UKC

Morning folks,

Where is the cheapest place to get some Maillon Rapide's from? Im going on a sport climbing trip so want something that can be used for safely lowering off mid route if need be. I note they come in different sizes etc but which one is suitable?

Thanks

In reply to R8JimBob88:

The general advice is don´t use them, get a cheapo karabiner instead. Maillons left in bolts make clipping difficult, siezed up are a pain for the next climber to remove and are rightly seen as a selfish solution.

In reply to jimtitt:

Fair comment, just found these for anyone else looking fot the same thing.

http://www.v12outdoor.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=69_45&products...

x5 Karabiner's for £22

In reply to R8JimBob88: get a short length of thin cord that you can thread through the eye of the bolt and get someone to show you how to bail out and recover it afterwards (only works up to one third rope length!).

In reply to Karl Lunt:

I am familiar with this, done it once or twice before but there is too much margin for error for my liking!

In reply to jimtitt:

Whereas drilling holes and placing bolts in rock is not? I'm not disagreeing but it's curious to see where various people draw the line.

Al

In reply to Gaston Rubberpants:

On the topo, where else?

The bolts on a sport route are placed for the benefit of all climbers who wish to climb it and leaving junk behind making them harder to use for subsequent climbers is unhelpful at best. Same as leaving your jammed nut in the only good placement because you can´t be assed to abseil down and remove it.

In reply to jimtitt:

I sort of agree but almost every French person at the crag down here has one on their harness. I have to admit I've never had a problem clipping a bolt with a maillon attached and I always treat them as booty - never need to buy them as you collect one or two on the way.
Spying a bolt with a maillon attached also gives you some beta about where the crux might be

E

In reply to R8JimBob88:

http://www.needlesports.com/Catalogue/Rock-Climbing-Equipment/Karabiners/Ma...

In reply to R8JimBob88:

JimBob....I agree about leaving loads of maillons insitu as they can be a bit of a pain. On the other hand as a last resort they are helpful!

Dont bother with the maillon rapides though, there expensive and far too good to be left on the crag.

Get these ones......http://www.clasohlson.co.uk/Product/Product.aspx?id=155164020

I've used them to secure insitu quickdraws and have taken plenty of falls onto them so dont doubt there strength. So for lower off there ideal.

In reply to tom290483:

Quick link eh... I wonder what maillon rapide means in English.

In reply to jon:

Arrgh - beat me to it!!

E

In reply to jon:

One could laugh or cry, I´m off for a beer!

In reply to tom290483:

Their strength isn't in doubt, but the big difference between those quick-links (which the manufacturers invariably say shouldn't be used for lifting or suspending anything) and genuine maillon rapides is the quality control regime.

If its just you using those 'draws its your choice of course, but I'd prefer to pay another quid or two for something the manufacturer themselves have a bit more faith in.

Though, as several people have said above, for bailing out of a sport route I'd rather sacrifice an old karabiner than use a maillon anyway.

In reply to jon:

your a proper homme drôle.

In reply to deepsoup:

there made for marine purposes by this company.....http://www.marifix.se/index.php/en/


the route their used on had to be bolted ground up as there is no access from above and the line too steep anyway so bolts are no more than about 3 feet apart. if a quicklink did fail you'd have a whole 3 feet to fall (scary stuff). we did do silly things to test them before putting them up which was quite good fun and i have taken many a lob onto them without any probs so far and recent visual inspection suggests there ok.

for using as an emergency lower off (ok maybe more like....help i'm too shit at climbing i'll have to lower off from here) i'm sure there fine. but obviously this is just my experience and everyone else may die a horrible death.

I carry a Mallion (got loads I've recovered off European routes - no need to buy them!) but never used one. I've always used the rather fun 'un-clip & drop' technique, as I hate loosing gear. I've also threaded the bolt for abseils but this is a bit dodgy sometimes.

In reply to Enty:

Come on Craig, your turn...