I Love Booty

Not that kind of booty, you sicko

Get your mind out of the gutter, my dear reader. When I say, “I love booty,” I am not referring to the derriere (der·ri·ère). Instead, I am referring to the other kind of booty. The kind you read about in nautical adventure novels, like Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 novel Treasure Island.

I am talking about pirate’s booty, of course.

The Golden Age of Piracy

For you history buffs out there, it’s generally understood that the Golden Age of Piracy was between (1690-1730). During this time, mariners were frequently at risk of being plundered by pirates. Pirates on the high seas raided cargo ships, passenger ships, and even slave ships.

Most of the time, pirates were looting ordinary goods or booty, like tobacco, sugar, spirits like rum, brandy, wine, linen, animal hides, barrels of flour, and lumber. They were also constantly in search of nautical equipment. However, sometimes, they struck it rich with gold, silver, and gemstones.

Whatever the case, pirates would then smuggle their captured goods into port towns and sell them to dealers for cash. The pirate captain would then use the money to pay the pirates' wages on board and keep the pirating operation running until the next raid and subsequent payday.

Rock Climbers are Apparently Like Pirates

After doing a little research and reading about piracy and pirate booty, I find it oddly intriguing how similar pirates are to climbers, especially true dirtbag climbers.

• Climbers roam the country, searching for the best weather and climbing conditions. The vehicles in which they roam are also in various forms of disrepair.

• Climbers and pirates probably have similar hygiene standards.

• Both love spirits (and beer).

• Like pirates, climbers love booty.

The Climber’s Booty

At some point, climbers hijacked the idea of pirate’s booty and began using the term to describe climbing equipment they found at or on the cliff, like treasure.

While pirates and climbers both love booty, fortunately, climbers go about securing their booty without all the murdering and pillaging. Instead, climbers merely collect booty that has been lost, forgotten, and/or intentionally abandoned.

An old Mountain Project forum describes booty in the following ways (I am omitting some of the finer details of the post, so click here for the full rundown):

#1 Any gear that you leave on a climb due to lack of skill, persistance […] is booty once you give up on retrieveing it and leave the crag for the day.

#2. Gear left due to inclemant weather or conditions is booty as a lack of skill was involved in the decisions that you made. You were not fast and strong enough to beat the weather or you made a poor decision regarding the weather or conditions. […]

#3 Any gear left in a rescue or accident resulting in real (not imagined) injury is not booty and shall be […] returned to the proper partys involved.

#4 […] Asking for your booty to be returned is very bad karma and results in a huge loss of face. If the booty hounds offer to return your lost booty and you accept you lose major face. […] At this point you need to offer them a libation to ease the shame.

Since I am a Climber, I then Love Booty

I must admit, I love booty. When I find a piece of booty at the cliff, the little hit of dopamine or whatever chemicals pour into my brain always feels great. And at this point in my climbing career, I’ve collected countless pieces of booty.

Just last week I found a Grigri and locking carabiner just sitting on a ledge, a hundred feet off the ground, as if it dropped out of the sky. More than likely, someone set it down and forgot to pick it up, but regardless of its apparition, it was mine now.

Me and my fresh booty, a Grigri belay device, and a locking carabiner that I found while climbing with Whitney. It was her idea to write a Substack about booty.

I have found spring-loaded camming devices, locking carabiners, slings, stoppers, belay devices, climbing shoes, climbing ropes, non-locking carabiners, sunglasses, and clothing. The list goes on, and I love it all.

If I have a use for the object, I will incorporate the booty into my collection of gear, like a pirate replacing an old anchor with a new one.

If I don’t have a use for it, I do one of two things. Either, I find someone who needs it. For example, last year, I mailed my friend Marshall a box of bootied cams so he could build out his trad rack more.

Or, I take it to the consignment shop and sell it for cash, like the pirates of yore. In New Paltz, we have an outdoor apparel and gear consignment shop that will consign your used goods. They only take 25% of the profit for each item and give you the rest. You can collect cash for your items or redeem store credit.

At this point, after all my plundering over the past two seasons in the Gunks, I’m relatively well-to-do in the consignment credit department. My account has made $330.75 in profit, and I’ve spent $172.80 at the store. That’s $172.80 worth of “free” stuff by selling booty. That’s amazing because the booty I collect and the gear I purchase at the consignment shop keep my pirating (guiding) operation running.

Do I Feel Bad About Plundering Booty?

Like most savage pirates, I have zero ill will about collecting booty. None at all whatsoever.

The reason is that I firmly believe in the karmic cycle of booty. In biblical terms, the cliff giveth and the cliff taketh. Or, more simply– what goes around comes around.

In other words, I, too, have left gear on the cliff. Some of my gear has gotten stuck. It happens to the best of us, even climbing guides. Other times, I just forget stuff, like when I left a locking carabiner and sewn-sling on a random rock at the rappel anchor during my advanced rock guide course.

So, as things go, the gear I’ve abandoned has become a free game to whichever lucky pirate (climber) comes up after me. Good for them. They deserve it.