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Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

Author
Rappel Station set up

bagotup
16-Jun-2019
7:17:30 PM


Rockin’ Chockers

Mikl has an interesting idea in his 2011 Bolting Guide where U bolts are placed horizontally at a rap station. One U bolt being (200mm, recommended by S.H’s Thesis) above the other. The top U bolt has a shackle on it, this moves for each rappel to allow for distributed wear on the U bolts.

For me, this setup needs lots of holes in the rock and is not equalised. Some links of chain off the top U bolt could fix the equalisation issue. By this stage the set up may start looking a bit odd though, and the cost is passing the $20 mark if you use the cheaper gal chain & shackle.

Has anyone used a rap station like this in the real world? If so, How is it holding up ?

Is there any other safe, price friendly rap station set ups out there climbers are happy enough to use?

:)


One Day Hero
16-Jun-2019
10:15:52 PM
On 16-Jun-2019 bagotup wrote:
>Mikl has an interesting idea in his 2011 Bolting Guide where U bolts are
>placed horizontally at a rap station.

There's no point in the top bolt being horizontal. Just put it in vertically and chuck a mallion and rap ring on it. The lower bolt needs to either be horizontal or have it's own mallion to let the rope run straight through).

>For me, this setup needs lots of holes in the rock and is not equalised.
>Some links of chain off the top U bolt could fix the equalisation issue.

Equalization doesn't matter. Loweroffs will never be loaded past 3kN and a U bolt probably holds 30kN. The second one is just backup in case you fuched up placing the first one.

>By this stage the set up may start looking a bit odd though, and the cost
>is passing the $20 mark if you use the cheaper gal chain & shackle.

Welcome to the reality of establishing routes with proper hardware. It's fuching expensive, so make sure the climb is good enough to be worth it.

>Is there any other safe, price friendly rap station set ups out there
>climbers are happy enough to use?

Nope. In hard rock you can use expansion bolts and those Fixe hangers with captive rap rings. In soft rock, the standard is U bolts or ring bolts with mallions and rap rings as needed to prevent wear. Either way will be more than twenty bucks.

Why would you install gal hardware in 2019? If it's worth bolting, it's worth full stainless so that some sucker doesn't have to go back in 2035 to fix your shoddy work.
gfdonc
17-Jun-2019
7:27:12 AM
Hmm once again I find myself agreeing with ODH, at least in part:

On 16-Jun-2019 One Day Hero wrote:
>Equalization doesn't matter. Loweroffs will never be loaded past 3kN and
>a U bolt probably holds 30kN. The second one is just backup in case you
>fuched up placing the first one.
Agree. Equalising them is a good way to twist ropes.

>Welcome to the reality of establishing routes with proper hardware. It's
>fuching expensive, so make sure the climb is good enough to be worth it.
Yep, and anyway you only need one rap station per route (or multiple routes), so is it really that important to skimp in the overall scheme of things?

>>Is there any other safe, price friendly rap station set ups out there
>>climbers are happy enough to use?
>
>Nope. In hard rock you can use expansion bolts and those Fixe hangers
>with captive rap rings. In soft rock, the standard is U bolts or ring bolts
>with mallions and rap rings as needed to prevent wear. Either way will
>be more than twenty bucks.
I've previously imported SS hardware in bulk from a Taiwanese climbing equipment mfr, 23kN rated rings that look identical to the Fixe item. Freight on moderate quantities of metal is a killer.

>Why would you install gal hardware in 2019? If it's worth bolting, it's
>worth full stainless so that some sucker doesn't have to go back in 2035
>to fix your shoddy work.
Agreed.

My current preferred setup is a SS ring with a second backup using 8mm SS chain.
That way the second bolt can be a decent length away from the first hole (supposed to be 20cm according to Petzl), and the flexibility of the chain prevents rope twisting.
It also means you get a higher anchor-point to clip in with (on a second hanger or even through the chain, as 8mm is large enough to clip a biner). This is useful when approaching from above. If you get the lengths right it's virtually equalised, too.


Duang Daunk
18-Jun-2019
1:31:29 PM
On 16-Jun-2019 One Day Hero wrote:
>On 16-Jun-2019 bagotup wrote:
>>Mikl has an interesting idea in his 2011 Bolting Guide where U bolts
>>For me, this setup needs lots of holes in the rock and is not equalised.
>>Some links of chain off the top U bolt could fix the equalisation issue.
>
>Equalization doesn't matter. Loweroffs will never be loaded past 3kN and
>a U bolt probably holds 30kN. The second one is just backup in case you
>fuched up placing the first one.
>
“Never be loaded past 3kN”
You sure about that bro?
I’ve seen numbties, and experienced climbers alike, clipping belays or parts thereof (effectively lower-offs), on multipitch, as part of their lead; making for close to potential FF2 forces involved if the shit hits the fan.

There are 4 messages in this topic.

 

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