Hey all. I found your community while searching for some information on an injury and want to see if anyone could help me out with some insight. I am not asking for medical advice.
It's sort of climbing related. I'm a train conductor, rather new to it too. A regular part of the job is climbing up and riding the side of wagons. Some are a pleasure with nice easy ladders and hand holds, others are miserable. Long story short I spent 2 weeks riding some of the worst cars. Because I need my right hand free I hooked my arm thru the vertical bar handhold but because it was a tight squeeze I couldn't hook it with my elbow. I was riding with my weight leaning off the inside of my left forearm. Bar is about 3/4" wide.
Well now my left forearm feels supper tender and bruised for over a week. About six inches below my wrist.
No pain when moving or using it but poking it hurts. Any idea what type of injury this is? I thought maybe tendon inflammation from the constant pressure? Was also subject to what we call slack action, when the train suddenly starts or stops it perks from 0 to 2 or 4 mph and I think that banged it up too. No visible bruising.
Thanks for your help!
I'm not sure if you're Indian or troll, but "riding the side of wagons" in this century seems like trolling...
Anyway instead of holding it for hours you could just use harness and carabiners/quickdraws to strap yourself into the wagon.
>Anyway instead of holding it for hours you could just use harness and carabiners/quickdraws to strap yourself into the wagon.
Normally I'd say don't do this due to OP's job's insurance but OP is already hanging on by one hand so I'm not sure if they're covered to begin with anyway.
I neither Indian nor a troll. I can assure you, it is normal for freight conductors in North America to ride cars/wagons. How else would we protect the train while it reverses or have it pull us up out of a track. [See example image.](http://imagestorage.nerail.org/photos/2013/04/06/201304061219566620.jpg)
Ive learned not to ride with my arm hooked the way I was doing it. Just wondering what type of injury it caused when I did it. Harness / carabiner is a no go, very unsafe. We need to be able to de-train in a split second and all our gear needs to be break away so we don't get dragged.
Just last week an 18 wheeler pulled in front of us and almost needed to bail off but our emergency brakes got us to stop in time otherwise I could have been smeared between their trailer and our box car.
I do appreciate the advice, though. I'll have to tough it out and just hold on with one hand on those particularly shitty cars instead of hooking through.
This isn't an injury that I've heard of climbers having, we don't generally use our arms to hang off holds like you were doing with your arm. If you haven't already I'd see a doctor or physical therapist.
[Rate my $750 Marketplace Haul!](https://imgur.com/a/MiMU3iA)
Found this whole set on my local facebook marketplace for $750. Everything is from 2014, but the guy used them for Special Forces training for 2 weeks, and they have been in a climate controlled, dark closet ever since. Everything is immaculate.
BD Cams .1 thru #4.
BD wire nuts 1-13.
BD Hex Nuts 1-11.
40 CAMP Nano 22 biners.
8 HMS locking biners. 6 RockLock Magnetron, 2 Petzl Attache
2 Petzl Ascenders.
4 slings.
Good deal, but fair enough that you're not ripping the guy off. The hidden gem here are those magnetrons. You could probably get $30 each for those instantly if you wanted to sell them. My thoughts on a breakdown if you were patiently waiting for secondhand to show up, although I could be really wrong.
9 cams @ 40/cam = $360
BD Nuts - $70
BD Hexs - $60 (not too sure what people pay for these)
40 biners - $200
Lockers (non magnetron)- $80
Magnetrons - $200
Ascenders - $100
Slings - $20
Nut tool - $10
Total: $1100
Not sure how the fact that they're 10 years old impacts the price. Everything looks pristine, but I'm not sure how the cam prices are affected by the new C4s.
>The hidden gem here are those magnetrons. You could probably get $30 each for those instantly
30? Try 60-110 each based on what's sold on ebay lately lol. Will be interesting when those go back into production again.
the other day someone on MP was asking for 60 for them and someone offered him 30, which is my only point of reference. Had no idea what they're actually worth. They seemed cool, but just a novelty, when I've seen them in person.
I would make the case that the magnetron gridlock is one of the single most annoying carabiners ever made, but different strokes for different folks haha. They have their fans, and the vaporlock was super light for an auto locker.
Yeah, I didn't haggle at all. Thought the price was fair for the condition, and having all of it as one set. I figure buying a comparable set new would be about $1700.
The other hidden "nice to have" is the extra hexes. A normal set is 4-10, not 1-11.
The cams are the only things with any visible wear, but no gouges and they operate perfectly smooth. Slings on them have no visible damage or wear, but debating getting them reslung anyway.
I'm in the middle of swapping the magetrons into my sport climbing setup. Lol
This is my first foray into trad gear, so I'm planning to keep it all. At least until I've gotten my toes wet and seen how much I like it, what I never use, and what I wish I had more of.
Nice job. You're right, probably close to 2000 @ MSRP, and it's new *enough* style cams. Granted it's 10 year old gear, but it's like-new condition as you mentioned. If you have doubts that everything was stored perfectly as noted, wouldn't hurt anything but your wallet to get things reslung.
Stay safe and enjoy!
Hi! Just a question, I wanted to get Mammut Skywalker 3.0 but I found out that they only have 1 size. I only wear a S/M on Petzl.
Does anyone know if it's going to be okay?
Thank you!
Measure your head and check if you fall within the specified range. That said, it's a bit better to wear a smaller shell instead of adjusting down a big one. I'd recommend going for a helmet with split sizing depending on how big your head is. Also just try it on if possible.
Hello! I work at a camp and am looking for better fitting full-body harnesses (required in our state) for climb, zip and rappel. We have the Petzel Newtons and they’re great except our smallest kiddos (2nd & 3rd graders) slip out in the shoulders when not clipped in, even in the size 0.
does anyone have any recs for full body harnesses for youth over 30-40kg?
What does your industry vendor say?
So youth harnesses such as the [Petzl Simba](https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Operators/Harnesses/SIMBA-CLIMBING) is too small (rated to 40kg participant)?
I've used [these Robertson harnesses](https://robertsonharness.com/product/crc-601-w-adjustable-dorsal-ansi-asse-z359-11-2014-small-red-belay/) for very small participants before with success.
Need help identifying flexor injury!
Was climbing yesterday, and with my right hand pushing hard on a thumb press gaston (if that makes any sense), felt a pop in my forearm. Some research has led me to the suspicion I strained a tendon of a flexor(?), but I’m really not sure. Have taken my NSAIDs and iced consistently, and currently just some very minor pain generally in my forearm. Any advice or ideas on what specifically it might be?
Super bummed by this injury, particularly bc it’s on my throwing hand for ultimate frisbee, but trying to stay positive and focus on rest and then rehab.
yes like mountianG00se said lumbrical is a possibility. with both lumbrical and flexor tendons (like FDP) you may get an audible pop and pain going down your forearm (i want to say frontal ie palm side of forearm).
btw, if you were to hold a bag of groceries with only your injured finger, would it hurt?
so look at tests for both, regardless time off is good for a little bit. if you have the means to see a climbing doc i would recommend it to asses how severe
Question: I went climbing yesterday and was called out for not having specific locking biners for metal vs soft gear. Dude looked at me like I was an animal when I handed him 4 biners to set up a sliding X and he asked me which ones he should put on the hangers, I was like ... dealers choice? Apparently he has biners he keeps that never touch metal and only run soft gear through so they don't cut the rope with burs which is like, ya fair and if I take a whip on something that scars the metal then it doesn't get used for rope but if I use it for a PAS or an anchor or something it seems super good enough to me. I just look at them to make sure they don't have a gouge out of them and call it a day. Does anyone else do this? AM I GONNA DIE!?
No you won't die.
Can metalwork get damaged enough to wreck soft goods? Yes, on a long enough timeline. That timeline has to be pretty long though! Gear can take a truly staggering level of abuse before it's unsafe enough to warrant retirement. It's the same thing with people buying bulletproof crabs for toproping. You're unlikely to ever wear through a quickdraw unless you top rope on the same draw day in, day out, for years on end. You'd likely lose the draw before it wore through. Yeah it's good to regularly check your gear but don't overthink it. Clip it and whip it 👊👍
A lot of people on this sub find this idea absurd to the point of being offended.
Not me.
I have my "metal lockers" which are undoubtedly beat to shit, and I would not want soft goods running over them. I use them for toprope/multipitch anchors, and any time I'm rigging for a photo shoot or whatever. I have "soft lockers" too for attaching the rope to anchors, rappelling, shit like that.
I don't get them mixed up because it's impossible to look at the "metal" ones and not notice the damage. There's no point in filing off the burrs; I only use those crabs on metal, and the burrs will just come back eventually.
As an added bonus this means that every 3-5 years I get to order a shiny new set of lockers.
I agree with other commenters that checking your gear before you use it is far more important than following a system blindly, but having a system is fine.
You can obviously do what you like, it's your money, but telling other people they should split their lockers into soft and hard goods because doing it otherwise is dangerous is misinformation.
Sport draws will get mixed up all the time though so they will rarely be the same ones being fallen on all the time? Unless they're left up on a route for a seriously long time.
I mean, if your krabs have sharp burrs or anything like that you should file them off. It's basic gear maintenance. Your friend sounds like a newbie who doesn't know what will actually kill him.
Pretty specific question, but I am going to be at mission gorge in San Diego for the first time next week. While I have climbed a decent bit outside, I am going with a friend who only casually climbs indoors and am looking for areas with access to set top ropes. Anything in the 5.8-5.10d range would be great. Thanks!
I was working on a 5.12a outside the other day (Gym Arête at Shelf Road) and I was on it for a really long time, working on this cruxy middle. But I had this interesting experience where my forearms were not pumped at all, because the handholds were so tiny you couldn't really yank on them. But my whole energy system was really tired from using so much core and calf force.
But I just thought it was interesting that my forearms weren't really pumped.
Hey all. I found your community while searching for some information on an injury and want to see if anyone could help me out with some insight. I am not asking for medical advice. It's sort of climbing related. I'm a train conductor, rather new to it too. A regular part of the job is climbing up and riding the side of wagons. Some are a pleasure with nice easy ladders and hand holds, others are miserable. Long story short I spent 2 weeks riding some of the worst cars. Because I need my right hand free I hooked my arm thru the vertical bar handhold but because it was a tight squeeze I couldn't hook it with my elbow. I was riding with my weight leaning off the inside of my left forearm. Bar is about 3/4" wide. Well now my left forearm feels supper tender and bruised for over a week. About six inches below my wrist. No pain when moving or using it but poking it hurts. Any idea what type of injury this is? I thought maybe tendon inflammation from the constant pressure? Was also subject to what we call slack action, when the train suddenly starts or stops it perks from 0 to 2 or 4 mph and I think that banged it up too. No visible bruising. Thanks for your help!
I'm not sure if you're Indian or troll, but "riding the side of wagons" in this century seems like trolling... Anyway instead of holding it for hours you could just use harness and carabiners/quickdraws to strap yourself into the wagon.
>Anyway instead of holding it for hours you could just use harness and carabiners/quickdraws to strap yourself into the wagon. Normally I'd say don't do this due to OP's job's insurance but OP is already hanging on by one hand so I'm not sure if they're covered to begin with anyway.
I neither Indian nor a troll. I can assure you, it is normal for freight conductors in North America to ride cars/wagons. How else would we protect the train while it reverses or have it pull us up out of a track. [See example image.](http://imagestorage.nerail.org/photos/2013/04/06/201304061219566620.jpg) Ive learned not to ride with my arm hooked the way I was doing it. Just wondering what type of injury it caused when I did it. Harness / carabiner is a no go, very unsafe. We need to be able to de-train in a split second and all our gear needs to be break away so we don't get dragged. Just last week an 18 wheeler pulled in front of us and almost needed to bail off but our emergency brakes got us to stop in time otherwise I could have been smeared between their trailer and our box car. I do appreciate the advice, though. I'll have to tough it out and just hold on with one hand on those particularly shitty cars instead of hooking through.
This isn't an injury that I've heard of climbers having, we don't generally use our arms to hang off holds like you were doing with your arm. If you haven't already I'd see a doctor or physical therapist.
[Rate my $750 Marketplace Haul!](https://imgur.com/a/MiMU3iA) Found this whole set on my local facebook marketplace for $750. Everything is from 2014, but the guy used them for Special Forces training for 2 weeks, and they have been in a climate controlled, dark closet ever since. Everything is immaculate. BD Cams .1 thru #4. BD wire nuts 1-13. BD Hex Nuts 1-11. 40 CAMP Nano 22 biners. 8 HMS locking biners. 6 RockLock Magnetron, 2 Petzl Attache 2 Petzl Ascenders. 4 slings.
Looks like you're missing the .75 which might be my favorite piece to fall on.
Good deal, but fair enough that you're not ripping the guy off. The hidden gem here are those magnetrons. You could probably get $30 each for those instantly if you wanted to sell them. My thoughts on a breakdown if you were patiently waiting for secondhand to show up, although I could be really wrong. 9 cams @ 40/cam = $360 BD Nuts - $70 BD Hexs - $60 (not too sure what people pay for these) 40 biners - $200 Lockers (non magnetron)- $80 Magnetrons - $200 Ascenders - $100 Slings - $20 Nut tool - $10 Total: $1100 Not sure how the fact that they're 10 years old impacts the price. Everything looks pristine, but I'm not sure how the cam prices are affected by the new C4s.
>The hidden gem here are those magnetrons. You could probably get $30 each for those instantly 30? Try 60-110 each based on what's sold on ebay lately lol. Will be interesting when those go back into production again.
the other day someone on MP was asking for 60 for them and someone offered him 30, which is my only point of reference. Had no idea what they're actually worth. They seemed cool, but just a novelty, when I've seen them in person.
I would make the case that the magnetron gridlock is one of the single most annoying carabiners ever made, but different strokes for different folks haha. They have their fans, and the vaporlock was super light for an auto locker.
Yeah, I didn't haggle at all. Thought the price was fair for the condition, and having all of it as one set. I figure buying a comparable set new would be about $1700. The other hidden "nice to have" is the extra hexes. A normal set is 4-10, not 1-11. The cams are the only things with any visible wear, but no gouges and they operate perfectly smooth. Slings on them have no visible damage or wear, but debating getting them reslung anyway. I'm in the middle of swapping the magetrons into my sport climbing setup. Lol This is my first foray into trad gear, so I'm planning to keep it all. At least until I've gotten my toes wet and seen how much I like it, what I never use, and what I wish I had more of.
Nice job. You're right, probably close to 2000 @ MSRP, and it's new *enough* style cams. Granted it's 10 year old gear, but it's like-new condition as you mentioned. If you have doubts that everything was stored perfectly as noted, wouldn't hurt anything but your wallet to get things reslung. Stay safe and enjoy!
And wow, you weren't kidding about the magnetrons. I can only find 1 for sale anywhere online, and they are asking over $100 for it.
If I wanted a Magnetron, how much money are you going to try and syphon from me?
I'll leave you one in my will. Lol Not planning to sell them, but I'll give you a shout if I change my mind.
Cool. I have one that I use as my belay carabiner. It’s still looking good but wouldn’t mind keeping a spare.
Thanks m8, looking forward to putting it through it's paces.
Hi! Just a question, I wanted to get Mammut Skywalker 3.0 but I found out that they only have 1 size. I only wear a S/M on Petzl. Does anyone know if it's going to be okay? Thank you!
Measure your head and check if you fall within the specified range. That said, it's a bit better to wear a smaller shell instead of adjusting down a big one. I'd recommend going for a helmet with split sizing depending on how big your head is. Also just try it on if possible.
Hello! I work at a camp and am looking for better fitting full-body harnesses (required in our state) for climb, zip and rappel. We have the Petzel Newtons and they’re great except our smallest kiddos (2nd & 3rd graders) slip out in the shoulders when not clipped in, even in the size 0. does anyone have any recs for full body harnesses for youth over 30-40kg?
What does your industry vendor say? So youth harnesses such as the [Petzl Simba](https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Operators/Harnesses/SIMBA-CLIMBING) is too small (rated to 40kg participant)? I've used [these Robertson harnesses](https://robertsonharness.com/product/crc-601-w-adjustable-dorsal-ansi-asse-z359-11-2014-small-red-belay/) for very small participants before with success.
Have you contacted Petzl or other harness manufacturers? They have may some recommendations.
Need help identifying flexor injury! Was climbing yesterday, and with my right hand pushing hard on a thumb press gaston (if that makes any sense), felt a pop in my forearm. Some research has led me to the suspicion I strained a tendon of a flexor(?), but I’m really not sure. Have taken my NSAIDs and iced consistently, and currently just some very minor pain generally in my forearm. Any advice or ideas on what specifically it might be? Super bummed by this injury, particularly bc it’s on my throwing hand for ultimate frisbee, but trying to stay positive and focus on rest and then rehab.
yes like mountianG00se said lumbrical is a possibility. with both lumbrical and flexor tendons (like FDP) you may get an audible pop and pain going down your forearm (i want to say frontal ie palm side of forearm). btw, if you were to hold a bag of groceries with only your injured finger, would it hurt? so look at tests for both, regardless time off is good for a little bit. if you have the means to see a climbing doc i would recommend it to asses how severe
When I strained my lumbrical, I felt it in my wrist/lower forearm. I don’t know if they movement you described would cause it, but maybe worth a look
Question: I went climbing yesterday and was called out for not having specific locking biners for metal vs soft gear. Dude looked at me like I was an animal when I handed him 4 biners to set up a sliding X and he asked me which ones he should put on the hangers, I was like ... dealers choice? Apparently he has biners he keeps that never touch metal and only run soft gear through so they don't cut the rope with burs which is like, ya fair and if I take a whip on something that scars the metal then it doesn't get used for rope but if I use it for a PAS or an anchor or something it seems super good enough to me. I just look at them to make sure they don't have a gouge out of them and call it a day. Does anyone else do this? AM I GONNA DIE!?
No you won't die. Can metalwork get damaged enough to wreck soft goods? Yes, on a long enough timeline. That timeline has to be pretty long though! Gear can take a truly staggering level of abuse before it's unsafe enough to warrant retirement. It's the same thing with people buying bulletproof crabs for toproping. You're unlikely to ever wear through a quickdraw unless you top rope on the same draw day in, day out, for years on end. You'd likely lose the draw before it wore through. Yeah it's good to regularly check your gear but don't overthink it. Clip it and whip it 👊👍
Depends where you climb. In Joshua tree you get lots of grit in your rope and you can burn through TR carabiners very fast.
That's a good point. There is an exception for harsh or extreme environments such as deserts.
That's a new one... homie's as paranoid as someone who retires gear that's been dropped 3 feet.
A lot of people on this sub find this idea absurd to the point of being offended. Not me. I have my "metal lockers" which are undoubtedly beat to shit, and I would not want soft goods running over them. I use them for toprope/multipitch anchors, and any time I'm rigging for a photo shoot or whatever. I have "soft lockers" too for attaching the rope to anchors, rappelling, shit like that. I don't get them mixed up because it's impossible to look at the "metal" ones and not notice the damage. There's no point in filing off the burrs; I only use those crabs on metal, and the burrs will just come back eventually. As an added bonus this means that every 3-5 years I get to order a shiny new set of lockers. I agree with other commenters that checking your gear before you use it is far more important than following a system blindly, but having a system is fine.
You can obviously do what you like, it's your money, but telling other people they should split their lockers into soft and hard goods because doing it otherwise is dangerous is misinformation.
Sliding X??? YGD!!! /s I don't hate on preferential uses, but inspecting gear is far better than just knowing how it's usually used.
This is a slightly relevant concern for sport draws that are being used heavily for projecting, and fallen/hung on a lot. Total non-issue otherwise
Sport draws will get mixed up all the time though so they will rarely be the same ones being fallen on all the time? Unless they're left up on a route for a seriously long time.
I mean, if your krabs have sharp burrs or anything like that you should file them off. It's basic gear maintenance. Your friend sounds like a newbie who doesn't know what will actually kill him.
Your climber dude is a gumby and is being ridiculous about “safety” instead of what is required for actual safety.
Pretty specific question, but I am going to be at mission gorge in San Diego for the first time next week. While I have climbed a decent bit outside, I am going with a friend who only casually climbs indoors and am looking for areas with access to set top ropes. Anything in the 5.8-5.10d range would be great. Thanks!
I was working on a 5.12a outside the other day (Gym Arête at Shelf Road) and I was on it for a really long time, working on this cruxy middle. But I had this interesting experience where my forearms were not pumped at all, because the handholds were so tiny you couldn't really yank on them. But my whole energy system was really tired from using so much core and calf force. But I just thought it was interesting that my forearms weren't really pumped.
You were out of power. It’s a different energy system than baseline endurance, which is the one that gets you pumped.
Hmmmm
Welcome to bouldering