Crag Packs: A Beginner’s Guide (essential items list)

Climbing equipment can be difficult to manage and keep track of sometimes so, in this article, we would talk about crag packs to help you decide how to choose a crag pack

So, first let’s get a brief that what is a crag pack? A crag pack is a backpack that is designed exclusively for carrying climbing gear to and from various climbing locations and crag packs are often spacious, comfortable, and designed with climbing equipment in mind.

In climbing, a crag is an area where lots of climbs start within close proximity of each other and climbers will often do several routes at a given crag. A crag pack helps to carry their gear for climbing those routes and they are designed to carry climbing equipment comfortably. Crag Packs often have several other built-in features that help them perform their specific purpose.

Features of a Crag Bag

A crag bag differentiates itself from a normal backpack by having certain special features that help it perform its tasks better and to understand what these features are, it is important to first know what mountain climbers usually need from their bags.

• Store all of my gear: You need a lot of equipment to climb therefore you need a hell lot of things to store the equipment.
• Fit comfortably for long approaches: No one wants to be sore before they even get to the crag so they need a comfortable crag pack for these long journeys.
• Is easy to open: We need a crag pack which are easy to open because we might need things at any instance so we need a bag pack which is easy to open.
• Is simple to pack and can be carried easily around the crag: Often when switching between climbs we need to carry all of my gear for short distances and when this happens, we don’t want to have to pack up the entire bag; instead, we want to just messily grab everything in, grab it, and throw it back again a couple of minutes later.

Therefore, we need something that will fit all of my gear, help you to carry it comfortably, and will allow you to pack/unpack it easily and often and a normal, top-loading backpack like a standard hiking bag won’t do this ; instead, the special features of a crag bag can at sometimes save your life..

Some of these features of the crag pack include:

• Haul Loops: Pieces of fabric or webbing on the outside of the bag that allow you to strap ropes/gear to them and these help if you are short on space
• Panel Loading: Sometimes these bags can be opened completely and folded out like suitcases, allowing you to access everything inside.
• Extra carry handles: Designed with duffel-like handles, the backpacks will be ideal for short journeys.
• Climbing-specific gear: Rope tarps, helmet pockets, and other climbing gear may be carried in some packs.

All these features, might not be essential and really help the crag bag make your day easier when you are out climbing.

Essential In Crag Packs are:

As we have discussed about the features of the crag packs now we will discuss what are the essential items required for a crag pack. We have differentiated them in three categories; very much necessary, necessary and good to have them.

Very much necessary

• Harness
• Climbing shoes
• Helmet
• personal anchor/leash
• 4 locking carabiners
• Rappelling device
• Prusik cord (per person)
• Climbing rope
• A belay device (per pair)
• Protection for the type of climbing you’re doing
• First aid kit
• Water , food and snacks
• Hiking shoes/trail shoes/approach shoes
• Cell phone or another device to contact EMS
• 40-50L backpack with good waist support

Necessary

• Extra double shoulder-length slings
• Single shoulder-length slings
• Locking carabiners
• Chalk bag
• Headlamp
• Rain Jacket
• Warm sweater/belay jacket
• Garbage bag
• Toilet paper
• Lighter
• Mini shovel

Good to have them

• Backpack rain cover
• Camera
• Hammock with whatever you need to set it up
• Drone
• Hand warmers for shoulder season climbing
• Comfy crag shoes
• Sunscreen
• Bug spray
• Rope tarp

Do I need a Crag Bag?

So, now this is a question which dozens of climbers ask and the answer to this would be, no, you absolutely don’t need a crag bag, but you can keep them as they can make the experience more enjoyable and a hiking bag is a perfectly good substitute of crag pack.

If you are just getting into this adventurous mountain climbing sport, or you want to save some of your money then you definitely don’t need a crag bag in order to go climbing and almost any other type of backpack, like a hiking bag will work, as long as it is large enough to hold all of your gear and comfortable enough to wear on this long adventurous climbing journey.

We have even seen certain climbers who have to do the majority of their climbing without a crag pack and they did it completely fine. As you start doing mountain climbing more and more, crag packs can make a surprising difference in how comfortable and easy your life will be by using a crag pack. So, we would not say that they are essential, but they are also not a waste of money. A good crag pack can last for years and make your climbing days more and more enjoyable.

How Do You Pack Your Crag Bag:

Some of The Best Crag Bag

So if you have made up your mind to buy a Crag Back, then it is absolutely our duty to shortlist some of the best crag bags for mountain climbing so that it saves your time and energy. So have a look at the following bags.

Mountain Hardwear Crag Wagon 60L

A few years ago, Mountain Hardwear decided they needed to go back to their roots as they were completely having a huge downfall, so they stopped listening to market analysts and just gave their designers a simple directive which was to build the gear that will make your life better.

The Mountain Hardware Crag Wagon 60Lwas one of the first pieces of gear to come from that change in directives and it was really a great success. This bag was designed by climbers, for climbers, and has all of the features that you could want in your crag pack with front-zipper access, removable hop belts, internal gear loops, a removable rope tarp, a specific pouch for your guide book, grab handles for easily moving it around the crag, and a storm flap for protecting any external gear.

This bag has every single feature that you want in a crag bag and it is insanely well thought-out and well designed, and there is currently nothing on the market that can beat it and if you want a smaller option it also comes in a 45-litre sizing.

The link for this bag is https://www.mountainhardwear.ca/en/p/crag-wagon-60-backpack-1854021.html?dwvar_1854021_color=460

The Patagonia Cragsmith 45L

For any reason you think Crag Wagon isn’t your cup of tea, then we would direct you towards another good option in the Patagonia Cragsmith which is similarly designed with internal gear loops, back-panel access, and comfortable straps for carrying.

The Cragsmith will serve you quite obediently as a crag pack, and Patagonia is a good company to support but, it doesn’t have quite as many features as the Crag Wagon does, and it is only $30 less. So we would recommend Mountain Hardware more.

The link to buy this is https://www.patagonia.ca/product/cragsmith-climbing-pack-45-liters/48065.html?dwvar_48065_color=BLK&cgid=luggage-technical-packs-rock-climbing

The Black Diamond Stone Duffel 42L

If you want to save money, the Black Diamond Stone Duffel is an affordable option that does everything you need a crag pack to do and also it has front access for easy loading, internal gear loops, carry handles, and a build-in rope tarp to boot. It is not the most comfortable bag to carry compared to the other two, and it is on the smaller end of crag bags.

Considering it’s cost it is quite a proper decent back to use as crag pack and we would recommend you to use it in your gym climbings.

The link to buy this is https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_CA/shop/climbing-bags/

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):