Foiling Hanger Theft

[Dru]

I am thinking of doing some hanger replacement at a local Fraser Valley crag on Sumas Mountain. Of about 15 bolts placed at this cliff (mostly in the 1990s), about 5 still have hangers, 1 has been chopped, and 9 have had hangers stolen.

 

The options as I see it are:

 

1) replace hangers on bolt studs

 

1A: use good quality hangers, like Fixe hangers. this will probably result in hangers being stolen again. So:

 

1B: use poorer quality hangers. I have a few dozen old SMC hangers which I could use. This will be cheaper on my pocketbook (I think I paid $5 for all of them combined) and the SMC hanger is not necessarily as desirable as a brand new $3 hanger from the climbing store. OTOH it means the climbs will be rebolted with old skool hangers, which are probably only rated to 15 kn or so instead of the modern standard of 40 kn for a thick Fixe hanger.

 

1C: i could use caulk or glue to ensure the hangers stay fastened on. but, i have heard that this promotes corrosion by trapping moisture in the bolt hole where it attacks the bolt invisibly.

 

2: I could rebolt the whole crag with glue-in ring bolts or Petzl Coeur longlifes which it is hard to steal hangers from. this won't prevent chopping though.

 

3: I could just foget about it and do what I have been doing, which is bring my own hangers with me, and remove them when I leave.

 

So what is the best option?

[Stavrogin]

where is this crag on sumas mountain? what's the climbing like?

[foraker]

why do i get the feeling you'd just be subsidizing the local dirt-bags who have a project and can't afford to buy gear?

[Dru]

The crag is just north of Straiton. The climbing is kida fun, little bit dirty and overgrown but nothing that a re-scrub and some more traffic wouldn't clean up. There are ~7 routes in the 5.7 to 5.10 range, all about 20m high and ranging from steep slab through wide crack to vertical face. The rock is granite shot through with basalt dykes.

 

This is the Sumas Mtn on the BC side of the border not the one in WA.

[RJB]

Try using LockTite 271 (red) on the nuts. It will not stop the determined, but at a min. breaking torque of 160 foot pounds it will stop the average guy without a torch. It also seals and prevents corosion between the nut and the bolt.

[Dr_Flash_Amazing]

Dru, you could just replace the hangers with the cheapies, like you're thinking of doing, then use Vise Grips or the like to mangle the living shit out of the exposed threads on the studs, making removal of the nuts a, um, how you say...a real bitch!

[Dru]

I didn't really think of that DFA, but if someone else at the crag sees a bolt with smashed threads they might think it was damaged and be reluctant to use it too.

[Billygoat]

LocTite Red

[texplorer]

Or just on every visit apply a new coating of crisco or some other equally slippery mess.

[whirlwind]

locktight

also a diferent version of dfa's would be to mushroom the ends with a hammer, but im not sure what that would do to the integrity of the rock around the bolt.

[hanman]

Several companies manufacture security nuts for standard 3/8" wedge anchors. They are tamperproof by way of a unique wrench. While a bit more expensive, they will allow removal and replacement of a damaged hanger if needed. You may find these items at Fastenal, Hilti, Tacoma Screw, McMaster-Carr, Grainger, etc.

 

MH

[EWolfe]

You can also mushroom the end of the bolt with a steel punch.

[snoboy]

Aren't the Petzl Longlife harder to chop than a standard bolt? That's what seems to be working at Burgers and Fries.

[Dru]

I don't think they arte any harder to chop, but you sure can't steal the hangers.

 

However the bolts are already in place here, just hangerless, so replacing them with Longlifes would probably involve drilling new holes

[whirlwind]

yeah lets go tr off some bolts that are in the process of being choped, maybe we can finish the job for the poor bastards that are in the process of trying to chop them