UKC

Afternoon,

Looking at putting together a ground anchor (my usual climbing partners are 4-5 stone lighter than me) for indoor climbing. Usually use one of the climbing walls, but would prefer to have my own.

I was thinking of getting two screwgate 'biners (similar to the one I use for belay, about 25kN)
I have no idea about the sling though, the one's I've used are about 30mm wide(I think). These usually have lots of knots in to shorten them? Do the knot's affect the strength of the sling? What length should I be looking at?

In reply to chrisa87: I'd probably use a 120cm nylon sling girth hitched to my belay loop with a carabiner on the anchor end.

Reason being you can't cross load a girth hitch, the forces involved aren't going to be a problem for that kind of knot and it's cheaper/less faff. Two carabiners would work fine though, sure.

You could also tie into one end of the rope and clove hitch the anchor carabiner, less gear is used and if the climber unites from his rope after he's finished you can pull the rope and be already tied in.

You do end up with a weaker sling if you tie knots in it, but they are still easily strong enough for what you're using it for.

In reply to alooker: unties, not unites!

In reply to chrisa87:

IMO, you're better off tying in to the other end of the rope that you are climbing on and using that. Its far more dynamic than a sling and you can attach it to the ground anchor using a clove hitch which can then be adjusted perfectly to ensure you are snug to the anchor. Simples and saves you buying a sling.

In reply to alooker:



you obviously type faster than me!

In reply to chrisa87: i work at a climbing wall and what we do is use 2/3 metres of static rope, one end with a fig 8 which you tie onto yourself and the other end with a CLOVE HITCH onto a crab onto the floor. then you can adjust it to your needs.
i hope this helps!

In reply to 3arnotg: that's a handy way to do it if you have access to spare static rope. Having a sling will come in handy for other applications though and is much less bulky.

Simplest solution is still to use the dynamic rope you're belaying with.

In reply to chrisa87:

My vote is for using the rope - tie in, clip it through a krab on the ground anchor, and then clove hitch it to a krab on your belay loop. Makes adjusting the length easier than clove hitching it to the anchor, in the same way you would set up a belay if the gear was well out of reach of where you wanted to sit/stand.

In reply to tehmarks:
Not all climbing walls have ropes long enough to do this with though.

In reply to jwa:

True, good point. Obviously if you don't have enough rope to do so then you need to find an alternative - whether that be clove hitching on the anchor or using a sling or separate bit of rope.