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Only 10.97! (Plus Free Shipping) Haven't seen them this cheap. Anyway, I'm putting a rack together and thought I'd take advantage of this offer. But the sale ends Sunday.

What's a good number of quickdraws to start out with?

Thanks for the head's up on the deal. I would get 12-14 draws to start with if I were you.

Mj

Twelve to fourteen! Dang! Climbing gets expensive. I was hoping six or seven would do for now...


...now, where's my Visa card?

10 shorties, 3 medium, and two long. That's a good mix and all you'll probably ever need.

Yeah I've been fine with 10 shorties for about a year now.

Ah.....never mind, too easy.....

Trust me when I tell you 6-7 is not enough. I thought 7 would be ok to start, too, so that's what I bought when I got my rope and bag. I found out on my second lead that 2 wasn't going to cut it. 7 draws limits you to 5 bolts plus the anchors (2 at anchors). A 5-bolt climb won't be very long (obviously depending on how run-out the FA chose to make it). Also, I suggest just biting the bullet and finding the best deal you can on some type of keylock (Petzl, Kong, Black Diamond), or wirelock (dmm) 'biner, rather than the more common (and less expensive ) hook-type (which can be had for as low as $8+ for a complete wirelock draw.) I had one of my draws snag repeatedly on my harness while trying to make a clip (a good 3-4 trys before I got it off) and THAT made up my mind that that's what I'm buying next, at least for the bolt-side of the draw. I saw one place offering a set of 10 DMM wirelock draws for $200...though I don't know if shipping was free. I've been scouring "the net" looking for the best deal/combo of either JUST 'biner's and shipping, or draw sets and shipping. Something to do is buy 5-6 regular wire-gate draw sets and the same number of Wirelock, or Keylock sets, then split them up so you have 12 draws with a good snag-free 'biner on each draw. Being new to the "lead" world myself, I am speaking for direct, recent and comparable experience.

I want to echo the need for 12 to 14 draws.
Some additional issues:
- Take more draws up with you than you think you'll need. It can be hard to guess wether some clips will be right or left handed, so extra draws on your harness means that you'll be less likely to run out on a given side. Also you may drop a draw...
- Because aluminum can be severly weakened by microscopic cracks that aren't visible to the eye, you should throw out aluminum gear like biners or belay devices that you've dropped from a way up. (not that I have ever dropped anything )
- There aren't that many routes at the Red that have more than 10 bolts, but there are lots of them at other areas.
- Down the road you may want to do climbs that require more draws - multi-pitch sport routes are becomming more common (hurray!). Routes like Prince of Darkness outside of Las Vegas require more like 20 draws.

I may have said this earlier, but if anyone is ever looking to save a dollar or two, try to find cosmetic seconds (blems). I know gearexpress.com and killerdeals.com both have BD Positron blems for a decent price. Just a suggestion though.

Mj