have you done any aid up climbing ?

I climb mostly single pitch sport due to geographic limitations, and haven't had an opportunity to learn proper aid climbing yet - so I am unfamiliar with the equipment but understand the overall idea. I only climb trad at about a 5.7 level.

What minimal gear would I need to downclimb rather than bail? There are some routes where the crux is well above my current climbing abilities, but I would like to give it a shot anyway. Bail biners add up over the season, and I think this would be a reasonable time to get a couple of etriers and practice with them.

I have a workable rack, but nothing in the "body weight only" range. Even with etriers, I would have no idea how to downclimb a vertical face where the holds are all tiny crimps, since the usual cams/nuts/slings won't work for that.

Couldn't find any older threads that deal with this, so any help is appreciated...

Do I understand correctly that your objective is to avoid leaving bail biners on sport routes you can't get up?

GO

None at all. I intend to practice that since my eventual goal, maybe in 2015, is to do a big wall. But I'm trying to keep my expenses under control, so for right now the plan is to just add the essentials to my rack to do some aid downclimbing here and there as needed.

Alternately, go to the hardware store and buy some inexpensive quicklinks (i.e. screwlinks) - like a link of metal chain, but with a screw-gate. They can be purchased for far less than a biner, and one is easily kept on a harness gearloop. Check out the "rated working load" of the screwlink when buying - if it's at all more than your bodyweight, then it's more than strong enough for lowering off, because the desgned-in factor of safety on items like that are very high.

the way you are headed with trying to save $2.60 on a SOL rap ring sold on ebay, you may not even make it to 2015

You use a rap ring on a bolt instead of a bail biner? That's a first...

Is climbing an easier route or walking around to the anchors and rapping the route not an option?

I'll take those options if I have them. But on a lot of routes the anchors have a roof above them, or they're on a boulder. I realize the long term solution is to improve my climbing skills, but of course that's not going to happen overnight.

I've done the Texas rope trick. Same difference since you're out a sling rather than a biner.

Don't forget that in sport climbing, the easiest and safest way is up. You can use every dirty trick imaginable, eg. takes at each bolt, french free (or do you still say freedom free?), hanging your chalkbag belt to a bolt and using it as a step, asking other parties to get your draws or for permit to use their rope, etc.

In sport climbing, cheap and dirty tricks are part of the tactics. And, as long as you continue upwards, you're keeping the belay system closed. More often than not, you'll eventually reach the top.

That makes me think he may have the easiest time just buying a stick clip and batman-ing his way to the chains for a standard lower off.

You don't need to aid-downclimb to avoid leaving bail biners, you just need to be willing to take falls.

If you were able to hold onto the climb to hang the draw, then you should also be able to hold onto the climb to remove the draw.

briefly pull onto the climb, call for a bit of slack from the belayer, unclip the draw from the bolt, and then let go and take the fall.

Repeat at the next draw until all but the last draw remains. Lower to the ground off the last (lowest)draw. Then climb back up, pull the lowest draw off, and downclimb to terra-firma.

Alternately, go to the hardware store and buy some inexpensive quicklinks (i.e. screwlinks) - like a link of metal chain, but with a screw-gate. They can be purchased for far less than a biner, and one is easily kept on a harness gearloop. Check out the "rated working load" of the screwlink when buying - if it's at all more than your bodyweight, then it's more than strong enough for lowering off, because the desgned-in factor of safety on items like that are very high.

Probably better to ask this in the Sport-Climbing forum, as it sounds like you're talking about a sport-climbing scenario. Guess you could do the same thing for trad-climbing - but you'd have to trust all your pieces (you should anyway), and might lose some gear by falling on it and making it difficult to remove.

-gene

That makes me think he may have the easiest time just buying a stick clip and batman-ing his way to the chains for a standard lower off.