UKC

The UKC/UKH team have just returned from the final OutDoor show at Friedrichshafen. We saw hundreds of innovative, colourful and exciting new products and here you can see some of the best products in the climbing equipment category that we saw:

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In reply to UKC Gear:

Assisted braking is not mandatory within German walls, simply recommended and used by the DAV (German BMC). 

Plenty of folk happily using tube style devices everywhere. 

In reply to MischaHY:

 

Hey Mischa, my understanding after attending a lecture/ training with Daniel Gebel from Edelrid was that assisted braking devices are mandatory in climbing gyms in Germany. Apologies if we have the facts wrong.

 

In reply to UKC Gear:

I'm assuming the use of a thumb loop and doubled sling on the Dragonfly instead of the pig's nose design of the Dragons is due to the lower strength rating of the new Dragonflies?

They do look very nice........

In reply to galpinos:

That makes sense but it might also be due to them being more likely to be used for aid climbing where I'm told the loop is particularly useful for connecting as close to the placement as possible.

In reply to galpinos:

And because everyone knows that thumb loops are better! 

 

In reply to rachcrewe:

Not mandatory. DAV (AO, AVS, SAC/CAS, etc.) recommend ('Empfehlung') the use of assisted braking belay devices. 

In reply to Harald:

From my notes from the lecture, assisted braking devices were recommended, plus you would need to justify not having used one to the insurers in the event of an accident in order to be covered. In addition, they now use these devices as their default in their training courses for new climbers. Less than 20% of climbers at the last survey (2017) use manual devices at climbing walls, a large decrease since the previous survey to that in 2012.

In reply to UKC Gear:

I assume the £190 for a Grivel cow's tail is a typo?

In reply to UKC Gear:

That Giga Jul is intriguing. Looks a bit smaller, neater and more versatile than some of the other assisted braking devices. I haven't yet bought anything fancier than a guide mode device but perhaps it might be the device to convert me.

Nice to see challenging questions from whoever that was in the video. To be honest, I didn't like UKC's use of video for these show reports when it started a few years ago, but you are getting better at it each year. I still generally prefer text content but I can see some advantages to the videos now.

As ever, great to see Stevie Haston trying to be a salesman! I always watch one or two of Grivel's videos, even if I'm not interested in the products. What's the actual length of that sports lanyard? It looks a bit too short to me. I don't climb much sport so I normally just use a 60cm sling but occasionally it's a bit too short to clip from the convenient holds. If I was going to pay extra for a specific adjustable product, I think I'd want it to have the option of reaching a bit further.

In reply to Luke90:

If you were going to buy a specific lanyard, Petzl Connect. Simply the best.

In reply to beardy mike:

Yeah, I've seen a few people with those and they look pretty handy. I just haven't been able to justify spending the money when I don't climb sport all that often and a simple sling mostly does the job. Will probably get one eventually when I'm feeling a bit more flush.

In reply to UKC Gear:

I don't really understand this statement underneath the dragonfly cam video: "The bar below the lobes allows you to check if the cam is properly seated when in deep placements."

Can anyone shed any light? The video mentions that the bar below the lobes is really narrow to avoid getting in the way of deeper placements, is it just a slightly misleading reference to that?

In reply to Luke90:

I do mostly trad aswell and actually find it pretty useful for that too, especially if I'm not swinging leads as you can use it to connect to your strong point anchor. Or you can use it as a leg to an anchor - as it's infinitely adjustable you can fine tune your position.

In reply to beardy mike:

Makes sense, I guess. Suppose it could also be useful for staying connected while setting up abseils where you wouldn't want slack in a sling but you can't use the rope.

Maybe I'll bump it up the wishlist a few places.

In reply to Dell:

Never understood why people rave about thumb loops. I have a mixture of dragons and camalots and have quite literally never noticed a difference

In reply to Luke90:

He's brilliant and funny but how the f*ck he still has a job doing that I don't know, he's terrible, it's like he just picked the products up and is blagging it.

In reply to JayPee630:

Bit harsh! He's a bit too straight-talking to be a natural salesman and I don't think he cares enough about the salesman part of his job to learn a spiel but I've always got the impression that he's interested in the products and knowledgeable about them. He just won't spout stupid talking points like people in most of the other booths. If it's a simple product doing a simple job, that's all he'll say. Which is hilarious but also effective in its way. I trust what he says.

In reply to danm:

The DAV state that the third party insurance is valid irrespective of the belay method chosen.

For instructors if it can be shown the accident was caused by using a device where another device would have prevented the accident then the instructor should be able to show good reason for their choice. Proving 100% another device would have prevented the accident is going to be impossible so this is a relatively pointless observation anyway.

 

In reply to Luke90:

Yeah, I didn't mean it to sound harsh, I appreciate the no nonsense approach as well, it's just surprising the marketeers haven't binned him. Maybe they're scared!?

In reply to jimtitt:

That's different to what was said at the lecture Jim, but possibly something was lost in translation.

In reply to Mr Trebus:

Doh! Looks like it was copy/pasted from the crampons.

In reply to danm:

Or "lost" in the enthusiasm to promote his companies products. The recommendations are available here https://www.alpenverein.de/bergsport/sicherheit/klettern/sicherungsgeraete-...

In reply to UKC Gear:

I always look forward to Stevie's videos...

In reply to JayPee630:

He's a climbing 'celebrity'. 

So from a marketing perspective that's worth a hundred nameless salesmen. 

And he comes across as a no nonsense guy who isn't going to endorse a load of rubbish. 

In reply to bensilvestre:

I find thumb loops make a cam easier to handle, or to put it another way, less likely to be dropped, you've got a bigger bit to hold on to.  Or maybe I'm just clumsy?  

In reply to Dell:

But yet constantly endorses the bizarre things grivel come out with, and seems to have limited enthusiasm for it

In reply to ianstevens:

Real men don't have enthusiasm.