UKC

Morning all.

I am looking to buy a Via ferrata lanyard for an upcoming trip but the ones i've looked at so far all seem to have a maximum user weight of 100Kg.

Can anybody point me in the direction of something for the slightly heavier than 100kg (although not by that much) punter?

And before anyone suggests it, of course I could loose a bit of weight to drop below 100kg.... but then wheres the fun in that!

Thanks in advance for your help.

In reply to funkyvin1:

Petzl have a couple of pages on workers weighing over 100kg, with some useful information. Having said that, I've just scanned them and the Absorbica (a fall arrest lanyard - same concept as a VF lanyard) page for advice on those weighing over 100kg, and their advice seems to be to use a shorter lanyard - which is absolutely irrelevant to a VF lanyard.

http://www.petzl.com/en/Professional/Petzl-solutions-for-workers-over-100-k...

The reason everything is certified to 100kg would seem to be that the relevant standard requires testing with a 100kg mass - so I'm not sure you'll find something 'off the shelf' to suit. Again, that's for industrial equipment, I don't know if climbing equipment falls under a different standard and is tested differently. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along to clarify.

In reply to funkyvin1:
I had the same issue (around 110-115kg) and, after a hunt round and finding nothing, and considering how VF lanyards work, decided I would take the chance of a hard catch[1] if I took a worst-case fall and just use a normal one, and if on any given move found this uncomfortable I would ask another member of the group for a belay using a rope (which we were carrying because of inexperienced team members, though the only thing it ended up being used for was for me to ab a short awkward descent section because of the risk of a fairly long fall). The only other thing I found really uncomfortable was one case where a very long ladder had the protection attached to it, and I wasn't overly confident in either! (Limit 3 people...am I two, and was the 14 stone guy with rugby player build behind me one and a half? )

I suppose you *could* add a second screamer, but I expect that would make it awkward to use.

[1] Given that PPE tends to be designed with a safety margin, I would be surprised if 5-10kg over caused a complete failure on deployment. But obviously I have not tested this so it's your decision

Neil

In reply to Neil Williams:


Unless you hit the bottom of the lanyard, I think you'd be getting a softer catch than the skinny guy next to you - you'll decelerate slower.


I think the issue isn't so much the PPE breaking as the person wearing it breaking due to bottoming out the energy absorber and thus being exposed to larger forces than are safe? What are the chances of that actually happening though - hopefully quite small? Actually, on that note would an old KISA-style device with a longer tail be more suitable, maybe?

In reply to funkyvin1:

Honister work on a maximum weight of 20 stone (130kg ish)' using normal Petzl screamer type lanyards. Signed off by their technical adviser.

In reply to butteredfrog:

I expect that is based on known fall lengths?

Neil

In reply to tehmarks:
Not many of those left on the market that weren't found to be unsafe by other reasons, though! (The shop near the station by Fort William has some that weren't recalled, but they look *old* and so I wouldn't be buying one). You could I suppose buy one and replace the rope, but then if it isn't identical that introduces extra risk.

I think hitting the bottom is the issue? But that'll be on longer falls, and taking that into account I decided I'd ask for a belay if necessary, but in practice nothing we did was really sketchy enough other than that one descent (as I'm crap at downclimbing).

Neil

In reply to funkyvin1: Some good advice so far, thanks. Looks like its going to be an off the shelf kit with a safety rope as back up for more technical sections.

In reply to funkyvin1:

As a climber, you have to try really hard to fall off via-Ferrara anyway. Get the rope out for any sketchy bits.

In reply to Neil Williams:

The screamer/or rope brake type will only deploy to its maximum anyway (10ft or so), VF's should be constructed so that contact with ground should not be an issue whatever the weight of the climber.

In reply to butteredfrog:

In most cases yes, but this one would probably have been a ground fall had it fully deployed based on its length and where the anchor point was. Not very far, but still possible broken ankle territory if I'd landed badly.

Neil