Umbilicals?

just curious...what is the point of replacing the clips, with a bulkier yet stronger rated biner, when these are not even intended to hold body weight?

1. Functionality - the BD biner is a POS and the gate gets inverted easily. Haven't lost a tool due to this yet, but I can see how it could happen easily.

2. Strength. Not sure, but I believe the webbing is rated to stronger than the biner, so if you replace the biner you have a well rated setup.

I'm not sure why BD feels the need to make the spinner setup "not full strength". If someone wants to fall/ shockload their tool and take a stick to their head, that's their business. BD does also sell daisy chains for aid climbing with the requisite warnings, after all.

None of the commercial umbilicals are made to take weight on a belay or in a fall.

Blue Ice has the strongest system (nylon only system) but the nylon breaks on all of the commercial systems in testing before the biners or swivel. The nylon is only good for around 800# on a single strand.

BD's biner is notorious for opening when it shouldn't. The flat biner which Grivel used in the FIRST commercial umbilicals was ditched early on because it wasn't reliable enough. Leave it to BD to copy it and come up with an even weaker version.

Grivel's obvious answer was the mini locker. Now many of us know why they changed. BD's answer has been to up the strength on the gate which has yet to work with any reliability when clipping metal to metal.

NOOOOOOOOOOO

Not Black Garbage making a bigger POS . Dane is spot on w/this one.

the Grivel leash is so much better, if ya feel you need a leash and for the folks who need to replace the grivel locker w/ a FS mini its a simple swap.

I betcha the swivel in the Black Garbage leash IS the weakest link.

Sorry Dane, just saw your question. Mainly for the reasons you and Iceman cite. At the time, I don't believe the newer Grivel tethers were available in the US and the ones available over the web from Europe didn't come with 'biners. Now that they are/do, I'd probably just go with the Grivel tethers.

iceman777 wrote:I betcha the swivel in the Black Garbage leash IS the weakest link.