Discussion Topic |
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DAN DUANE
climber
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - May 29, 2015 - 10:29am PT
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Related to the Grigri post, but more in a Rip Van Winkle vein: way back when, I thought I was cutting edge with the sliding-X. Now I'm reading (in John Long's excellent book on anchors; thank you, John,) about the equalette. I've even started using it in the field, liking it. But I'm curious: how many of you guys are using the equalette, how many are still using cordelettes, and what's the latest/best thinking on this stuff?
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Roots
Mountain climber
Tustin, CA
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May 29, 2015 - 10:38am PT
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I use all three...depends on the situation, and what gear I have with me when I arrive atop a pitch, etc.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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May 29, 2015 - 11:15am PT
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I think the latest thinking is that almost everything has a place, but folks do have a way of disagreeing about what the place of any specific item is.
One thing I think is well-understood is that "equalization" is and always was a myth and that "distribution" is what anchor construction is about. Moreover, the increasing occurrence of burly bolted belay anchors have rendered equalization irrelevant in those situations. Unfortunately, it seems impossible to eliminate "equalization" from the vocabulary of anchor rigging.
My sense is that cordelettes as the standard anchor rigging was something of a fad that has declined, being replaced, in generic situations, by good old direct attachment with the climbing rope.
Various studies have cast increasing amounts of doubt on the performance of sliding systems, especially when more than two anchor points are involved, in which case it seems that sliding systems cannot be relied on to be any better than fixed-loop rigging. (For anchors involving three or more pieces, regardless of how the system is rigged, one of those pieces is likely to end up taking at least 50% of the load.)
A very interesting source of information, the only one I know that considers all the options and methods and doesn't seem to have an axe to grind about any one particular one, is High: Advanced Multipitch Climbing, by David Coley and Andy Fitzpatrick (Kindle, iTunes, .pdf, $9). The companion website, http://multipitchclimbing.com/ , has a ton of useful information, again without imposing artificial concepts of what is "best."
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LuckyPink
climber
the last bivy
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May 29, 2015 - 11:44am PT
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rgold, once again thanks... that is an excellent link.
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Vegasclimber
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
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May 29, 2015 - 07:54pm PT
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I use all three, but since I started using the equalette it's become my go-to for bolted belays. Fast, easy, and able to turn it back into a cordalette when needed.
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the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
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May 29, 2015 - 08:05pm PT
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I use all three as well. But it takes a long time to set them up and uses a lot of gear. I also anchor with the rope too for quadruple redundancy.
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Spiny Norman
Social climber
Boring, Oregon
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May 30, 2015 - 12:00pm PT
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It's important to have several tools in the toolbox, each of which can be misused in different, tragic ways. Versatility!
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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May 30, 2015 - 01:03pm PT
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Im with DMT..... I do not own any of them. I just use the rope or some slings.....
Have fun.
EDIT: To add.... I climbed with John a few days before he decked and shattered ankle.... he clipped in with slings. Wasn't sporting any X thinge EQ thinge...... on him at all. He wrote the book to make the guides happy.
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| Messages 1 - 8 of total 8 in this topic |
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