stiffler Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 (edited) Hello friends. Thank you for taking the time to indulge my tangential and silly post. So I bought a whole rack of BD stuff, did you know it's all made in China now? Doubles .5-4, and double sets of stoppers, quite an investment. I don't know why I'm so geeked up about the stuff being made in China... I guess it's cause my old rack was all American and European, and I'm brimming with National Pride. Alas, I digress. My old Camalots were double stemmed and I just clipped a carabiner to 'em and away we went. These new C4s with their groovy thumb loop are plenty nifty, but the webbing is kind of a bummer. I guess if I were climbing Quarter of a Man they'd be perfect, but I'm not. I prefer to slut around on junky choss where the rope drag is constant and you clip a 24" runner to everything. I also don't care for the way it makes the cams hang down an extra 6" lower when racked up. I'm thinking of getting a knife and a buzz and cutting... cutting the slings off and throwing them away! Then I'll clip a biner to 'em and have a nice orderly rack that sucks up into my armpit. I know, I know, it'll cost me 2kn per piece if I fall, but that's unlikely. And I still have like, what, 10 or 12kn left over? Please, tell me. Tell me what you think. Gracias and Mahalo Edited December 16, 2011 by stiffler Quote
stiffler Posted December 16, 2011 Author Posted December 16, 2011 I also bought Hotwires. Here's what I did: REI charges $8 for an individual carabiner, but the orange and silver hotwire QD's are $11... so I bought them, removed the sport-o draws and netted the two biners for a cool $5.50 ea. I put these new anodized hotwires on the rack next my old USA hotwires and wiped away a tear. I don't know, but I'd swear the older Hotwires taste better... I would like to give away 15 brand new BD sewn webbing QD's with the rubber carabiner positioner to some lucky cascadeclimber forum user. I will retain 10 for my personal, but unlikely use. Contact me now! I will send them to you... or I will throw them into the fireplace in a fit of self recrimination and consumer fury! Quote
sobo Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 I would like to give away 15 brand new BD sewn webbing QD's with the rubber carabiner positioner to some lucky cascadeclimber forum user. I will retain 10 for my personal, but unlikely use. Contact me now! I will send them to you... or I will throw them into the fireplace in a fit of self recrimination and consumer fury! Me! Pick me! Pick me! ... Quote
Tyson.g Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 I could go for some of those! Please! If you are anywhere near Bellingham I will buy you a beer in trade! Shit I will even buy it for you at your choice of location and then leave you to enjoy they fruits of your kindness! Quote
stiffler Posted December 16, 2011 Author Posted December 16, 2011 look, Sobo was the first. Ok, so he gets 'em. nobody has adressed my original post... Is cuttin' the slings off crazy, or what? sobo, send me a pm wit' yer digits and stuff. Quote
Tyson.g Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 Sobo you dog! The guy IS the interwebs! I don't think your idea is all that bad. I could not agree more about the extra length and racking. I can't stand it. Also agree with you given your reasoning of typical routes you are on. I say go for it. Quote
stevetimetravlr Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 yes, cutting off the slings is ridiculous. You ruin the resale value and they are on there for a purpose so that rope drag doesn't move your gear. Clip the thumb loop with a small dedicated biner if you are so concerned with it so that they rack higher. Quote
rob Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 yes, cutting off the slings is ridiculous. You ruin the resale value and they are on there for a purpose so that rope drag doesn't move your gear. Clip the thumb loop with a small dedicated biner if you are so concerned with it so that they rack higher. +1 Quote
hafilax Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 Hello friends. Thank you for taking the time to indulge my tangential and silly post. So I bought a whole rack of BD stuff, did you know it's all made in China now? Doubles .5-4, and double sets of stoppers, quite an investment. I don't know why I'm so geeked up about the stuff being made in China... I guess it's cause my old rack was all American and European, and I'm brimming with National Pride. Alas, I digress. My old Camalots were double stemmed and I just clipped a carabiner to 'em and away we went. These new C4s with their groovy thumb loop are plenty nifty, but the webbing is kind of a bummer. I guess if I were climbing Quarter of a Man they'd be perfect, but I'm not. I prefer to slut around on junky choss where the rope drag is constant and you clip a 24" runner to everything. I also don't care for the way it makes the cams hang down an extra 6" lower when racked up. I'm thinking of getting a knife and a buzz and cutting... cutting the slings off and throwing them away! Then I'll clip a biner to 'em and have a nice orderly rack that sucks up into my armpit. I know, I know, it'll cost me 2kn per piece if I fall, but that's unlikely. And I still have like, what, 10 or 12kn left over? Please, tell me. Tell me what you think. Gracias and Mahalo The thumb loops will suffer less damage in a hard fall with the original slings. They went with those nylon slings over dyneema or doubled dyneema because they weren't satisfied with the drop test results. That's also why the dragon cams have that funky sling double bit in the stem. That said, lots of people direct clip them aid climbing so it's probably fine. Quote
G-spotter Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 I'm thinking of cutting my 11mm rope in half the long way to make two skinny 5.5mm half ropes. Cool, huh? Quote
Tyson.g Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 I could agree with the drop test argument. As far as the resale value goes I personally just don't sell my gear.....ever....so that is a subjective point. The rope drag point is kind of off given that a small dedicated biner would move freely (speculation on my point) and the OP was talking about long runners etc. Leaving the sling and adding a biner solely for racking seems to me you are adding weight and C. F. potential for minimal increased convenience. Just my .02 Quote
sdizzle25 Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 turns out this shit is completely subjective, as this is clearly not a major safety issue. If you manage to actually shear through the thumb loop of your cam while the lobes are still intact you deserve some sort of prize, though i suppose you could make it kinkier than a cheerleader on prom night with a good fall on a real narrow biner. Do whatever facilitates maximum fun while climbing, and unnecessary fumbling around with your rack is not fun while on lead, in my humble opinion. Quote
JosephH Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 God knows there's basically nothing stevetimetravlr and I agree on, but this is one of them. The slings on Camalots and Master Cams are double looped for a reason. I suppose if you never fall, then what the hell, but shaving 2k off the pieces and mangling the loop plastic doesn't seem like a good call. And I'm not even sure what to think about someone deciding to prioritize racking convenience over falling considerations, but again, if you don't do much of the latter then it's not a big deal. To each his own and I'm actually more surprised anyone kept climbing on those gingus U-stem Camalots so long. They were really badly designed, time bombs waiting to explode or collapse (and yes, I've seen both happen on multiple occasions). Quote
stiffler Posted December 16, 2011 Author Posted December 16, 2011 (edited) JosephH, thank you for the response. Your blend of sarcasm and common sense, plus the use of the dated but much loved word "gingus" brought the clarity and decisiveness I was looking for. The webbing slings stay. Sdizzle, you and I share a worldview on this topic. And thats the rizzle bizzle, my nizzle. G-spotter, be sure to wrap those spilt ropes with electrical tape. Personally, twin ropes are too Euro for my tastes... but, Cheerio Mate! See you on the Old Man of Hoy. All of the responses were good. I'm glad that I solicited the input of the community before acting on such a rash impulse. Edited December 16, 2011 by stiffler Quote
bstach Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 And thats the rizzle bizzle, my nizzle. Flanders? Quote
Phil K Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 That would be just the ticket for rapping off Yocum. I'm thinking of cutting my 11mm rope in half the long way to make two skinny 5.5mm half ropes. Cool, huh? Quote
sobo Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 Sobo you dog! The guy IS the interwebs! sickie I always knew that lurking on here at all hours of the day and night would one day pay Big Dividends... Big Dividends. BD, get it? BD quickdraws, get it?? Quote
Tyson.g Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 Sobo you dog! The guy IS the interwebs! sickie I always knew that lurking on here at all hours of the day and night would one day pay Big Dividends... Big Dividends. BD, get it? BD quickdraws, get it?? Sobo - when am I going to get to have a drink with you? You are a funny mofo! Quote
sobo Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 Sobo - when am I going to get to have a drink with you? You are a funny mofo! Aw shit, Tyson, I'll buy you the first round, seein's how you ended up the LOOOO-ZERRRR on this deal. I have so many beers out there that I gotta buy for people that I'm gonna die a broke but drunk man. Quote
sobo Posted December 25, 2011 Posted December 25, 2011 The BD QDs arrived in the mail today, just in time for Christmas. This is the only present I'm gonna get this year (besides a lump of coal), but I'm all good with that. Thanks, stiffler! Er... I mean, Santa! Quote
Tod Posted December 27, 2011 Posted December 27, 2011 Here's some info detailing why BD chose the sling design. In short it was the optimum way to not comprise safety or weight: http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/journal/climb/knowledge/qc-labreslinging-camalots-and-c3s Quote
tvashtarkatena Posted December 28, 2011 Posted December 28, 2011 I recently cut both my arms off. They weigh a lot and don't climb for shit. Quote
sobo Posted December 28, 2011 Posted December 28, 2011 And I suppose, too, that you move for no man... Quote
TraverseFiend Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 I cut the damn slings off because I don't want someone else dictating what length runner I use on the pro. Yeah, I'd leave 'em if all I did was cragging on linear routes.... But for classic Cascade alpine wandering sorta-choss routes, it's simpler to have separate slings to use for the each specific placement. IM(NS)HO. Besides, anything over 10kN will likely lethally damage the average human. Quote
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