dbb Posted January 4, 2006 Share Posted January 4, 2006 For those of you who use this, how long are these when not streched out and when streched out, roughly? If you were to make your own, would you make it longer or keep it the same and continue to clip it to a sling off the harness? thx! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ade Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 $50!!! Make your own. I knocked up a set for like $5. I made them just long enough that when clipped into my harness I can use the tool at full stretch. The shock cord is only knotted inside so I can tweak them later. See attached picture. I got the pins, mallons and key rings from Home Depot and the tubular tape and shock cord from REI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbb Posted January 5, 2006 Author Share Posted January 5, 2006 Thanks Ade. my plan is to make one, just wondering how well I can dupe it. where did you get the carabiner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Frieh Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 If you can wait Dave I can measure mine for you. I know 50 bucks sounds steep but each of those biners are rated to 3 kN... yeah I know... I know... still spendy. I think Grivel sells those biners separately. As far as harness attachment it will depend on were you are attaching to your tool... on my ergos the attachment point I drilled is located in between the lower and upper handle so the spring thing needs to be a little on the longer side (as I am not clipping into the bottom of the tool which how the spring thing is designed for) so I girth hitch a 12" runner into my belay look and then clip to that. Doing this ensures I never fully hit the maximum stretch on the elastic so I don't have to worry about tools being accelerated back at my head. One last recommendation: put a full strength swivel between your harness and the spring thing... this will allow you to swap hands as many times as you want with out twisting the two tentacles around each other over and over and over. You can get them at a hardwwear store or if you have one of those old rock exotica swivels for the wall hauler that works great! Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBay Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Ade- roughly under what loads will your "homemade cowtails" fail? it is to my knowledge that grivel leashes (including the cowtails) are designed to "sustain body-weight and a bit more." my sceptical 2 cents (after what i witnessed last year)- a climber had his right tool cammed into a crack and his left tool sunk into a wet dagger, kicked and partially weighted it, then, pop! there went the fickle cicle. after witnessing a cicle the size of a refrigerator w/a leashless tool stuck to it crater from 60 feet above, i now understand why one would want to purchase grivel leashes/cowtails. (curious, how would your "homedmade cowtail" system have behaved in this situation?) 50 bucks is a better investment than 1000's (!!!!!) in medical/surgery bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhyang Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Sure, but what would have happened to the guy if he had been using regular leashes ? Or had pro in that dagger ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenderfour Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 If you load the webbing on the homemade unit with shock clord, it will behave the same way as the grivel unit. half-inch webbing can hold "body-weight and a bit more". If you tie them properly, you should maintain most of the strength of the webbing. Pair it up with some full strength biners that you have laying around, and you've got a cheap alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Maybe a dynamic belay would help in this situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ade Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 My system is designed to stop you dropping my tools and loosing them, not to hang off. As such it's designed to hold the weight of the tool. If I replaced the pin loops with something stronger then it would hold body weight but not much more. This is by design. Currently I still climb with a set of androids that I tuck away. If the going gets tough I clip in. As such I'm no worse off than I would have been under my old system. In the case of this specific accident my system, or any other that attaches the climber to the tool, might have made things worse had the weight of the icicle pulled the climber off as it fell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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