You may have seen our blog posts on some of the heinous approaches and exposure we encounter while mapping. Many times we find ourselves in unprotectable territory, where even this gear can't help us (slab!). But, when we can, we try to set up some form of protection. Our regular rock climbing paraphernalia is too heavy to carry on daily, long, arduous mapping outings. So, we have an ultralight set of gear we carry with us. This gear below is Stef's set-up. Rick and I use most, but not all, of the same equipment. (NOTE: The gear we use and highlight here was purchased by us for our specific needs - this is not a sponsored post.)

CAMP Alp Racing Harness

This is a super light weight, compact harness that fits inside the smaller backpacks we wear when mapping. Because it is so minimal, there is no place for our OP Link Cams. I wear the link cams on my Grivel multi-pitch backpack.

Video: 0:38 sec

Omega Pacific (OP) Link Cams

Affectionately dubbed our "oh shit!" cams, we carry the OP Link cams with us while mapping, as well as on questionable sport/bolted climbs to protect runout. We also carry them as part of our regular trad rack. I typically save these cams for the anchor because (1) I have usually placed most of my other gear and (2) the wide camming range is great for the unknowns you encounter when building an anchor. They have an amazing camming range (see video).

Video: 1:05 min/sec

Beal, 30 m, 8 ml, half-rope

I (Stefani) placed my women's size 8 foot next to the rope so you can see how compact it is. And, it only weighs 2.5 lbs! In addition to using it for short 5h class sections when mapping approaches, this thing has saved us in several situations where we have had to rappel short distances to stay safe instead of down-climbing.

The photo below shows Rick preparing to rappel out of a bad spot. Don't worry, the rope reached the ground - and we always tie knots in both ends of the rope, just in case it doesn't.

Petzl Dual Connect Adjust Lanyard/Personal Anchor System (PAS)

Not only do we use the PAS for multipitch climbs and cleaning anchors, we use it to help protect us on exposed approaches by connecting the PAS directly to the cam in certain situations. The Petzl Dual Connect has everything needed for an ideal PAS:

• It adjusts quickly to different lengths;
• It is made from rated rope and eliminates the "don't fall on your PAS" concern;
• The dual connect (with two rope lines instead of one) provides redundancy. In some exposure protection scenarios, I can place connect one rope line into one cam and the second rope line into another cam and leap frog the cams upward or downward and always remain clipped into one piece of protection at all times. (I will make a video of this sometime and post it as a separate blog).

Grivel Lynx Gear Carrier

I have started using my multipitch backpack as my mapping backpack because:

• It fits my 2L Camelback water carrier, food, and clothing layers, but it is still compact and allows me to squeeze through holes and chimneys;
  
• I hook my GPS unit and walkie talkie to each of the yellow straps (you can see they are getting a little stretched out from the weight of the devices); And,
  
• I hook my cams to the gear loops (since the harness does not have a place to hook the cams, plus, the backpack makes the cams very easily accessible.