Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 1, 2009 - 11:47pm PT
|
Is there any reason why I shouldn't use them on an up coming El Cap ascent? (given that I change the slings that have been on them since, oh, '78 or so..)
|
|
philo
Trad climber
boulder, co.
|
|
Dude if you want to sell them I could use a modern pair,
|
|
Caveman
climber
Cumberland Plateau
|
|
If you are serious then inspect for cracks thoroughly.
|
|
Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 2, 2009 - 12:12am PT
|
I'm serious. I'll hang on them and look for cracks in them under tension.
I've done a fair number of routes with them but they've never been abused.
|
|
philo
Trad climber
boulder, co.
|
|
They haven't failed you yet.
|
|
mark miller
Social climber
Reno
|
|
Mark I'll loan you a pair of CMI expedition ascenders and you can give your ol' pair to the yosemite museum. They are worth allot more there, then you risking your hide to those antiquated rope chewers.
|
|
Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
Sprocketville
|
|
Get a 5 lb chute from Potter and your all set.
Cosmos would offer the best Aero Dynamics.
|
|
Caveman
climber
Cumberland Plateau
|
|
Never seen any of the yellow jumars crack but the thin side (under the cam)of the gray jumars has been known to separate. I would say something about using old gear but I would be a hypocrite. My rack is ancient!
|
|
nature
climber
Tucson, AZ
|
|
no... but as you are jugging on them remember one thing...
YER GONNA DIE!!!!
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
|
|
What's yur life worth?
Highly likely you wouldn't see a crack.
Machinist's blueing could possibly show it but not necessarily.
If it ain't broke don't fix it.
|
|
Studly
Trad climber
WA
|
|
If they weren't cracked 35 years ago, they aren't cracked now unless someone took a hammer to them. They still work just like the modern ones, although the new Black Diamond N-Force ascenders are pretty beefy and cool.
Mark, your old jumars are collectible and probably worth allot of money on Ebay, you could sell them and buy a new pair and maybe have money left over for more gear. But who wants to sell their old climbing hardware with so many memories... I pick up a old Eiger biner and drift away.....
|
|
Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
|
|
I had a pair of the old, gray Jumars that I bought in 1976, and used on Excalibur in 2002. All the way up, I used a prusik knot (5.5mm kevlar) above the top one, as I'd learned from Robbins' Advanced Rockcraft. I didn't have any problems with the old Jumars, but I did get a newer set a couple of years later.
Back in the day, we'd sling them through the upper eye, and coach-tape the webbing all the way down the handle to provide a second clip-in point down low. And we'd use a short sling through that odd, vertical lower eye, wrapped around both sides of the frame. We'd use cotton coach's tape, not duct tape, because it provided a better hand grip.
My recollection is that the very earliest Jumars had a small number of failures with the aluminum body breaking under high loading, like falling on them. I don't remember if the lower frame broke on one side, or what. But, the double-slinging technique was pretty common back then, and I learned it from somebody in Camp 4.
|
|
Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
|
|
This is ridiculous. Get a cool new pair. They are cheap and way better. Consider Todd Skinner's nonsense harness on the Leaning Tower. Good April First Troll by the way.
|
|
Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
|
|
I backed my grey jugs with slings every way I could even when they were the best money can buy. I retired them close to 20 years ago. I believe the yellow ones had the problems. Question for you Mark. Do you want to be thinking about those things every time you are using them? I think you would rather think about something else.
How is your brother?
Ken
|
|
Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
|
|
The YCA already has one pair of grey jumars, which were passed on to Ken last autumn. From the late 1960s, in fairly good shape - they were given to me by the family of Leif Patterson.
But I hope neither Ken nor Mark is thinking of using them for real.
|
|
deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
|
|
They're probably fine. They will not have "degraded" significantly like nylon, though they might be worn out from use. Check the springs on the safety latches, replace the slings, and you're good to go. In some ways those old grey jumars are the best.
|
|
Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
|
|
I still use my gray jumars on a regular basis. They are fine. I use the redundant clip in slings as Tom described.
|
|
rich sims
Trad climber
co
|
|
Mark
Thirty five is young I turned fifty four Monday
But my jumars are only thirty one .
Maybe it is habit but they feel better than some newer ones I have tried.
BD really felt bad till I realized the guy at REI had the handing wrong DOH!
Rich Sims
|
|
Mimi
climber
|
|
That's awesome that you're going up for another adventure, Mark. Oh, the horror.
Get new jugs. Retire the old ones. Enough to deal with up there.
I was determined to hold on to my old Clog Ascenders proudly stamped 'Second' from my visit there in '82. I'd used them on 5 walls with no trouble. While following the second pitch traverse of an aborted attempt on Eagle's Way with Steve 18 years later, one of them started acting weird. I struggled through a couple more pieces and noticed the antique scroll pin had walked leaving me hanging on one jug. I was able to push it back in and finish but it was clear that it was toast. Boy, was that an eye opener.
As Steve heckled, and in the middle of my plight, came a stringy theoretical voice from below. Chongo appeared at the base inspecting his Clampet trove hanging from the Sea. He asked if we worked for the Park Service. We both guffawed and figured the assumption was due to us wearing our geeky MSR helmets. And me flailing, of course. I didn't know the PS climbed walls.
We rapped and chatted it up with Chongo about his hanging garden of crap. He had staked a claim up there and weren't nobody gonna run him off. When he asked Steve if he was interested in buying his Big Wall book, I had to laugh. Steve calmly told him that he already knew what he was doing. That was a humorous moment. Chongo laughed too. The conversation then turned to line walking.
At least consider the newer yellow Jumar. That's what I went with. The castings are heavier than the grey. And they're so bright and cheery. Make sure the plastic hook on the safety doesn't scare the crap out of you however. LOL!
|
|
Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
|
|
A failure mode on some Clog ascenders in 1982 is quite irrelevant to how a Jumar might fail in 2009. At least, looking at the cam bearing on Jumars, that thing is very well made and is not going to come apart.
However, here are some failure modes to be aware of:
 single attachment sling fails due to untying, fraying on sharp edge, or cracking of body (solution: two attachment slings)
spring on cam fails (solution: tie in short if you are taking one ascender off the rope)
spring on safety fails, or (plastic) safety breaks under pressure (rope might come out of ascender if it is used at an unusual angle)
None of these things have happened to me, but Werner witnessed a spring failing once (as I recall it was on the safety).
I bought myself a pair of (very slightly used) yellow Jumars on ebay a few years ago, as a backup pair in case I ever thought the gray ones were unsafe. But I ended up never using them, and I sold them to my climbing partner after he had a very scary accident where his Petzl ascenders slid down the rope. Newer does not always mean safer.
http://storrick.cnchost.com/VerticalDevicesPage/Ascender/HECPages/HEC36.html
The pair I use is "Version D".
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!