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Ever have a biner break?

Original Post
Kevin D · · Phoenix, AZ · Joined Aug 2007 · Points: 160
Wtf

So I took a short fall onto a cam with a 2 foot runner on it and the biner on the rope end broke. Luckily I sewed it up so I didn't take too big of a fall. I've read about nose-hooking before and assume that must have been what happened. It was a Camp wiregate. Couldn't find the rest of the biner that landed in some bushes. Anyone else have a biner break?
Max Forbes · · Colorado · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 108

Camp photon? Scary.. Glad your okay

Justin Brunson · · Tacoma WA · Joined Jun 2010 · Points: 2,266

The only biner i've broken was part of a primitive and misinformed slackline setup in 2005. My best guess is that the gate got stuck open. We were yarding on the line and it just exploded. The nose of it grazed one guy's hand but we never found it.

Dallas McLellan · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2008 · Points: 5

Belaying a buddy in maple when he took a whipper.

Busted BD biner in Maple

Eli Buzzell · · noco · Joined Nov 2010 · Points: 5,507

That is really shady. Glad to hear you're okay. If you're 100% sure the gate wasn't stuck you should probably contact the manufacturer.

Devin Horgan · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2014 · Points: 10

Broke one of these babies from taking my keys on and off too often. It was pretty intense.

Keyring

I don't wanna be spreading no rumors, but I heard of a local NC climber who weighed in around the mid-200 range (not a problem for most string-bean climbers), and he was notorious for blowing/breaking pieces from his heavy falls.

A crusty aid-climber also told me some stories (probably embellished) about sketchy partners loading too much gear/portaledge/people/bags on single carabiners. When you touch the gate, the gate POPS open and doesn't close. Sketchy....

Pnelson · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2015 · Points: 635
bearbreeder · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 3,065

it got nosed hook most likely

blackdiamondequipment.com/e…

;)

Jim Amidon · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2001 · Points: 850

Yep had one break in a fall, it was my third piece of gear, (6 total) ripped the top two then the biner broke and the ground was the next stop......

Total fall of 90-100'

Glass Tupperware · · Atlanta · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 45

Did this once. And I did not sew up that pitch, so I think I ended up taking about a 50 footer.

Seneca Aftermath

I think it happened lining up a nut like this.

Crossloaded Moses

Cody E · · Colorado Springs, CO · Joined Sep 2014 · Points: 40

KevinD states the rope-end biner broke. Hey Kevin, was the rock face bumpy/have any surface area such that when you took the fall and weighted the runner and biner, that the biner gate pressed against anything causing it to open... resulting in a fall on an open-gate biner? I'd say this is a possible scenario depending on the rock features near the biner at the time.

I hope that scenario made sense trying to type it out. For a better, and visual explanation, visit this link and see the 4th photo/scenario under section 1.

http://www.petzl.com/en/Sport/Positioning-the-quickdraw-and-clipping-the-rope#.VLlYrdLF9cc

Based on the pic of the nose, looks like it was a Camp Orbit biner?

Kevin D · · Phoenix, AZ · Joined Aug 2007 · Points: 160

It was a Camp orbit wire, but the open gate strength is 8 kn which is more than a typical lead fall. It was near an irregular crack so the gate may have opened but it still must have nose hooked the sling or rope

Greg Barnes · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 2,060
Yikes!
The broken biner in the middle is the infamous one where a Korean climber broke a bolt on Shaky Flakes in Yosemite Valley (multi-pitch 5.11a R slab), took a 50' sliding fall on the next bolt, and that's the draw and rope-end biner (which snapped), so he took another 50' slider onto the belay (which luckily held). They self-evac'd and apparently he looked like he fell off a motorcycle at 50 with no leathers on. There's no deformation on the gate at all so it either vibrated or scraped open (no obvious scrapes). Gate open strength on that Lucky carabiner is 8kN.

The busted locker on the left popped open one time when we were dropping a 160 pound haulbag on some old bolts. It was on that screamer which fully ripped. The biner held, the rope didn't come out.

The biner on the lower right - I don't remember, might have just found it somewhere, it wasn't mine.

I've busted a bunch of biners, but only using a funkness device where that happens regularly.
Don Ferris III · · Boulder, CO · Joined Nov 2012 · Points: 186

The amount of replies in such a short period makes me tingle.

Savanna · · Monterey, CA · Joined Dec 2012 · Points: 55
Don Ferris wrote:The amount of replies in such a short period makes me tingle.
And not in a happy way.
20 kN · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,346

I have had a biner bend on a fall, but never break. Lucky me I guess.

blakeherrington · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2006 · Points: 1,113

I've witnessed 2 BD hotwires break in short falls. Probably had open gates, or the nose was hooked weirdly, or both.

Greg Barnes · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 2,060
20 kN wrote:I have had a biner bend on a fall, but never break. Lucky me I guess.
That reminds me of the time I watched a friend whip on a 1/4" buttonhead with Leeper hanger - and I saw the Leeper bend out and back during the fall! When I told him after the climb he said "I really didn't need to know that." The next year I replaced it with a fat 1/2" stainless bolt (that was the bolt at the start of Wailing Banshees at the Needles, a 5.11b where the guidebook incorrectly rated the start as 10b not 11b!)
bearbreeder · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 3,065
KevinD wrote:It was a Camp orbit wire, but the open gate strength is 8 kn which is more than a typical lead fall. It was near an irregular crack so the gate may have opened but it still must have nose hooked the sling or rope
was it a skinny dyneema sling?

when a nose hooked biner might hold ~10% of its rated strength, or ~2KN, as shown in the BD article i posted ... its no surprise that biners break in real world use

heres an article and video from DMM/UKC/BMC .. they snap carabiners at ~3KN

A krab clipped in this way breaks at only around 3kN. What does that mean in reality? It means that pretty much any fall, even just a slump onto the rope, will very likely break the karabiner. If you're close to the deck or a ledge, or if the route is run-out, then you could be in serious trouble.

from UKC/DMM

ukclimbing.com/news/item.ph…

its likely the nose gets hooked on the bolt or sling, or gets locked and leveraged somehow on a on the bolt or on a feature

note that the camp photon and the petzl spirit (in the posted ANAM accident report) are rated to 9 KN+ OG ... yet they still broke when nose hooked/leveraged ... and broken petzl spirit in the ANAM is notchless



publications.americanalpine…

so even the "best" biners can break when nose hooked/leveraged

lockers may help but even they can break especially if the get leveraged ... and they may suffer from "push in" negating the locking



As a result I jumped on Finders Keepers, a 5.12c, to warm up. I did a good portion of the route, but the overhang was just too much for my lack of endurance. The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out and doing the first half of a couple 12’s and 13’s. I went to check out the easiest route (11a) on one end of the crag. While I was looking at the climb I heard a sickening thud and immediately knew what had happened. I ran back over to see one of the guys I had been hanging out with all day, Landon, lying on his side with everyone standing around him. He had been trying a route and when he wasn’t going to be able to clip the second bolt began to down climb. He ended up falling from only five feet above the bolt but on impact the locking carabineer broke and he fell the entire 20 feet to the ground. He put on a brave face even though we all knew he probably had a broken arm and worse yet, he wouldn’t be able to climb for probably a month or more. After the slow process of getting him from lying down to sitting to standing, splinting and slinging his arm, and supporting his back we headed out. Over the next couple days of doctor’s appointments we found out he had some kind of issues with disks in his back, a sprained wrist, and had broken the tip of his elbow which required surgery to fix. Unfortunately Landon got very unlucky and is one of the few people to have a biner break and I know I speak for everyone who knows him saying I hope he gets better soon.


climbtheglobe.com/2011/07/n…

the only thing you can really do to be "safe" is use two opposing draws/biners on critical no fail placements, this also eliminates the rope/sling unclipping scenario that was the cause of a recent well known accident
David Coley · · UK · Joined Oct 2013 · Points: 70
bearbreeder wrote: He put on a brave face even though we all knew he probably had a broken arm and worse yet, he wouldn’t be able to climb for probably a month or more. ......
Hi,
was the locker clipped directly to the bolt and the rope, or was it a draw with lockers. I've always assumed that not using a draw must increase the possibility of leverage.
bearbreeder · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 3,065
David Coley wrote: Hi, was the locker clipped directly to the bolt and the rope, or was it a draw with lockers. I've always assumed that not using a draw must increase the possibility of leverage.
couldnt tell you david, you would have to ask the person whose blog thats on ... the link is above
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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