When I first started buying my own climbing gear, I struggled. I didn't know what gear I needed for starting out. Sure, I knew I needed carabiners, a harness, a helmet, a rope, webbing, and a belay device, but was there anything I was missing? How many carabiners do I need? How long should my webbing be? What kind of rope should I get? All these questions cluster a new climber and maybe this year, you are starting out or interested at looking into it. Well I decided I would make your life easier by giving you a basic list to go on. You may want to get other things to add on right away, but trust me, only get what I have listed to start out. If you have a bigger budget or ready to expand, I'll give advice at the end on how add on to your rack. Don't do what I did and buy lead climbing gear before even mastering toprope climbing.
Buddy
The most important thing you need when climbing is at least one climbing buddy, 2 is better. You can't climb unless you have a belayer and someone to check you over. If you don't know what a belayer is or how belaying works, don't even start on getting climbing gear. Take a class, climb with experienced people, and gain experience before you venture on.
When climbing, your buddy should know what he is doing as well. Your life is in his hands, so make sure he is experienced. The only time you don't necessarily need a buddy is when bouldering. Bouldering is climbing without protection no higher than 10 feet. If you want to start out bouldering, all you need is a helmet, climbing shoes, and chalk with a chalk bag.
Rope
Let's face it, you can't climb unless you have a rope. There are many different ropes out there, so it can be challenging finding the right one. In the climbing world (in any world, actually) there 2 types of rope: static and dynamic. Static rope is generally thicker, but the main distinction is it's stretchiness. Static rope is meant for rapelling and rescues. Its designed to have minimal stretch. In fact, the stretch is so little, that you generally don't even notice it. DONT GET THIS KIND FOR CLIMBING! I will get to this kind later on. You want dynamic. Dynamic has significant, noticeable stretch to it. The purpose behind this is to give a cushion when you fall. If you miss a handhold and fall back, the rope will have a little give to it. If you were to use static rope, it would be an instant stop and you could potentially get hurt. The dynamic rope is like a shock absorber, taking most of the energy from the fall before you actually stop.
If you are starting out, you will be toprope climbing. That is the simplest form of setup and easiest and safest to climb. When looking at ropes, take the type of climbing your are doing into account. Since you are toprope climbing, you won't be shock loading the rope and shouldn't be falling a distance before the rope catches you. And since that is the case, you don't need a really think rope. A 9mm diameter will work just fine. It's lighter and is easier to work with.
You also want to consider length. Length is determined by the type of climbing as well, but since you are starting off, go with a standard length. 60 meters (or 200 feet) is a good length. You shouldn't be toproping higher than about 90-100 feet when you are new. Always have leeway on your length. You want plenty of extra rope so you know you won't run short. As you get into technical climbs, you can start determining exact length you want, but don't even think about that right now. Stick with 200 feet.
When buying a rope, get it at a sporting goods store or climbing store: a place that specializes in this stuff. Don't trust getting rope over the internet. You don't know the condition of it when it comes in. It looks new, but what makes you think it didn't get damed or exposed to chemicals during the shipping process? Be safe and buy it at a store.
Carabiners
This was ways difficult for me when I started out. I didn't know how many carabiners I would need on a climb and thought maybe I should just rack them up, get about 20. Don't do this to start off, be easy on your budget. You need a minimum of 4 carabiners: 2 to secure the belayer on top (or rope to webbing on top), one for the belay device, and one if you want to make a shoulder harness. If your belayer is on the bottom and you want to secure him too, get 2 extras. Sometimes, you may need to work with the anchor and modify it, sometimes it takes an extra carabiner or 2. If your are starting out, you probably don't have to worry about it. There's always the possibility of a carabiner getting dropped and damaged so it's good to have spares. I would recommend 6-7 carabiners to start off. I know they are cheap compared to some of the other gear, but don't let that fool you, the cost can add up quick.
There are many types of carabiners for several purposes that I won't even get into. For the purpose of your climbing, get standard assymentric and pear carabiners. These are the best you can get for your type of climbing. The assymentric are your all-purpose climbing carabiner. The pear shaped carabiners will generally be used for anchors and protection.
Carabiners come made in steel or aluminum. For climbing purposes, get aluminum. They are light and made for climbing. There are steel climbing carabiners, but they are intended for loads much heavier than you are going to have such as rescues. If you want bomber stationary anchor such as a tree, you can us steel carabiners to connect the webbing to the rope or belayer. Other than than, you want aluminum.
In addition to shape, carabiners have variations in the gate. You want to start with screw gate carabiners. There's straight gate, bent gate, wire gate, screw gate, and 2 types of auto-locking (ball and triact). The gate needs to be able to lock so it won't be able to open. This narrows your choices to screw gate or auto locking. The other ones aren't used for toprope. I recommend getting screw gate. They are the simplest and cheapest. They are almost half the cost of an auto locking. If you prefer auto locking and find it easier to use, by all means use it. But it's much cheaper to get screw gate and they are just as good.
Webbing
There are different types of webbing out there and you need to be aware of exactly what you need. There's webbing designed for many types of work, that's why it's a good idea to go to a climbing store so you know you are getting what you need. You want tubular webbing. There's also flat webbing, but knots hold better in tubular webbing and the knots are easier to get out when your done climbing. The amount you need really depends on where you are climbing. I recommend having 1-2 30 feet pieces, 3-4 20 foot pieces, and a few 10 foot pieces. If you are getting a roll and cutting it yourself, that's around 110-190 feet.
Belay device
You need a belay device that you find comfortable and one that you know how to use. There are several styles out there to chose from. I would stay away from belay plates, but that's my preference. If you know how to use them and you're comfortable with it, get one. Standard belay devices are fairly cheap. There's 2 styles: standard and grooved. I recommend one that has grooves and teeth on one side. This makes it so much easier to lock in the rope.
What's your goal for climbing? Do you plan to branch out into technical climbing? Perhaps lead or sport climbing? If so, get a regular belay device. That way it can be used for those climbs in the future. It comes with a carabiner and clips onto your harness so you have it when climbing multi-pitch crags, pretty slick. If you want to just stick with toprope climbing or have future goals of taking groups, you may want something safer like a Petzl GriGri. The rope feeds through this and when the climber falls, the device locks onto the rope automatically. However, they are heavy so if you want to go into technical climbs, stay away from these. They are also quite expensive so as you start out, get a basic belay device.
Harness
When looking for a harness, it's important to find one that fits you. It should fit snug around your waist and legs. It should be of good quality that will last a while and will withstand a good fall. All harnesses are obviously designed to hold you, but some are built better to last longer, even after bad falls.
When buying a harness, don't just get the cheapest one. I know that when starting out, you want to get all your gear as soon as you can and tend to take shortcuts by buying what's cheapest. But when buying a harness, don't look at the price tag first. Look around and find a brand that you like. I went through buying 3 harnesses before finding the one I liked. Look around and don't just get the first one you like or the next day you might find a harness that you know is "your" harness, but already have one. I'm biased to Black Diamond, but there are other great brands out there. You will find that you may become attached to one particular brand. So as you research, find a brand that you really like. Then after finding the harness you like, you can look at the price, you may find that it's more expensive than you thought and that's ok. If you like it, get it. When climbing, you will be miserable if you're in a harness that is uncomfortable or doesn't set right with you.
Helmet
There's not a whole lot to be said about helmets besides find one that's comfortable and is a good quality. Unless it takes a hard fall or strike, you probably won't have to retire it for a long time. Again, there's many brands out there so find one you like. There's also many styles out there so find one that appeals to you.
Other stuff
You can search all over the internet and find all kinds of lists of gear that say to get all kinds of stuff that you don't absolutely need right away. Every list will say to get climbing shoes. Honestly, tennis shoes work just fine. As you gain experience (and have a good handle on your gear list) you will start to find what type of climbing shoe best suits you. But you don't need them right now. They are expensive, especially if you want a pair that will last. Instead, put that money into your essential gear. There are also crag gloves out there. Don't get them!
Another thing recommended is chalk. Chalk makes climbing so much easier, but it's not absolutely necessary when you're new to climbing. Chalk pretty much rubberizes your hands so they grip the rock better, but since you are just starting out, you won't be doing hard climbs that require chalk. I climbed for about 5 years before using chalk. I mentioned before that you need chalk and shoes for bouldering. That is because you are only buying 3 things, 4 if you get a crash pad. Since you aren't buying everything else, you can afford chalk and shoes. But don't get those right away when climbing.
There are endless possibilities of gear out there and especially in the hardwear section. But you don't need the fanciest carabiner or an ascender. What I listed is what you need. Get the basic stuff first, then down the road you can get the fancier hardwear. You also don't need advanced gear right now. You don't need cams, nuts, hexes, quick draws, and probably not even runners or daisy chains. Don't get this stuff yet. Wait until you have the basic setup, then get gear as you need it. Some people may tell you to get some anchors some as nuts in case you can't find a good stationary one. You will always find a good stationary anchor with the type of climbing your are doing. Only get what I listed for you.
Rapelling
Maybe you have an interest in just sport rapelling. For sport rapelling, you need a lot of the same gear as climbing. However, you also need a static rope being how it doesn't stretch much. You may also want a dynamic rope so someone can belay you from the top. You should always have a belayer for rapelling in case something goes wrong. However, if you have a tight budget, someone can stand on the bottom and pull the rope if you lose control, called bottom belaying.
You can get small diameter static rope, but I recommend a bigger diameter. And bigger diameters won't fit through a belay device, so you need a figure 8. There's other descenders, but you're better off with a figure 8. I personally like using a pear shaped carabiner for the figure 8. I also like for it to be auto locking. The auto locking is a preference, but I do highly recommend a pear shaped carabiner. It's also important to have gloves. Without gloves, you will burn the skin off your hands. Leather work gloves work just fine.
Adding gear
As you advance and have your basic gear, it may be time to start adding gear. I would start with hardwear. You can't go wrong with spare carabiners and carabiners are great universal tools for just about anything. Start with those. Also start with webbing. It doesn't hurt to have extra webbing, especially if you have to self-rescue.
After the basic gear, you can start looking for climbing shoes. Find ones that are comfortable and won't cause blisters. When you put the shoe on, your toes should be right at the end of the shoe, but not binding. The reason or this is because if your shoe is a little long and you stand on a small foothold, you don't have your toes at the end the shoe to stand on it and will just slip right off. You can also begin your search for chalk. Actually it's not that complicated. Just get a chalk bag that will last a while and some Mellitious chalk. That simple.
You can also think about adding cordlets, prussiks, and runners. These are handy for self rescue or if there's a problem with gear and you need to tie off to something. You may also want to think about rope protectors. They are sleeves that slide over the rope so sharp edges won't damage it. Other than that, you don't really need any other gear for toprope climbing. I won't cover the gear list for other types of climbs in this post. This list is for the beginner wanting to start out with some gear.
This is a very basic list of gear, but basic is good. Basic is cheap. You may be anxious to get all the fancy, cool, advanced gadgets, but trust me, you will wish you started with the basics and add to the rack later.
