Photos of BEAUTIFUL HARDWARE pt2

Sprayloard Overstokerwrote:

People keep dying at anchors not being able to see that they are not into them properly. We can't over emphasize this reality.

At ASCA all we are concerned with is that it is the "most fool proof" set up we can devise so as to minimize catastrophe.

Climb Tech mussies seem to be the current consensus easiest to use for a lower off anchor.

Quick links to solid rings for rappel anchors linked via chain in a vertical-ish orientation seems to be consensus here.

Anything superior (input please) is welcome (given reasonable cost-effectiveness).

But let's not judge the others, shall we? We've all arrived at an anchor pumped out of our skulls/gripped with fear/storm approaching or on us and with our judgement compromised.

These are things we constituently ask ourselves here at the SLCA.  to take some nuance out of this topic, we are currently targeting newer climbers who may not fully understand how to use this hardware properly. Experienced climbers tend to have better judgement while pumped / gripped at the anchors.  Our current approach is:

• Create a space were people are not criticized 
• Allow for opportunity to grow 
• Keep things gray, not black and white

Our official statement at an anchor with mussy hooks / lower offs: The SLCA strongly recommends that climbers top rope off their own personal equipment.  If you, anyone in your party or another climber is unsure how to build an anchor for top roping, please top rope directly though the mussy hooks.  Then, seek professional instruction to learn the correct setup for future climbs.

I don't know if I'd call this "beautiful" but I felt like sharing...

This is an anchor for a fixed traverse line as part of a fixed-ropes-descent. 2 redundant lines on the traverse. Previously the rope for this traverse was tied to a tree, but the tree died. Now it's 2 bolts.

The hangers are James Garrett's wonderful Pingo Bonier hangers with rounded edges so you can tie a rope directly to them. Perfect for an application like this: you can tie the fixed rope straight to the hangers, no need for quicklinks or other extra hardware.

Thanks James!

Alex Fischerwrote:

This is an anchor for a fixed traverse line as part of a fixed-ropes-descent.

Thats a really good application for pingo/duplex hangers. But I'm just impressed with the threaded alpine butterfly knots.

bmdhackswrote:

Thats a really good application for pingo/duplex hangers. But I'm just impressed with the threaded alpine butterfly knots.

I was equally impressed. I think that was the easter egg.   

I love these PinGo hangers. I also love James Garrett. Support him y'all.

Am I the only one who dislikes directly threaded knots (usually through chain) for fixed lines?

If there's a spot abrading in the middle of the line you can usually pull up 1-2 feet of slack to fix it again to extend the life. With carabiners you can do this community service with no tools, but with bare knots you basically need a knife.

Maybe it's not relevant to this line, but I think using a couple of booty carabiners is usually a better solution.

Alpine butterfly knots shouldn’t weld up that badly and can be adjusted relatively easily kinda like a clove hitch is.

However I agree that knots in the hangers makes for very little room to clip into them. 

Austin Donisanwrote:

Am I the only one who dislikes directly threaded knots (usually through chain) for fixed lines?

If there's a spot abrading in the middle of the line you can usually pull up 1-2 feet of slack to fix it again to extend the life. With carabiners you can do this community service with no tools, but with bare knots you basically need a knife.

Maybe it's not relevant to this line, but I think using a couple of booty carabiners is usually a better solution.

Biners would be gone, maybe rope lost too, and one more thing to fail in the system 

Before:

After:

Another before:

Another After:

Like the bolt-products 4 links on a glue-in setup. Perfect with a pigtail. Clean low cost setup either style.

timothy fisherwrote:

Like the bolt-products 4 links on a glue-in setup. Perfect with a pigtail. Clean low cost setup either style.

I really like the 4-link on a glue-in, but I can't say I agree with low-cost. It's probably the most expensive anchor setup I install. Ignoring shipping, at the current prices the double chain with pigtail setup is $38.85 + glue + nozzle. Compared to 2 Twist glue-ins, each with a QL and 3 chain links, it's about $7 more expensive for the Twist 4-link setup. Compounded across hundreds of anchors this extra cost really starts adding up. (I know I'm preaching to the converted, we developers already know this pain all too well.)

Hell yeah! Well done Kris!

Personal gripe, and not directed at you or your install.
I don't really like single horn lower off anchors. I prefer offset with a lower 'biner in most cases.

Why?

- Cost. 2 bolts (and hangers if not GI's), 1 link, 1 captive eye 'biner, and the horn.
- Clipping a carabiner is standard practice for all lead climbers, and when pumped, or new to a horns style anchor component, it's just another carbiner to clip. I'm very well practiced with horns to say the least, but no matter how good I am, they are more faffy than a crab. IME/O Horn on chain feels harder to clip thanwhen attached straight to a bolt. Especially when they are hanging in space and not against the rock. This line item could just very well be a me crux I admit. I like your offset install pictured above for this reason, less cost to boot.
- Single wear component, that is backed up. This brings me to.....
- Optics. Single points (Yes the horn is anchored in redundant fashion, the horn itself is not redundant) can cause some anxiety/raised eyebrows in those who have been brought up with the "rule" of redundant everything at an anchor. This has been a comment I have heard on several occasions around pros and cons of different anchor set ups from lets call them, casual climbers.

Again, I would be thrilled to come across your work in the wild!
Major props to all of you here putting in the money, time, energy, effort, etc....Beer on me if we ever cross paths
=)

Mr Rogerswrote:

Hell yeah! Well done Kris!

Personal gripe, and not directed at you or your install.
I don't really like single horn lower off anchors. I prefer offset with a lower 'biner in most cases.

Why?

- Cost. 2 bolts (and hangers if not GI's), 1 link, 1 captive eye 'biner, and the horn.
- Clipping a carabiner is standard practice for all lead climbers, and when pumped, or new to a horns style anchor component, it's just another carbiner to clip. I'm very well practiced with horns to say the least, but no matter how good I am, they are more faffy than a crab. IME/O Horn on chain feels harder to clip thanwhen attached straight to a bolt. Especially when they are hanging in space and not against the rock. This line item could just very well be a me crux I admit. I like your offset install pictured above for this reason, less cost to boot.
- Single wear component, that is backed up. This brings me to.....
- Optics. Single points (Yes the horn is anchored in redundant fashion, the horn itself is not redundant) can cause some anxiety/raised eyebrows in those who have been brought up with the "rule" of redundant everything at an anchor. This has been a comment I have heard on several occasions around pros and cons of different anchor set ups from lets call them, casual climbers.

Again, I would be thrilled to come across your work in the wild!
Major props to all of you here putting in the money, time, energy, effort, etc....Beer on me if we ever cross paths
=)

Good points and I don't disagree. Clipping horns while pumped sucks, that's why one should just clip a draw, then rig up the anchor. 

The anchors in the photos specifically are on a rappel line for a multipitch route. For rappel anchors, I really like the horns for easily dropping in the rope. The crusty, UV-worn, single girth-hitch sling, to a scrawny Acacia, is one of my most favorite tat anchors I've come across in all my climbing.

Mike Bond wrote:

These look great.

What glue is that?  It cures dark brown?  

It's AC100. I sprinkled it with some sand/dirt while the glue was still wet. After a couple rains, it cleans up nicely.

Unnamed route .10a Lovers Leap
first 4 bolts replaced hole for hole. 3 of the 4 were NOT trustworthy 5/16", with 2 coming out of the rock..... The 4th bolt you can see in the video the weakness in the rock and the bolt was placed like almost half into it. No bueno.
The 1/4" gave up the most fight today, which is not the norm, but also had a longer shaft.

obligatory photo to keep with thead theme:

Mr Rogers, your rebolting is very nicely done! It appears that you are doing a lot of bolt replacement. Thanks for your efforts in keeping climbers safe. Rather than fussing with the Lost Arrow tuning forks and stacking them, you might try the large tuning fork made from a 1" cold chisel. 

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/126320013/replacing-button-head-bolts#ForumMessage-126320794   Scroll down to some of my other tools. The modified Bosch tile chisel is another good tool for removing buttonheads.

ClimbBajawrote:

Mr Rogers, your rebolting is very nicely done! It appears that you are doing a lot of bolt replacement. Thanks for your efforts in keeping climbers safe. Rather than fussing with the Lost Arrow tuning forks and stacking them, you might try the large tuning fork made from a 1" cold chisel. 

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/126320013/replacing-button-head-bolts#ForumMessage-126320794   Scroll down to some of my other tools. The modified Bosch tile chisel is another good tool for removing buttonheads.

Thanks!
I actually do have better tools for the job, such as you describe, but could not find them in my packing haste early this am.... So this ape did what he could!
I appreciate the engagement, and your advice is spot on, as it has been in other responses you have provided here. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
I do like that Bosch chisel though better than my no-name version of it....

Mr Rogerswrote:

Unnamed route .10a Lovers Leap
first 4 bolts replaced hole for hole. 3 of the 4 were NOT trustworthy 5/16", with 2 coming out of the rock..... The 4th bolt you can see in the video the weakness in the rock and the bolt was placed like almost half into it. No bueno.
The 1/4" gave up the most fight today, which is not the norm, but also had a longer shaft.

obligatory photo to keep with thead theme:

Strong work, young man!

Sunrise anchor

bmdhackswrote:

Rebolting an old route with rusty bolts and a single bolt anchor.  First I put in the half inch sleeve bolt to hang from, and then core drilled all the rusted spinner 3/8 sleeves with a 16mm core drill.  8mm twist bolts fit perfectly in the resulting holes.  Offset anchor with an e-rigging 3/8" stainless carabiner from when they were on sale for $4 as the wear point.  They are a bit stiff to clip, so I have a Kong stainless carabiner below that's easier to clip.  It's retained with those SMC stainless wire retainers so I only needed two total quicklinks.

I returned to this marine crag and discovered that somebody had removed my stainless loweroff carabiner and replaced it with a length of plated steel and a non-retained aluminum carabiner.  I have no idea why, but maybe they think it wasn't "equalized"? *sigh* this is why we can't have nice things.