Pulley efficiency is a bit of a misleading concept for us, as it's possible to make a very efficient pulley wheel with a really small diameter sheave (spinny bit). The Spoc might have a similar efficiency, but it has a smaller sheave diameter than the micro, and thus fatter ropes will have to...

To… talk about it? Forums eh?! Madness. Whilst I think it’s a bit silly, I’d rather people walked through the dales or visited sump 1 than trekking up Kilimanjaro whilst trying to convince me they’re doing it “for the children”. Can we agree we dislike those guys more? I would usually politely...

I see far more chat about this than issues in caves!

Whilst the discussion on methods above is useful, ultimately we all make occasional mistakes and on top of that tangles are not uncommon. This is another reminder that a spare rope of sufficient length is needed for all multi-pitch pull-through trips!

Northern Caving Council? I don’t think changing the acronym is too disruptive. It’s not a huge audience! I think it’s a positive and progressive change - so best of luck, people hate those! 😘

My employer has an EN standard helmet testing rig, and whilst you’re right, older helmets break at high impact forces but this isn’t a good metric to use. Modern helmets use a mixture of plastic and elastic deformation when facing a substantial impact. In short you don’t want an indestructible...

By this do you mean they ‘look alright’ after well over 10 years, or do you mean that they saved you from a more serious concussion following a collision with the pavement in a helmet over 10 years old vs the exact same incident that you repeated for testing purposes with a new one? A bike...

I suspect a larger cause of the lack of data for suspension syncope is that typically this does not happen in isolation: there is usually a reason why someone is not moving at all whilst on a rope. That could be hypothermia, could be head injury, could be a medical condition or could be simple...

One of our team attended this event at the weekend and the feedback was fantastic. Really hoping to get on the next one you're running!

I have some blizzard bag products. A British company based near Snowdonia. I doubt most of their products would fit in your helmet though. They do fit in an oversuit pocket or in my small tackle sack however. They are more expensive but considering you don't typically use them that often, and...

I’ve never found acting as if you’re morally superior to be a good way to illicit change - “cord of shame” is a poor choice of language from a professional. Instructors in particular have a really delicate balance to avoid coming across as mightier than thou and it makes it much harder for the...

I also have to pinch myself that it was illegal to be gay in the military within my shortish lifetime. Illegal to teach children that it’s okay to be gay. Illegal to marry the person you love if that person happens to have the same society-imposed gender as you. Society moves on thankfully, but...

This is one of the most unpleasant things I've read on this forum. I really think you need to reconsider that post. It's amazing how some people can be so scared of trans women in bathrooms when according to overwhelming evidence, cis/het men are responsible for the vast majority of violence...

The advice to retie your cowstails is fascinating. I’m really not sure what I think is more risky, but what I’d say is that for me, we’re targeting the wrong hazard. Avoid (at all reasonable costs) falling onto your cowstails in anything approaching FF1 let alone 2. If you’re level with or...