Wintertime Means Gear Repair Time

Unless you live in a warmer part of the country, chances are the next couple of months are a slow time for climbing. For some, the weather is just too rough, for others, things like skiing and ice climbing take a front seat. Regardless, if winter means less climbing for you, it’s a good opportunity to take the time to get your gear back into top form.

More Rubber Means More Rock Climbing

Every time you went out this fall, you looked at the soles of your shoes and thought, they’ll probably make it one more day! Hopefully they did, but now is the time to get that fixed. Send them off to a good resoler, like Rock and Resole in Boulder, and you’ll soon have shoes that climb like they’re new again. It’s also a good time to patch any wear spots with Five Ten Stealth Paint, just make sure you do it outside or in a VERY well ventilated area.

Cams Need Love Too

If you trad climb much, your cams could probably use some fine tuning. Maybe your trigger wires are frayed, or even blown. Get some replacements and swap them out. Do you get pumped trying to pull the triggers? Sounds like they could use a wash and lube, good directions on that over on the Spadout blog. And maybe the slings on some of the units are getting old. Send them out to a place like Yates, which will get new slings on there for a good price with quick turnaround.

Take Your Old Gear For a Walk

We all know how hard it can be to let go, but winter is as good a time as any. Now that you aren’t using the stuff every day, maybe it’ll be easier to decide to retire those old slings, and ask Santa for some fancy new ones. Maybe your rope looks like it’s dragged one too many cars out of the ditch, and your partners have stopped calling because they are afraid they might have to use your cord. Or the most common worst offender, perhaps its time to finally get rid of that old JRat harness you just couldn’t part with.

There’s probably more things you need to get back up to speed, maybe your tent has a bad zipper, or a sleeping bag needs to be fixed. Whatever it is, this is the time to get all this stuff done, because spring will be here before you know it and you’ll want to be ready to rock when it comes!