Pros and Cons of gear slings
|
Personally I like to rack on my harness. It keeps your center of gravity lower, and I think its easier to find the piece I want. With a sling I find it gets caught on all sorts of things and I cant see my feet when Im using one. |
|
Harness racking: |
|
EvanH wrote:Gear sling: Several deaths directly attributable to their use.Actually, shockingly, true. There are two that I know of in the last ~10 years, one in Eldo and another on Charlotte Dome. Some frightening freak accidents have happened. |
|
Hung to death by the sling. |
|
The answer is still hanging death. Seems over blown but still... |
|
"Hard to believe. Names, dates, references?"
I too am CURIOUS as hell about that one. Don't recall ever hearing about a climber getting hung by a gear sling (Not saying it didn't happen). |
|
about 10 years ago ( i think his name was angus) fell on a route on redgarden wall at eldo. maybe anthill direct? anyway, a hex got caught up in a crack and he unfortunately got hung up in the gear sling and passed away. it was an unfortunate freak occurence. |
|
I remember this one from 2009 but not any others: Summit Post Accident Report |
|
summitpost.org/account-of-o…
Here is a firsthand account of a death believed to be caused by a gearsling. But seriously, if this is what you're worried about, I suggest you take up a different sport. This 1 in a billion type accident is simply not a good reason to not use a sling. |
|
I have personally had to get a partner off a route where he took a fall and got an over-the-shoulder sling caught on a tree and was being strangled. Yes, left there, he would have died. As it was, we got him to a hospital for some stitches and treatment of a concussion. It was ~1992 and on the climb Horny Bitch in the Red River Gorge. |
|
Someone should invent some sort of QUICK RELEASE that WON'T release too quickly unless called for... |