Jenny's Gear Lists

Text and pictures © 1990-2008 Guillaume Dargaud
Last updated on 2007/11/26

"APPARATUS:
- 97 Ice Axes,
- 5 Cases Dynamite,
- 7 Cans Nitroglycerin
- ..."    — From Mark Twain's "A Tramp Abroad" (1880), a snippet of the gear list for the ascent of Riffelberg.

If you are like me and you always forget stuff when leaving on a climbing trip, there are two solutions: either leave everything in a pile at the entrance of the apartment (what I used to do before getting married), or get someone with a sense of organization to deal with the gear (a.k.a. a wife)... Jenny's good at compiling packing lists and here are some of her lists. The smart-ass comments are mine.

On the right side you will find some tips, tricks and reflections to make your climbing gear better... I will add some as we think them up, as we review and modify our gear, or as you suggest them to us.

Click here to Hide the tricks before printing this page. You can always view them again by clicking on the small icons.

Rock climbing gear

Summer clothing

• Socks and shoes for the approach.
• Pants: long or short (depending on season, but on long routes always take long pants).
• Over pant: light rain protection.
• Multiple top layers:
• Capilène lightwear T-shirt (or sports top for women).
• Medium to heavy fleece.
• Light Raincoat jacket / K-way.
• Headgear:
• Hat for sun protection.
• Thin balaclava.
• Gloves: light Capilène.
• Sunglasses 100% UV protection

Technical rock gear

Stinky shoes ?

Problem with stinky climbing shoes ? Stick them in the washing machine (only if they do not contain leather) ! The stink comes from bacteria growing in the dust and sweat mixture, so it gets worse in hot humid weather and dusty deserts. If you want to prevent the stink, wear thin socks or even women's tights cut at the ankles.
And against those evil painful feet jam in cracks, ask your favorite resoling shop to add some rubber on top of the toes. It works great, see picture on right (the holes are to let sweat go through).

• Climbing shoes (plus very thin pair of socks if very hot, very cold, very stinky or crack climbing).
• Helmet: adjustable and low ears.
• Headlamp:
• Very light (Petzl Tikka style) always in your pack.
• Or standard size (Pezl Zoom) for long or multiple days
• Harness: with adjustable and cushy padding legs and waist, plus drop seat.
• Chalk.
• Ropes: 60 meters double ropes (200 feet); different colors, mark the middle of each one, better if waterproof.
Triple slings
Confused of carrying too much gear: quickdraws, shoulder length slings, doubles... Just replace all you quickdraws by shoulder length slings. Put 2 biners (A and B) at opposite sides, pass biner B through A and clip B to the two slings attached to A. You now have a nice quickdraw made out of triple spectra (spectra is better for this use thanks to its softness). If you need to use it extended, just grab one biner and one of the 3 slings that go through it and tip it so as to throw the other two slings out; only one hand necessary with little practice.
• Spectra slings folded in 3 with 2 biners each.
• Two screamers or more for R/X routes.
• 3 double length slings with extra biners.
• Extra quick-draws.
Figure 8
Although very much out of fashion nowadays, remember that the figure 8 is the only device that enables you to rappel through knots, something essential when backing quickly off a climb after tying all your ropes together... I always carry one. They are also good for rappelling on anything from single 4mm shoe laces to double 13mm static ropes. And still plenty good for belaying leader, second...
• Belaying device and rappelling gear: Figure 8/ Belay plate / Reverso / Jaws... (No Gri Gri!)
• Abandon sling and prusik.
• One or two lock biners.
• Other devices: Tibloc / Mini Pulley.
• Soloist / silent partner if going alone.
Large cams
You shelled more than 100$ for that #5 Camalot and you wouldn't go without it for all the offwidths in the world, but it's not very convenient to carry. Cut a piece off a metal coat hanger to the distance between the outer cams. Bend one end so you can attach a thin rope to it (1mm) and attach the rope to the shaft of the cam. Now compress the cams and insert the metal piece through all 4 cams. It will keep the cams compressed and takes half as much room as before, making it more convenient to carry. And the metal piece will fall off by itself when you pull the trigger before inserting it into that flared overhanging offwidth... Note: compress your cams this way only while climbing; if you forget them at home it will weaken the spring.
• Full trad rack: gear sling, cams, friends, aliens, Lowe-ball, small tricam, offset cams, nuts, offsets nuts, medium hexcentrics, nut tool... Here's a more detailed list of our current gears:
• Almost complete set of DMM 4CU (from size #1), with a few doubles.
• Set of Metolius TCU up to red (4 cams). A couple doubles with only 3 cams.
• Camalot #4 and #4.5
• Flex Friend #6
• Complete set of four Alien Hybrid (incredibly useful on some types of granite)
• A few offset friends, middle size.
• A couple extra cams found on (or under) routes.
• A set of standard stoppers (Cassin).
• A few more specific stoppers: offsets small and medium for piton holes, curve nuts...
• One BigBro #4 for desperate offwidths.

Other gear

• Backpack (20 to 40 liters).
• Insulated water bottle with integrator (Gatorade...).
• Food: Power bars / sandwich / dried and fresh fruit... bring light but high calories stuff (no watery healthy crap) !
• Guidebook (make xerox copies to bring on the route) / Map.
Multipurpose GPS
GPS (Global positioning Systems) have never been very useful for climbers for a bunch of reasons: insufficient vertical resolution, need to be on the move to get accurate directions (hard to do on a steep slope), lack of reception in deep valleys, weight and other drawbacks. But wait there's hope in sight: Clinton removed the military crypto and gave everyone high precision GPS from one day to the next (thanks!); and Garmin integrated a true (pressure) altimeter and a true (magnetic) compass in one of its GPS models, the eTrex Summit, making it a great tool for climbers. You can use the satellite altitude to calibrate the pressure, thus getting accurate sea level pressure for weather forecast and the compass gives you true north direction without having to move. And it's very lightweight too.
And there's a model since 2002 that integrates a GPS and a two-way radio, the Garmin Rino 110 and 120 ! And there is also the Magellan GSC 100, a GPS that does email; or the Magellan Triton 2000, a GPS+camera+MP3+compass+barometer... And now several digital cameras also have integrated GPS. Polar has several heart monitor watches with digital compass or even GPS receiver. To say nothing of the cell phones with (cheezy) integrated cameras or mp3 players. There's a cell phone that also does satellite phone.
Convergence is great. Once we have GPS, 2-way radio, cell phone, satellite phone, ebook/map reader, digital compass, altimeter, digital camera, laser ranger, rescue beacon, avalanche beacon, heart rate monitor, mp3 player, tazer and wireless PDA (so as to post to rec.climbing while on the route) all in one box powered by a hand-crank charger, we'll be all set... Provided it weighs less than a pickup truck. But then your boss will be able to tell in one phone call that you are not in bed with the flu, but enjoying the 5th pitch of some outback climb and how cute your new partner is...
• Optional: GPS / Compass / Altimeter. The choice depends a lot on what kind of weather you can expect.
• Swiss army knife / Leatherman.
• Camera with extra films (if very cold bring Lithium batteries).
• Alarm clock for multiple day climbs.
• Sun screen and lip balm.
• Toilet paper.
• Freshette for women.
• Optional: 2-way radio (particularly if wind expected), cell-phone.
• Jammies / hand tape for crack jamming.

Bouldering

• Crash pad (also good to sleep on).
• Chalk or pof depending on local ethics.
• Climbing shoes.
• Water.
• Clothing.
• An attitude...

Left: The women of the expedition trying out their 'Freshette' accessories with Cho-Oyu in the background

Sport Climbing

• Climbing shoes.
• Belaying device
• 10 to 17 quick draws.
• 1 or 2 long slings with extra biners for top-rope setup.
• Cheater stick for sissies (or telescopic ski pole + duct tape for absolute sissies !)
• Harness.
• Belayer !
• One 60 meters rope 11mm.
• Rope bag.
• Heavy fleece.
• Water
Carrying guidebooks
Don't know where to put those big guidebooks when climbing without a pack ? At home use a power drill to drill a 3mm hole in the upper left corner of the book through all the pages, very near the binding but still through the pages. Thread a piece of shoestring through. Knot. Clip to harness and keep the book closed with a big rubber band. Works better on smallish books.
• Guidebook
• Camera.
• Toilet paper.

Aid and Big Wall climbing

• 11mm lead rope.
• Haul rope (7~8mm static).
• Aiders.
• Hooks/cliffhanger/talon/cam hook/keyhole hanger/titanium rap/RURP/fifi hook...
• Pitons, two hammers and funkness device (to extract pitons).
• Bolt kit (drill, bolts...) only for first ascents and if small balls.
• Two ascender or croll each.
• Extra slings.
• Extra biners.
• Leather fingerless gloves.
• Portaledge for multi-day climbs.
• Haul bag with plastic bottle knot protector top.
• Daisy chains.
• Torso harness.
• Grigri so the belayer can sleep on those slow aid pitches.
• A whole lot more...

Emergency gear

Always in the pack

• Lighter.
• Duct tape (roll it on itself to save space). Or much better, gaffer tape, which can be repositionned and doesn't leave dirty glue residues on every thing it touches.
• Chemical warming pads (for hands and feet), that you need to replace once a year.
• Emergency aluminum foil blanket.
• Whistle.
• Small first aid kit (tiny for day outings, bigger for long trip).
First Aid Kit
Obviously you won't take the same things on Denali than climbing in Rattle Snake County in full summer. Use your judgment and remember that the stuff inside has a rather short expiration period. One thing that is often overlooked is a bunch (10~15) of medium size safety pins: with them you can improvise a stretcher very easily, immobilize up a broken arm, fix a torn tent...
• Very light headlamp (Petzl Tikka style or mini-LED key-ring).
• Packages of high-energy goo.
• Mini Swiss Army knife.
• Light Capilène gloves.
• Water purification tablets.

Winter Climbing Gear

Winter Clothing

Thumb holes
When buying a thin pile to use for close body wear, choose it in stretch material with the sleeves as long as possible and punch holes to put your thumbs through. It warms up you hands a lot for rock-climbing in the cold or even under a pair of gloves.
• Underwear (Capilène or synthetic, cotton won't dry !).
• Socks: heavy Torlo style (plus a light Capilène pair).
• Pants: light and/or heavy Capilène (stretch preferred).
• Over pants: Goretex pants or bib.
• Multiple top layers:
• Light fleece base layer (stretch preferred).
• Heavy fleece (stretch preferred).
• Wind-stopper torso.
• Pile jacket (wind-stopper preferred).
Goretex
Never wash your Goretex/windbreaker. Better to let it stink than loose all waterproofing.
Now Volker Hilsenstein disagrees with me: "Unfortunately sweat is quite aggressive and if you never wash it out the gore-tex is a lot more likely to delaminate (that's what happened to my jacket). The proper way to handle a gore-tex jacket is: wash it when dirty, iron the gore-tex (no joke !), re-apply water-repellent (to prevent the base material (nylon) from getting soggy). Soggy nylon has no breathability at all. The ironing helps the water-repellent stuff to work its way into the fabric after washing."
I haven't tried, but I don't sweat much and it hardly ever rains in Colorado...
• Goretex jacket.
• Down jacket or full down outfit if very cold.
• Gloves:
• Light Capilène under gloves (always in your pack as an emergency).
• Ice climbing gloves with fingers (Charlet Moser style or heavy wind-stopper) + a second similar pair to change when those are too wet.
• Over-gloves in Goretex.
• Down mittens, for long winter ascents / bivvys.
• Headgear:
  • Hat: polartec fleece with band to cover ears and wind-stopper liner; suitable under helmet.
  • Balaclava (or belly-cover as I misunderstood for years!): polartec and wind-stopper with face mask, suitable under helmet.
  • Ear-band in wind-stopper.
  • Face mask in wind-stopper or neoprene for bad ass storms.
  Custom face mask

  When the temperature drops very low, you can freeze your lungs if you breath too hard (it's happened to me and you end up with a cough for months). Using a neoprene face mask is not a solution: it restricts the flow of air making your lungs labor harder and it doesn't warm the air.
  Take a classic ski goggle and a piece of fleece fabric about 40cm x 40cm. Glue one side of the fabric at the base of the mask. When using, stuff the bottom of the fabric in your collar leaving a large pocket of air in front of your mouth and nose; the warm air you expire will mix up with the cold air seeping through the fabric, warming it. You can regulate the flow of air by taking more out of your collar. It ices up after a while but it's not a big problem. This trick does not work well at high altitude where you want all the O₂ you can get...
  Little dog breath

  A trick for breathing at high altitude (which is all relative): breath in normally, then when you breath out, pinch you lips hard and blow through. This increases the pressure in your lungs, thus increasing the partial pressure of oxygen, and every little bit helps. You aren't a hardcore himalayan climber till you can do this while you sleep...
• Eyes:
• Glacier glasses with dark lenses 100% UV protection and side shields.
• Goggles with exchangeable lens (most useful are pink 100% UV protection for fog and transparent for night storms).
• Gaiters, or overboots for long winter ascents, or One Sport Everest boots for desperate cold.

Technical winter gear

• Plastic boots (Koflach style with spare long laces).
• Crampons: lightweight with antibot for snow couloirs (for instance the super light 10 points model from Kahtoola) or technical for ice climbing (Grivel Rambo 3, plus hex key for setting it properly and file for after mixed routes).
• Snow shoes with clip-on bindings for the approach.
• Snow poles (these should be adjustable, folding in 3 and able to fit in the pack) for the approach.
• A pair of ice axes: long shaft and lightweight for snow couloirs or technical for ice climbing (don't forget to file the pick before leaving).
• Harness: with adjustable and cushy padding legs and waist, plus drop seat.
• Helmet: adjustable and low ears (against falling ice !).
• Headlamp:
• Very light (Petzl Tikka style) always in your pack.
• Or standard size for long nights or multiple days (bring extra battery and extra bulb, if very cold battery should be L91/X92 Energizer Lithium).
• Ropes: two 60 meters double ropes (200 feet, 9mm); different colors help a lot, sign the middle of each one, waterproof / dry.
• Spectra slings folded in 3 with two biners each.
• Screamers.
• 3 or 4 long slings with extra biners.
• Retreat sling.
• Ice screws (from very short for mixed climbing to very long for V-threads) with carrier and one tent stake for cleaning them. A couple old ones for quick retreats if you don't want to spend time building an Abalakov.
• Abakalov (V-thread hook).
• Snow stakes (for snow couloirs).
• Belaying device and rappelling gear: figure 8 / belay plate / Reverso / Jaws... (No Gri Gri!).
• One or two extra lock biners.
• Other devices: Tibloc / Mini pulley.
• Rock gear for mixed climbing (nuts, cams...).

Other winter gear

• Backpack (25 to 70 liters).
• Insulated water bottle with integrator (Gatorade, tea with lots of honey...).
• Food: Power bars/sandwich/dried fruit and nuts... bring light but high calories stuff (no new age / diet crap) !
• Guide book (make photocopies to bring on the route) / Map.
• GPS / compass / altimeter.
• Swiss army knife / Leatherman.
• Camera with extra films (with Lithium AA batteries).
Wake up
Winter camping, tomorrow is the big summit day with a 2am start; you are cozy in your sleeping bag with 40cm of down feathers around you in your Xtreme Minus Zillion Degree sleeping bag... Where do you put the alarm clock ? If on your wrist you won't hear it inside the sleeping bag; if outside the battery may freeze or you may not hear it through the layer of down... Put it inside your balaclava against the back of your head ! Obviously it's better if it's a small watch and not a grandfather's clock...
• Alarm clock for multiple day climbing.
• Sun screen and lip screen.
• Toilet paper.
• Freshette (for women only  !).
• Optional: 2-way radio, cell-phone.
• Compact down elephant's foot for bivvies.

Backcountry skiing

• Skis
Ski poles
Simple poles are the most resistant. 3-parts pole can fit in a pack so they should be preferred for technical climbs. 2-part poles are good for backcountry skiing.
Throw away the tiny plastic thingies they put on new poles and put large baskets instead (sometimes hard to find in stores).
On long traverses or steep hikes up, it's more comfortable to hold the poles partway down, but the metal is often cold and slippery. Put some tennis racket grip tape (or bike handlebar tape, or gaffer tape or duct tape) around the upper section of the pole.
• Poles
• Ski crampons
• Lightweight crampons with horizontal front points (make sure they fit your ski boots, not only your climbing boots)
• Seal skins
• Skin glue and solvent
• Kick-wax and solvent
• Ski boots
Pull your board
Why carry your snowboard or monoski on your pack when going backcountry ? It's a stupid thing to do: it's heavy, it's dangerous if the weather is windy, it's not convenient since you keep hitting your heels against it...
Just drill a 5mm hole at the tip and use a small biner to attach it to a 3 meter sling. Don't attach this sling to any gear loop on your pack (it will rip the stitching) but pass a sling around the pack and clip to it. The only drawbacks of this method is when crossing over rocks or when traversing a slope in a forest, but you can then shorten the sling or... carry it !
• Snowboard/monoski + snowshoes + drag sling and small biner.
• Snow shovel
• Avalanche beacons
• Avalanche probes

Car camping

• Customized car
• Tent
• Sleeping bags (two warm ones and one light one for 2 people).
• Pillow.
• Water pig.
Cooler
Don't put ice in your coolers: it melts off and gets everything wet (maybe OK for beer, not so for steaks). Rather keep a bunch of gatorade bottles in your freezer, but drink one tenth off of each before freezing. Then use them in place of ice in your cooler. When you get back from your climb, they'll still be ice-cold like in a commercial and will have kept the rest of the content cold. PS: I said Gatorade bottles, not beer cans. I've drunk enough frozen beer to last me a lifetime.
Single or double wall tent ?
I had a North Face Mountain 24 for a decade. It just wouldn't die: it got covered by a meter of snow on Denali and the poles weren't even bent, got picked up and banged on rocks for several hundred meters by the wind in Gran Sasso and my mom patched the holes, got into a 3 day long 130km/h windstorm in Sarek and didn't budge... until it burnt in our car. I decided to replace it with a single wall Bibler tent. I like the concept which is very fast to pitch in bad weather conditions. But I guess I didn't choose the right model which was a new one, since then dropped from their catalog. It had some defects (like very poor bug screens, zippers that broke shortly) and the fact that everything is glued on (the pockets for the poles, the pockets for your stuff...) and comes unglued regularly. The fabric of the tent itself is fine and doesn't condensate. During our road trip, the most asked question to us was: "How do you like that tent ?" Well, okay I guess, but if I had to do it again, I'd probably get their super light model for when I need to carry it and buy a 2-second tent for car camping (the kind you just toss in the air and it's all setup).
• Portable water cooler (renew the ice every day).
• Portable toilet seat + bags.
• Crash pad (to sleep on).
• Wood / grill / coal / pliers / scrub.
• Insect repellent.
• Plastic/paper plates and glasses.
• Kitchen paper / foil paper / plastic bags / zip-lock bags.
• Wooden board / bread knife / large meat knife / frying pan / small and large pot / wooden spoon / flat wooden spoon / pasta drainer / cheese grater / plates / plastic (or better wooden) bowls.
• Scrub sponge.
• Tabletop propane stove with two burners.
• Camp oven
• Food:
• Breakfast: homemade cake / biscuits / bread with jam / nutella / honey / cereals with milk / tea / orange juices / sugar or honey...
• Snack: fresh fruit / dried fruit / power bar / marzipan / gorp...
• Lunch: sandwich...
• Dinner:
• Under the coal: potatoes/onion in aluminum foil...
• BBQ: meat, salmon, eggplant, peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, corn with olive oil on top...
• Pasta with quick sauce (butter + cream + smoked salmon, warm raw egg + fried bacon, canned tomato chunks with mushrooms...).
• Fresh salad (carrots, cucumber, spinach and packed salad...).
• Oil / vinegar / salt / pepper / other spices.
• Dessert: chocolate, candy, cake...
Cool drinks
So you are car camping in summer, it's hot and you have a couple bottles of white wine and beer that have spent the day in the car in full sun. Your survival depends on that wine/beer but you don't have any ice to bring it to drinkable temperature... Take some toilet paper (preferably clean...) and wrap it around the bottle/can; soak it with water. Let it stand for a while in a shady and open spot and renew the water if it dries out. The evaporation of the water takes heat away from the bottle (that's basic thermodynamics), even if the water itself is warm. This trick works great if the partial pressure of water is low, i.e. at altitude, with a dry climate or some wind; it doesn't work in wet climate, so don't try it in the rainforest...
• Wine and beer (for after the successful climbs or the major epics only).
• Candle.
• Lamp option for stove
• Folding chair and table.
• Camera with tripod and flash.
• Books / pencil / pen / writing paper.
• Radio / portable CD player.
• Notebook with wireless connection to post daily trip report to rec.climbing...

Remote/winter camping

Soft stakes
Want to plant a tent in the snow ? Leave traditional tent stakes at home. Skis and ice axes work great, but what if you want to leave the tent while you climb with that same gear ? Buy some waterproof fabric, nylon or K-way style and plenty of 3mm rope. Cut the fabric in squares of 30 x 30 cm and have your grandma stitch a passage for the rope on two opposite sides of each square. Cut the rope in pieces of about 1m and pass one piece through each side. Tie them up and attach them to the guy lines of the tent. In winter, dig a hole in the snow, put them in, cover them with snow and step on top; after some time the snow hardens and they can even be very hard to remove. You can leave them permanently tied to the tent, in summer just put rocks inside.
Or you can buy them ready made at Bibler.
• Tent (with soft stakes for snow).
• Down sleeping bags.
• Sleeping pads (lightweight Z-rest).
• Optional bivvy bag.
Hanging stove
The debate is usually butane/propane stove vs white gaz stove. Wrong. It should be table stove vs. hanging stove. Get a hanging stove and you'll never want another stove for winter camping or bivvys. For 1~3 people I've been using the Markill Stormy ever since my solo trips in Alaska; it uses standard butane/propane cartridges and is quite compact. The great thing about a hanging stove is that you set the tent up then immediately hang the stove and start making water while your partner finishes pitching the tent, sorts the gear, gets the tent organized, changes clothing... No risk to spill dinner in the sleeping bag; no more cooking outside in storms because of flaring stoves; no more priming with dangerous chemicals... Very important: always leave the door of the tent open to avoid dying of carbon monoxide poisoning.
If it gets very cold, either use a chemical re-usable cartridge heat pad (Coleman/Primus 720141), a lighter held underneath or a 2nd stove to warm the first cartridge (be extra super cautious with that) ! The Markill does not have too much problem with cold because you can hang the cartridge in a way that it touches the hot body of the stove. For those who prefer white gas (boom!), you can get the Bibler hanging stove.
Note that the Markill exists in different versions. Get the one with feet so you can also use it on a table.
• Gas stove with fuel / lighter / pot handle / chain to hang gas stove / re-usable heat pad / salt.
• Plastic cups/bowls (500 ml).
• Spoon and fork, Swiss army knife.
• Insulated water bottle or thermos with a ziplock of Gatorade powder.
• Standard size head lamp with extra battery.
• Snow shovel.
• Black trash bags for storing snow or even making water directly if it's warm enough during the day (just hang it from the roof of the tent; make sure there's no hole first).
• Alarm clock.
• Food
• Film canister full of salt (keep it with the stove). Another one full of a mix of black pepper and herbs (get the french mix or the italian mix).
• Breakfast: biscuits (Scottish shortbread, 110 kcal each) / tea / honey or sugar.
• Snack: dried fruit / power bar (keep in pocket) / marzipan (almond paste).
• Lunch: sandwich (ham/cheese/salami/lard).
• Dinner: instant soup, freeze-dry + parmesan cheese (very caloric) or lard or butter, dark chocolate.
• Change of dry clothes (no cotton).
• Down booties and fleece socks for camp.
• Paperback book of some entertaining story (avoid the sad depressing stuff).

Catastrophe backpack

While we are on the subject of equipment packing, here's a suggested list of equipment to keep in a backpack in your home, to grab and run in case of major emergency (hurricane, flood, earthquake, forest fires, angry wife, WWIII, shotgun wedding narrow escape...) before heading for the woods. Remember, if the shit really hits the fan, don't stay in cities. Of course, the kind of equipment that may be needed depends a lot on where you live and what kind of potential emergency you may have to face; so try to think beforehand if you are more likely to be hit by a hurricane, an IRS audit or a disgruntled employee. Plan accordingly.

• Street-level maps of the city and maps of surrounding regions.
• Compass & GPS.
• Pencil & paper.
• Minimal first aid kit, including any actual medications that have a decent enough shelf life to store for a while. Spare contacts or glasses if you need them.
• Dust mask.
• Human-powered (also known as hand-crank or kinetic) radio. Small wide-band receive transceiver, like the Yaesu VX-2R. Repeater guide.
• Universal hand-crank charger (for cell phone, camera batteries, 2-way radio, headlamp, etc).
• Tiny LED headlamp, kinetic flashlight with strobe. Heck, one of those (the eGear Dyno-Mite) weights only 15 grams and costs 7$ !
• Food for a week (energy bars at least, GORP, salt, honey, plastic bottle of oil, instant soups, possibly some freeze-dry packets...)
• Water purifier pump with spare filter. In case of flood this is the single most important item.
• Some 'space blankets'.
• Laminated copy of personal records (birth certificate, wedding certificate, SSN card, diplomas, recent tax forms, insurance policies, driver's license, certifications...). Medical history for those with medical issues.
• Spare clothing (pants, socks, long underpants, t-shirts, a sweatshirt, reflective orange emergency vest). No cotton: wool or pile (this means no blue-jeans).
• A light rain jacket (K-way or similar) and possibly rain pants. If you live in a cold region, put in a compactable down jacket.
• Chemical hand-warming packets.
• Firesteel, lighter, waterproof matches, firestarting piston. The more the better.
• Several hundred $ or local currency in cash. If you expect WWIII, pack in some gold !!! Also, even though they are heavy, think about taking rolls of change as when shit happens banks will close and then shops, even if they want to, will be unable to sell you stuff if you don't have exact change.
• Leatherman tool, spoon, plastic bowl. Large fixed blade knife (hunter style, metal blade).
• Plastic bottle of pure alcohol (actually 95% ethanol) for stove use, medicinal use, firestarter, and even drinking if you are getting desperate.
• Homemade soda can stove. Light metal pot for boiling water.
• Small roll of gaffer tape, roll of parachute cord (100m), tube of super-glue.
• A bunch of Ziploc Bags.
• Whistle.
• USB key with most important files.
• A basic Survival guidebook, which you'd better study first.
• And finaly a toothbrush with paste. You can survive fine without soap for a few weeks (we know that from experience), but not having a toothbrush turns uncomfortable pretty quickly.

Also consider where to keep the pack: entrance of your house to grab on the way out ? Trunk of your car ? At your office ?

Note that in case of orderly evacuation by car, you will want to get more than the list above. Some important items that you should be able to toss into a car on a 15 minutes notice: pets, family photos (this is irreplaçable), wedding album, personal journal (if it's still on paper and not on a blog!), fileserver (better if you have everything regularly backed up to an external hard drive, even better if it's backed up offsite), a laptop with wireless (alternate communication medium that may be available if cellphones are saturated), a camera to document the event, surgical masks, some valuables (jewelry), spare change (rolls of coins become very handy if banks are closed for a long time), hiking and camping gear (large water container, 2-second tent, sleeping bag, mattress, extra blankets, good stove, plenty of gas for the stove, pots and pans), extra clothing, long conservation food (cans or better: dried stuff...), construction tools (cordless drill, hammer, screwdrivers, saw, axe, nails, screws), larger solar or better hand-crank charger, power inverter, cooler or power cooler, bike. Don't expect being able to find gas for the car. Consider a destination and brief some family members / neighbors about it. As experience has shown, don't trust the government to help: if you've lost everything, you no longer pay taxes and a week after the disaster you are not news.

Rec.Climbing endorsed gear for next year

The gecko climbing shoes

Comes in two models: the GreenFoot based on chopped off real gecko feet or the MetalFoot Lowe/HomeDepot design based on a large metal brush. Great for those long runouts at Glacier Point Apron. You'll finally be able to lead the Snake Dyke.

The Essential Joe S. belay knife.

As seen in most climbing movies. Reinforced Carbide tip with diamond coating allows you to also use it to quickly and efficiently carve holds in blank 5.9 rock.

The Safe Binner.

Made out of very advanced poly-alloy, you drop it as much as you want and it won't micro-crack. Come with an optional electronic accelerometer embedded inside warning you when it's been through too much and you should retire it. Only $2000 each.

The 'Suck' advanced slab protection device.

With this device you can aid long blank sections of rock without having to place bolts. You can also protect those hard 5.8 moves when the bolts at your favorite crag are placed more than one meter apart. You too can 'suck'. Picture of unknown origin on right.

The full body rubber suit.

After the sticky shoes and the hand jammies, you too can finally climb those heinous offwidths/squeezes and make them feel like real 5.9, just like Layton Kor and Brutus of Wyde rated them. Comes with a barrel of talc powder to put the suit on.

Centraly marked ropes.

To cut short any further discussions, a consortium of leading ropemakers has setup a discussion group to decide on how to establish a marking standard in the safest way. Should come out anytime now.

The hard to find Bolt Gun.

As seen in Cliffhanger and finally available to normal climbers who are not yet superstars. Uses 48 AA batteries (not included) and Black Diamond ice screws.

The r.c cell-phone

Calls 911 automatically when your pants get brown from the inside. Or when it gets dark. Or cold. Or your stock of Power Bars is down to one. Or your Camelback is leaking. Optional configuration include a quick TR button which will post a standard victory Trip Report for when you finally manage to free that 5.8 you've been working on for a week.

The Trip Report generator

A masterpiece of artificial intelligence and Dadaism all in one. You just feed it a few basic elements: name of route, nickname of partner, how much runout, how many times you went offroute and a few other keywords and it generates a Trip Report that will earn you adulation on r.c. Certified by Dingus. Windows installer comes on a CD with abusive EULA terms.

The big wall Suzie Doll.

Lighter than a realdoll and won't puncture if dragged behind the pig thanks to special reinforced kevlar fabric. The favorite big wall climber model is 'Big Suzie' who will lighten up your hauls big time when filled with helium. Comes with certificate of quality from MadDog, solar battery charger and a gallon can of Suzie-lube. Helium refill tanks sold separately.

Essential DVD collection

Contains all the major motion pictures in climbing history: Cliffbanger, Vomital Limit, Key Too, Eiger Pension... DVD audio tracks feature commentaries by gym rats and an acerbic rebutal by Lord Slime.