Testing Gear at Indian Creek

This weekend Campman took a trip down to the Creek. For those of you who don’t know about Indian Creek, it’s a world climbing destination for those who want to test their crack climbing skills. Known for its perfect splitters I thought it would be a great place to try out Green Gear’s Hand Jammies, Jetboil Group Cooking System, and Edelweiss Liquid Chalk.

When climbing cracks one usually tapes the back of the hands in order to protect them. The idea behind the Hand Jammies is to alleviate the need for taping. Making tape gloves takes time and a little skill to make. The Jammies just slide on and you Velcro them down tight. That’s it you’re done. Not only are they easy to get on but they also have climbing rubber on the back so they are sticker than tape on the rock. All of these peaked my interest so I thought I’d give them a shot. I strapped them on and started up a route that was hands to fingers sized. I noticed from the moment I put them on that they were really stiff and thick compared to my usual tape gloves. In the thin parts of the crack the gloves actually impeded my process. The few hand jams that I did get they were great. I wasn’t impressed on my first attempt with the gloves but I thought I’d give them another shot just to be fair. It was pretty much the same on the next route. The verdict was I was going back to tape. However after reflecting on the Jammies I figured they would be good for a route that was just hand size or rattly hands. Once you get into finger locks or fingers they are pretty bad.

Next on the list was the Jetboil Group Cooking System or GCS. It includes the pot, self lighting stove, and covers for the pot. It was incredibly easy to use. Put on the Jetboil fuel can, bottom stabilizer, pot stabilizer, turn on the gas, and push the lighter. It started right up and I was cooking. I decided to make breakfast burritos that morning. So I tossed in the hash browns, sausage, eggs, and cheese. 15 min later I had a feast. I did notice that the pot got really hot and I had to turn it all the way down. Once all was said and done I don’t think that the this stove is great for cooking dry food such as hash browns, but when I boiled water it was extremely fast. So as a backpacking stove this is great. When car camping I would bring along the dual burner stove and fry pan. Definitely the best backpacking stove I’ve used. It’s extremely simple and works great. The only down side I could see in the backcountry is that I would bring a fresh fuel canister every time to ensure I don’t run out of fuel. So the possibility to collect half full canisters is a likely possibility.

Last but not least was the Edelweiss Liquid Chalk. It comes in a small bottle so I was wondering how long it would last. I tried just a small amount at first, about the size of a quarter in my palm. I spread it around my hands and it dried pretty fast. Once it did my hands were dried out from the alcohol and chalked up. I was pleasantly surprised. This is a great way to get a good base layer when starting for the day or anytime before a route. The bottle should last awhile if you use sparingly. Which is all you need to use it anyways. Definitely worth the pick up for the avid climber.

Written by admin on March 25th, 2008 with no comments.
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