chucK

Pack before you pack!

That is the weird thing about Vantage. Sometimes the ratings seem so easy that I think that I've used holds that are not "in". You know, like in a gym. I wish they just had colored tape at Vantage . Anybody climbed Lingerie? That's rated 11d or something did not seem too bad (on toprope) if you just stemmed out to Sex Party the whole time.

Hey Al, Maybe you've done this already, but if you really wanna practice your crack technique, just head down to the UW Rock. Erik, Is Jihad as good as the book makes it sound? Anybody get parking tickets at Vantage this weekend?

I like Aliens a lot. I just don't know which color goes with which size so I wrote TCU. TCU's seem good and indestructible and are usually cheaper than Aliens, but Aliens just seem to stick wherever you set 'em. Mattp made a valid point about being able to shove in TCU's at the extent of your reach, where this would be more difficult with the Aliens.

AlpineKSparky

quote: Originally posted by danielpatricksmith: I take the 4 largest hexes instead of double cams on many routes. It saves weight and expense, especially if you have to leave a piece.Check the weight specs from the manufacturers. The #11 hex is 10 grams lighter than the #4 forged Friend. The #10 hex is only 4 grams lighter than a #3.5 friend. So you may save some weight on those but not very much. You start saving more weight on the smaller sizes (24 grams, almost an oz) on the #8 Hex versus 2.5 Friend. Hexes definitely ARE cheaper though. But the fiddle factor is sooo much worse with Hexes than Friends. I think if you wanna double up on the big cams I say get yourself a #4 Camalot (they are so nice when weight isn't an issue) and get the #4 Friend for when weight is an issue. The #8 hex seems worthwhile because it actually saves a reasonable amount of weight AND you don't have to worry as much about the fiddle factor because when you're placing this one you'll be in a bomber handcrack. see size by weight pro charts for more comparisons.

Psychobabble is cool though

If somebody tells you that you can jump off a 3m cliff and land safely, would you trust them and do it, or think "Dude, sounds sketchy" and not do it, or test it a few times with a bag of rocks before you realized it was sketchy? [ 03-21-2002: Message edited by: chucK ]

quote: Originally posted by cj001f: Oh Grand My Schlong is Longer than yours because I have a PHD completely unrelated to the topic at hand - and am therefore superior to someone who's done quite a bit of practical measurements. Dude! I think that is his point. The part about "quite a bit of practical measurements" that is. There are tons of posters who posted that it is obviously stupid to girth hitch a wire but it is doubtful that many have done any practical measurements. I have not. If anybody else has, they have not posted their findings. Dru is the only one so far, but I didn't see anything yet that talked about girth hitches through wires? AFAICT Dru's experiments blew out a copperhead. Who here has done quite a bit of practical measurements? IF so, speak out! Present your results. [ 03-21-2002: Message edited by: chucK ]

quote: Originally posted by Dru: I did a similar test with some copperheads a few years ago finding out how much force it took to blow em out. woo hoo! basically it took a 40L pack full of rocks, taking a factor-1, from about 20 feet, on a #4 alumahead.. Static or dynamic rope? I'm sure there's a geek or two on rec.climbing who would convert it to KN for you.

Ray's right, get the yellow and blue TCU and the orange one too. But it won't be doubling up though because all those will be smaller than what you got. If you wanna double up get the yellow TCU and a yellow Alien.

What about Cooper's? That's near my house.

Well one of us is mixed up then, because I thought he was using Chris Harmston's quote to further his argument. I think the "BS engineer" was a sarcastic response to Retro's dig on engineers.

Dude I don't know? We have to carefully budget our rainy days around here. Have you done it (your bag o' rocks 'speriment) yourself? If so, please present a report.

Ride the Rollercoaster baby!!!

I am wondering what is the flaw in the argument that compares slings through a wire with the slings through a metolius TCU? You guys can't possibly be thinking that that extra (.1mm thickness) colored tape is gonna make all the difference do you?

For me there is definitely an hour or two where it is a real struggle to keep awake (2-4am, and 3pm) for me. I think that varies by person. Then, like you said, you're good to go again afterwards for hours. I think the accidents between midnight and 2am stat might have more to do with bar closing times than peoples' biological clocks.

What about the 'feines' Eric? I've also experienced the coffee putting me to sleep phenomenon on overnight (driving) pushes. I think it's actually the warm liquid that puts you to sleep not the caffeine. I think the way caffeine works is that it suppresses the clearance of adrenalin from your system. If you ain't got no more adrenalin, the coffee isn't going to do the job. On an overnight drive, you're doing nothing but following the hypnotic dashed lines, so there's nothing to get any adrenalin released even if you had any more [well maybe if you fall asleep at the wheel, that usually gets some adrenalin going , if you wake up that is]. Trudging along on all-night forced march might be different. Bronco recommends taking a thermos of coffee with you on all-night pushes though.

I must respectfully disagree with Air-ich. I just read through the splitter gear thread and I thought Brian-Boulder did a good job. His first reply was a bit awkward but after that he handled himself quite well given the situation. I haven't read the OP thread since the OP rep replied. But, unless they were totally stupid, the OP peOPle would have obviously forseen that using prison labor would be a controversial course. Given that, it would be pretty stupid of them to proceed without having a smooth-talking mouthpiece who had as part or all of his/her job description the job of dealing with the public about these controversies. It is no surprise to me that this person handled himself well.

Maybe your problem is that you called them "binners". That sounds like something you put in the "bin", i.e. the trash bin. I suggest you spam the site about 5 more times (per day) but this time spell your items "biners" or "carabiners". Maybe this will help or maybe you're running up against the "E-bay swoop" thing, or maybe the reason noone has responded is because noone wants them at that price.

Van

Whatta you call a guy with no arms and legs flying over a fence? Whatta you call a guy with no arms and legs hanging on a wall? Whatta you call a guy with no arms and legs with a painting of wild horses on his side? Whatta you call a guy with no arms and legs on a stage with a guy screaming at him?

quote: Originally posted by Dru: As for Squamish cracks, White Rabbit (10b) on Smoke Bluff Wall gives the same difficulty of Split Pillar or Caboose in 8m instead of 50/25m. And it is rarely busy. So are you saying that climbing White Rabbit is just as difficult as climbing Split Pillar, or that Split Pillar is like 6.25 White Rabbit's without a rest? Hey Dru, what would you think of doing the bone to six white rabbits?

I think Empire state if not my first gear lead was probably done in my first year of leading. I remember a great kneelock entering the chimney with an irregularity that dug into my bone and hurt for weeks. Maybe noone knows of it because only newbies are dumb enough to climb it?

quote: Originally posted by Peter Puget: Does the 5.9 you are talking about climb and steepening buttress? It goes up a fun balancy face-climbing-type crack to below a small roof, then you pull over the roof in perfect handjams. The anchor is situated perfectly for a half-(50m)rope rap/toprope. A nice little out of the way sport-crack crag.