UKC

Hi All,

Need a bit of advice, My friend has some really long quickdraws they look made up 60cm distance from gate to gate so it would appear to be a 120cm thin sling with 2 wire gates.

I current only use a single rope system and routes I am doing now follow wondering lines I tend to have to faff with extending my quickdraws with slings so I can keep the rope in line etc… etc.

I was just wondering as anyone made these up before and do they know where I can source the bits from in the UK?

Thanks
Ian

In reply to Birdmanuk:

http://www.planetfear.com/articles/Making_The_Ultimate_Trad_Quickdraw_264.h...

Very useful for wandering lines, I don't bother with the retainers myself. Just be careful when extending them - it's easy to drop a snap-gate.

In reply to Birdmanuk: Hi,

This type of sling is really useful when using a single rope on wandering routes.

All you need to do is buy a sling of the apropriate length (often described as 60cm as a lot of retailers sell based on the end to end length rather than the circumference) and two karabiners. All of this should be available from pretty much any climbing shop.

I personally wouldn't put retainers on them like you might on normal quickdraws, as there is the potential for the krab to become attached to the sling by the retainer only.

In reply to Birdmanuk:

To be clear, are you after basically a source of slings and karibiners to make long extenders (in which case any gear shop will do)or are you after a more dedicated set up which keeps karibiners captive ?

In reply to Birdmanuk:
why do people say source instead of buy?

In reply to Birdmanuk:

Hi all Thanks thebigfriendlymoose thats exactly what I needed to know .

GrahamD no its ok think retainers might be more hassle

Thanks Guys for your prompt advice.
Ian

In reply to Birdmanuk:
One tip, though it's maybe too obvious to need mentioning... If you need two wiregates, it's often cheaper to buy a complete draw and ditch the sling than to buy two individual wiregates.

What you will probably find is that it is actually cheaper to buy sets of 5-6 quickdraws with short slings than it is to buy 10-12 wiregate carabiners on their own. So, most people just buy extra short quickdraws with their preferred krabs plus some slings separately and then they swap the slings over.

It doesn't make any sense but that is just the way pricing in the outdoor industry seems to work.

You can either keep hold of the extra short slings as spares or sell them, either on here or on ebay.

Get another rope, in natural placement climbing, climb double ropes. You can also migrate to winter climbing then.

Also, with a 60cm sling that is a 60cm fall before any running belay starts to arrest the fall. With double ropes, that can be cut right down to a small extender.

In reply to thebigfriendlymoose: That looks like normal 60cm slings, the OP asked for runners made from 120cm slings.
I've carried one of these in winter before, just doing exactly the same as you would with a 60cm sling for an "alpine quickdraw" but doing it with a 120cm sling. I suppose it's kind of pointless really as it's just as easy to grab a sling and stick another wire gate on it but if you're on easy ground or long wantering routes it can be a convenient way of carrying them.

Once you've trippled them up they're pretty long though so what I do is usually twist them up like you would twist a sling for storage then clip the carabiners together. It's quite hard to explain but basically put a finger in each carabiner and twist them in opposite directions till it's tightly twisted enough that you can clip one of the carabiners into the other and it'll sit in a neat bundle.

It does mean you'll fall slightly further obviously but it's the sort of thing you'd use on a 40-50m winding route you're comfortable on. I wouldn't worry about extending something with a 60cm sling though, you're only going to fall another 40cm, which is pretty insignificant unless you're cragging and near the ground already. Better to run the risk of falling an extra wee bit than to get pulled off by rope drag near the top.

Ben