Left Gear on Calculus Crack

[AndrewMc]

I had to bail off calculus crack on the weekend , so i ended up repelling off my gear anchor. Was going to try to get up there this week to retrieve it, but dont have time. Did anyone else on the list find my stuff? Im not sure what the ethic is for this, finders keepers? I wouldnt mind having it back because theres a couple hexes that i really like and i could replace them i guess but i have a paranoia of mismatched gear.

Anyway, its a fun climb, definatley quite airy, not so sure about climbing it in the dark.

Andrew

[Climbingjunky]

If you didn't buy it or it wasn't given to you then it's not yours. The right thing to do is to return it to the rightful owner. Of course if nobody claims it, then it's your call what you do from there. my 2 cents.

[XXXX]

Thanks for the heads up! I need some booty!

Mismatched gear makes you look like a hardman. Matching shiny gear makes you look like a trust fund kid.

[Clive kessler]

although i voted yes the answer is more ambiguous. Generally I would go by the following rule. Does it look like it was left there for later use or the use of others? Or does it look like someone got in over their head and had to bail.

There is a big difference between the two. It is likely that those having to bail could not move higher than the gear and HAD to leave it. I think its fairly safe to assume thist means that even if they wanted the gear back they wouldn't be able to get it themselves.

Or maybe they couldn't get a jammed piece out and decided to move on. The way I look at that is; I have a job. My time is worth money. I will only waste so much time (money) on trying to retrieve a $10 piece. If some jobless hippie wants to spend 2 hours (and cut the sh*t out of there hands) to remove the piece its theirs (at $5 an hour).

[AndrewMc]

Arrhh, im not a trust fund kid!! Stomp. Stomp. Im a climb hard... 5.8 calculus crack hard.

You're right, maybe i need to look like more of a hard man, i think ill buy some mismatched gear from MEC and run over it in my beamer a few times so it looks nice and worked.

Ok, but seriously i do have an emotional attachment to my gear. Is that abnormal?

As long as it finds a good home.

[MCpl]

I just got back from Kalymnos and the owner of Galaros bar (steve) says that he takes off, and keeps, the draws on a route (fully equipped because someone was working it) if he notices that no one has been on it over the winter.

The reasoning is that anyone looking to get on the same route would not have to wonder if the gear is suspect.

Needless to say, I disagreed with that thinking. This is inline with Clive's first option at looking at the situation. It was left for later use. Also in this category are fixed biners at the anchors of some sport routes. They have been put there to facilitate the ease of cleaning a route.

[WhiskeyKid]

When I find gear on a climb, and it's not intended as fixed gear, but rather something that someone has left to bail off of, I put black tape on it, clip it to the back of my harness and keep it around as a "leaver". Then when it's my turn to bail, it gets left behind for someone else to find. That way it's like "community gear". Obviously this is more prudent with biners and slings than actual gear. I think if you find gear with no intended purpose and you don't know who's it is, then it's yours to do with it what you want. If someone came looking for it though, I'd fully hand it over.
And I prefer the term "trustaffarian". Christ knows the coast is full of 'em...

[Clive kessler]

Mcpl makes a great point. Anything on a station is not booty. Anyone found taking fixed gear should be dealt with.

[stick]

What goes around, comes around! The climbing community is a small one (dispite what you may think if you're trying to get on the apron on a long weekend). 2 years ago I found a few pieces in smith rock with blue and yellow tape on them... last year I ran into a couple on the apron full of gear with the same marking, when I asked them about it they were amazed! Turns out they're from olympia washington, they know others that I know, we had a few beers at the brew pub, and we mutually have a place to stay on climbing trips(although I think they got the better deal there).

Philosophicaly speaking... mabye everything happens for a reason... and at the very least, you made someones day!

[tangledfeet]

Santa ended up being my parents.
The tooth fairy ended up being my parents.
Easter eggs are not laid by little rabbits.
and blondes can be smart (damn)

Now you are telling me that gear on a climb was left there by some hopelessly wigged out climber.
No magic, no mystery.
Hell I thought if I found gear I was lucky and being rewarded by the free gear fairy.

But no just another sham.

I hate learning!

[ctardi]

I say, leave it as it lies. Chances are someone knows that they are missing it...

[ras]

I think if you want your gear, you shouldn't leave it behind, and whoever finds it can keep it.

That said, I don't put much trust in found gear, I don't want a quickdraw I found halfway up some route that someone left behind when they bailed, its only good for slinging hammocks and holding water bottles, so if I know whos gear it was, I'll return it.

As for taking gear fixed to a route, thats wrong and dangerous! I've never seen a case where I've had to wonder whether the gear was fixed or abandoned.

OT: A pet peeve of mine is screw-on quick links used to bale from routes. I don't want to stick my QD through someones dime-store quick link, it leaves the draw hanging with the gate in the wrong direction, and sometimes its hard to get a draw into the hanger when theres a quicklink in it already, or even if it fits it doesn't move freely, which is part of the point of the hanger - you don't want your QD binding into a crowded hanger and ripping it off the wall or breaking. It particularly sucks because these links are often before a crux where you are pumped, want a well placed QD, and don't have the energy to be unscrewing links. New bale biners are cheap, and ones you find are free.

[ryan_boarder]

Hey funny thing.
Just decided to sit down and puruse squamish message boards for the first time and lo and behold, there was a message that i could identify with because... I found your gear!

E-mail me at ryan_boarder@hotmail.com and we'll work out how to get it back.

Ryan

[WhiskeyKid]

You're a good man Ryan. I don't care what they say about you behind your back...