UKC

Why can't you clip single krabs into the bolts on sports routes instead
of using quick draws. Most sports routes are in a straight line so there would be no rope drag.
from Charlie

In reply to charlieg0pzo:

Increased chance of the krab being forced open if twisted against the bolt I would imagine.

In reply to charlieg0pzo:

Answer that immediately comes to mind is that it's much easier for a single crab to be orientated the wrong way if you fall, and therefore cross load etc.

In reply to charlieg0pzo:

A screwgate would be the best option if you're trying to lessen the fall by a few inches !!

You can if you want. I don't consider it dangerous if its higher up a route. Maybe if its the 1st or second bolt you might want to use a screwgate. Ben and Jerry did it all the time on sports routes in the 80's.

In reply to charlieg0pzo:

Actually most sport routes aren't exactly straight, so, as mentioned above, there is a possibility of a single krab being rotated either in a way that makes it vunerable to unclipping or it becoming twisted in the hanger. Also, with no extension, you will get greater rope drag as the rope is being forced to follow the contours of the rock surface. As others have said, there is not a problem with the odd strategic single krab if it reduces the chances of hitting something in a fall.

I think the main reason this was prevalent in the 80's was on very difficult redpoints where lots of time was spent dogging moves. It may have been useful to hang higher in relation to the bolt when working out moves?? There is a picture of Jerry Moffat working Liquid Ambar at Pen Trywn with a string of single crabs below him on the route.

Certainly I can see no other need for use of a single crab. there is no big fat sling to grab hold of when working a move. Maybe the dole boys were just skint!

In reply to teddy:

I suspect it's common practise for a combination of reasons. In no real order:

1: Rope drag. Even on grid-bolted smooth faces, the chances of having an exact line of bolts is tiny. Allowing the rope to be up to 15cms away from the bolt on either side is going to give a much more pleasant experience.

2: Ease of use. Do you really want to have to clip, then invert the crab, then try and get the rope into a single crab that's close to the crag? Using a quickdraw allows you to clip the bolt then the rope into a crab without having to invert anything. Using a quickdraw of the correct length also allows you to finetune the holds you clip from - useful on tricky redpoints.

3: Something to grab - when it all goes wrong.

4: There is no 4

5: Safety - less chance of the rope pulling the crab against the bolt in a bad way and cross-loading/unclipping/catching the rope directly on the bolt.

6: Looking good. The wide variety of colours available for quickdraws allows more subtle and pleasing colour coordinations. Black and white might go with anything, but that doesn't mean they should.

In reply to charlieg0pzo: Of course there will be rope drag, when was the last time you saw a perfectly straight line of bolts? When was the last time you climbed a route that was all in-cut holds with no odd bulgy bits for the rope to run over?

In reply to charlieg0pzo: No reason in the slightest. I've done it occasionally for a variety of reasons; wanting to reduce the potential falls, running out of gear or just turning up at the crag without most of my quickdraws.

Quickdraws are by climbing standards a relatively modern fashion.

However, if you use single krabs on a modern sports route with anchors every 2 metres you'll soon find that rope drag does rapidly becomes a problem even with straight routes. Conversely on old school routes where there might only be 2 or 3 pieces of fixed gear in an entire pitch, single krabs worked perfectly well and still do.

As mentioned, you'll find that it is actually slower and more awkward to use a single krab than it is with a conventional quickdraw, but there are few or no adverse safety implications.