Two interesting bits of kit from Grivel

[Jon]

An ascender that you can also descend on - http://www.grivel.com/products/rock/belay_rappel/82-ad

video - http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/news.php?id=6594



And a twin gate snaplink carabiner - http://www.grivel.com/products/full_product_list/fpl_carabiners.php

http://www.grivel.com/products/rock/carabiners/23-sigma_k8g

http://www.grivel.com/products/rock/carabiners/24-lambda_k7g

http://www.grivel.com/products/rock/carabiners/25-mega_k6g

video - http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/news.php?id=6593

not used either but it's good to see kit develop.

 

[ah147]

Twin gate=how to make a biner heavier and harder to use!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ALEXW]

Descender looks interesting but looks to have a small thermal mass, I bet it gets hot. :-\

 

[cap n chris]

The A&D appears useful if you're working on slopes but obviously there would be issues if attempting to use it vertically; also you'd still need your classic SRT layout to ascend. I note it is rated 8.3mm rope and above; therefore wouldn't be suitable for use with type L caving ropes. A quarter of a kilo also seems quite a lot; a steel krab and a Ropeman 2 would be a better combo for a caver, reckon. Nice idea though. Not made for, or aimed at, caving.

... on the other hand....

Have seen and used the twin magnetic krab; perhaps good for cowstails use in an instructing capacity as they are really easy to use one handed and seem very secure; only with type L or 9mm type B though as the gate opening clearance is narrow compared to a traditional D or snaplink. Could be tempted to get a couple for u/g test use. Solves the near-death experience recently affecting Jules with the "clip-in to bolt direct" failure mode. A potentially excellent addition to caving equipment.

 

[cap n chris]

Got some!...

http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/news.php?id=6593

Have been using a set of cowstails with these new "Mega Twingate" double-opposing-snaplink karabiners this weekend and have to admit they are glorious! - so far, that is.... have yet to use them underground, with gloves on, in wet/muddy conditions. If they pass muster I'll bung up some video in due course. They certainly seem to be a novel prevention of death* & near-death** scenarios which have occurred and my present hunch is that, if they are AOK underground, they could and arguably should become the de facto new cowstails karabiner of choice. We shall see and time will tell.

There is an expected/predicted drawback with them.... very muddy conditions - but this is a drawback for other types of karabiner too. 
___________________________________________________________________

*
http://ukcaving.com/board/index.php?topic=15351.0

**
http://welshrandomadventures.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/the-fall.html

 

[Alex]

After experimenting with my cows tails and finding out in a safe environment (my living room) how easy it is to accidental unclip them. I am definitely interested in these crabs. Let us know how you get on.

 

[Mike Hopley]

They look swanky and all, but...

I don't understand why these are considered a big innovation, especially for caving cowstails. They don't look nearly as easy to use as Via Ferrata krabs, e.g. the Camp Hercules (my personal favourite, which has stood up to prolonged gritty SRT in the past).

I suppose one advantage is that the Grivel weighs 80 grams, versus 125 for the Hercules. Then again, a normal snapgate weighs 40 grams.

If I were going for "heavy and secure", I would probably dig out my old Herculeses (can you have more than one Hercules? Would they share the chores? And would they mind that I've been storing them in a drawer for several years?).

 

[TheBitterEnd]

Does a Camp Hercules go around saying "ooh, shut that door"?

 

[Mike Hopley]

Does a Camp Hercules go around saying "ooh, shut that door"?

Yeah, after the Mares had bolted.

And he's very attached to his lion skin hot pants. If you've got it, flaunt it, darling.

 

[Judi Durber]

Cap'n Chris  how are you getting on with them? Done any more testing or just been crawling and groveling (digging) 

 

[topcat]

I had a play with them in a shop last week: they are a solution in search of a problem.  I wouldn't use them even if they were given to me.

 

[cap n chris]

Cap'n Chris  how are you getting on with them? Done any more testing or just been crawling and groveling (digging) 

I am finding them way more reassuring than my previous cowstails.

http://youtu.be/lfZDNbPfCH0
(Thanks to Henry Davies-Ball for doing the filming).

Pros: ?value, safety, novel, HMS therefore can be used for Italian Hitch.
Cons: a new technique/manoeuvre to learn and therefore probably too complex for old dogs.

So far, so good. I do predict a particular "hiccup" if they get muddy but have yet to witness/create/observe it. For general pitch-head safety they are undoubtedly excellent.


NB: they are not as quick to deploy/connect as snapgates - any circumstance where speed of clipping is fundamental can be solved by adding a snapgate to the HMS &/or linking the HMS back to your central maillon and using a snapgate in the bight as a shortened cowstail.

 

[Fulk]

Huh, just noticed this:

Cons: a new technique/manoeuvre to learn and therefore probably too complex for old dogs.

On yer bike, you!!

One old dog 

 

[cap n chris]

I am old* too.


* by UK national demographic standards, but still a frolicking flibbertigibbet by UK caving demographic standards.