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billcoe_
Oct 15, 2012, 8:16 PM
Post #201 of 207
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Registered: Jun 30, 2002
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I just bought 2 of the DMM Belay masters too. Figured I can use them to hook up the Mini and microtraxion combo for solo TR.
I've had one of them out 4 or so times on multipitch, and find it's slightly more of a pain in the ass than a regular HMS locking biner, but slightly less than the Black Diamond GridLock Belay biner that trys to achieve the same thing. The DMM has the added advantage in that it must be screwed shut or the plastic part will clearly not snap on and you'll know it for sure.
I would expect one of these paired with an Edelrid Eddy to be nearly idiot proof.
I said "NEARLY".
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cracklover
Oct 16, 2012, 3:55 PM
Post #202 of 207
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Registered: Nov 14, 2002
Posts: 10162
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billcoe_ wrote: I just bought 2 of the DMM Belay masters too. Figured I can use them to hook up the Mini and microtraxion combo for solo TR. I've had one of them out 4 or so times on multipitch, and find it's slightly more of a pain in the ass than a regular HMS locking biner, but slightly less than the Black Diamond GridLock Belay biner that trys to achieve the same thing. The DMM has the added advantage in that it must be screwed shut or the plastic part will clearly not snap on and you'll know it for sure. I would expect one of these paired with an Edelrid Eddy to be nearly idiot proof. I said "NEARLY".
I don't do much roped lead solo free climbing, but I've done a fair bit of solo aid, and I always used a grigri (unmodified). One thing that always bugged me was the possibility of it flipping sideways on the locking biner and ripping it open in a fall.
I haven't done much in a while, but if I go back to it, I will definitely consider buying one of those belay masters (or GridLock). I don't think they had come out last time I was doing a lot of aid. Of course a simpler method that I had considered back then would be to use a maillon, but that would be a pain to have to open and close each pitch.
I don't really have that concern when I TR solo, because I rig an ascender up between my harness and a chest harness. So it's always held "upright" (relative to my body).
GO
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sandstone
Oct 16, 2012, 5:59 PM
Post #203 of 207
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Registered: Apr 21, 2004
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cracklover wrote: ... a simpler method that I had considered back then would be to use a maillon, but that would be a pain to have to open and close each pitch...
I find that unscrewing a maillon is not that much more of a pain than unscrewing a locker. To me the small amount of extra effort is well worth the protection it provides from odd loading angles.
I switched to a maillon several years ago for solo, after reading the account (on rc.com, of all places) of a big fat belay biner being broken in a fall due to odd loading angle by a Grigri.
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JInman
Mar 27, 2013, 6:46 PM
Post #204 of 207
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Registered: Jan 2, 2011
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Around fifteen years ago, I was solo top roping with no one else around. I had climbed a nice line, pulled a small overhang, and was very happy with myself. However, the terrain at the top of the cliff was very steep and covered with leaf litter and pine needles. As I reached down to unhook the rope from the anchor, my feet slipped out from under me and I went right back over the edge and had to pull the small overhang again. If I had slipped a couple of seconds later, I would have already unhooked the rope, fallen around seventy feet and decked at the bottom of the cliff with no one around to call for help. After that, I decided to call it a day and go home, even though it was early. Ever since then, I have made sure that I am clipped to some sort of anchor when working near an edge. Years later, I told my son about the incident as a teaching opportunity, but have never told my wife. He is sworn to secrecy.
(This post was edited by JInman on Mar 27, 2013, 6:49 PM)
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hishopper
Mar 28, 2013, 3:54 AM
Post #205 of 207
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Registered: Jan 10, 2002
Posts: 387
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Short TR setup - built anchor, snapped rope in at the half way mark and launched the rope - with the overhang I couldn't see the ends of the rope as they fell. Called out to the inexperienced climbers at the bottom to see if both ends were there..."um... yeah, well, I think so...". No worries, I knew I had 10 times the amt of rope needed, and even if it was hung up on a branch or something I'd straighten it out on the way down (rapping down). Stepped off, rapping down, looking below for pile of rope stuck on anything and something caught my eye on rope as it passed my face... I was looking at the rope above me as I descended, wondering how it was that I see the middle mark there - not that snapping in 20' off of dead center would have mattered in the slightest, but I knew I didn't.... then what's that I feel in my right hand inches from my ATC? Oh yes, the end of the rope.  Turns out the new brand of rope I had just bought has other marks on the rope than the middle... like 3m from the end. Yeah... don't do that. And always, always (even on 50' little crags) knot the ends of your rope.
It's kind of like driving - you log 3000 miles cruising around the country on fast, windy highways, dark, unfamiliar rainy roads - then you die 1mi from home because you pulled out of your street on autopilot.
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wonderwoman
Mar 28, 2013, 1:59 PM
Post #206 of 207
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Registered: Dec 14, 2002
Posts: 4275
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Holy moly. Glad that was a near miss and not an obituary. Other climbers have died using that rope. Please be careful and glad you are okay!
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Syd
Mar 30, 2013, 9:15 PM
Post #207 of 207
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Registered: Oct 25, 2012
Posts: 300
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I also must admit to the gri gri screw up ... just once. Fortunately the climber was a fly weight. Now I'm more paranoid and triple+ check.
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