So you've discovered you're part magpie. Not that you can fly or you're sprouting feathers in awkward places, more you like shiny things. Rather pricy shiny things at that. But do not despair the club caters for our small addiction by having a large selection of gear which can be loaned out.
Seriously though buying gear can be an expensive business and if you're fresh to the climbing or leading scenes it's often hard to get everything you need all at once. Which is why the club has a number of full racks (slings, krabs, quickdraws, hexes and nuts) not to mention a number of ropes, belay plates, nut keys, helmets and of course harnesses.
How to get your grubby little mitts on this stuff? Easy! Firstly we take all the kit out with us on trips. So if your coming along for the first time, don't worry we've got you covered. (although as the year goes on we take less of it out.) If however you're going climbing on your own without the club you can still borrow the gear. Here's how:
Firstly you need to get in touch with one of the gear secs (we have two this year) you can do this by either ringing them up (at reasonable hours not drunk at 3am), emailing them, or by coming down to the Packhorse on a Wednesday evening. They won't withhold permission unnecessarily, though flirting never hurt.
If they agree to lend you the kit then we'll ask for a deposit cheque equal to the value of the gear your borrowing. This won't be cashed unless you refuse to give us back the gear, then we'll cash the cheque, buy shiny new gear and you can keep the old stuff. We may also ask you to replace gear that has been badly damaged. We're not unreasonable though, we do understand gear gets battered so normal wear and tear is acceptable. One other thing, unless you can convince them otherwise, please pick the gear up from the gear secs' house, they're not your slaves and are not expected to home deliver or arrange air drops over Ilkley.
Make sure you clean, air or dry the gear as required then return it back to the gear secs. All these provisions may seem a bit excessive but a lot of the club budget goes on gear and we want to make it last. Though we do replace it long before it gets dodgy so don't worry it's all good.