UKC

Seen a lot of discussion about ripping gear and subsequent deckers. All new people setting out do need to know that when they sit in the gear the anchor is bearing twice their weight. So in a fall whatever force the climber exerts is approximately doubled at the gear.

In reply to barry donovan:

Thank you for this public service announcement.

Next up - we discuss how running rope over sharp edges is bad for the rope.

In reply to barry donovan:

Don't believe you.

In reply to barry donovan:

yes, well done. This is why our equipment is over-engineered so to be able to take these forces.

In reply to higherclimbingwales:


And you are missing the point..............

In reply to Robert Durran:

The rock, however.... or one's ability to place them securely for that matter might be another variable!

In reply to barry donovan:
Edit
Why is that relevant? some climbers weigh 46kg others weigh 96kg
Some rock is stronger than others, most gear can hold hundreds of kg

In reply to barry donovan:


What will they do with that information?

In reply to Jon Stewart:


Clearly they will know that since their weight is doubled, they'll have to halve their weight. Simple really

In reply to barry donovan:

It disturbs me that when a novice brings up a topic for discussion that seems obvious to the rest of us, the go-to response is to take the p*ss out of said novice.

Don't worry Barry, we all have to learn these things at some point. We're not born with it. Good on you for thinking about these things and working stuff out. Don't be discouraged.

Dom.

In reply to Landy_Dom:


It's not that the OP's point is obvious, it's that it isn't useful info for beginners (I'd never thought about it, and never will again). The tone, I'm afraid is inviting piss-take: what "all new people setting out do need to know" is that if you sitting or falling on gear that's not solid enough to take *way* more than twice your weight, then you are going to end up in hospital (or worse).

What "all new people setting out need to know" is that if your gear or anchors are shit, then do something about it immediately, don't start calculating the forces to try to decide whether it's going to hold!

In reply to Landy_Dom:

Well that's a fair point, I shouldn't have been a smartass. But also bear in mind he made his account on UKC almost 5 years ago, which may mean he's not a novice and just lurked for that long, and secondly his point was rather incoherent (check his other thread, there was a few fair accusations of him being on the turps).

"All new people setting out do need to know that when they sit in the gear the anchor is bearing twice their weight." - this is untrue. If you're hanging off your top bit of gear, _it_ is taking twice your weight - the anchor is taking a maximum of your weight, and probably a lot less due to rope friction and the weight of your belayer.

"So in a fall whatever force the climber exerts is approximately doubled at the gear." this statement does not follow from the previous at all - the top piece of gear takes twice the force of the falling climber because of the pulley effect.

In reply to Landy_Dom:

I doubt it think it is obvious to most people. In fact I'm sure it's not; many people are unaware of it, even experienced climbers.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

When you climb down to the ground and hang on the gear to test it (yes, I know, dodgy tactics, the onsight very arguably blown, but we've all done it.........), the fact that it holds bodyweight when hauling up with hands round both ropes does not necessarily mean it will even hold you resting on it; you need to test it by getting the belayer to lock you off and hang on it.