In reply to simondgee:
> An ascender/croll will continue to bite when loaded until the force is so great it will strip the sheath of a rope. I'm trying to find some test data on the force at which that occurs? Any takers?
Way back in 2001 Lyon did a big lot of testing etc which was for the HSE and published a nice book...........have it but not to had at the mo...
Basically different brands/types of ascenders on different thickness/brands of rope produce different results..............how longs a piece of string?????
From memory a big fall on a toothed ascender will strip the sheath.........where as using a grooved cam instead of toothed (like the Petzl rescuecender, will not strip the rope sheath as it is kinder.......
but then the function of the teeth is to get rid of mud and cut through ice/snow build-up.........and toothed cams always have a bigger rope size range......
