Leashes and Injuries

I believe it has been discussed on these forums, in the past, but a potential solution is to put in a weak link that connects the tether to the tool.  The weak link should be strong enough to hold the weight of the tool, but weak enough to break in the event of a tether fall.  

Like most risky ventures, you have to weigh the various risks and ultimately decide whether the additional risk that comes with tethering your tools outweights the risk associated with dropping a tool.  

BD teathers are set up with  the little clips that break in a fall. I replaced them with real mini biners.  wish the whole rig had less extension and a stronger swivel.  I will take my chances with the tool to the face. I almost never fall and in the unlikly event that i do a chance to live  would be  a decent option.  Blder Jack was  thinking along those lines  about designing some sort of full strength teather shortly  before he had his fatal fall. 

Nick- Blue Ice makes (or at least use to make) full strength tethers.  Actually not sure they are full strength but rated to maybe 4kn, so good enough for most situations. No swivel but that has never bothered me.  I think all the years of being an aid climber with daisy chains taught be how to keep the twists out.  I could see the no swivel being an issue for many though.

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

BD teathers are set up with  the little clips that break in a fall. I replaced them with real mini biners.  wish the whole rig had less extension and a stronger swivel.  I will take my chances with the tool to the face. I almost never fall and in the unlikly event that i do a chance to live  would be  a decent option.  Blder Jack was  thinking along those lines  about designing some sort of full strength teather shortly  before he had his fatal fall. 

The BD spinner leashes may have a 2kN load rating, but I don’t think they are intentionally designed to fail in the event of a tether fall.  I have seen the older version of the spinner leashes catch a fall.  

I personally use the Cassin X-Gyro and like it considering I ll always find using it a PITA anyway. 

Actually I would quite like to see a full list of options available to see if there is a better option than mine. Do you know if I can find that somewhere?

Seen several videos of the bd spinners breaking in very short falls.  Naturally in situations where a fall in the first place was inexcusable..

Mikey Schaefer wrote:

One of the only falls I’ve witnessed (outside of sport drytooling) the little BD biner just broke and the ice tool stayed in place.  Crisis avoided and orange brain fluid avoided.

I do this intentionally by clipping my tethers to a small piece of cord, on the handle of the tool, that will almost certainly break before the tool itself pulls out. The tethers, for me, are a defense against dropping a tool, not to ensure that it's the last thing I see if I fall. 

Practice with tethers when ice cragging and you get used to them when you do a climb where you can’t afford to lose a tool. Work on arm and grip strength so you won’t feel the need to rest on marginal tool placements. If you must, clip a draw to the tool so you don’t get the slingshot effect. 

Mikey Schaefer wrote:

Nick- Blue Ice makes (or at least use to make) full strength tethers.  Actually not sure they are full strength but rated to maybe 4kn, so good enough for most situations. No swivel but that has never bothered me.  I think all the years of being an aid climber with daisy chains taught be how to keep the twists out.  I could see the no swivel being an issue for many though.

I have made two sets like the Blue Ice ones you are referring to, albeit with overhand loops instead of stitching. Custom measured to fit my reach exactly, with the perfect amount of elasticity. First set I made with 9/16" webbing, then made a more compact pair out of 1/2" tie off webbing for alpine climbing. With Nomics, you just hitch them onto the handle through the hole as shown in an old Coldthistle post.

I don't remember seeing too many tethers on a mountaineering axe. Often considered a safety hazard by guides in the Tetons where calculations are based on safety, skill and terrain. The AAC covers some reasons for and against here. For ice climbing, rather use them.

I never  rest clipped just to  a tool.  That's how we placed snargs and the old Chouinard  screws  Bintd and it was terrifying.  Always place a screw before you pump out.  If you can't see the next screw placement from where you are and you are not confident that you can climb through without pumping out then it's time to bail. 

These are made by Stubai and actually rated at 150kg, you can find them on the big E

So I get around this issue by clipping the carabiner at the end of my tethers to the rope(s) NOT my harness/belay loop.  This does 2 things for me.  First obviously it ensures I can't drop a tool.  But more importantly in the event of a fall the rope will be the piece of the system that absorbs all the energy.  The tool placement and tether will essentially just be acting as a top piece of protection.  So there should be very limited amount of force on the tools or tether (I climb with a full strength tether though).  I found this a good work around to the problem of shock loading your tools/tether and either wanting them to break to limit the force or worried about a tool popping out and hitting you.

Marlin Thorman wrote:

So I get around this issue by clipping the carabiner at the end of my tethers to the rope(s) NOT my harness/belay loop.  This does 2 things for me.  First obviously it ensures I can't drop a tool.  But more importantly in the event of a fall the rope will be the piece of the system that absorbs all the energy.  

This system doesn't work while leading, right?

Marlin Thorman wrote:

So I get around this issue by clipping the carabiner at the end of my tethers to the rope(s) NOT my harness/belay loop.  This does 2 things for me.  First obviously it ensures I can't drop a tool.  But more importantly in the event of a fall the rope will be the piece of the system that absorbs all the energy.  The tool placement and tether will essentially just be acting as a top piece of protection.  So there should be very limited amount of force on the tools or tether (I climb with a full strength tether though).  I found this a good work around to the problem of shock loading your tools/tether and either wanting them to break to limit the force or worried about a tool popping out and hitting you.

Technically all you need is to clip one tool to the other. As long as one tool is in the ice the other won't fall. You'd need to have both tools drop to loose them. Ironically clipping the tether to the rope has the same issue, although they only drop to the last pro.

The dynamic catch system you envision is viable with both tools solidly planted. If only one tool is in the ice, the other will be ripped out of your hand as you fall. Twisting it's way out of your grip, may not be an issue but it could hook you like a trout.

Rexford Nesakwatch wrote:

This system doesn't work while leading, right?

It works while leading.

rocknice2 wrote:

Technically all you need is to clip one tool to the other. As long as one tool is in the ice the other won't fall. You'd need to have both tools drop to loose them. Ironically clipping the tether to the rope has the same issue, although they only drop to the last pro.

The dynamic catch system you envision is viable with both tools solidly planted. If only one tool is in the ice, the other will be ripped out of your hand as you fall. Twisting it's way out of your grip, may not be an issue but it could hook you like a trout.

True about the tools falling to the last pro.  But you would have to drop BOTH of them for that to happen since they are clipped together.  As for the dynamic catch system, I think you are envisioning a big fall with lots of force.  The truth is that as long as at least 1 tool holds the only fall distance is rope stretch or slack around the belay.  Think of the system as always having a piece at your waist in terms of fall distance.  My tethers are 3ft each side of the Y, so if I did fall while swinging a tool that tool in my hand would be able to come down 6ft before being ripped from my grip.  I would argue that there shouldn't be more than 6 feet of slack in the system and by then the system would already be catching you as the rope stretches thereby slowing you down.  I am sure I could get really unlucky and stab myself but honestly that is true of any ice fall.  Ice climbing isn't a place to fall and I have backed off or sat on screws many times because I was starting to get pumped or just wasn't feeling it that day.  To me the benefits out ways the potential risks but obviously everyone should evaluate all of their climbing practices on their own scale of risk assessment.

A few years ago I was leading a single pitch route with leashes attached to my belay loop. I fell on the last move before topping out. I ended up upside down and pretty shaken up. When my partner lowered me and took tension off the rope blood started pouring out of my leg. I'm pretty sure the tool I lost grip on from being pumped out slingshotted down and jabbed me in the leg. It ended up being a helicopter ride out. I don't climb with leashes any more. It was the first time I used them. In hindsight it was stupid to have them on a single pitch climb where a dropped tool was just a lower away.

no. It was stupid to fall on ice.. 

Marlin Thorman wrote:

True about the tools falling to the last pro.  But you would have to drop BOTH of them for that to happen since they are clipped together.  As for the dynamic catch system, I think you are envisioning a big fall with lots of force.  The truth is that as long as at least 1 tool holds the only fall distance is rope stretch or slack around the belay.  Think of the system as always having a piece at your waist in terms of fall distance.  My tethers are 3ft each side of the Y, so if I did fall while swinging a tool that tool in my hand would be able to come down 6ft before being ripped from my grip.  I would argue that there shouldn't be more than 6 feet of slack in the system and by then the system would already be catching you as the rope stretches thereby slowing you down.  I am sure I could get really unlucky and stab myself but honestly that is true of any ice fall.  Ice climbing isn't a place to fall and I have backed off or sat on screws many times because I was starting to get pumped or just wasn't feeling it that day.  To me the benefits out ways the potential risks but obviously everyone should evaluate all of their climbing practices on their own scale of risk assessment.

I mentioned you'd need to drop both tools. Since that isn't very likely, you'd only need a tether between the two tools and not connected to the belay loop nor rope.

As for he tether dynamic belay system, I'm not envisioning a huge or even a moderate fall. You can only take small falls on the tether since you don't leave the axes behind as pro. Once I'm 20 meters out, any fall where the anchor point [ tether swivel ] is below my waist, I fall way more than 2 meters. I'm accounting for slack and stretch in the rope. It's mostly the tool I'm pulling up on that fails, the upper tool rarely blows out. Since it's when I'm trying to stick the upper tool that the lower may pop. This places the tool handle at shoulder level and the anchor point 1 meter below that or around my knees. Once I account for slack and rope stretch, the other tool will get ripped from my hand.