Tech Tip # 4

  This page contains information that may or may not be useful in the vertical world.
  All "TechTips" should be considered suspect and only used after much consideration.
  The failure to do so could result in injury, public humiliation, emotional scarring, and even, but unlikely,DEATH!
  To submit your Tech Tips contact me and I will decide if it's worthy.

DIRTBAG COUNT
Tech Tip # 1
Submitted by the Desert Dirtbag 4 / '06
Tech Tip # 2
                                 Remembering Quick Draws at the Creek.
                                        Many who have climbed at Indian Creek can tell you how easy it is to                                             become so distracted by all the cams that you need for a route, that you can easily forget to take any quick draws for the anchor. I had a partner that did this three times in one day. So to help him out, that night in camp, I found a black marker in my truck and got a hold of his climbing shoes. On the toe of the left shoe I wrote, in big letters, "Quick" and on the right "Draws" and the next day he had gear for the anchors every time.

Submitted by Bookem 5/'06
Tech Tip # 3
Submitted by Team Trash-Utah chapter '07
The Battery powered toothbrush:
Try using a battery powered toothbrush to clean holds. Works great on rock or plastic, and you can buy replaceable heads. Let the vibrating bristles do all the work for you. 
Costs...
Toothbrush-$4.00
Batteries-$3.00
Replacement heads-$3.00
Getting the words Vibrating, Head, and Tip all into one tech-tip and not having skinned knuckles before you start your climb...Priceless!
Submitted by ClimbingWall (a.k.a Easy Big Spoon) 6/07
                     Supplementing Your Tape Gloves.
                                   When it comes to crack climbing there is nothing worse than dealing with                                      off hand sizes especially if you hands are small. Parallel cracks such as                                        the ones found at Indian Creek can be especially punishing.  
                                 But there is a solution, Panty liners!  The next time you go to tape up get a                                   hold of a variety pack of panty liners (light days, medium days, heavy days) and supplement your tape job with the appropriate size pad for your hand size.  If you have a small hand the light days pad just might be enough for a 2 inch Parallel splitter.  If you have a regular size hand the medium days might do the trick for that 3 inch size and a heavy days for those dreaded fists.
Using the adhesive side against your hand will help keep the pads in place while you cover them up with tape and the extra cushiness will keep you climbing all day pain free. So ladies next time your going to the crag or the creek pack enough for the whole scene.
                       Grinding up coffee without a coffee grinder.
                                        One year, on one of our week long climbing trips, we forgot a grinder                                            for our whole bean coffee.  Because going without coffee in the                                                    morning  just wasn't an option and was threatening to bring our trip to                                          an end, we had to come up with a way to grind up the beans without                                              making a  huge mess, and fast. Luckily my partner had a long sleeve                                                shirt that he didn't  mind destroying, so we cut off one of the sleeves                                            and tied a knot in the end. We then put the coffee in the sleeve and                                               held the end closed while we crushed the beans with a wood-splitting                                             wedge. We found that we could get two french presses worth of ground beans out of one sleeve and it became a nightly ritual for one of us to pre-crush a sleeve of coffee for the morning. This dirt-bag trick saved our climbing trip and who knows...it could just save yours one day too.

Tech Tip # 5
Instant Bacon. Flash blasted to perfection:
         If you're ever in need of a quick breakfast that's high in
          protein, Instant Bacon could be the answer to your
           problem. All you need is a stove or campfire, and a grill.
           Simply place the bacon over the flames and soon the
           grease will cause the flames to grow. Before you know it
            your flash blasted breakfast will be charred to
            perfection and now all you have to do is, some how,
             remove it from the grill without sending yourself to the
                      hospital for treatment of third degree burns.                                (ninja dirt-bags should be able to pluck the bacon                               out of the flames with a bare hand)
                                     Now, with your pile of blackened meat                                             off the grill,  season to taste with a                                                 little A1.
Submitted by Ben-Jamin' 7/07