16
The diagram shows three situations that are easy to understand without knowing a lot of math or physics.
In the first example, the angle between the anchor strands is zero. Both anchors pull straight up on the biner, and each supports 50% of the load.
In the second example, all three angles are 120 degrees. The situation is totally symmetrical, so all ...
16
I couldn't have come up with a better example of "how carabiners should never be used" if I tried!
In fact, the most likely explanation for that picture is either such a deliberate bad example, or a joke.
A quite likely incomplete list:
Use of non-locking carabiners in an anchor - rightmost arrow shows a nut wire just waiting to slip through a wire gate
...
15
I happen to know for a fact that the steel ring in those anchor set ups is rated to 50kN. That's as much as both hangers combined, they're only rated to 25kN each, which is still double the force any human body will ever be able to produce. The human body is rated to fail somewhere around 12kN which is the amount of force a 1,200kg (2645.5lbs) object would ...
15
Ice screws have a tendency for pressure melting if constantly loaded over some time. Therefore if you build your fixed point belay system and and keep it under more or less constant load while belaying your partner, the screw might start to migrate as the ice below it melts slowly and refreezes above the screw. By this, a screw that was close to bomb-proof ...
13
No
It is not ok to use that type of descending ring for fixed anchors.
SMC Descending Rings are a one-piece aluminum ring which are intended to be placed at the top of a pull down rappel in place of a carabiner in order to facilitate recovery of ropes.
SMC issues the following for care, maintenance and retirement schedule needs of their descender rings:
...
13
If it is load bearing, then hell no. This is a mess of cross- and ring-loading, which will break the biners.
If it is just a material storage placement, then it is simply confusing. And of what I know about the Eiger, when you find a good placement, you will never ever only use it for hanging up your gear, always for protection.
So all in all more ...
12
Was it safe? Yes, you were not in any danger here (unless your tree was a Charlie Brown Christmas tree).
Was it the best thing to do? No, for a couple of reasons, the most important being that it does not comply with leave not trace ethics, and can badly scar the tree. It's also no good for your rope, dragging your rope through dirt and sap can ...
12
I've had to deal with this question a lot teaching anchor building. When people have asked in the past I normally suggest they use the anchor you are most comfortable setting up, as they will both definitely work.
That said, if we want to dive deeper into the rabbit hole, it's important to identify some distinct differences between them.
Equalette: Typical ...
12
As with most things in climbing, I myself would not go as far as saying this is generally unacceptable. In multipoint anchors there are often single strand connections between one point and the central point when building a cordelette or equalette. So the question reduces to whether it is (un-)acceptable when using a single point (like a tree) as an anchor.
...
12
Webbing/cord and bolts
I always learned that bolts and any kind of webbing or cord is a no-go. Even if the edges are not sharp the webbing/cord is bent around a very small radius which weakens it significantly.
Today there is one new option: Kevlar cords. These can be used directly in bolts, as they are very abrasion resistant. So if you have any with ...
11
Cordelettes are an American obsession. In the UK and Europe most people climb multipitch on double ropes. In this case, and if one is swapping leads, then an anchor with up to four pieces with the rope is trivially easy. Clove hitch to first piece, little loop of slack, clove hitch to second piece, tie rope back to locker krab on harness. Repeat with second ...
11
The equalette is the evolution and combination of the cordalette and sliding-x. It makes up for the short comings of each system, while incorporating their strengths to produce a more SRENE anchor.
One of the criticisms of the cordalette is after you've tied the master knot, you have potentially poor equalization if you deviate from your set direction of ...
10
See: Slings for anchoring and lanyard in rock climbing
Different question, but but it contains a lot of the same releveant information for an answer to this one also; basically either one will work well.
Short summary: Your rope is designed to absorb the impact of your fall, while a sling is absolutely not. In the videos presented by DMM you can see what ...
9
This got me curious, & using Expansion anchors in construction applications got me looking. While I couldn't find anything specific to climbing applications & submersion, I did find a reference to 304 or 316 stainless steel being used in submerged marine environments (harsher than typical freshwater) by boat builders.
To my knowledge, no expansion ...
9
Here is what I don't like about your plan, the less experienced people will be tying themselves in without you present and the last person won't have a second pair of eyeballs to double check that they have everything set up right.
However there is a way to have everyone set up ahead of time. What you want to do is throw both ends down and then set all of ...
9
Retire that sling. Use it for some handicraft work at home or similar.
Firstly: If in doubt about a piece of gear, don't entrust your live to it.
Doing a more detailed analysis without seeing it in real live is hard, but here are two arguments apart from the doubt one (which is enough) that come to mind:
It looks like there is a discoloration right on ...
9
I think this falls into that grey area where you shouldn't do it but it probably won't cause problems if you really want to use it.
I personally wouldn't use it. There's so much quality climbing gear out there and slings are cheap. We're far beyond the time when Royal Robbins hammered lumber into cracks for fall protection. In my opinion the apparent ...
8
Static rope may not be that much more expensive than equivalent tape and is certainly a lot more versatile. In particular rope gives you a lot more options for reliable knots which are also be familiar from climbing rope use. Many people consider any knot in tape to be a bit suspect.
The range of knots may come into play when rigging more complex anchors ...
8
In addition to the other answer I'd like to add that ropes are way safer than webbing in a scenarion where it actually comes in contact with rock. This is the case in top rope anchors when you have to tie the rope back over the edge of a cliff.
Ropes are designed with a protective layer (mantle) and a load bearing inner part, also when moving, they only ...
8
His opinion was that I could tie an overhand for the master point and
be just as safe–the only downside being that it would be more
difficult to untie after being loaded.
Yes, this is correct.
Many people seem to think that commonly used climbing knots can slip if there's not enough friction to make them hold, and that we should choose a knot based on ...
8
TL;DR
Vertical oriented V-threads (A-threads) are significantly stronger than horizontally aligned V-threads. The following numbers should not be taken at face value: Different test configurations were performed, but it is not clearly stated which are used to come up with these numbers.
Tests by Beverly and Attaway showed an increase in mean failure load of ...
8
Disclaimer: This answer reflects nothing else than my own opinion on this subject, since I've never used water to clean holes nor know anyone that does so.
So, first thing I'd like to ask you is: why? You'd have to carry more weight, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with cleaning the holes using air. In fact, as far as I know, industrial bolting ...
8
Extending everyone's rappels and tying everyone into the rope before the first person descends is the proper, safest way to do things, unless you wanted all the followers to tie an autoblock as well. It's the quickest, simplest, safest thing to do.
The alternative would be to set up a proper top-belay anchor, lower all your friends from the anchor one at a ...
7
Short answer: If the tree is a living and thick one, then it was OK.
That being said, there are several reasons you should had done a proper anchor with multiple points (trees, in this case) and equalized, and then walked back again to the top.
One simple drawback of your approach is, that the friction between the rope and the tree trunk, when you recall ...
7
On cordelettes:
A cordelette used to set up a 3 point anchor will have three loops of rope above the knot (one per piece) and three loops below. The knot itself will have 6 strands of rope running through it. (This eats up almost 2 meters of cordelette length alone.)
If you cut a single strand the location of the cut hardly matters; you will still have ...
7
A cordelette gives you the most versatility and is definitely the way to go in most situations, especially if you are relatively new to climbing.
A disclaimer before I elaborate any further:
Reading a book on anchor-building is not enough to be able to
construct a safe belay anchor. Read the book and then have an
experienced climber teach you in the ...
7
Will Gadd's book Ice & Mixed Climbing states that if you mess up the first attempt at a V-thread, start over in clean ice. This includes if your screw holes intersect only partway down the hole, the two holes didn't intersect, or the distance between the holes isn't large enough. Practicing making V-threads on the ground is much better than trying to ...
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