GearFlogger

Black Diamond tests the breaking point of runners

Black Diamond tested the breaking point of wet and dry runners. We're generally supportive of the abuse of runners - what kind of sport is that, really? - yet initially we were sketical; surely a wet person will break at the same point as a dry person. Then we realized they were talking about webbing! Nylon and Dynex specifically:

"Dynex runners don’t seem to be affected when soaked, which was to be expected. Nylon runners, on the other hand, show about a 10% decrease in strength when wet. Should this slight decrease in strength be concerning? Not really. The strength of these, wet or dry, are well above the product rating and pretty much any force that can be created in the field. Bottom line: runners are crazy strong, wet or dry. So even if my partner had gone for a ride during our rain-drenched climb, he would have been fine.
 
"Note: If your runners or other gear gets soaked, don’t dry it out in direct sunlight. This causes degradation and a potential decrease in strength. How much? Check out an entry from the QC Lab archives: Testing Old Gear from the VRG. Dried out and sun-bleached slings broke at around 11 kN with some as low as 5 kN. That’s 1124 lbf and getting well into sketchy land."

Read complete article at Black Diamond

Metolius nylon slings

Nylon. It's not just for panty hose anymore. It's for inexpensive slings that outperform their high-tensile cousins, for reasons we'll get into shortly. Metolius gives us a decent cheapo with a few rough edges.

Metolius made a workman's sling here, rated at 22kn. It's 18mm wide with pinstriping down the center, just like the decals you put on your crappy old pickup truck when you were a teenager. Don't lie, someone saw you. The rough edges are on the ends, where at least on the one I got it looks like they were cut by someone operating a hot knife under the influence. The ends stick out half an inch from the bar tacking, which won't affect much but is annoying from a purely anal-retentive perspective. Which is the only perspective we know around these parts.

Where the 48 incher weighs 3oz, some of they fancy high-tensile sewn runners weigh in at a mere 1 oz. OK, sure, that's 2 oz. apiece and I like to count grams as much as the next weenie. But picture this: you're clipped in to a piece of pro with your webbing and for some reason you're above the pro, you slip and you fall. Chances are the nylon webbing will hold. The high-tensile dyneema/spectra/kevlar sling will snap, because it can't stretch even the teensiest bit. That means the peak load is much higher and it fails. Check out the current gear guide issue of Rock and Ice Magazine. They confirm tests by others that show this nifty little fact, and remember: knotting high-tensile slings steadily reduces their strength while nylon can be knotted and unknotted forever with minimal loss of strength.

$3.75 to $6.95 at REI

PMI 7mm Cordelette with Lumi-Line

PMI makes all the bondage cords for the professional B&D circuit. Their cords have been rated Best in Bondage three years running by the Netherlands Sex Fraternal Workers union, better known by their acronym, NSFW. If you ever get an email marked NSFW, now you know where it originated.

We climbers, parasites that we are, benefit from B&D technology with products like the seven-ounce PMI 7mm cordelette with Lumi-Line. It's a a standard pre-packaged 21ft/7m lenght of 7mm nylon cordelette with one twist: glow-in-the-dark fibers that add extra fun in the bedroom or the backcountry. Remember: safety first!

If you're still using webbing or runners to set up anchors, do yourself a favor and learn the equalette by reading Climbing Anchors: Second Edition by John Long and Bob Gaines. For extra credit pick up Rock Climbing Anchors by Craig Luebben. Some people prefer Spectra/Dyneema over nylon for lighter weight, less bulk, less water retention, UV resistance and higher strength. I think it's safe to say that nylon has the overall advantage because it still plenty strong enough, light enough, doesn't lose strength after knotting, doesn't slip as easily and it adds some stretch to the system to reduce shock-loading on that shaky pro you just placed. And it's cheaper.

$14.90 at REI

Outdoor Research Accessory Straps

Tying crap down is both art and science, although some folks manage to avoid both approaches. We call them yard sale people, 'cause that's what it looks like when their bombproof rigging job blows apart and scatters gear hither, thither and yon.

Do not be a yard sale person. Use reliable straps like these 3/4" nylon ones from OR. They have tension buckles, which I prefer as more reliable than quick-release styles for critical applications like tying down a load on a sled for glacier travel.

Various lengths.

$6.50 at REI

Metolius Personal Anchor System

Most of the time when someone comes up with a device that is just a specialized version of something you can rig yourself from stuff you already own, it's just not worth paying for. This is not that.

The Metolius PAS allows a fast anchor tie-in merely by clipping in to the daisy-chain. The multiple loops also make it useful for equalizing anchors in a safe static mode to eliminate risk of shock-loading.

Another use I've found for the PAS is for crevasse rescue. The person not in the slot can drop it over the lip to aid the poor slob who has to work up and over. It works like an etrier and the climber can simply grab the loops hand-over-hand.

$30 at REI (or w/locking 'biner $40 at Backcountry.com)

BlueWater Ice Floss rope

Don't forget to floss. This beauty is an 8.1mm twin rope, meaning it is designed to be used with another twin rope running through the same pieces of protection. It can be used singly for situations where there is no danger of a severe fall, for example glacier travel, which is what I use it for.

The 60m length (just under 200 feet) is ideal for areas where the crevasses are truly monstrous, such as Alaska and the Karakoram. I typically travel with just one climbing partner and this leaves plenty of room even rigged up with a Kiwi coil, my preferred method for glaciers.

The small diameter means light weight and easy handling. The minus is that some belay devices, prussik-minding pullies and autoblocks can be a little skittish, so make sure your devices work with ropes this size.

$143 at REI