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Generally when doing multi-pitch climbs, I prefer to just climb with a light pack. However, sometimes that's just not possible and the pack(s) must be hauled instead.

What are some good ways to haul a pack up a pitch? Where does it best fit in around belaying the second? What are good ways to avoid getting packs stuck?

I'm thinking particularly of something that's light enough to haul hand-over-hand with some breaks in there, and speed of hauling is important.

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Here's a detailed article on hauling called Hauling 101.

Summary:

  • Use a pulley Back up your pulley
  • Use a safety line or tie yourself in independently
  • Attach a 40 foot piece of static line (7 mm is a good diameter) permanently to the haul bag, to be used as a leash. This will help with lowering a lot.
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  • Thanks for the answer. I was thinking more specifically of hauling a "light" pack under 20 lbs, not necessarily a full bigwall climbing kit. – Felix Jan 2 '14 at 17:23
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Just girth hitch a double length sling around your belay loop and clip a biner to the haul loop of your pack. Hang it between your legs while you chimney, shimmy or otherwise do whatchu gotta do. When you're out of the business, pull it up and put it back on your back. No extra gear, minimal time and fuss, little chance of it getting stuck because you can actively manage it.

Alternatively, if you need the leader to be free of a pack for a full pitch - you could have the second climb with the pack (using the "leader pack/second pack" paradigm...but where leader pack = no pack).

Perhaps you are starting to see my personal bias toward never having to deal with the hassle of hauling a pack...

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    Are you saying to climb every pitch while having the pack dangling below you, hung off of your belay loop? That sounds incredibly awkward. – Ben Crowell Feb 2 '14 at 1:14
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    I'm assuming that you don't need to hang the pack for every pitch, or even a whole pitch. If you need to haul it for every pitch, why don't you just bring a "proper" haul rig? My suggestion is for routes where you only need to haul for a small fraction of the total route. – andy Feb 2 '14 at 21:01
  • @andy, Welcome to outdoors.sx! I think that is a perfectly fine way to go for short sections (I've done this many times before), but I probably wouldn't want to do that for a full pitch, especially with a heavy pack. – Felix Feb 3 '14 at 15:27
  • @Felix that makes sense - I thought your question was asking more about short sections than full pitches. See edits above. – andy Feb 3 '14 at 15:47

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