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Rope types and their falls explained:

1215 :: 27.01.2013

Disclaimer: This is a brief view of ropes and there fall catching capabilities and is in no way complete, there is a lot more to know and understand before jumping on the sharp end. This is compiled with my knowledge and experience and should not be taken as gospel. Do your own research and study and always climb within your abilities and only with full knowledge of all of your equipment.

Ropes for lead climbing should only ever be dynamic. You should NEVER lead climb on semi-static rope; any lead fall on semi-static will likely put you in hospital or worse.

There are three types of Dynamic ropes:

The Single ropeSingle Rope

The most common, this rope is used as a single strand. It is best adapted to difficult routes which are fairly straight-line, easy routes without change-over belays, and where descent is not by abseil. It is in particular the rope for sport climbing.

Half ropes or DoublesHalf Ropes

A ‘rope’ formed of 2 strands used together of which the leader is tied into both but, unlike twin ropes, two seconds may each be tied into just one of the strands. The leader clips only one strand into each runner so as to reduce drag. Half ropes are recommended for mountaineering, wandering lines and long ascents where abseil descent is necessary. In addition they offer better protection against stonefall or falling on an arete; to limit the drag, and thus the fall factor, you can clip the strands separately

And Twin ropesTwin Ropes

These ropes are always used with the two strands together, remaining parallel. Each climber ties into both strands and these are always clipped together. Its advantage over a single rope is that it allows for abseils as long as the rope. It is lighter than half rope but does not allow for separate strand clipping.

TESTING:
All dynamic ropes have to be tested for conformity to the Standard EN 892 in a test tower at a fall factor 1.77 (see below for fall factors explained).

Single and twin ropes are tested with a mass of 80kg. A single rope, must resist at least 5 successive falls, and both strands of a twin rope combined, must resist at least 12 successive falls.

2. Half ropes are tested with a 55kg mass on one strand. It must resist 5 successive falls. Why 55 kg?Because ropes which hold 5 falls with 55kg in practice hold 2 falls with 80kg, which has been allowed as sufficient security for a half rope which is not used to hold repeated falls on one strand.

..~~.. ..~~~~~.. ..~~..

*Factor fall explained: Generally only possible in multi-pitch climbing and whilst on lead, the fall factor( f ) is the ratio of the height ( h ) a climber falls before the climber’s rope begins to stretch and the rope length ( L ) available to absorb the energy of the fall.

f=h/L

Confused? (Ignoring rope stretch)

a) If you climb 5m above a belay placing gear at say 4m and fall you will fall 2m (1m to the piece of protection and 1 more below it) on 5m of rope.

f = 2/5

f = 0.4 Not necessarily a bad fall.

b) If you climb 5m above a belay without any gear placement and fall you will fall 10m (5 to the belay and 5 more below it) on just 5m of rope.

f = 10/5

f = 2 A factor 2 is the worst kind of fall you can apply to a rope (and belay).

With factors in mind, always place gear or clip bolts as soon as possible when leaving a belay; it’s not the time to be thinking about running it out, not even just a little.

Climb Safe.

Gareth

Acknowledgments: Beal Planet, Wikipedia.

 

 

A Little History Lesson – Wolfgang Gullich.

18:00 :: 18/01/2013

Wolfgang Güllich (24 October 1960 – 31 August 1992), was born in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and is widely considered to be one of the best sport climbers in history.

Wolfgang was responsible for 4 grade step-ups with the world’s first 8b(31) (Kanal Im Rücken, 1984), 8b+(32) (Punks In The Gym, Apr 1985), 8c(33) (Wall street, 1987), and 9a(35) (Action Directe, Aug 1991). He took climbing grades from 30 to 35 in 7 years, it was then 10 long years until Chris Sharma upped the grade to 36 with Realization, or Biographie.

The campus board was invented by Wolfgang Güllich in 1988 while he was training for a new route, Action Directe, which requires extreme dynamic finger strength. The first campus board was hung at a university in a gym called The Campus Centre. Hence the term “campus” has been applied to the name of the training board, training method, and style of climbing, or “campusing”.

He broke his back falling off the Master’s Edge at Millstone Quarry in Derbyshire, England but when he recovered climbed Separate Reality in Yosemite National Park, USA (1986). Climbing without a rope, he negotiated a twenty foot horizontal crack in an overhanging roof (as pictured).

He was also a climbing double for Sylvester Stallone in the movie Cliffhanger.

On August 29, 1992 Wolfgang’s car veered off the Autobahn between Munich and Nuremberg. Two days later he died in a hospital in Ingolstadt, never having regained consciousness.

Climbing lost a legend that day. Think of this man the next time you pull hard on our campus board.

 

OUR CRAZY CLEARANCE SALE ITEMS JUST GOT CHEAPER

11:00am : 14.01.2013
• BD Harnesses (old models) $29.95 L, XL and XXL only (Lotus not included).

• BD Lotus Harness $74.95 L, XS and S only -was $129.95.

• Arcteryx Harnesses already massively reduced and now take a further 20% off across the entire range. Very limited sizes

• Defy Ex Demo 1 pair only size 13.5US NOW $59.95

• Evolv Elektra Ex Demo 1 pair only size 9US (ladies) $59.95

• Evolv Pontas 1 pair only size 5US NOW $49.95

• Evolv Predators all size 6US NOW $39.95

• Mad Rock Approach Shoes 1 pair only sz 12US NOW $59.95

NO HOLDS, First Come, First Served. Can be bought online at https://the-hangout.myshopify.com/ (can be picked up to avoid freight if you are a local + Free freight on orders over $99 still applies)

 

Happy New Year Tech Tip

14:40pm : 07.01.2013

Hi All, hope you had a Great Xmas and New Year with more great plans and resolutions to have and keep throughout 2013.

I thought I would start out the New year with a Tech Tip that was provided to me by none other than Australian hard man Nathan Hoette. It has opened my eyes considerably and although I knew the implications of falling on slings (internal injuries), I never knew how bad and how you could fail them so readily. I have been guilty of knotting my slings in the past but will NEVER do it again. Please beware of standing up to the anchors when cleaning routes or dogging moves on slings.

Copied from DMM website :

Even a 60 cm, factor 1 fall on to an open Dyneema® sling can generate enough impact force (16.7 kN). Tying a knot in a Dyneema® sling weakens it even further leading to sling failure in a factor 1 fall .

For perspective, most leader falls are between 4 – 7 kNs. Forces above 10kN will start to cause internal injuries.

For the full story read this excellent DMM article and watch the video for test results at the end.

http://dmmclimbing.com/knowledge/how-to-break-nylon-dyneema-slings/

Climb Safe.
Gareth

Black Diamonds Magnetic Innovation in store now

14:10am : 16.12.2012

Black Diamond Magnetron GridLock’s and Rocklock’s, super-fast, easy to use, lightweight, Locking Carabiners Reviewed.

New toys. I love new toys, just look at my gear wall at home to confirm this. The new Magnetron’s hit our shelves this week and I (we) just had to have one (one each actually). After a little bit of a play with them here is the nuts and bolts of it all.

Locking carabiners that uses magnetic power for locking, instead of the usual knurled screw-down sleeve. At less than 80g, they are nice and light, but still solidly built. To use, simply pinch the sides (brightly coloured for easy sighting) and squeeze open the arm, drop your rope in, let go, and it self locks. Very easy one-handed operation (none of this pull down, twist, pull up, dance around a maypole stuff) it is fast and simple and with no sharp edges to catch and damage your rope they’re like a dream with amazing new magnetic technology built in.

• Gate open clearance: 21mm
• Strength (major axis closed): 22 kN
• Strength (gate open): 8 kN
• Strength (minor axis): 7 kN

Happy climbing

Gareth the gear junky.

Hangoween is Coming

9.48am : 15.10.2012

Join us for fun and mask up for Hangoween, Pizza and Nori provided. Go to events on our facebook page to sign up! http://www.facebook.com/events/150300378448663/

 

 

THe Hangout Proshop is Now Online

9:32am : 04.09.2012

The Hangout Online Gear Shop

The Hangout has hosted a large range of climbing goods available for sale with  great discounted prices, for a couple of years now.  Our range has kept growing and now with over three dozen different brands available over hundreds of products, you can expect to find diversity along side some of the best known names and products in the climbing world.

To match in with our growth and for convenience to you, we now trade online as well as in store (click the link above to view our online store). We dream of our store continuing to grow and offering the best prices and products available. Items like The Beal Diablo 9.8mm (Unicore rope), The Beal Joker 9.1mm Golden Dry, The Evolv Elektra (women’s shoe) and the BD Aspect 2012 (a very sexy harness indeed) were added this week alone. Our growth is made possible via a couple of things, 1) our vision / dream and 2) our customers support. So its you guys that help grow our dreams and we extend a huge Thank you to one and all.

 

We are now a BLACK DIAMOND SPECIALIST DEALER!

8.48am : 14.08.2012

It is official: The Hangout and it’s staff are all climbing gear addicts! We stock many great brands, but have a particular interest in climbing products by Black Diamond. This addiction has been rewarded by The Hangout becoming one of two climbing gyms within Australia to be recognized as a Black Diamond Specialist Dealers. We are proud of this achievement and very happy to be able to stock so many quality climbing products by Black Diamond.

So what does this mean for our climbers?

It means that we can offer you a HUGE range of quality climbing gear at GREAT PRICES!

 

A little bit of info about the Black Diamond Company:

“Here at Black Diamond it’s all about climbing and skiing. We share the same experiences that you do on rock, ice and snow and these experiences push us to make the best gear possible for our worldwide family of climbers and skiers.

“What began with a backyard anvil and a hammer has grown into a global company with offices on three continents that’s not just for rock climbers, but one that stands for the spirit of the sports we live, their values and goals, past, present and future. Since 1957, our innovative gear designs have set the standards in numerous areas. This is partly the result of dedication, desire and diligence on the part of an incredible team of people. It’s also the result of each of us being climbers and skiers ourselves.

“We’re a company of users—it’s who we are. We’re the greatest dreamers about what could be, and the harshest of critics about what exists and because of this—the creation of Black Diamond is a process which will never end. The company today is more committed than ever, thanks to the many people here in the U.S., at Black Diamond Europe and at Black Diamond Asia whose limitless energy and hands-on involvement have created a promising future for all climbers and skiers worldwide.”

Autumn Bouldering Competition Results

6:34am : 12.07.2012

How did you go?

WINNERS TROPHIES - Courtesy of Distorted Lenns Photography

You can check out your competition results in our COMPETITION section.

We have been delighted to see so many people make really significant improvements in this competition compared to the previous ones. Well done Bouldering Addicts!

We also just wanted to thank all of the competitors for the positive and inclusive attitudes that you brought to the competition. We set the problems but it is you our climbers who make it a success. Basically what we are saying is that as well as being enthusiastic and competitive climbers you are good, kind and generous people who go out of your way to help each other out by sharing tips and encouraging each other! It makes us proud to be part of a community of climbers.

MARIO - Courtesy of Distorted Lenns Photography

Oh ….and all you guys and gals that wore fancy dress to our competition party: You Rock!

We will let you know when our next competition is running, but in the mean time we will keep putting up new problems in our bouldering area for you to play on.

 

 

 

The Hangout In House Boulder Comp  Summer 2012

9:45am : 31.05.2012

BOULDERERS! The Hangouts In House Bouldering Series, Autumn 2012 Boulder comp is now over, all scores are now final (unless you now let me know of any legitmate scores prior to COB 17/06). Now its time for the finals at our Party This Friday night (22/06).

All the details of the comp will appear here soon.