Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion What's In Your Pack?

Bulldog:

A good question. I think a VERY small knife is always good to carry on a multi-pitch or alpine route. I keep a tiny knife made by Metolius clipped on my "sh_t happens biner" along with two prusik cords, a small screw link, and a Petzl E-light.

There could be cases where you would need to cut your climbing rope, but that would be extraordinarily rare. If your rope gets stuck in most cases you have to figure out how to get it back in order to get down, (i.e re-leading the pitch with rope you have left, or God forbid prussiking back up...can be very sketchy).

The most common use of a knife while climbing would be to cut away old rap tat so you could replace it with some new cord or webbing as well as using the knife to cut off pieces of a cordellette or webbing to use for rap anchors. A lighter is also useful to burn the ends after cutting.


Take care,
Kent