Ideas for Gear Improvement

Hello, to start off, I think that this fits in this section of the forums, please let me know if it doesn't. I am a student currently studying engineering design and for a project that is coming up this semester, we are tasked with finding an issue, and fixing it. The basics of this project include a basic CAD drawing of whatever part or assembly I am making to fix said issue and a small excerpt on why it's an issue in the first place.

My question is this, do you have a piece of gear that you think could use some improvement? Let me know! With that being said, it has to be mechanical, so think protection: cams, stoppers, hexes, even carabiners, heads, ice tools or pitons! Really anything not too complicated to design, and made of some form of metal. Some basic ideas would be reducing weight on heavier pro, making something more flexible so it doesn’t snap during a whip, a head creation or placement kit, rivet hangers, and so on. I know this seems focused on aid and trad, but they’re really the only type of climbing I have been super exposed to, so ice, alpine, bouldering and rescue equipment ideas is much appreciated.

All this is cool, but remember the likelihood of this actually becoming an actual manufactured piece of gear is nil. I don’t think this project is supposed to get past a basic prototype, if that.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas! I appreciate every idea and I’ll keep you updated with drawings as much as I can. 

Thanks!

Ambidextrous cam based belay device should be a fun design exercise.
A belay device similar to Revo but limiting amount of roped slipped vs speed of rope slipping might be cool. Slipping here means rope running through the device.
Considering that gym climbing  seems to be quite popular, you could design less crappy TR anchor system. Something that adds friction for lowering, but makes pulling rope for belay easy.

Edit - Eric posted some ideas for TR anchor down the thread

-simple: a quicklink with a set-screw for semi-permanent installation/anti theft

-complex: a belay device or ascender that also functions as a reusable energy absorber.

My buddy and I have been working on a pitch proposal to Apple for a smart nut/stopper… we’re calling it the I-Nut

Quiet hexes

what about a pull bar replacement and collar for the older generation C4 #4-6 so that you can lock the cams down like the new ones? it would be similar to the current system that they have but you would need to design it in such a way that the keeper wires can attach to something without messing too much with the cam itself... maybe make a system that loops it through the thumb loop?

amariuswrote:

Considering that gym climbing  seems to be quite popular, you could design less crappy TR anchor system. Something that adds friction for lowering, but makes pulling rope for belay easy.

This already exists in the arborist world. I'll try to find them in a sec

Edit: https://wesspur.com/items/rig146.html Here is one option. There's another preferrable one I'm still looking for

Double edit: I cant find the second device. I think it's still a prototype, so it isn't on the market yet. it's basically a pulley that has a similar camming mechanic as a grigri when loaded, so it provides friction when needed, but smooth operating when flowing rope through it.

Triple Edit: I FOUND IT. youtu.be/7IwUaED4gFA

Gri gri with an emergency "cut the rope" button

A light weight nut tool that doubles as a pecker or cam hook for those times when you need to aid past a section that was harder than you thought.   I’m just now realizing the first line of this paragraph is asking for some inappropriate (aka hilarious) responses.

Eli Wwrote:

-simple: a quicklink with a set-screw for semi-permanent installation/anti theft

This would very easy to do yourself with a drill and a tap set.   I wonder if it could also be done the nuts for wedge bolts to keep them from loosening??

One device I’d absolutely love to see is a purpose built top rope solo device that you can release and then lower with.   If a gri-gri and a micro traxion had a baby it would be this device!

A universal cam stick clip head. Probably requires some adjustable elements.

Mikey Schaeferwrote:

This would very easy to do yourself with a drill and a tap set.   I wonder if it could also be done the nuts for wedge bolts to keep them from loosening??

One device I’d absolutely love to see is a purpose built top rope solo device that you can release and then lower with.   If a gri-gri and a micro traxion had a baby it would be this device!

SJ and I were literally talking about this yesterday at the gym. It's called Taz Lov 2 or Lov3. I've got one in the mail coming on Friday. I can bring it to the gym some time if you want to check it out. 

Oh and a stiffy draw with telescoping handle. Like a policeman's baton with a madrock trigger wire on the end. 

amariuswrote:

Ambidextrous cam based belay device should be a fun design exercise.
A belay device similar to Revo but limiting amount of roped slipped vs speed of rope slipping might be cool. Slipping here means rope running through the device.
Considering that gym climbing  seems to be quite popular, you could design less crappy TR anchor system. Something that adds friction for lowering, but makes pulling rope for belay easy.

Edit - Eric posted some ideas for TR anchor down the thread

There are some mods out there for the REVO to limit the rope slippage. Modified for the purpose of lead rope soloing but it would work for lead belaying as well. 

Nick Awrote:

what about a pull bar replacement and collar for the older generation C4 #4-6 so that you can lock the cams down like the new ones? it would be similar to the current system that they have but you would need to design it in such a way that the keeper wires can attach to something without messing too much with the cam itself... maybe make a system that loops it through the thumb loop?

I have a 4 and a 6 that are modified like this, a thick zip tie and a bit of wire. I think that I got the idea from the forums here, but it could have been somewhere else. They work great, btw.

Mikey Schaeferwrote:

  If a gri-gri and a micro traxion had a baby it would be this device!

pretty sure I just had a TradGasm thinking about this...

Mikey Schaeferwrote:

One device I’d absolutely love to see is a purpose built top rope solo device that you can release and then lower with.   If a gri-gri and a micro traxion had a baby it would be this device!

https://www.wesspur.com/items/asc184.html

This is one of the only obvious answers which has yet to be tested for rock climbing. IMO it would be even better than a taz lov because it will not fail in an upside down fall. There is also absolutely no worry of any component of this thing getting damaged in a fall. They’re tanks. The main issue I foresee is that getting prussics to tend exactly as you want is an art form many struggle with at first.

CD Transporterwrote:

I have a 4 and a 6 that are modified like this, a thick zip tie and a bit of wire. I think that I got the idea from the forums here, but it could have been somewhere else. They work great, btw.

THIS! The hope/project would be to refine this idea and make something that is potentially moldable or 3D printable. Love the ingenuity 

A better, more secure head lamp holder for helmets.  That could be climbing bike ect.    

This isn't particularly complex, but it's always a good signal of human need if you can find patterns for what people are DIY-ing today in the climbing world.  As a designer you make improvements to some of the bottom's up ingenuity for a refined scalable product.

Example - a better 'stiff quickdraw' for folks that are primarily using a long stiff draw to reach difficult/high bolts.  Example threads (1, 2, 3, 4) on home-made devices, and I will not for mine, I incorporated the trigger wire carabiner on the bolt side, in addition to doing a coat hanger + electrical tape.

A cam that can't become fixed. Should be easy.