SmokeShow Posted January 28, 2004 Posted January 28, 2004 What is conduit? I can't seem to find any info on it... not even in the Bible (aka Freedom of the Hills). Quote
Dru Posted January 28, 2004 Posted January 28, 2004 scary stuff that was rappelled off back in the day. body weight or less and prone to failure causing several fatalities. hence not taught today. best forgotten. i am thankful i learned to ice climb a few years after it became forgotten Quote
Dru Posted January 28, 2004 Posted January 28, 2004 this is the stuff: electrical conduit that wires run through you pounded it in somehow and tied it off Quote
JayB Posted January 28, 2004 Posted January 28, 2004 I've heard about the stuff too but it was before my time. You seriously just pounded the ends in and rapped off of the middle? Quote
Rodchester Posted January 28, 2004 Posted January 28, 2004 Back in the day electrical conduit was made (and much of it still is) from a thick aluminum. It was fairly cheap and was about 3/4 inch in diameter, though different sizes were/are avaialable. You could easily cut it into different lengths and rig different ways to clip into it. i.e. cut a small hole and sling it with cord or metal wire, though be damn sure if you're using cord that you clean off any burrs left by drilling the holes. It was basically a cheap version of the Camp/Lowe Snarg. Or maybe comparable to on old fashioned ice piton...you pound it in. These were nearly impossible to pull out so they were often left in place and at the end of season, or the begining of spring, a pile would form at the base of popular climbs. Needles to say these are not used by anyone (that I know of) today. They lacked any ribs or threads which we now understand to give an ice placement a major part of its holding power. Quote
Peter_Puget Posted January 28, 2004 Posted January 28, 2004 Dru's picture is not correct. I used EMT conduit It is the metal conduit used for wiring Quote
mattp Posted January 28, 2004 Posted January 28, 2004 I think I still have a few pieces of conduit in my basement somewhere. Along with the home made fluke and some home made hexagonal nuts. We used to think that making your own stuff and using cheap equipment that may actually have been manufactured for some other purpose was cool. Conduit had some of this stylistic/conceptual/idealistic sort of coolness about it, although it actually did work - at least for rapelling (I never took a fall on it nor do I remember hearing about anybody who did). Threaded screws were available since at least the early '70's and probably earlier, and I used them for any real ice climbing leading even in the conduit heyday (the late '70's?). I was and will never be much of a serious ice climber, though, so perhaps I really missed out on something. Quote
crazyjizzy Posted January 28, 2004 Posted January 28, 2004 Thank god I'm here, to clear up these fucking mis-statements by these ambulance chasers. Dru obviously knows that his picture is a photo of flex seal-tite. He is making a joke, duh. I used to do alot of ice climbing, and EMT was used for rapell anchors only. They were cheap. Screws and snargs, and warthogs have been around for ever. MSR screws were very good, and were available prior to 1975. You hardly ever (in fact I never have) seen aluminum conduit. There are three "ridgid" "metalic" conduiuts Ridgid galvenized sch 40 pipe IMC Intermediate Metalic Conduit not commonly used EMT Electrical Metalic Conduit wall thickness less than 1/16 inch, same sizing scheme as copper water tube. Quote
Rodchester Posted January 28, 2004 Posted January 28, 2004 According to my old copy of Freedon of the Hills, 3rd edition, threaded screws were introduced by the Russians in the 1960s. I don't claim to have ever placed any conduit, but my understanding is in line with crazyjz's post that conduit was most always used at belay and rappel points. I couldn't imagine pounding in a piece of conduit on lead. I'm not an ambulance chaser. Quote
catbirdseat Posted January 28, 2004 Posted January 28, 2004 Since this is the Newbies section and since nobody else has said it, the Abalakov or Vee Thread (see FOTH) has entirely replaced the use of electrical conduit for rappelling off of ice climbs. Quote
Peter_Puget Posted January 28, 2004 Posted January 28, 2004 Jeesh Crazy what afreakin blowhard..actually the only thing new to the theread you added was clarifying that such tubing was basically used for rappeling; however the only one suggesting otherwise was Mattp who appearently used it for on lead protection. Quote
tomtom Posted January 28, 2004 Posted January 28, 2004 Jeesh Crazy what afreakin blowhard.. Hey Mod, I thought the Newbies forum was a no flaming zone. Quote
Peter_Puget Posted January 28, 2004 Posted January 28, 2004 Ooops you're right! I'd edit it but I fear that my single edit might lead peoplelto believe my "flame" was hotter than it was. Pp Quote
lummox Posted January 28, 2004 Posted January 28, 2004 Ooops you're right! I'd edit it but I fear that my single edit might lead peoplelto believe my "flame" was hotter than it was. Pp let yer freak flag fly. Quote
chriss Posted January 29, 2004 Posted January 29, 2004 Actually the conduit was inserted in a hole made by screwing inand removing an ice screw. The conduit is/was not rigid enough to drive into ice. This was for rap anchors only. chris Quote
icegirl Posted January 29, 2004 Posted January 29, 2004 thank you for clarification Chris, that makes more sense.... Quote
Peter_Puget Posted January 29, 2004 Posted January 29, 2004 Good catch Chris. Conduit bends very easily. Quote
b-rock Posted January 29, 2004 Posted January 29, 2004 speaking of which, does anyone here in pdx have a conduit bender? need to run power to my garage. Quote
lummox Posted January 29, 2004 Posted January 29, 2004 speaking of which, does anyone here in pdx have a conduit bender? need to run power to my garage. they are pretty cheap to buy if you cant borrow one. even less at a used tool store. Quote
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