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tradmanclimbs
Sep 25, 2006, 3:48 PM
Post #51 of 77
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Registered: Apr 24, 2003
Posts: 2599
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noticed a basket of zinc plated 5 piece powers bolts listed as stainless steel for $1.95 ea. pointed out to the clerk that they were not stainles steel but that they were Zinc plated and that stainless 5 piece wholesales for over $3.00 ea. clerk says "i don't really care" I came back a week later with a stainless 5 piece to show the difference and talked to a diferent clerk who was pretty cool and promised to bring it to the attention of management.
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winglessangel
Sep 25, 2006, 4:19 PM
Post #52 of 77
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Registered: Apr 29, 2004
Posts: 459
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I walked into a sports shop. Not a climbing one, actually they had no climbing gear at all. And I was looking for running shoes.
I knew what I wanted, but I like to look around. I pick up one of those Adidas or Nike shoes for wet terrain, with a separated toe, all design crap, just made to look good and be cool.
salesman comes by "These are specifically designed to increase you rappelling performance"
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mcfoley
Sep 25, 2006, 6:51 PM
Post #53 of 77
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Registered: May 15, 2002
Posts: 644
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After working in and running a shop I can honestly tell you that every retail clerk is either Cool or a TOOL!!! The cool ones know enough to answer your qustions and actually HAVE some experience,they can answer PRACTICAL qustions, while the TOOLS just work, they don't (really) climb/hike, But they can tell you all about the features and benefits of roducts...
The best test is to ask someone about a brand/product that the store doesn't carry and how it compares with the stores brands...
Take Christopher for example (tool I used to work with)... this guy would just bounce info off of customer heads, but if you aksed him what he used and liked he would say he has tons of backpacks, it's hard to pick his favorate...the reality was that he hiked a little (or so he said), but the only thing he hauled around was the Garbage bags i told him to take out. Some idiot hired him before I got there because he said he liked to hike, climbe, etc....all lies.
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hammerless_7
Sep 25, 2006, 7:01 PM
Post #54 of 77
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Registered: Jun 8, 2006
Posts: 77
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[quote="talons05"] By God, if I want to make a quick ski descent of "Lotus Flower Tower" using a Necky touring kayak for each foot, then that's what IIIII want.
Cheers,
And by god I will be there taking pictures. BTW we climbed it only last month and you got your work cut out for you.
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basilisk
Sep 25, 2006, 9:06 PM
Post #55 of 77
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Registered: Oct 1, 2005
Posts: 636
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after looking at EMS's large selection of 1" webbing, which was one spool, i settled on my only choice, the teal one. of course, they had the sign up telling me to ask the clerk for help, so i went to the desk and asked for 50 feet of once inch tubular. i was buying a climbing book at the same time, so the manager sent the clerk to get the webbing and while he asked me about where i was planning to climb. the clerk calls over:
which one did you want sir?
one inch tubular
she stares at the spool for a few seconds....
"the teal one" i say
she stares for a few more seconds
"it's a dark green"
keep staring
finally i walked over. "that one."
"OH!"
this whole time i'm thinking "i've applied for a job here three times and they never called me back. this is who works here instead of me. god i hate you ems."
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cam
Sep 25, 2006, 11:14 PM
Post #56 of 77
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Registered: Apr 4, 2004
Posts: 219
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I was in Europe Bound, a gear shop in Toronto, and was talking about chalk preferences with my friend. My friend picks up a bag of Metolius chalk and asks what I think of it. The following exchange ensues...
Me: "makes my hands feel really icky."
My buddy: "must be the secret drying agent."
Me: "guess so, Flashed chalk doesn't do that."
My buddy: "I wonder what the "drying agent" is?"
Me: "placebo effect?"
Store employee "Skippy": "metolius doesn't have a drying agent in it."
Me: "Yeah it does."
Skippy: "No, it doesn't. metolius uses only pure magnesium bicarbonate" Yes, he said BIcarbonate.
My buddy: "oh shit, here we go" tosses the metolius chalk pack to me and walks away.
Me: "its magnesium carbonate and according to the packaging, its not pure, brother. Read the packaging." I looked around the store expecting Dick Clarke and Ed McMahon to step out from behind a display. To my dismay, they did not. So I plop the package on the counter in front of Skippy and move on as other staff members chuckle, shaking their heads. Now, Skippy works across the road at MEC, so people beware. Which likely has nothing to do with the above story.
I once had an employee tell me that the best gear for pockets is to not fall because there isn't anything that works in pockets. I asked with a sly grin "what about those thingies?" pointing to the tricams, "they look like they might work". He said "those are for vertical cracks only, they're not meant for pockets". I looked around the room for the hidden camera, but sadly there was none to be found.
And the pièce de résistance...
I was in a local gear shop to pick up a pair of shoes, when a kid walks up to the counter and asks the other kid behind the counter what he should use for making quickdraws. The clerk, looks at him somewhat longer than he probably should have and says, "well you can get these here, and this sling and then these for the other end. That's what I use." sliding a Petzl dogbone and straight gate biner across the counter to the kid and then reaches under the counter and produces a little screw link. The kid looks at the screw link and says, "I don't think the rope will fit in that". The clerk looks back, unimpressed, and says flatly, "that part goes on the bolt." The kid says "I guess I'll need some string as well, then." The clerk asks "what for?" The kid responds "to tie a loop to hang the wrench on my harness." The clerk says, "yeah, good idea." and walks off to fetch some cord. I looked around for a lurking Ashton Kutcher and camera crew, but sadly neither were to be found.
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flyinglow
Sep 26, 2006, 12:28 AM
Post #57 of 77
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Registered: Dec 11, 2005
Posts: 77
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In reply to: I love it when trust funders start climbing. When the weather goes bad, they tend to bail off and leave half their rack behind. Just wait for the rain shower to pass then go get all the shiny new gear that they left!
Or just climb it in the rain... it's only a 5.6 after all.
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zakabog
Sep 26, 2006, 8:32 AM
Post #58 of 77
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Registered: Sep 12, 2006
Posts: 10
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I guess I'm too much of a noob to catch the gear shop employees saying something dumb. Although I always call gear by the wrong name, and sometimes I'll just refer to it as "That round thinger with the springs." It's really embarassing cause I know I'm not that dumb, I've just got a real bad memory for certain things (and it's taken me what seems like forever to get all the commands like "On Belay" right.) I can handle computer stuff so much easier. I could give you a list of all the specs and brands on all the parts inside my desktop, but I couldn't tell you the name of anything on my harness. I guess it helps that I've been doing computer stuff for the past twelve years, and I've only been climbing off and on for the past two.
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dutyje
Sep 26, 2006, 11:51 AM
Post #59 of 77
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Registered: Apr 1, 2004
Posts: 727
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In reply to: I guess I'm too much of a noob to catch the gear shop employees saying something dumb. Although I always call gear by the wrong name, and sometimes I'll just refer to it as "That round thinger with the springs." It's really embarassing cause I know I'm not that dumb, I've just got a real bad memory for certain things (and it's taken me what seems like forever to get all the commands like "On Belay" right.) I can handle computer stuff so much easier. I could give you a list of all the specs and brands on all the parts inside my desktop, but I couldn't tell you the name of anything on my harness. I guess it helps that I've been doing computer stuff for the past twelve years, and I've only been climbing off and on for the past two.
An old partner of mine always had trouble remembering the names of the types/shapes of carabiners. He always referred to carabiners using these 4 basic types:
Locking
Wiregate
D-Shaped (ok.. simple.. with me so far?)
U-Shaped :shock:
The "U-Shaped" carabiner was actually an oval. I could never quite convince him that an actual U-shaped carabiner would be rather useless -- and if he was set on assigning a letter to the shape, it would be more accurate to call it an "O-shaped" carabiner.
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epoch
Moderator
Sep 26, 2006, 12:31 PM
Post #60 of 77
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Registered: Apr 28, 2005
Posts: 32163
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At a recent pass in EMS I was directed to the "Climbing Gear Expert," a title given to him by the other employees, while asking the simple question of whether they had or could order me a set of Etriers. This, the expert, employee stated that they had them in stock and directed me to the display rack where he produced a pair of daisy chains. I told him no, those weren't etriers. He then tried to argue with me, until I explained to him in the simplest way that I could with the given props situated around me that in the aid world you would use Jumars to ascend the rope, with Etriers for your feet to stand on, all attached to your harness via a daisy chain.
After my conversation he was wisked away to help with a climbing shoe question. Now, at the time I had a little mission to fill my shopping list: New shoes, 2 slings, a handful of biners, some rap rings, and possibly some aiders. I watched him sell shoes to a 20-something new climber that were half a size too big. He stated that they were to be fitted like your street shoe. I had to interviene again and explain that the shoes that the customer was getting douped into buying were going to stretch, as they were unlined leather, and would actually work better if bought about a half size too small so that they would stretch into his foot. When it was my turn to get my shoes, I was very specific, direct and didn't try them on. (I know my size with the shoe I was getting.) I walked away, paid for my stuff, and left. I don't let the employees in that store talk to me about anything anymore. I don't want to expend the energy explaining to them the benifits of synthetic vs cotton or the difference between butane stoves vs. white gas. :shock:
I'm really glad that I'm not a college drop out.....
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glyrocks
Sep 26, 2006, 1:53 PM
Post #61 of 77
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Registered: Nov 10, 2004
Posts: 614
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Before I knew a dang thing about placing gear, clipping bolts, and lead climbing in general- I don't believe I'd ever been on a multipitch either--I was sold 3 Spectra slings, 3 stoppers, and 3 biners. My partner got the same, but different sized pro. We were told quite confidently that we didn't need a biner for the pro, just the rope and that it was completely fine to girth hitch the sling to stopper cable or bolt hanger. We did it, but we didn't test it.
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markc
Sep 26, 2006, 2:17 PM
Post #62 of 77
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Registered: Jan 21, 2003
Posts: 2481
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In reply to: Before I knew a dang thing about placing gear, clipping bolts, and lead climbing in general- I don't believe I'd ever been on a multipitch either--I was sold 3 Spectra slings, 3 stoppers, and 3 biners. My partner got the same, but different sized pro. We were told quite confidently that we didn't need a biner for the pro, just the rope and that it was completely fine to girth hitch the sling to stopper cable or bolt hanger. We did it, but we didn't test it.
What store was this? They might actually appreciate knowing employees are handing out advice that will kill someone. How were you convinced you needed stoppers? Were you buying equipment for anchors? Scary stuff.
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johnny_jibba
Sep 26, 2006, 2:53 PM
Post #63 of 77
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Registered: Jul 25, 2006
Posts: 55
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In reply to: At a recent pass in EMS I was directed to the "Climbing Gear Expert," a title given to him by the other employees, while asking the simple question of whether they had or could order me a set of Etriers. This, the expert, employee stated that they had them in stock and directed me to the display rack where he produced a pair of daisy chains. I told him no, those weren't etriers. He then tried to argue with me, until I explained to him in the simplest way that I could with the given props situated around me that in the aid world you would use Jumars to ascend the rope, with Etriers for your feet to stand on, all attached to your harness via a daisy chain. After my conversation he was wisked away to help with a climbing shoe question. Now, at the time I had a little mission to fill my shopping list: New shoes, 2 slings, a handful of biners, some rap rings, and possibly some aiders. I watched him sell shoes to a 20-something new climber that were half a size too big. He stated that they were to be fitted like your street shoe. I had to interviene again and explain that the shoes that the customer was getting douped into buying were going to stretch, as they were unlined leather, and would actually work better if bought about a half size too small so that they would stretch into his foot. When it was my turn to get my shoes, I was very specific, direct and didn't try them on. (I know my size with the shoe I was getting.) I walked away, paid for my stuff, and left. I don't let the employees in that store talk to me about anything anymore. I don't want to expend the energy explaining to them the benifits of synthetic vs cotton or the difference between butane stoves vs. white gas. :shock: I'm really glad that I'm not a college drop out.....
My standard response when I walk into EMS and the dorky 16-year old with the zits asks if he can help me is usually, “I really doubt it.”
One time I was in EMS with my wife getting her a pair of x-country ski boots, the cheap golf course skiing variety. Anyway, the clerk was fitting her for boots when I noticed these clog type sandals on the shoe rack. I picked one up and showing it to my wife asking “what kind of homo would wear these things.” Just then I noticed the clerk was wearing them. It was one of those classic “open mouth, insert foot moments.”
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rjtrials
Sep 26, 2006, 3:23 PM
Post #64 of 77
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Registered: Sep 7, 2002
Posts: 342
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In reply to: An old partner of mine always had trouble remembering the names of the types/shapes of carabiners. U-Shaped :shock: The "U-Shaped" carabiner was actually an oval. I could never quite convince him that an actual U-shaped carabiner would be rather useless -- and if he was set on assigning a letter to the shape, it would be more accurate to call it an "O-shaped" carabiner.
Hey man, go check your gear again. An oval looks exactly like a U.
With a beanie on. :wink:
RJ
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rjtrials
Sep 26, 2006, 3:24 PM
Post #65 of 77
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Registered: Sep 7, 2002
Posts: 342
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Double Post DAB!!!
In reply to: General error Failed sending email ::
RJ
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the_climber
Sep 26, 2006, 3:47 PM
Post #66 of 77
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Registered: Oct 9, 2003
Posts: 6142
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Used to work at a gear shop, have one from the other side of the counter:
"Numpty": Do you carry any snafflelinks in this place.
"Me":You would be refering to Carabiners?
"Numpty":No, those over there. *Points to biner display* :roll:
"Me":What are you looking for?
"Numpty":I see you only have the small ones, and only aluminum.
"Me":*with no wall beside me to bank my head against I manage a response of* Yes, aluminum has been the standard biner material for climbing for decades...
"Numpty":Just give me 8 of those *points to a random part of the display*
"Me": *grab 8 biners in the area and ask* these ones?
"Numpty": Ya, great. Oh, and a few of those soft wire things.
"Me": Slings? *he nodds* *I had to ask* So, where are you planning on going?
"Numpty": Oh, my friend got into climbing last week and he's taking me up Yamnuska this afternoon.
"Me": Does you friend have any trad climbing experiance?
"Numpty": No, but he said he got up a 7 at he gym and were only doing a 6"
I warned him that Yam isn't a beginers playground and that he and his friend might want to get some instruction, and informed him there are no returns on climbing gear. He throws a handfull of bills on the counter and calls me and a$$hole. Then walks out saying "I highly doubt you even know where Yamnuska is. You don't even have any climbing stickers on your nalgene bottle."
Needless to say the other staff and I laughed our asses off about this for months, especially the no sitckers thing. I mean reallly, what kind of self respecting climber would ever think about not having stickers? :roll:
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the_climber
Sep 26, 2006, 3:48 PM
Post #67 of 77
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Registered: Oct 9, 2003
Posts: 6142
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Used to work at a gear shop, have one from the other side of the counter:
"Numpty": Do you carry any snafflelinks in this place.
"Me":You would be refering to Carabiners?
"Numpty":No, those over there. *Points to biner display* :roll:
"Me":What are you looking for?
"Numpty":I see you only have the small ones, and only aluminum.
"Me":*with no wall beside me to bank my head against I manage a response of* Yes, aluminum has been the standard biner material for climbing for decades...
"Numpty":Just give me 8 of those *points to a random part of the display*
"Me": *grab 8 biners in the area and ask* these ones?
"Numpty": Ya, great. Oh, and a few of those soft wire things.
"Me": Slings? *he nodds* *I had to ask* So, where are you planning on going?
"Numpty": Oh, my friend got into climbing last week and he's taking me up Yamnuska this afternoon.
"Me": Does you friend have any trad climbing experiance?
"Numpty": No, but he said he got up a 7 at he gym and were only doing a 6"
I warned him that Yam isn't a beginers playground and that he and his friend might want to get some instruction, and informed him there are no returns on climbing gear. He throws a handfull of bills on the counter and calls me and a$$hole. Then walks out saying "I highly doubt you even know where Yamnuska is. You don't even have any climbing stickers on your nalgene bottle."
Needless to say the other staff and I laughed our asses off about this for months, especially the no sitckers thing. I mean reallly, what kind of self respecting climber would ever think about not having stickers? :roll:
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glyrocks
Sep 26, 2006, 4:17 PM
Post #68 of 77
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Registered: Nov 10, 2004
Posts: 614
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In reply to: In reply to: Before I knew a dang thing about placing gear, clipping bolts, and lead climbing in general- I don't believe I'd ever been on a multipitch either--I was sold 3 Spectra slings, 3 stoppers, and 3 biners. My partner got the same, but different sized pro. We were told quite confidently that we didn't need a biner for the pro, just the rope and that it was completely fine to girth hitch the sling to stopper cable or bolt hanger. We did it, but we didn't test it. What store was this? They might actually appreciate knowing employees are handing out advice that will kill someone. How were you convinced you needed stoppers? Were you buying equipment for anchors? Scary stuff.
The route we were going to do is mostly bolted, but in a NC kind-of-way and it's reccomended for new leaders to bring a light rack- the route goes at a monstrous 5.6, but the bolts can be as much as 25 feet apart over 4 pitches. Bolted anchors too, so we weren't too far in over our heads at that point. Not knowing exactly what a 'light rack' meant, we asked our friendly local extr3me-gear shop, and that's the advice we were given. The shop has since closed.
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the_dave
Sep 26, 2006, 4:48 PM
Post #69 of 77
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Registered: Mar 20, 2006
Posts: 44
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The worst I had was, I walked into REI, and bought some cams, and then walked over and was getting some draws, and the guy that worked there said, "Why would you need those? Run the rope directly through the wire on the cam." At that point I put the gear back and just walked out of the store after complaining to the manager... I don't understand how the climbing "Experts" at places like that can be so stupid when it comes to knowing about gear.
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the_dave
Sep 26, 2006, 4:49 PM
Post #70 of 77
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Registered: Mar 20, 2006
Posts: 44
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The worst I had was, I walked into REI, and bought some cams, and then walked over and was getting some draws, and the guy that worked there said, "Why would you need those? Run the rope directly through the wire on the cam." At that point I put the gear back and just walked out of the store after complaining to the manager... I don't understand how the climbing "Experts" at places like that can be so stupid when it comes to knowing about gear.
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zeke_sf
Sep 26, 2006, 5:00 PM
Post #71 of 77
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Registered: Apr 28, 2006
Posts: 18730
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ok, it's off topic, but most climbers like coffee for those early starts, right? so, I go into a nearby Starbucks (they're always nearby) and grab a pound of coffee. I set in on the counter in front of the cashier and ask if I can get it ground for my flatbottom coffee maker. He looks at me and says, "You're going to buy this, right?" before grinding the beans. I could only shake my head and wonder what happened to this jaded fuck that he had to ask that question before grinding my java. on topic: standing around in REI in the climbing section will yield a gear shop quote-stravaganza any day of the week.
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zeke_sf
Sep 26, 2006, 5:00 PM
Post #72 of 77
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Registered: Apr 28, 2006
Posts: 18730
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ok, it's off topic, but most climbers like coffee for those early starts, right? so, I go into a nearby Starbucks (they're always nearby) and grab a pound of coffee. I set in on the counter in front of the cashier and ask if I can get it ground for my flatbottom coffee maker. He looks at me and says, "You're going to buy this, right?" before grinding the beans. I could only shake my head and wonder what happened to this jaded fuck that he had to ask that question before grinding my java. on topic: standing around in REI in the climbing section will yield a gear shop quote-stravaganza any day of the week.
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markc
Sep 26, 2006, 5:43 PM
Post #73 of 77
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Registered: Jan 21, 2003
Posts: 2481
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In reply to: standing around in REI in the climbing section will yield a gear shop quote-stravaganza any day of the week.
I had an interesting experience with an REI associate a while back. I won't go into the back story, but she didn't have a clue what a screamer was. If she said that up front, it wouldn't have been a big deal. I mentioned I didn't see any screamers near the slings, which was where I thought I'd find them. She scans the section with me, and eventually grabs the PAS. I tried to explain what a screamer looks like and does. Because she was unfamiliar with it and none of her partners carried them, she tried to convince me I didn't need it.
Counter that with my preferred shop. I walk in, chat for a bit with the guys at the desk, and ask for a screamer. They're out at the moment, but my friend gives a quick look to confirm. He tells me the next shipment's coming in a week or so, and I say it isn't urgent. Before I have time to make it back, I see I have a package in the mail. It's a screamer with a little note.
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johnny_jibba
Sep 26, 2006, 6:25 PM
Post #75 of 77
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Registered: Jul 25, 2006
Posts: 55
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In reply to: I had an interesting experience with an REI associate a while back. I won't go into the back story, but she didn't have a clue what a screamer was. If she said that up front, it wouldn't have been a big deal. I mentioned I didn't see any screamers near the slings, which was where I thought I'd find them. She scans the section with me, and eventually grabs the PAS. I tried to explain what a screamer looks like and does. Because she was unfamiliar with it and none of her partners carried them, she tried to convince me I didn't need it.
When you told her you were looking for a screamer, she probably took you for a perve, cringed a little bit, and was waiting for the Mike Hunt joke....
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