Using rock features and placing protection when building climbing anchors

[007Variable]

The green hex looks like a bomber placement, but I would be weary placing this in the flake. I would trust body weight and then some, however, if this is your anchor and the leader takes a factor 2 fall, it may blow the flake. What does everyone think?

[guitarrules762]

@mountainguide77 Ok then, what's wrong?

[guitarrules762]

Just some constructive criticism, it's generally very bad practice to clip a screwgate straight into a wire, as when loaded the wire can make sharp grooves. If this is then clipped, say into a sling, the sling can be cut by the grooves. Therefore it is better to use a quickdraw so that the damaged screwgate is never in contact with the rope or a sling, thus avoiding the problem. A great, beginners introduction though. Well done!

[51629jbgemu]

@mdwykurz wat type of cams are those

[guitarrules762]

@51629jbgemu They're Wild Country Technical Friends, a type of spring loaded camming device or SLCD as the Amercians like to call them :P

[jvballatore]

Nice effort.

[DeShark88]

Firstly, a great video. Just one clarification of the friction forces of the hex. Although what you say is true, a larger surface area is a good thing, there's still (surprisingly) the same *friction* force if you have a small surface area. The difference is that the force exerted on the cam (the normal force to be technical) is concentrated on a smaller area. This means that the hex is more likely to fail. Also, the force is more concentrated on the wall, so the wall is more likely to fail.

[chokeonaloaf]

The advice about how to use a camming device is correct, but the reasoning is wrong. You say in your video "If the cam is too small, the camming arms are too open to exert significant force" and "overcamming is less secure". Neither of these are true. An undercammed unit exerts the same amount of force as an overcammed unit, however if the rock fractures the cam will rip. With an overcammed unit, the force is also still the same (please google "logarithmic spiral of camming devices")

[mdwykurz]

Many thanks for the correction, I did my best with the knowledge I had and tried to keep things simple and within the time limit, so it is a shame that I got that bit of info wrong, thanks for taking the time to comment!

[RSTeamFilms]

Nice vid. Well done.

[Pethem]

whats the name of the song? thx

[mdwykurz]

It is '8 Ball' by Underworld

not radiohead which for some stupid reason I wrote in the credits.

[JamesPliny]

I very much enjoyed the video. Good presentation skills and clear pictures and demonstrations. Good luck. Get high, keep climbing. Jim

[Jolinator]

good video

[WorldClimb]

Nice video, lots of good info.

One thing in the video you're not using hexes but hexentrics. Hexentrics have a curved face and IMO are much better than the old Hexes. The kind in this videos are on slings, this is a good thing for security of the piece. Wired hexes and sling can fail due to the see-saw motion of the rope as you continue you climb. Big passive gear on slings doesn't have this problem but it does mean it can be trickier to remove... but that your seconds problem :)

[mdwykurz]

Too right! Thanks

[pigglesworth000]

It would be good to emphasize that cams can exert up to twice the downward force of a fall in the outward direction. Hence cams, tri-cams, and hexes can punch through rock that is flaky or otherwise rotten. Always evaluate the quality of the rock before placing your gear!

[mdwykurz]

Hi there, thanks for the comment. It appears as though I have been marked very poorly actually, quite disappointing really especially as the feedback i was given seemed to be really positive. But ahwell, many things in life are inconsistent. Thanks again

[mdwykurz]

Turns out it was an administrative mistake and I did in fact do as well as I'd hoped! :-)

[AsboxCore]

Nice video really well thought, Out how did the assessment go?

[dukeu2gmail1]

screw down so you don't screw up

[sefjaguar]

haha 'generally it is better to avoid trees that are dead'

[yggtree]

Great video! everything is so well explained. Thanks!

[mdwykurz]

its the 'phantom jacket' by Rab, I think it might be available from cotswold outdoor, well worth getting, I've had it for almost 6 years now.

[LNLshow]

Where did you get that black jacket/sweater?