Falling...

, Dynamic Belay, and Equalize whenever you will be running it out or suspect rock quality/placement.

Jason Kaplan wrote:I took my first ever trad lead fall on the first 30' of the third pitch of a route. I took a nasty 10-15' drop and swung 5-10' flipping upside down, spraining my ankle and stopping 2 feet from a sizeable slabby ledge. If it weren't for the #3 BD micro I probly wouldn't be here right now as I was helmetless heading for a header.

was this on ozone direct? same place I "tested" my #1.

The rating on a #1 bd is so small I would not trust it in a fall greater than 5 ft. They just aren't made for that purpose. Even A0ing on one was an exciting experience, you could practically hear the cable stretching.

It does depend on the ff though...

You probably didn't buy them just to carry around on your rack. Put them in where you can't get any other pro, back them up where you can and don't fall.

pooler wrote:Has any one ever fallen on one of those mini stoppers. I'm new to the trad game and just really wonder if those placements will hold a fall. I am a boulderer reborn, can you tell me if they will save your life. Or at least stop the fall?

I've had them rip, and I've had them catch me. What do you expect?

GO

I whipped huge onto a very small HB bronze offset trying to do a first hammerless ascent of an old aid route on devils tower.

Yes, that was indeed on o'zone direct Phil.

Just for fun...

Wow... I can't believe that left ballnut even held body weight! I think I'll stick to my no-aid lifestyle for now.

annnddd that's why I'm not to keen on the fishers!!!

don't underestimate the value of a fresh, thinner, stretchy rope in absorbing force with these micro-nut placements. A dynamic belay where your belayer jumps up is a big help as well.

Eli Helmuth wrote:don't underestimate the value of a fresh, thinner, stretchy rope in absorbing force with these micro-nut placements. A dynamic belay where your belayer jumps up is a big help as well.

Are skinny cords better all-around if you think you might fall?

Eli Helmuth wrote:don't underestimate the value of a fresh, thinner, stretchy rope in absorbing force with these micro-nut placements. A dynamic belay where your belayer jumps up is a big help as well.

Better yet, climb with a giant bungee cord!

Years ago my buddy took an overhanging 8-10 footer on a #2 RP, which held just fine.
My observation from finding a small number of these fixed and broken over the years is that they seem to break at the silver-solder weld at the base of the nut. This has me giving directions to followers to not just rip on the wire and hope it comes out. DON'T stress that weld-point; get out the nut tool and push on the nut so you don't kink the weld and weaken the wires there. Sometimes they're welded into the rock and then it seems better to leave them there in "good shape" rather than weaken them by breaking the wires at the weld trying to remove them (and failing). If the small ones get kinked twice, I take them off my rack.

matt davies wrote: Are skinny cords better all-around if you think you might fall?

nope. ledging out is a bummer, as is getting the chop over an edge or on the sharp edge of a crack/arete/dihedral.

when i winged onto the tiny hb, i was using a big fat edelweiss cord, though i was also rope soloing so there was quite a bit of slack in the system so that balances things out. its all situational.

A screamer is a special kind of runner that rips open after a certain amount of force on it to help reduce the load on the protection. A lot of people use them if their pro is questionable like micro stoppers here and ice screws.

yatesgear.com/climbing/scre…

I like these screamers.

chickenscreamer.com/