Webbing

Webbing is another of the staples of climbing. Webbing is used mainly on anchors, for quickdraw runners on overhangs, and for trad to reduce rocking.

The best webbing is tubular, and brightly colored so you can't lose it easily. If you are setting up a permanent anchor with webbing, use a color that blends in with the rock.

Webbing is one of the cheaper pieces of equipment that you buy for climbing. It is generally 30 to 60 cents a foot.

To make webbing usable for climbing, you have to make a loop out of this. This is done by joining the two ends together with a strong knot. The best knot to use for this is the water knot.

The knot pictured above is water knot. Notice that it is small, and does not use a lot of webbing. It is essentially a follow-through overhand knot.

To learn to tie a water knot, watch this animation of a water knot. If you are on a slow connection, a smaller version is available.