Rate my Rack!

Is this rack worn out ?

  • Total voters
    26
  • Poll closed .
K

Kenilworth

New member
When I use a micro-rack (BMS), I clip the top to the left side of the harness when not in use. It seems to stay out of the way pretty well. I've never tried this with a 6-bar rack which I use only rarely.

Disgusted from Cornwall. said:
Microracks. Don't like them. Get a 5 or 6 bar J rack and add or remove bars. They are suited for that purpose. You cannot "change gear" on a U rack. You might as well use a bobbin.
Click to expand...

Micro and J racks are two different types of device, each with their advantages. I have stopped using a J rack because it offers zero advantage for the stuff I'm doing (220' and under). The micro is easier to handle, easy to control, easy to lock-off, and easy to pack. I like it a lot.
 
A

Amy

New member
You do have a lot of variance with a 4-bar BMS microrack. You can get it with single or dual hyperbars - and think of a hyperbar as "1.5 bars" worth of friction. This greatly increases usability - and hyperbars making a full lockoff a breeze.

I use my microrack up to 150ish feet on our stiff 11mm American ropes like PMI Pit and classic Highline. I can use it up to about 300-ft on flimsy UK ropes - even 10.5 and 11mm stuff. Some people will use it on longer - I know one of the guys at bridge day who rappels on one and that's 876-ft freehang.

Your con to a microrack is that if you feed rope, and a bar pops off in the loop you made, you are on two bars which as we know is basically an air rappel. This tends to be why they are recommended for advanced uses. However, feeding rope is typically a beginner thing done to rappel over an edge, which, as you don't rig edges here, would be a non-issue. And the con to a micro vs a 6bar Jframe is you have less space to rig your rope into it, making long rappels (rope weight) difficult as you can't just wiggle the rope through it in the same fashion. Doable...but more difficult. And again, that is a non-issue here in the UK since you just dont rig drops like that.

There is nothing in the UK I wouldn't do on a microrack - except *maybe* some of the deep mine shafts. But as this is a cave forum and not aditnow I'm guessing this is a nonissue for folk here. And I honestly think a full 14" 6-bar rack is really overkill here.

If you get the long frame micro, you have plenty of space even on 11mm rope to spread out bars to speed up. Racks are not just about adding and dropping bars, it's the ability to move where the bars are. More space = less bend and less pinch = less friction = faster. Even on the 14" 6bar Jframes, you are never supposed to go below 4 bars. So a mirco has your minimum friction allowance built int. When you add a hyperbar to the micro, now you have effectively the same maximum amount of friction as on a 6-bar 14" J frame rack. So you have the entire friction range in a small package.

If you are often on 9 or 10mm ropes, I'd even stick with a short frame. I have the long frame because in TAG we use the stiff 11mm. But I have always had lots of space on my rack with every rope from 9 to 11mm that I've used here since they simply are more wiggly ropes.

(ps - saying "here" as in UK as I am...well...here in the UK at the moment)
 
T

tamarmole

Active member
tamarmole said:
Disgusted from Cornwall. said:
Microracks. Don't like them. Get a 5 or 6 bar J rack and add or remove bars. They are suited for that purpose. You cannot "change gear" on a U rack. You might as well use a bobbin.
Click to expand...

And I take it you have gained wide experience with five bar micro racks since you expressed a similar opinion on Aditnow when this subject was discussed a year or so ago.

To summarise what I  wrote on AN:  One of the major advantages of a five bar micro is that you can change gear; you can run the rack on either four bars or you can dial in extra friction (in effect change gear) by running the rope over the hyperbar.  You can also vary friction by moving the bars. 

As someone has has used both traditional five bar rack (both Caving Supplies and Petzl) and five bar micro's (Kong Rakong, BMS micro, home brewed) I find that  (a)  The shorter length of the micro makes changeovers easier and (b) the hyperbar makes lock offs easier and to my mind more secure.
Click to expand...

Whoops meant four bar micro rack not five.
 
K

Kenilworth

New member
Amy said:
If you are often on 9 or 10mm ropes, I'd even stick with a short frame. I have the long frame because in TAG we use the stiff 11mm. But I have always had lots of space on my rack with every rope from 9 to 11mm that I've used here since they simply are more wiggly ropes.
Click to expand...

Ultra-lightweight persons (like myself) may have trouble with a short frame BMS. My practice tree rope is 8mm, even so I had to get a longer frame for my micro-rack. I kept the short frame to play with, fitting it with all manner of homemade bars.
 
PeteHall

PeteHall

Moderator
While we're on the subject of the BMS micro-rack, I was once given one by an American caving friend and it instantly became my favourite descender, however, it might have just become as deadly as the deadly croll...

I'll take a picture and post it when I have time, but basically, the peg on the end of the hyperbar developed a hair-line crack, then split in half leaving a razor blade next to the rope!  :eek:

No idea what caused it, or if anyone else has had a similar failure, but it's off the SRT kit and on the shelf for now!
 
D

Disgusted from Cornwall.

New member
Rick, I've used a 4 bar micro. It was OK, but perhaps I've just got used to my 5 bar. I like the hyperbar idea, but I can imagine it snagging on everything! I occasionally go out on 8mm and it's a bit exciting with my mega-gorilla mass. I have been known to put a snap crab in the top and go through that. I picked up a lot of army 12mm rope on the cheap. (Think just short of 1km) and it gets used for everything. I quite often use 4 bars quite spread out.

I'll use a stop for fiddling, but I gather using 2 racks is one way of doing it!

I've wondered about getting a slightly longer 6 bar, after seeing Mr Browning using his (big respecs), but "the rope is the wrong way around then!" I like doing stuff the same, partially for safety, partially due to autism!
 
A

Amy

New member
PeteHall said:
While we're on the subject of the BMS micro-rack, I was once given one by an American caving friend and it instantly became my favourite descender, however, it might have just become as deadly as the deadly croll...

I'll take a picture and post it when I have time, but basically, the peg on the end of the hyperbar developed a hair-line crack, then split in half leaving a razor blade next to the rope!  :eek:

No idea what caused it, or if anyone else has had a similar failure, but it's off the SRT kit and on the shelf for now!
Click to expand...
...the hyperbar peg starts off as a rolled tube as it's friction fit, the edge is not sharp nor is it on the side next to the rope...
Are you saying yours actually broke making a sharp edge? Otherwise, it is as manufactured and perfectly safe...click the photo in the link below and it will enlarge you can see the manufactured design clearly on the outside view. If yours is on the inside it was made wrong, but you can actually rotate it. It's a trick we use to prolong the life of our  micros - undo the nuts and reverse all the bars, and you can actually gently hammer/mallet the peg through to the other side to flip the hyperbar so it wears both sides before replace ;)
http://onrope1.com/descending-equipment/bms-hyperbar/
 
PeteHall

PeteHall

Moderator
Amy,  the peg sheared in half down it's length, oposite the manufactured gap (right next to the rope). I've not had a lot of free time lately but will try to get a picture up at the weekend.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top