A quick email to praise the recent service I received from GoCragging: Bought a pair of Beal Cobra II ropes from them as they were advertising an excellent price and had the colours I wanted (shallow I know!). Was a bit concerned about dealing with a firm I hadn't used before and didn't know much about but was pleasantly surpised by the swift, free courier delivery and the curteous quality service received from them - good job guys, thanks.
Good to hear. Had a saga buying a dearish rope from a company I will not bother naming, they tend to hunt down bad reviews and threaten the hosting site with libel.
Glad your experience was good, going to check out their website now.
Just been checking out their website and discovered some wide crack protection from Kong called a 'Gipsy' (look under the Trad section) - has anyone any experience of using this bit of kit ? It looks interesting.....
> Just been checking out their website and discovered some wide crack protection from Kong called a 'Gipsy' (look under the Trad section) - has anyone any experience of using this bit of kit ? It looks interesting.....
Just a quick reply to say that a lot has been said on Kong's Gipsy already and on this forum too. My general advice on it is that if one is planning to get into off-widths "seriously" then he should look at proper larger cams and face the investment. They're far easier to place and remove. No doubt.
The Gipsy (a development on the old Cassin Blitz) is a winner when you know in advance you may want that extra peace of mind on the odd off-width pitch of a route and carrying a BD size 5 or 6 it's only going to be a burden. A bit of practice is required to place a Gipsy and a racking biner will help a great deal to carry it and take it off the harness when needed. The weight and price argument, although the Gipsy is lighter and cheaper than size comparable cams, is not the reason why I would advice the Gipsy to anyone.
Finally, although the Gipsy can of course be used on any rock type, granite/gneiss is where it works best since, differently from a standard cam, the Gipsy it's one solid body, therefore it won't be as adaptive as the 3-4 independent cams of a standard camming device.
I've used the gypsy kong. It's very secure when you find a placement. Feels very safe on belays but it doesn't get used to often.. If you've got the spare cash then it's useful to have.
