device £30

Belay device £12

£222

Had forgotten about shoes but he'll have to wait!

What age are the kids? You probably don't need 3x harnesses unless one needs a chest harness (although petzl do a shoulder adaptor)

There's a few deals around where you can shave £10 off here and there, krabs I'd consider used.

https://rockrun.com/products/edelweiss-thruster-9-8mm-x-30m?variant=42290031362229

NEVER BUY SECOND HAND CLIMBING KIT!!!!!

But, I have a harness that should fit you, plus screwgate and belay device. Used for a few months, indoor only (at Ratho). No falls or anything. PM me your address if you feel lucky punk!

How much experience do you have? Should rocking up to a (presumably) outdoor crag with no equipment be a cause for concern?

Most indoor climbing walls rent gear these days, I'd go there and worry about buying harnesses and shoes when he's stopped growing (and honestly, I'd buy shoes first before a harness).

Can't his wee pal's parents buy their kid his/her own gear?

Actually - I might have an XS harness which is surplus to requirements. If it didn't get tossed in the house move, you can have it for a donation to a charity of your choice. I'll have a look for it tomorrow.

struggling to understand this.

are you climbing outdoos yourself?
sounds like you don't have any kit?

how about taking him to a local wall with auto belays?

taking all the great to a crash and setting up a top rope can be time consuming and boring for you just stoid there belaying.

or take them bouldering, they'll learn better techniques and you'll need less kit plus you can be movable a lot easier

I have a rack of gear that I can supply screw-gate carabiners and belay devices from. (No software will be sold on).
There may be some small size climbing shoes in there too which were worn around 4 times before the little darlings out grew them.

DM for more details.

Unless very constrained on money I'd get a 50m rope. A lot of walls are 20m tall and unless you are super disciplined in tying in at both ends it doesn't end well if you run out of rope lowering with someone 10m off the deck.
Keeping track of which was the short rope and accidentally picking the wrong one up means it's often easier to just go longer.
Also if you start leading outside leading on double ropes can be an advantage particularly where routes wander and for shorter crags you can fold a 50m in half (personally I don't like leading on a single as I've nearly always use twin ropes so feel less confident on one).
Ikea bags make good rope bags and cost less than a quid is a top money saving tip.
Edit: make sure you get a belay device that is good for the rope size and users. Sounds obvious but rope sizes vary and so does the amount of friction in the device. The olde black diamond ones used to be a bit scary abseiling on thin ropes due to low friction but fine on thick wall ropes. Check the instructions and try a mates first if you can. Not worth savin a tenner and getting the wrong one.

Some good advice on choosing gear on the BMC climbing pages and some videos of belaying etc.
https://thebmc.co.uk/

Thanks folks, lots to think on and several very generous offers!

As background he's 6. We didn't rock up to an unknown crag so to speak, it's actually a crag right beside a nice wee family walk beside a garden centre! 😆 Trying to keep the kids off it when we finished our walk was the challenge 🙄. Top roping said crag should be easy as it's quite a short path from bottom to top, it's possibly only a 6-10m crag (the bits I'd top-rope anyway). Points noted about the longer rope though 👍

Our experience is purely limited to being inducted and taught the ropes at a local indoor wall. The appeal of the outdoor crag was just seeing the kids enthusiasm plus adding some variety and just getting outdoors on a sunny day rather than being indoors! I spoke with a visiting instructor at the crag who showed me how I could adapt the top anchors for top-roping (two carabibas with gates facing in opposite directions etc.).

The second harness is just so we can invite his wee friends ad-hoc, there's at least two of them who have been to the indoor wall with him and they're both from bigger families, the parents of which do plenty in turn for us, I'd like to be able to take their kids out occasionally and our one has more fun (and added motivation!). It'll be a while till I'm climbing alongside him I think so belay duties for me for a while! 😎

Will review finances and whether a 6yr old would appreciate climbing gear for his impending birthday, DMs possibly incoming 👍

For kids at that age.... Vinted.

. We didn’t rock up to an unknown crag so to speak, it’s actually a crag right beside a nice wee family walk beside a garden centre!

It's a lovely climbing spot, although steep.

I would also suggest to get some more tuition at some point - particularly to get your belaying and basics right.

definitely.
theres more to outdoor climbing than opposing karabiners.
have a look around for a local club perhaps. Bmc has listings on their site.

all the best

Tie the bloody rope around his waist. He isn't doing overnight hanging bivvies. Can you not waist belay? He is 6 not some 16 stone lump.
Anyway, keep things sensible and you can beat that. Some on UK climbing is giving gear away. Great way to get hardware.

Tie the bloody rope around his waist. He isn’t doing overnight hanging bivvies. Can you not waist belay? He is 6 not some 16 stone lump.

And the prize for worst advice on the thread goes to...

Trust me, i feel your pain. I have been involved with climbing for the last 9 years from a complete novice to now travelling all over the world with a young climber who started at the same age as your kiddie. I dont climb still to this day.

I was shocked at the cost of getting started and tbh i still maintain climbing is a middle class sport. Trust me the higher up the ladder you get the costs spiral. The days of it being just a rope and a a sense of adventure have all but dissapeared. The travelling alone is unbelievable.

Anyhow, i would have love to have helped out. I have a fortunate position of getting all our climbing gear provided now but i tend to try to pass it on as soon as i can if possible. Have recently kitted out a couple of youngsters with harnesses, shoes, bags and everything else i could muster and its cleaned me out. I think we ditched about 6 pairs of shoes in those Lasportiva refurb boxes (Toes just about shot but plenty of life for a little kid starting out.)

At present i can offer a 60m rope and a 30/40m rope. Both have about 2 years use on them and only ever a youngster of less than 50kg. If you are near carlisle the offer is there. I have a bug belay device or two lying around. Always have some brushes lying around too.

My advice is concentrate on bouldering. Its much easier to start. Its much more sociable. Its easier to take your kids mates with you and it doesnt take that much equipment. Maybe put an ad on UKC for a second hand bouldering pad and some shoes for your lad.

My advice is concentrate on bouldering. Its much easier to start. Its much more sociable. Its easier to take your kids mates with you and it doesnt take that much equipment. Maybe put an ad on UKC for a second hand bouldering pad and some shoes for your lad

Sound advice. I am often out with a few kids and it used to be routes, but they all want to boulder now and it's far easier, more fun, no-one is waiting much and they can work through problems together.

The days of it being just a rope and a a sense of adventure have all but dissapeared

A rope, a rack and the shirt on your back.

Or as I heard a Yosemite stoner once say, a rack, a rope and a wee bit of dope.

I was shocked at the cost of getting started and tbh i still maintain climbing is a middle class sport.

I shouldn't really complain and am actually too embarrassed to accept the offers on this thread as the cost of climbing gear for my wee boy is about one fifth of what I have recently spent on shiny new bike stuff for myself (it was my 40th recently if that's an excuse 🙄) It's a good wee life lesson for me going forward as I would have genuinely been happy to splurge (a wee bit) on encouraging him in a sport he seems quite taken with.

Sound advice. I am often out with a few kids and it used to be routes, but they all want to boulder now and it’s far easier, more fun, no-one is waiting much and they can work through problems together.

Thanks guys, I think bouldering is the way forward for now, he does seem to enjoy it more at the climbing wall, he'll do a few roped climbs but is usually anxious to unrope and go play on the bouldering walls. Better yet we'll be visiting Glen Nevis in the summer so if the midgies don't stop play we could go explore some boulders there 😎

Taken all our 3 indoor climbing and bouldering.

They all preferred bouldering an and when climbing we hired their harnesses.

Apart from using the existing top-roped walls, I wouldn’t and didn’t use rope that wasn’t ours, neither belay devices or karabiners. Shoes can work out a little expensive as children’s feet keep growing. We were lucky as all our three had different sized feet and could hand shoes between them as their sizes changes.

Another vote for Decathlon kit for children.

I’d also recommend tuition for both bouldering and climbing - both enhance your technique.

Helmets might be a good move even for top-roping, depending on whether the crag is prone to loose stuff falling from above? Also not a bad habit to get into from the start.

We didn’t rock up to an unknown crag so to speak, it’s actually a crag right beside a nice wee family walk beside a garden centre!

Benny Beg?

As a fellow 13th floor Elevators fan, I'll happily donate you a hardly used edelweiss child full body harness in excellent condition and stored in a closed box out of sun light. Send me a message if you want pics.

You're a week late. I'd have sent you a couple of screw gates and atcs, but I gave it all to my nephew last weekend.

You'll get the basic bits for less than a couple of hundred though. Shoes will be an ongoing cost though. Aren't all kids shoes!

Drop me a message Ian. We've got harnesses, but no rope as we've mainly climbed indoors. I've got a mate who'll join us, he's got all the kit & can do some basic training if we can make the dates work. No point investing until you know they'll stick at it.

We've just used trainers climbing there, and bike helmets- think you missed that from the list.