Alpinfox Posted January 10, 2005 Posted January 10, 2005 Edit: Also, The wire coat hanger stiffened quickdraw (AKA: The Club) is always on the rack! DUDE THAT'S AID!!! Anyway, what brand/model of draw do you use (I assume a longer one) and how did you insert the wire? This sounds like a good idea for hard sport routes. A license plate makes a great stove stand. Just drill a couple of holes and add some bungee stuff to hold the stove down. Thanks to my friend Josh S. for that one. Quote
John Frieh Posted January 10, 2005 Posted January 10, 2005 A license plate makes a great stove stand. Especially when its off your car so Larry da Tool can't ticket your car at the TH. I prefer the cardboard frisbee... Quote
Skeezix Posted January 11, 2005 Posted January 11, 2005 Food unit: Drill a hole in the end of the handle of a lexan soup spoon. Tie the spoon with a leash to the handle of a 2 cup plastic measuring cup. When you're not eating, you can try to flip the spoon into the cup. Quote
jhamaker Posted January 12, 2005 Posted January 12, 2005 Shovel as stove platform: I've had the stove slip aroud a lot, so I was figger'n on drilling three holes and placing small bolts w/ wing-nuts through them to tighten the stove down. Anyone done this or something simmilar? Quote
nomad Posted January 12, 2005 Posted January 12, 2005 I sharpend the business end of a BD cliffhanger to a point; works genius on probably 70% of the hook moves I've encountered. I've made RURPS, a nail-able cam hook out of a small broken crow bar and a giant Fish style hook out of rebar by heating it with a torch and pounding away with hammer and tongs. Oh, I also mod-ed a drywall hammer into a wall hammer. The strangest piece of gear I made was a cam-extender; it was a giant homebrew cam lobe that fits between the two existing cam lobes (on the narrow side) of my old-school #4 friend. Bolts fit through the holes in the lobes holding the whole thing together. I've used it once for pro and maybe twice for bodyweight while aiding (its kinda scary). I made my bike pannier (saddle bag for you non-cycling folks) and used it on a trip from Tillamook to San Fran down the 101, later I used it on an ill fated attempt to bike to and climb razorblade pinnacle on hood. Quote
JosephH Posted January 13, 2005 Posted January 13, 2005 Finally got a little Canon SD300, sweet! Here are some gear mod photos: =================================== Crack N' Up / Updated with secured dyneema slings for free climbing protection. =================================== Photo 1: Full view; note the swaging for racking... Photo 2: Close up of the front side (the side the shank is bent towards); you can see that the thin metal of the sling loop is padded with plastic electrician's tape and the dyneema sling is secured with a thin nylon line;the exiting dyneema sling is also wrapped with sport tape to both pad it against the metal edge and to keep it aligned... Photo 3: Profile view; note the offset shank that makes these babies work... =================================== TriCam stiffened with electrician's heat shrink tubing so it can be placed like a stopper. =================================== Photo 1: Stiffened TriCam in stopper placement mode; note: tubing available at Radar Electric - don't get it too hot; the trick is to put a thin strip of plastic from a gallon milk jug or liter coke bottle between the sling halves before sleeving with the tubing to make it really stiff... Photo 2: Stiffened TriCam in cam placement mode... Photo 3: Overview of sport tape restraining strip and collar for restricting the head movement and to ensure alignment; Note the plastic shrink tubing needs to come up quite close to the head... Photo 4: Top view of the same... Photo 5: Bottom view showing how the restraining strip is split and finished off as it wraps around to the bottom of the head towards the point; note: keep the tape off the point and, also, really dress the sport tape down good and it will stay good for years... =================================== Ball Nut dressed out for small cracks. =================================== Photo 1: Front view; note the yellow plastic tubing has been heated quite hot and flattened so the tubing doesn't interfer with placements; this also locks the inner plastic wire sheath in place so the ball does less flopping around... Photo 2: Side view of flattened plastic tubing; note: it is a balancing act melting the tubing hot enough to flatten without ruining it and the piece... =================================== Large cam with leashed cotter pin so it doesn't grab on things while racked; note: long thin cotter pins are getting hard to find... =================================== Photo 1: Front view; note: when held in this position momentarily, and the trigger is pulled slightly, the cotter pin will simply drop out and release the cams as you place the piece. Photo 2: Side view... Quote
texplorer Posted January 13, 2005 Posted January 13, 2005 Joseph is the master of the re-mastered gear. I have climbed with his rack and must say he has some cool innovations. Thankfully I have never had to trust one of his crack N' ups to a 30fter. Quote
Ireneo_Funes Posted January 14, 2005 Posted January 14, 2005 With the tri-cam modification, do you ever have a problem with the sling being too stiff? I'm thinking that in some situations, the movement of the rope might cause a placement to move around more than you'd like it to. Quote
Dru Posted January 14, 2005 Posted January 14, 2005 That Crack N Up looks sketcheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Have you ever done some test loading with a dropped weight? Quote
JosephH Posted January 15, 2005 Posted January 15, 2005 With the tri-cam modification, do you ever have a problem with the sling being too stiff? I'm thinking that in some situations, the movement of the rope might cause a placement to move around more than you'd like it to. No - probably because I don't typically treat any type of piece differently when it comes to slinging. If I think the rope will adversely affect a placement of any type I either sling it appropriately or put some in opposition. Quote
JosephH Posted January 15, 2005 Posted January 15, 2005 That Crack N Up looks sketcheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Have you ever done some test loading with a dropped weight? Dru - I can certinly understand your concern, but I have taken a thirty footer on the one up from this one and at the time it was rigged with mank, knotted, unpadded, and unsecured 1/2" tape (but through the same path which is the real key in minimizing directly weighted sharp edges). This setup is about ten times better. To some extent I guess I've just been leading free routes using Crack N' Ups, small Lowe Balls, and similarly rigged Sky Hooks for so many years and fallen on them so often I really am pretty comfortable with all of them. But that said, folks here should realize we are talking about advanced placement skills developed and acquired over years. You just have to really study placements well and optimize all aspects of it: rock, piece, position, constrictions/topology, rope/fall direction, slinging, opposition, etc. You also have to both choose the right spots and then the right placements in those spots. In the end it all boils down to paying attention to subtle details and understanding the constraints (I know I'm preaching to the chior here in your case, Dru...). For instance, in all but the hardest rock (Devil's Lake say), Ball Nuts in need to be placed sufficiently deep for the "paddle/blade" to travel just long/far enough for the ball to really "set" or lock in place. That means when you place it you don't want to leave it with the ball right up at the tip where it has no more travel available - it stil needs to be retracted a bit when you finish the placement. That's generic to Ball Nuts - but it's also good to recognize and understand that inadvertant design changes made by the current licensees (Trango/Camp, as compared to the original Lowe/Byrne Ball Nuts) resulted in shorter stems, shorter paddles/blades, shallower seats, smaller balls, and a couple of other subtle changes that make them not dynamically "set" or "lock" as well in a fall leaving them more susceptible to pulling out. So either they should only be used for aid or require a bit more care in placing them and you also have to sort of "pre-set" them when free climbing on the small ones. But then again, you might not ever realize/recognize this just looking at the current Trango/Camp versions. Again, it's all wrapped up in some subtleties, both those associated with the placement and the technical aspects of the equation. Probably the best way to develp some of these advanced skills is to do some [C2+/C3] aid climbing where your natural inclination will be to pay attention and study hard. Joseph P.S. Here's the Sky Hooks... Quote
bigwalling Posted January 16, 2005 Posted January 16, 2005 are you leaveing the sky hook as pro? On aid or free? I'm hoping free cause that is one long sling on it!!! Quote
JosephH Posted January 16, 2005 Posted January 16, 2005 are you leaveing the sky hook as pro? On aid or free? I'm hoping free cause that is one long sling on it!!! Yes, free protection - mostly on granite, in pairs for opposition on narrower flakes or at large flake tops. I do also use them a lot in opposition with other types of pieces as well. Quote
mattp Posted January 16, 2005 Posted January 16, 2005 A license plate makes a great stove stand... An equivalent sized piece of the thinnest plywood you can find is vastly superior because it doesn't conduct heat. Quote
Nick Posted January 17, 2005 Posted January 17, 2005 Using heat shrink tubing on webbing might be a bad idea; heat weakens webbing significantly. Quote
chirp Posted January 17, 2005 Posted January 17, 2005 are you leaveing the sky hook as pro? On aid or free? I'm hoping free cause that is one long sling on it!!! Yes, free protection - mostly on granite, in pairs for opposition on narrower flakes or at large flake tops. I do also use them a lot in opposition with other types of pieces as well. ala: Ken Nichols, that boy has some scary but effective opposed hook techniques. Consult his Rock and Ice artical circa 1987 (I believe) for similar stuff. Cool stuff JH, perhaps a small dissertation on your techniques would be in order, unique and insightful into a realm that is often overlooked or ignored. Quote
JosephH Posted January 17, 2005 Posted January 17, 2005 Using heat shrink tubing on webbing might be a bad idea; heat weakens webbing significantly. Yes, that's a valid concern and I considered it at the time, but the tubing itself pretty well shields the webbing during the application of heat if you are careful. That brown TriCam in the picture was done ten years ago and I've fallen on it fairly often over the years with no ill effect. Need to re-sling it and its brethren now that you make me think about how old it is... Quote
JosephH Posted January 17, 2005 Posted January 17, 2005 are you leaveing the sky hook as pro? On aid or free? I'm hoping free cause that is one long sling on it!!! Yes, free protection - mostly on granite, in pairs for opposition on narrower flakes or at large flake tops. I do also use them a lot in opposition with other types of pieces as well. ala: Ken Nichols, that boy has some scary but effective opposed hook techniques. Consult his Rock and Ice artical circa 1987 (I believe) for similar stuff. Cool stuff JH, perhaps a small dissertation on your techniques would be in order, unique and insightful into a realm that is often overlooked or ignored. Thanks, I was actually witness to one of Ken and company's hooking parties back in CT years ago. For all the negative press, Ken was one of the best climbers around, very creative, and fought hard to protect the trad integrity of the areas where he climbed. It is unfortunate he doesn't necessarily interact or play well with others, but when it comes to his intent I'm on his side every time. Marco Fedrizzi here in PDX was Ken's principal protege before I shanghai'd him for some of time I lived in NH and then cajoled him out to the NW. Marco did tons of those hook routes with Ken and the boys, and having seen it in person I can tell you that regardless of how arcane you might think it was, it was some of the boldest and daring climbing that happened in the NE during that time. The bottom line was you couldn't really fall on those hooks, they were more for down climbing to, then gingerly weighting, and then lowering. Some would hold a fall, but between you and me I think Marco would tell you they didn't try to find out all that often - they were all fabulous downclimbers and it is a hell of a skill to have for trad leading. My use of hooks is just straight forward tradwork/rockcraft compared to Ken's whole new elaborate paradigm/system (with many, many custom hook shapes). I started using the skyhooks for free pro after climbing past a bunch of different placements on granite in NH and CO where I could have used one for either the primary piece of pro or for opposition. The first time I used one was at the top of Moby Grape on Cannon in NH where the vertical wall topped out to slabs. The last moves on the wall were on a flake that was topped by a little 3" roof from the slabs above. Between the top of the flake and the little roof was a 3/4" space just wide enough to put the Skyhook in horizontally to get the hook in behind the flake and then to rotate it down into the normal postion - a bomber hook that can't come off. I've since used them in pairs in opposition on triangular flake tops; in pairs of pockets; or in opposing crack lines angled away from each other. And last I use them in combination with other pieces in opposition - usually along with one of the two special trad draws I carry with the double loop of elastic cord complementing the doubled sling. (I'll put up a pic of this tomorrow...). Most of this stuff is just classic "outside the box" thinking and not being trapped by others preconceived ideas of what things should be used for this or that, or how they should be done. Also, in pre-cam days we had to get pretty creative now and then doing lots of stopper/hex stacking (great fun). Just remember that, outside of a basic set of generally accepted safe practices, no one "owns" how things should be done in climbing, not me, not even the guys that invent this stuff in the first place - that's how/why the stuff got invented in the first place. Hell, they'd all be the first ones to tell you to have at it. ====================== Elastic cord on doubled trad draw... One sling loop dropped, doubled elastic cord stretched for hold opposition pieces... Quote
layton Posted January 17, 2005 Posted January 17, 2005 clothing for ice climbing: Pants: I added a thin layer of an ensolite foam pad (i.e. yellow hardman pad) to my butt and knees of my pants so I can knee and sit down on the snow w/o conductive heat loss and it saves the knees on featured ice. Jacket: I found a super thin spandex balaclava patagonia made and cut out the front, and sewed it onto my jacket collar as a non-insulating spindrift hood. fucking awesome on climbs and bushwacking in snowy trees! Gear: Tricams-i just use duct-tape to stiffen them Cam trigger wires-replace old ones with plastic weed wacker wire! I spray Triflow teflon spray on my ice tool leashes so they slide open when they get waterlogged and frozen...i also spray the shit outta my aliens when taking them on winter climbs so they don't freeze like they usually do...same with my ice screws i cut holes in my packs that don't have a camelback adaptor and seal the edges w/seam grip chopsticks for the large cams to keep em small and shut i always remove the tape off the ends of my ropes to prevent them from getting stuck on something I also take my gear to the local chuches of every major religion and have them blessed once a year. Quote
JosephH Posted January 18, 2005 Posted January 18, 2005 chopsticks for the large cams to keep em small and shut Michael, damn - didn't think of that one! The cotter pins work great for the smaller size of the large range, but chopsticks would be ideal for the really big ones as would the toothbrush mentioned earlier in the thread... Quote
layton Posted January 18, 2005 Posted January 18, 2005 be sure to use the cheap wooden kinds you get for free Quote
Blake Posted May 23, 2005 Author Posted May 23, 2005 Here's the "ultimate draw" setup: 2 light wiregates, a 24" mammut 8mm runner, and 2 dental/orthodontist rubberbands. Double up the rubber bands around the ends of the draw next to the biner, so each carabiner will have one loop of the sling permanently attached. Then you can triple the slings alpine-draw style and you instantly have sport-climbing sized draws. Keep them racked as short draws, and quickly lengthen them without worrying about re-clipping any loops of webbing. In order for the stiff/sewn part of the runner not to have to bend over a carabiner, make sure that one of the biners is attached next to the black sheath. The dental rubber bands seem durable, and ridicuously cheap. Easy to pop off once you take out the carbiner. This setup would ideally use WC heliums or some other keynose carabiner, but that's a lot more $$ than on-sale superflys. Quote
Blake Posted March 6, 2006 Author Posted March 6, 2006 If you run your laces on the Mythos under the "side-heel wraparound" laces (see the shoes) and then tie the knot, your heel fit is a lot more snug. Maybe this is supposed to be done, but I just stumbled across it. (run the ends beneath the exposed lace, above the logo.) Quote
marylou Posted March 6, 2006 Posted March 6, 2006 Aluminum foil as wind shield, lid, and heat exchanger for your stove. Saves time and fuel and is incredibly light. To get the same benefit (boil twice as fast and use half the fuel) take a generous piece of aluminum foil, fold part over the top of your pot (as a lid), wrap the middle around your pot extending down to your stove (heat exchanger), and have the last bit on the upwind side of the stove (wind shield). The stove needs oxygen to burn so don't wrap too tightly down there, and make sure the part around your pot is not completely tight either, because you want hot air to draw up past your pot. Leave your usual pot lid (and exchanger) at home. I do this too. Heavy duty foil works a little better IMO. Also if you might be cooking fish in this same foil, it will be up to that job and still function in its primary job. A little gunky perhaps, but still functional. Quote
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