It'd be reet!

aye - if it were a Tankys!

Christ, what was running over that; steel hawswer?

Jesus never seen that before thats AMAZING!

Surely that's not just through normal use! I've seen some old/worn/knackered gear before but never anything like that - what's the story?

Perfectly normal use. No steel hawsers. I'm going to get this pull tested - any guesses as to what load it breaks at...

...oh it's stainless steel, by the way.

How can that be normal use? Surely you would have retired it long before it ever reached this state?

It's (was) a fixed belay krab at the top of a sport route in Italy. If they don't get replaced from time to time, they get into this state. It has been subject to perfectly normal use. I removed it as I considered it too worn to be left in place. There was a perfectly good maillon rapide also in place so there was no question of endangering anyone else - quite the opposite, in fact. Would you have clipped it and left it?

So Jon, what did strength did it pop at?

Haven't done it yet. I'll let you know - maybe even a competition...

its quite amazing that rope can do that to steel. I'm surprised people would clip it too, afterall the moment it fails it becomes extremely sharp and dangerous for the person on the end of the line. It must have taken thousands of people to get it to this state.

I guess it won't reduce the strength that much, perhaps not at all. Wouldn't think the shear force of the rope will be enough to cut it through the groove before other parts of the krab fail. The groove might actually help to keep the rope in a better position for correct loading. Would be interested to find out the test result.

With the gate shut J-F Charlet at ENSA couldn't break it with his machine. You are right about holding the rope in a better position - I've seen a very worn cold shut anchor tested and it did exactly that and it resisted more than a new one.