UKC

Genuinely not looking to incite any of the usual torrents that can sometimes be found on these pages (though they can be fun from time to time), I have noticed that there are a few crags which could actually benefit from the fitting of some new stakes.

As an example I manged to kick in half 2 abseil stakes down by Meikle Ross not so long ago with little more than a tap which
A; Possibly saved some buggers life if they hadn't checked them,
and B: Meant that the chossed up routes below were now out of reach to anyone with out a rubber dinghy or a very strong sense of adventure, probably both.

I was thinking that in such circumstance a nice bit of 6mm thick galv angle, 1000mm long with 50mm legs on each side and a 12mm eye drilled through the top might make for a pretty solid replacement.

Work with folks who can source such things on the cheap but was wondering what folks thoughts were on such an endeavor.

While I'm aware that a certain responsibility would lie with myself in the manufacture and placing of these stakes I am also of the opinion that it is still at the discretion of the individual as to whether or not to use them.

I would of course test them myself first so any one following would be assured that they had been driven in deep (thinking on some depth markers along the stake for reference).

Would appreciate folks feedback,

Unless your going to be a sarccy bugger....


Iain

In reply to Busby:

Depth markers are a good idea, then you could post on ukc comments how deep they have been driven and when.
There is an abb point I often use that has a bit of a wobble, seems ok but would be reassuring to know how deep it was.
The stake you describe sounds good to me.

In reply to Busby:

No one have any suggestions then or is the request that sarccy retorts are kept to a minimum that's putting folks off?

In reply to Busby:

Which section of the crag were they on? I replaced some at the top of limehouse blues and one on the corridors of power end of fox craig a few years ago.

In reply to Alex Riley:

Think it was the next Crag round from Red Slab, literally a gentle tap of the foot and it buckled! Snapped the first one off and then checked the one by it and that went without too much more persuasion either.

Didn't check on the other stakes though we were abbing off the ones above Little Zawn which seemed fine.

In reply to Busby:

What do you mean by 50mm legs?

Also here is a useful page about placing steaks

http://www.bolt-products.com/Glue-inBoltDesign.htm

In reply to Busby:

I use tubular metal for stakes, I have access to them and I think they are more substantial than angle iron (but I might be wrong).

I would rather know the date it was placed than the depth, I assume if it was not placed deep enough it would have been moved to a better place.

In reply to Colin Moody:


I use offcuts of scaffolding tube, often can be obtained by asking nicely at building sites.

Not too expensive to buy new either, about £6 per metre IIRC.

In reply to Busby:

Had considered scaffold tubes as well as it's something i can easily "acquire" from site, was more thinking of spots where there might not be as much top soil as I'd like therefore I could get better holding power by using a stake of reduced length. (I did my best to avoid innuendo there but I await the inevitable)....

As for the legs comment I was referring to the bit of right-angle galv steel measuring 50mmx50mm and being cut to 1000mm lengths, same idea as a snowstake in principal.

Also cheers to discosucks for the article, an interesting read with some impressive results!

Any further feedback would be more than welcome!

In reply to Busby:

Scaffold tube is good in that it's 'free' and galvanised, it's bad in that it's difficult to hammer in if there's rocks in the ground - angle or T iron will slide down between the rocks or break through them if cut to a point, whereas scaffold tube can't do that. Although surface area is important fro ma holding point of view, thickness or diameter of material is important fro ma longevity point of view. 20mm+ diameter rebar possibly offers the best compromise.
You ideally want a stake capable of holding 400kg for rescue situations. Cliff rescue teams will have their own stakes though.