I’ve been following this thread with interest. Here’s my two penn’orth. All Peguet Maillon Rapide connectors are designed primarily for use where a more permanent attachment is required, as opposed to a conventional carabiner type connector where there will be much more frequent opening and closing.
A large proportion of scaffolders type harnesses have a M/R to semi-permanently attach an energy absorbing lanyard to the dorsal attachment ring and have a carabiner or MGO (Scaffhook) type connector at the other end of the lanyard for more frequent use.
A correctly torqued M/R shouldn't be able to unscrew itself in normal use. Some M/R's have a captive bar that helps stop them spinning around on the attachment point and so avoids any misloading issues and also helps further prevent the sleeve from unscrewing in use. The M/R's that semi-permanently attach my reserve parachute to my paragliding harness have captive bars across them. My wing risers are attached to the harness with square, triple action carabiner connectors, as these are usually opened and closed much more frequently.
The first thing to look at when carrying out a proper Thorough Examination of a M/R, whether rated as PPE or Lifting Gear, would be its markings.
In industry we would always expect to see a M/R used as part of a personal fall protection system to be rated as a PPE connector and have, amongst other things, EN362 written on it.
M/R's used for lifting operations should always be marked with their Working Load Limit (WLL).
The same sized Lifting Gear rated Peguet M/R's are exactly the same as the PPE rated ones but with different markings, i.e., they will have a WLL marked on them and, as andrewmcleod mentioned, the PPE rated ones will have additional user instructions in their individual packaging. That's why they are a lot more expensive. The PPE rated Peguet M/R's are also uniquely marked with a traceable serial number for quality assurance and recall purposes. I think this may also be the case for the WLL versions.
If a 'Quick Link', whether used for the attachment of PPE of for a lifting operation had no markings at all then it would FAIL a Thorough Examination. I personally wouldn’t touch an unmarked quick link connector for personal suspension purposes with a barge pole, regardless of how strong it is claimed to be.
I've supplied hundreds of the galvanised 7mm Long M/R's to caving expeditions over the years and they have all been the WLL rated ones simply because of the significant price difference.
Whilst the GS or any other such un-marked connectors may be perfectly strong enough to suspend a person from, the quality systems manufacturers of PPE have to have in place to confirm that they are strong enough to consistently meet the requirements of the EN362 or other appropriate standards are usually a lot more stringent.
You can be sure that if you asked GS if you could hang a person from one of their 'quick links', they would say ABSOLUTELY NOT.
The Lappas ones are interesting. They start by getting the major and minor axis ratings the wrong way round on their website listing.
None of the M/R’s on their site appear to have a CE mark or any detail of the Notified Body which carried out their initial testing. This is the 4-digit number that should be immediately after the CE mark if they are rated as PPE, or just the CE mark for lifting gear. Being on a climbing website they are clearly selling them for personal suspension purposes but there is no user information supplied on their site relating to this.
They do seem to have gone to a lot of trouble to squeeze as much laser engraving/stamping on the side of them as they possibly can, but no CE mark?
I examine all sorts of different PPE and lifting gear as part of my job and do sometimes come across equipment that just doesn’t seem to be quite right in its claimed conformity. Only recently we were presented with some CE marked 700kg WLL eyebolts that had been laser engraved by a third party with EN795 on the opposite side of the lifting eye to the other markings. The CE mark on these actually related to the eyebolt being used for lifting purposes and not as a PPE anchor.
Whilst the paperwork we eventually saw suggested they were genuine, I wasn't convinced and put them straight into the ‘Dubious’ category. I would put the Lappas quick links in the same category.
I was in B&Q the other day and noticed they sell unmarked 'Quick Links'.
Discover the Faithfull Quick Repair Links, designed for those who need reliable temporary fastenings. These 8mm zinc plated links provide a secure connection using a hexagon locking collar, ensuring durability and resistance to corrosion. Perfect for various applications, these links are ideal...
www.diy.com
Would you ask your mate to hang on one of these?
