JayB Posted August 31, 2002 Posted August 31, 2002 Well, not really. But I did spend a day out at Index tied in with a swami and some sewn-runner leg loops after forgetting my harness. Thankfully I only took a couple of very-minor lead falls and I was happily surprised that those weren't especially painfull. However, hanging from the anchors while preparing to rap down had me groaning like a woman in labor after el-swami slid over my hips and right onto my kidneys. I fully expected to be pissing blood by the time I got down. Anyhow - just wondering if any of you folks who came of age in the swami-belt era had taken any good falls on those things and been able to continue climbing wihout installing a spare kidney or two. Also - anyone out there hold onto the swami well into the age of the sewn harness? That'd be hard-core indeed. I'd have traded the rights to my first child for a sewn harness the moment they came out, ditto for cams. Quote
pope Posted September 1, 2002 Posted September 1, 2002 Big deal. JayB has a brush with trad climbing. If you use leg loops in conjunction with a swami, you may as well tie into your sport climbing harness. There's very little difference. I use a 2-inch, double-wrap swami with commercial leg loops for my standard harness. The swami is twice as strong as a commercial harness and I replace it every year for about 5 bucks. I also back it up by tying the rope around my chalk-bag strap. I used to tie in with just a swami, even tried a little sport climbing (did my hardest on-sights at Smith with no leg loops), but I've never taken a fall without leg loops. You know, you should go back to bitching about Pope and Dwayner's posts. You're more entertaining in that capacity. Until you lead Thin Fingers with a rack of hexes, you're still a bolt-clipping dweeb. Quote
Rick_Sharpless Posted September 1, 2002 Posted September 1, 2002 quote: just wondering if any of you folks who came of age in the swami-belt era had taken any good falls on those things and been able to continue climbing wihout installing a spare kidney or two. A lead fall on a swami or bowlne on a coil was quite an experience. That's why we didn't go around taking "whippers" for fun. The goal is "don't fall." If you can't climb it, don't lead it. But the hip belay did cushion the experience. Quote
JayB Posted September 2, 2002 Author Posted September 2, 2002 quote: Originally posted by pope: Until you lead Thin Fingers with a rack of hexes, you're still a bolt-clipping dweeb. Well - what can I say. Thanks for sharing. The first-hand information about the swami-era was actually kind of interesting. As far as negative comments about sport-climbers in general and myself in particular are concerned, they've been repeated so often that they have not only lost much of their original ability to annoy, they've almost become endearing over time. Keep it coming. As far as thin fingers is concerned, a hex-only lead of that particular crack is certainly a bold feat. Hats-off to you if you've lead the crack in that fashion. I'm really not up to that myself, but if there's any chance that I could distinguish myself with the first documented cam-only ascent I'll definitely give that a shot in the next 12 months or so, provided I remember to bring my harness... [ 09-01-2002, 06:55 PM: Message edited by: JayB ] Quote
ScottP Posted September 2, 2002 Posted September 2, 2002 quote: Originally posted by JayB: quote:Originally posted by pope: Until you lead Thin Fingers with a rack of hexes, you're still a bolt-clipping dweeb. (snip) As far as thin fingers is concerned, a hex-only lead of that particular crack is certainly a bold feat. I'm really not up to that myself Neither was Paul Boving the last time he tried it. Quote
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