When we first took up canyoneering, we had no clue what we needed.  So to get you started, here’s the kit we put together after extensive research, and trial and error. Note! the type of gear and quantity you bring should be part of your planning process and vary depending on the type and length of canyon you’re running.  Before and after each canyon we note what was used and what wasn’t to help guide us on our next trip.

 

#1 Helmet – You really should wear one. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve bashed my head on a wall and been grateful for my helmet. Tom and I use different brands and we’re both happy with what we use.
Tip: try them on and find one that fits you best, if you’re comfortable in it, you won’t be tempted to take it off.

       Mammut El Cap (Tom’s – shown above in orange)
       Petzl Elia (Tara’s – even has a cut-out for a ponytail!)

#2 Rope – They sell ropes in several lengths, but if you can only afford one, a 200 foot rope will get you through most canyons.  You want a rope that is static, hydrophobic, and an appropriate diameter to work with your belay device.  It’s also extremely helpful to get a rope bag.  It should drain quickly and float if you’re doing wet canyons.
Tip: choose a color of rope which contrasts with the rock for better pictures. Bonus, the bag makes tossing your rope down canyon a breeze when you don’t need it on a down climb.

       Imlay Canyon Fire Rope 8.3 mm (200 ft rope shown above)
       Imlay Rope Silo Hybrid Small (shown above – fits our 200 ft rope great)

#3 Pull cord – These are great, especially for making a 200 ft rope work for longer rappels by single stranding. We carry either a 100 ft or 200 ft pull cord, depending on how much extra length we need. We just stuff ours into a leftover harness bag.
Tip: we like to single strand rappel off a biner block, (a double clove hitch on the spine of a large carabiner, pulled against a Rapide).

       Bluewater 6 mm Canyon Static Pull Cord
       Leftover harness bag

#4 Slings – These are great to have for partner assists, pack lowering, extending your safety line, ascending, and any number of other things. You’ll want one or two double length slings with you.
Tip: we attach one to the top loop of our backpacks and then stow it inside the bag; this way it’s already attached and easy to access in case we need it for an emergency partner assist during a down climb.

Trango Ultratape Sling 48 in
BlueWater Titan Dyneema Runner 48 in

#5 Pot shot – Pot shots are used for pothole escapes, but…
Tip: see all that random stuff for Item 7? It’s really annoying if that’s just jingling around in your pack. Imagine you actually needed to use some of it (gasp)! Carry a pot shot and it performs double duty as a bag to hold all of your random gear items, and a useful pothole escape tool.

Imlay Canyon Gear PotShot 3

#6 Dry bag – You know what’s really annoying? How heavy your pack gets when your things get wet. Also, there’s nothing worse than a soggy lunch. And seeing as most canyons are formed by water, you’re eventually going to be in a wet one, so you’ll want one of these. We use different sizes of dry bags depending on how much stuff we need to bag.  When you get yours, take note of the material, weight, and durability.  There are heavier variations out there that are more durable, but as we keep ours in our packs we’ve been favoring the lightweight thin ones.  If you go lightweight and thin realize they can puncture and pop if you drop them from too high.
Tip: don’t forget to bag your pull cord, webbing, and any other extra gear – it gets heavy when it’s wet. Bonus, if you are doing an overnight canyon, a 13L dry bag 3/4 full of air makes a great pillow.

Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Dry Sack 4L-13L

#7 Anchor building/Ascending gear – A must regardless of how popular the canyon is. Bring enough gear to rebuild all the anchors on your route. You probably won’t have to, but you don’t want to be in a situation where the anchor is gone or super sketchy, and you have to trust your life to it because you couldn’t be bothered bringing anchor gear. That’s just embarrassing.

 

1. Carabiner: DMM Phantom Carabiner – Carried as a back up and chosen because it’s light weight, you can clip all your rapid links, rap rings, and ascenders to this for organization.
2. Rapid Link: Maillon Rapide 7mm Galvanized Steel – These come in various sizes, but we like the 7mm.  Fits our ropes and not too heavy.  You’ll want to carry several of these (1 per rap if possible).
3. Rap Ring: Omega Pacific Rappel Ring – these are lighter than the rapid links, but they’re not sturdy enough to be used as permanent anchors, so you’ll only bring a couple of these as emergency back-ups.
4. Ascender: Wild country Ropeman 2 – good light weight ascender option that takes less attention than the tibloc but is heavier. Learn how to use these correctly and practice! Requires additional carabiner and sling depending on your technique.
5. Ascender: Petzl Tibloc – they make larger ascenders that are easier to use, but they’re much heavier. These will work in a pinch and you’re not tempted to leave them behind to cut weight. Learn how to use these correctly and practice!  Requires additional carabiner and sling depending on your technique.
6. Shears – needed to cut lengths of webbing and rope, these are trauma shears, but you can also just bring a knife (Tom carries a Swiss Army Hiker).
7. Ghosting Gear: Fiddlestick or Smooth Operator – we carry a Fiddlestick (shown above), but the Smooth Operator is a similar option. If you don’t know how to use these tools, please don’t attempt it without instruction or an additional safety line.
8. Webbing: BlueWater Tubular Climb-Spec Webbing 1″ – make sure you bring enough to rebuild multiple anchors and be aware that you may need to run the webbing over some distance to get the appropriate pull angles and weight distribution.  If you’re leaving it behind, choose a color that blends in with the rock so it doesn’t spoil the scenery.

 

#8 Harness & Belay gear – It’s worth investing in canyoneering specific harness and belay gear if you really want to get into this sport. These are all the things we carry on our harness, and we wouldn’t want to go without them!

 

1. Harness: Petzl Aspir
2. Rapid Link: Maillon Rapide 8mm Galvanized Steel
3. Attachment Sling for Belay Device: Petzl Express Sling 12 cm (Rubber String Removed)
4. Carabiner for Belay Device: Petzl Attache
5. Belay Device: Petzl Pirana
6. Safety Line: Beal dynaclip 75 cm
7. Safety Line Attachment: DMM Phantom Carabiner with Beal Pinch Connector Secure
8. Third Hand (Prusik): BlueWater VT Prusik 8mm 31″ with Black Diamond Positon Carabiner – this is set up on the brake side of the belay device if you don’t have a fireman’s belay
9. Biner Block Carabiner: Black Diamond Rocklock Carabiner – because we most frequently do single strand rappels, we each carry a spare carabiner on our harness to use as a biner block when setting up a single strand rap.
   Tip: this carabiner can double as the carabiner used to stack the rope.
   Step 1: clip carabiner to the strap of your helmet (you now become the billygoat).
   Step 2: clip the rope through the carabiner and stand over the open rope bag.
   Step 3: use both hands to pull and stack the rope into the bag.

 

#9 Rescue gear – We’ve recently stepped up our game with dedicated rescue equipment for those unexpected moments.

 

1. Whistle: For communication over loud water flow, agree on signals before splitting up.  –  Fox 40 EPIK
   
2. Knife: Quick access for cutting rope.  –  Edelrid Rescue Canyoning Knife
3. Progress Capture Pulley: For rigging 3:1 or 5:1 pulley systems.  –  Petzl Micro Traxion
4. Pulley / Rope Clamp : For rigging 3:1 or 5:1 pulley systems.  –  CT Rollnlock
5. Sewn Prusik Loop: For rigging 3:1 or 5:1 pulley systems.  –  Blue Water 6.5mm x 20″ dynamic