Choosing a Locking Carabiner

Posted on February 26, 2009 by Jon

A while back I left a top roping rig at the top of my local crag. It was stupid to forget it up there but it was starting to rain and I thought Ben had grabbed it and Ben thought I had grabbed it. All in all I lost four lockers and some nice Sterling 6 mil PowerCord, which by the way is pretty awesome. Not exactly the end of the world but not exactly cheap either. Since then, every time I’ve been climbing I’ve felt like I was short a locker or two, which is easily remedied by two opposing regular ‘biners, but it still would have been nice to have the extra locking carabiners.

So I finally got off my rear and went to REI to pick up a few lockers. Picking out locking carabiners is actually a non-trivial event for a climber because by virtue of having to use a locking carabiner you are signifying that what you are doing is especially important and it needs to be more secure than what a regular ‘biner can provide. Whether that is building a top roping anchor, belaying a partner or tying into a glacier rig, you are using a locking carabiner because the extra security of locker is important.

Having said that, here are a few things to keep in mind when you are picking out new locking carabiners.

Not all screwgates are created equal, some are a lot smoother than others. I play around with the actual ‘biner I’m going to buy to make sure it is easy to lock/unlock with one hand and to make sure the screwgate doesn’t get easily stuck at the top or bottom.

Check the diameter of the ’biner. A rope will run smoother around a fatter ’biner but in general fatter ’biners weigh more and an ounce here, an ounce there and all of sudden your overnight pack is 65 lbs.

Look at the basket of the ‘biner and see if it is wide enough to properly hold a clove hitch with your rope. Remember a clove hitch requires a flat surface to be full strength. So for a clove hitch, this is a good ‘biner (link) while this is “less good” ‘biner (link). If you don’t know the parts of a carabiner the American Alpine Institute has good article. (link)

What about auto-locking carabiners (link) to use with our belay device? The simple answer is don’t event think about getting them. Not only are they are a pain in the butt to use once they get “in the real world” but what is a dealbreaker for me is that even the slightest bit of ice will render these absolutely useless. While on the topic of ice and ‘biners, my quick tip of the day is, in cold weather with screwgate locking carabiners, tighten the screwgate and then back it off half a turn. This should help prevent the ‘biner from freezing shut.

Well, I think that is all I’ve got to say about locking carabiners. If you have any questions or if I’ve missed something feel free to drop a comment.

Scream Dream AKA Supercrack – Shortoff Mountain Rock Climbing

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I can't remember if I took this picture on the way to climb False Paradise (5.7) or Paradise Alley (5.8+) but this is Supercrack AKA Scream Dream which is a 5.11d on the North Side of Shortoff Mountain in North Carolina. Anyhow, I thought the pic was pretty cool and wanted to share.

Do you free solo? – Why Rappelling Back Up Is Important

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Jon

Do you free solo? Most sane people would say no way, not ever. But wait a minute, what exactly is free soloing?

Free soloing is climbing with no safety net. It’s a place where your life literally is in your hands and accidents are verboten. While free soloing you only have one means of connection to the rock and if that fails you splat, end of story.

Now with that definition of free soloing I’d beg to differ with those sane people who think they never free solo. Let’s think about what happens when you rappel. You run your rope through a hopefully bomber anchor, toss it over the edge, attach your device and then you’re on your way down. But while you’re rappelling you only have one method of connection to the rock and that is your brake hand on the rope. In essence you’re free soloing because there is no safety net, there is no back up and the only thing between you and the infinite nap is your brake hand.

Now that may sound like a bit of a stretch but if you have ever read Accidents in North American Mountaineering you know that it seems like there are more rappelling accidents than any other type. Now that is absurd to me because in a lot of cases those accidents are preventable by simply backing up your rappel.

I propose that next time you rappel you back it up just to see how easy it is. The key to making it quick and easy is to use a very short cordolette as an autoblock attached to your leg loop with a locker. You have to keep it short to prevent it from jamming your device should you have a gnarly accident. This is crucially important so I’ll repeat it, the autoblock will not work if it jams your device so make sure it is short enough when everything is fully weighted and when you lift the leg that your autoblock is attached to. I have an especially short cordolette that I have marked that I use to back up all of my rappels.

The current “approved” standard is to use an autoblock around your leg loop and extend your device using another cordolette which completely prevents your device from being jammed by the autoblock. I find having the device extended a bit cumbersome but I need to mention it.

A word on cordolettes. Not all cordolettes work as friction knots. Anything that is dyneema or dynex will not only slip but it will also melt and weaken to the point of failure. This is the job for some good old fashioned 6mm accessory cord with a double fisherman’s knot. Also, I wouldn’t recommend buying anything from New England Ropes after a near death experience with a shotty New England Maxim rope (link) and they also recently had a recall.

Give this a try next time you’re out. You’ll find that it takes 30 seconds max and it makes life tremendously easier. Just the other day I was rappelling down a slightly overhanging face and found the rope was tangled up into a big ball of nastiness. I guess I could have done the “wrap the rope around your leg three times” trick but instead I engaged the autoblock, worked on the tangle and then finished the rappel. Piece of cake.

There is one other benefit to backing up your rappel using an autoblock. When you are rappelling without a back up there is a chance that your belay loop will fail. Granted, this is a pretty far out possibility but it is not unprecedented. (link)

So next time you’re out, try backing up your rappel. It takes 30 seconds and it makes climbing just a bit safer which will make your Mom happy.

If you want more great info on rappelling check out this article by Climbing Life Five Rappelling Techniques You Should Know

Crowders Mountain NC Rock Climbing – Energy Czar

Posted on February 9, 2009 by Jon

Energy Czar is a 5.11 sport route on David’s Castle Wall at Crowders Mountain. It is pretty popular as it is near Caterpillar, a 5.7 chimney, and Electra, a 5.10c sport line. I don’t really have all that much to say about it but I wanted to post some pictures I took while I was hanging on from the anchors of Electra. If you want to read the humiliating story of how I got to the top of Electra just look at the previous post (link) but let’s just say I can’t climb 5.10c.

Crowders Mountain NC Rock Climbing – Electra

Posted on February 7, 2009 by Jon

I wish I could say that I’ve climbed Electra at Crowder’s Mountain but alas that would be a lie and after filing my taxes I think I have lied enough lately. Electra is a 5.10c sport route on David’s Castle Wall of Crowder’s Mountain and is definitely one of the more popular lines. It’s near Caterpillar, a 5.7 chimney and Energy Czar, a 5.11a sport route which means that it’s both easy to find and there are always people down there if you need to catch a ride.

The reason I bring up Electra even though I didn’t climb it is that I wanted to get some pics of somebody leading it but I hate the stereotypical “butt shots” that are oh so typical. My climbing partner Ben had just put up Electra as a warm up for Energy Czar and after twenty minutes of pointless thrash-n-dangling I did what any climber with no self-respect would do, I bailed. But damn it, I was determined to take some pics so I grabbed my prusiks and began both a grueling and humiliating “climb” to the top.

Once I got up to the anchors I was pumped, gassed, wasted and every other word for exhausted but I was at the anchors and that was a small victory. The effort was worth it in my opinion. I got these shots including a nice little sequence of a (thankfully) tame whipper. I hope you enjoy them because I literally but blood, sweat and tears into them.