JosephH

It would seem almost impossible to front anyone more self loathing than Gingrich short of running Cheney or his daughter (at least Gingrich's daughter works for gay rights and not against them).

Pretty kick ass work on these folks part: http://www.biolitestove.com/CampStove_Video.html And a version for developing nations where charging facilities are limited and cooking is currently an inefficient use of wood, polluting, and a health hazard with the smoke killing more people than malaria.

Give another scrub if you do...

Now that's some of the best political commentary I've seen or read in some time in any media (particularly in the wake of AMR's chapter 11 filing to "stay competitive" - after all, isn't that what underwater home owners would like to do as well?).

Well, those are specifics one can actually respond to... I prefer the sculpted trigger to the triggers on my Aliens. Yeah, on the #0 and #1, but I'm usually reaching for a ball nut as often as a cam for those placements. I don't find it to be more a problem than any other small cam. The cam-angle statements that backup those claims aren't disingenuous - the Master Cam cam lobes are cut from the same cam stock as their TCUs. It makes no sense to diss the one and praise the other on that basis. And at least the cam lobes don't turn to mush after a season or two. True, but I personally like that, and the fact that they are way more flexible than C3s. I've never had one snap or heard of it being any widespread problem since they fixed the degreasing issue of the first few runs. If it were really a problem then aid climbers would be up in arms about it on ST. Pretty much have to diss most cams on that basis. Yeah, they were unreliable with issues with cams dated before and after the recall. And a rough survey of 'well-assembled' aliens showed many had randomly mis-drilled axle holes which rendered their holding power an inconsistent crap shoot. Hopefully the Spaniards do a better job of it. I basically never touched my Power Cams, TCUs, or two sets of Alien Hybrids again after Master Cams came out. But again, it's what you [can] get used to I suppose.

No doubt, but don't you have a hard time placing gear with the rope in your face all the time?

Walmart is counting on your kids not going to school...

Yeah, the first batch or two had an issue with the trigger glue hole not being adequately degreased before gluing. Since fixed. Have doubles in all sizes and Offsets, never had a trigger blow yet. Ditto on the four Super Cams. Bill's tale is the first I've heard of any Super Cam troubles (no fun taking anything up Epi you don't need or can't use).

How about a fair percentage of the guys who make them... Wait... Mastercams are good because the people who make them say so? No, the Metolius crew doesn't just say Master Cams are good, a fair number of them climb at the level Sol was asking about and seem to have no problem placing them. And if you can't place gear at the grade, then maybe you aren't as competent at the grade as you think. Saying something "blows" is a pretty strong pronouncement, and one likely to garner an equally succinct response.

How about a fair percentage of the guys who make them...

I suppose you could take Sol's word for it, or maybe trust a guy who leads every pitch of the Nose in under 16 hours... http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1004339/The-Nose-In-A-Day-by-Mark-Hudon

Clueless...

They also make unicore dynamic ropes in 10.5 and 10.2 with 42% and 40% sheaths respectively, auspiciously for climbing gyms, but would probably make for quite decent big wall ropes as well - or anywhere you're concerned about sharp edges.

Jeebus! Missed this one and had no idea - sure hope you're recovering well...

Who?

Couldn't find it, but it's been a couple of years now. Again, I love the damn things and have three of them - but this just isn't something I'd personally use them for. The Cinch works great for belaying, but Malcolm personally got on the web a couple of times and asked that people not use them for soloing...

Sounds like a great area to settle down and raise a mess o' chilren...

The Shunt can do both and has cut ropes in tests. If I were to do much in the way of TR soloing it would be with dual minitraxs. As it is I do a bunch of it, but it's always in the form of seconding pitches with my Eddy and I'm so used to that that I don't have any qualms about using it for the purpose either.

for just about any device but the Troll Rocker and some of the Wren/Rock Exotica devices developed for lead climbing, I recall testing showed a 5kn fall will pinch the rope enough to damage or sever it. In other words any lead fall or a TR fall with slack in the system (such as if you attach to the device with a leash rather than directly to the harness) Yes, unlikely, but as G-spotter points out, a fall on slack closer to the anchor could potentially be a problem on a Shunt with its small radius bar on the rope. The grigri is grooved and stopped and can't cut the rope.

I absolutely love the Shunt for rapping with loads, think it is one of the most underrated pieces of gear, and have a couple of them. And while I don't really do much of any TR soloing, I did check it out once with the Shunt and have the same issue with it as with the Cinch - no stops to prevent over-pinching the rope. That's unlikely to occur TR soloing, but it still makes me uncomfortable enough to not use it for that purpose.

One note - Trango specifically asked that folks not lead rope-solo on the Cinch due to it not having a stop to keep it from over-pinching the rope.

Wait, am I supposed to equate a democratic, failed, lobbied solar attempt or Corzine's bad judgment with the level of corruption involved with Cheney's 'energy policy' or the choices of legions of republican board directors and executives on Wall St. Jesus, as scandals go those are lamer than the republican field itself. Rove is going to have to role up his sleeves and dig deeper if he wants to do any real damage. Maybe he's getting lazy if this is the best he can do.

Damn, been buried so missed this until now. Sorry to hear this news as I'm sure you were. We all try to persevere as climbers and to be optimistic so I can see how vague clues could be easily overlooked in the beginning. I would imagine early on it's not easy to diagnose either which is tough as well. As someone with a child off in college, I'm glad the vaccines are now available even if they only hit part of the HPV spectrum - some protection is better than none. Best wishes to you in your fight and thanks for bringing it all to light so we have the chance to take better we care of ourselves. Hang tough...

Now Revolvers and autoblockers aren't academic. After my first decent fall on a grigri I wrote them off for trad leading, though I did still use a modded one for roped soloing for a number of years until the Eddy came along. I've used the Revolvers a couple of times and thought they definitely have a place at the party relative to drag. You can skip some drag-related slinging on bomb placements, but I still wouldn't skip slinging anything that needs to stay put.

Oregonlive pays off... http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1647139/After-Six-aided-by-Plaidman