It can get annoying to get stuck halfway up a bolted climb.What is a convenient (and safe) way to get back down without leaving gear on that bolt hanger?
l know what you're saying, garion b, but then sometimes other climbers have trouble taking them off because they have a tendency to rust.Who brings up a wrench while climbing?
In America, we call those things ''bail biners''
Now that it is an established practice in the rock climbing community to put up stainless steel bolt anchors on sports climbs, maybe the next step is to have the bolt anchors include rings, which should make them appropriate for both quickdraws and ropes?What is the downside to using bolt hangers that have rings?The only reason why bail biners are being removed is because they rust.

Did u ever see those little steel screw gate things? They're about an inch or an inch & a half long. God what r they called? Anyway they cost about two euro, less on the conteninent. They're really handy. You can just clip it onto a bolt & put the rope straight through it & abseil off it, then pull the rope through & leave it behind. Job done, either that or carry an old crab with ya.

Well now l would not go leaving them everywhere. It is just a good idea if u get stuck on a route & you've tried everything else like switching climbers or cheating & taking an easier close by route. l mean who is gonna give up & ab back down unless there is really nothing else they can do? Besides there is plenty of room for a quick draw on a bolt beside a belay biner. Unless there is a few of them, in which case I'd be happy enough to pass the rope through two or three of the old ones & ab off them.

Well, unless you want leave a more expensive biner, instead of a bail biner. If not you could try to find a big horn and just put your rope around it, once you're down try to flick it off. But l would just spend a few bucks and use some steel bail biners. Another idea, which is way more expensive, is to replace the bolt with a new bolt and ring or with a metolius rap hanger, which would be the more noble thing, since that is what you are getting at.

You can NEVER rapel or pull a rope through a bolt hanger & u should not be replacing a hanger in the middle of a climb with anything else, so technically it can not be done.

My favorite way is to leave some gear & ask the next climbers to clean it for me on their way up the route. The obvious next question is: how can l get down leaving a minimum amount of gear?

If u really want to be lowered, u have to be lowered off of a biner or a rapel ring. The minimum amount of gear left behind for max safety would one locking biner (Al or Steel). l have seen people lower off of a webbing runner (knotted webbing, maybe 50c) & a single rapel ring ($1), but the hangar could cut through the webbing so there is danger.

If u r really cheap, l have also seen people clip to a single hanger (not my favorite idea), thread a webbing runner, go off belay & pull the rope up while pushing one side through the webbing, rapel down & then pull the rope through the webbing. This of course ruins the webbing & is not the best thing for ur rope. There r even more dangers here (webbing could get cut, & relying on a single piece of gear - bolt & webbing).

Good Luck & be safe!

Very true, those bail biners or ''mallions'' are tough to remove once rusted. l would say if you use those, you should endeavor to retrieve it, either that day or at a later date.

Sling is just a bad a idea.

l would suggest using an old biner that is already had a good life. Also, try not to bail so much!! LOL.

Price of admission.
It does not hurt so bad after a while, but l am a penny picher & it just seems wrong (does not it?)
However, these things tend to balance out. l will not go on record saying u should use any of the gear u find while climbing (never know that they treat their stuff as well as u treat yours & all that), but u will find the gear of others who have been placed in the same predicament (if not on the same pitch, then some other time & place).
The double wammy of loosing gear & not solving the puzzle of the pitch. Maybe u could think of it as a motivational lesson. Next time u will finish the pitch!