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Decommissioning a belay device.

Original Post
JesseT · · Portland, OR · Joined May 2011 · Points: 100

So, I have a Reverso 3 that must have encountered my nut tool or some other piece of harder metal in my pack. As a result, there are dents with sharp edges on both sides of one of the braking channels. I decided that the $30 for a new belay device is cheaper than a new rope (not to mention the value of my friends' lives) so I've replaced it, and now I'd like to destroy it to avoid accidental use.

Why am I posting this here, you may ask. Well, I have been trying to think of creative ways to destroy it. A Dremel or hack saw seems too boring. I'm looking for suggestions for how to radically decommission this piece of gear. I'll record video of the winning method and post it up. Ridiculousness and feasibility are both important considerations here.

One of my ideas involved liquid nitrogen, but I have no idea regarding availability or cost-effectiveness of that method.

Let's hear what you've got!

erik kapec · · prescott, az · Joined Mar 2010 · Points: 205

go where some repaving is going on and toss it underneath the roller...or sledge hammer, thats always fun.

Buff Johnson · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2005 · Points: 1,145

Test the strength of epoxy by gluing it to a sidewalk in Boulder. Make sure to go-pro any testing.

Devin Fin · · DURANGO · Joined Jan 2010 · Points: 3,725

train tracks !!! it will smash it in to a cool shape or have a nice big fire find steal cup place in coals till red hot then drop the old device in an watch it melt.. cool thred dude

Kenan · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2010 · Points: 1,237

FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!!!!

Melt that bad boy

Or a blowtorch perhaps

;-)

H.. · · Washingtonville NY · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 45

christmas tree ornament/wall art

skeeter · · Lakewood CA · Joined Aug 2012 · Points: 10

shoot rifle round at it, drop it off cliff onto a boulder (be careful nobody below), tape it to your bumper and run into a wall (wear a helmet), use it as passive pro and take a whipper on it, or just throw it in the trash.

Truck Thirteen · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2011 · Points: 0

Why not just file off the rough spot and save $30?

jake 356 · · worcester · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 0

Liquid nitrogen idea is bad ass it will shatter like a light bulb. Try going to a welding supply place you can get a small canister for like 10 bucks plus a deposit on the container.

H.. · · Washingtonville NY · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 45

attach it to your vehicle in the same fashion as truck nutz. besides, rock climbing is more bad ass than owning a truck. definitely dont just file down the sharp edges, no one will want to see a picture of that on MP after you do it.

JesseT · · Portland, OR · Joined May 2011 · Points: 100

Thanks for the responses, all!

The variation on the classic "quarter glued to the sidewalk" gag is genius! Wish I lived in a climbing town where I could actually pull this off (or, wait, the point is that it can't be pulled off, right). Maybe I'll glue it down in front of the REI.

Melting or flattening with heavy machinery is also classic.

The ornament/wall art idea is intriguing, but probably wouldn't make a very entertaining video. Hmm, maybe a hood ornament, though... Or completely ruin the thing and make a decoration out of the pieces. I like it.

I really like the rifle idea, but I think it could only really be done right with a high-speed camera. Anyone near PDX have a high speed camera and want in on this?

File it down and keep using it? Eh, like I said, I wouldn't want one of my friends to get hurt because I messed up altering my gear. Plus, destruction is more fun to watch.

...And back to liquid nitrogen. I have to say there is a special place in my heart for the stuff. Maybe even combined with one of the other recommended destruction methods. Thermal shock it to try and blow it apart? Freeze it and shoot it? Freeze it and huck it off a cliff with a helmeted cameraman at the bottom?

Wouldn't you know, the very next thing I thought of after the hood ornament idea was truck nutz. I saw a picture a while back where someone hung 2 nuts (i.e. stoppers) from their trailer hitch. I lol'd.

You all are making it so hard to decide!

Steve86 · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 10

This is so simple I can't believe anyone hasn't mentioned it yet.

Thermite

youtube.com/watch?v=PPAYZMz…

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdCsbZf1_Ng

TDoyle · · Milford, MA · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 140

liquid nitrogen and then shoot it out of a potato canon aimed at a brick wall.

Adam Bunger · · Someplace in the Northeast · Joined Jul 2008 · Points: 1,025

liquid nitrogen, wtf? so I have an anthill in my driveway, anyone have any plutonium I could snag. just toss it, how many people are picking through the trash for a reverso? pound on it with a hammer if you're really worried.

Kip Kasper · · Bozeman, MT · Joined Feb 2010 · Points: 200

Liquid nitrogen won't shatter it. The cool shattering effect only works on stuff with a lot of water content (biological cells) or like rubber balls. Aluminum will still be really hard, maybe if you whacked the fuck out of it with a sledge, but you don't need liquid nitrogen to do that.

If you want to get rid of it throw it in the trash, or just hang it on the wall with all your other retired gear like I did when I deemed my reverso 3 too worn for safe use.

Ben Brotelho · · Albany, NY · Joined May 2011 · Points: 520

Thermite!! Being aluminum it will be an intereating meltdown

sanz · · Pisgah Forest, NC · Joined Nov 2011 · Points: 210

liquid nitrogen + sledgehammer sounds pretty hard to beat.

cfuttner · · Chicago, IL · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 5
Tim Stich · · Colorado Springs, Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,520

Toss it in the aluminum recycling bin.

Medic741 · · Des Moines, IA (WTF) · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 265

Whenever you find wet concrete in a climber town put the wire into the wet cement... Leave for other dirtbags to dry to pick up and enjoy many Lols.

Locker · · Yucca Valley, CA · Joined Oct 2002 · Points: 2,349

Out of all the humor posted here, oddly enough the one that got me laughing to myself just now, was this one:

"Why not just file off the rough spot and save $30?"...

LOL!!!...

Probably not meant to be humorous. But it is.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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