The 5 Biggest Safety-Related Myths in Rock Climbing

I just wrote up a blog post, and I'd love to get some feedback: The 5 Biggest Safety-Related Myths in Rock Climbing

In the "You do need to pay attention to the way you clip your draws into the bolts" section you are showing a back-clip scenario... Not a gate facing the wrong way scenario.

climber73 wrote:In the "You do need to pay attention to the way you clip your draws into the bolts" section you are showing a back-clip scenario... Not a gate facing the wrong way scenario.

You're right, I shot my pictures wrong... -_- Thanks for pointing it out!

edit: Picture is now fixed.

climber73 wrote:In the "You do need to pay attention to the way you clip your draws into the bolts" section you are showing a back-clip scenario... Not a gate facing the wrong way scenario.

Yeah, I had the same thought. But I'll go ahead and split the already split hair and point out that the picture in question is showing a back clip AND the gate facing the wrong direction. Haha, double threat.

Anyhow, nice article. I had no idea about the micro fracture in aluminum myth. Makes sense though.

Abram Herman wrote:I just wrote up a blog post, and I'd love to get some feedback: The 5 Biggest Safety-Related Myths in Rock Climbing

Not bad, I agreed with most of it. I personally would stay away from using so many "always" and "never" statements, but that's me.

Before reading your article I made a quick list of what I thought the top five would be and I had three out of five the same as yours. My fourth and fifth were: "stepping on a rope destroys the rope" and "Grigri's are auto-locking devices/good for beginners".

Jon Zucco wrote: Yeah, I had the same thought. But I'll go ahead and split the already split hair and point out that the picture in question is showing a back clip AND the gate facing the wrong direction. Haha, double threat. Anyhow, nice article. I had no idea about the micro fracture in aluminum myth. Makes sense though.

The pic is updated now :-) Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

Allen Corneau wrote: Not bad, I agreed with most of it. I personally would stay away from using so many "always" and "never" statements, but that's me. Before reading your article I made a quick list of what I thought the top five would be and I had three out of five the same as yours. My fourth and fifth were: "stepping on a rope destroys the rope" and "Grigri's are auto-locking devices/good for beginners".

Point well taken, maybe I'll go back and edit it so it's less absolute. I was thinking about doing the grigri one originally too, but it ended up getting dropped. Still, good to hear you thought of the same myths as I did.

Ben Beckerich wrote:I've known about the micro-fracture myth for some time, so I'm not disputing it at all. However, you don't offer any supporting evidence.. people have no reason to stop believing what they've been believing for years, based on some dude on the internet sinply saying its so.

That's true, but I could always just pull the Burden of Proof ;-) "You're the one saying microfractures exist, so show me that they do!" It is impossible to prove a negative, after all. But you're right—I just wasn't able to find any cite-worthy studies on that weren't confused with other factors.

Thank you for not putting each myth on a different page.

Learn the simple climbing trick that Chris Sharma doesn't want you to know!

DannyUncanny wrote:Thank you for not putting each myth on a different page.

Agreed, I hate that!

Ben Beckerich wrote: But you're the one trying to convince people to change their thinking...

I was joking with the Burden of Proof thing. I'm sure I could find some obtuse metallurgical studies that support it, but I don't feel so inclined :-) If somebody wants to throw away a perfectly good piece of gear because of "microfractures" when they don't have anything to back it up, I guess it just doesn't really affect me.

edit: My friend Brad Johnson just sent me a link with some good data, adding it to the post: fatcanyoners.org/bush-guide…

great article

Jesse Newton wrote:great article

Thanks!

Really liked your endorsement of the bowline. I've read it reduces rope strength a bit more than a fig 8 and just by looking at the two knots I'm not surprised, but the ease of use surpasses any concerns I have over strength considering I'm light and don't like big whippers.

SavageMarmot wrote:Really liked your endorsement of the bowline. I've read it reduces rope strength a bit more than a fig 8 and just by looking at the two knots I'm not surprised, but the ease of use surpasses any concerns I have over strength considering I'm light and don't like big whippers.

Thanks! Yeah, it probably does reduce the strength more than a figure eight since it strangles the load strand more, and that insertion point is generally where knots fail in pull tests. Fortunately that doesn't matter in real-world applications, since climbing ropes are plenty strong even with the "weaker" knot.

SavageMarmot wrote:Really liked your endorsement of the bowline. I've read it reduces rope strength a bit more than a fig 8 and just by looking at the two knots I'm not surprised, but the ease of use surpasses any concerns I have over strength considering I'm light and don't like big whippers.

+1 for the great article Abram, and I am a firm believer in the bowline with a stopper knot in the tail especially with newer/dry treated ropes.
Fight the pump, not your knot!
P.S.
I'm a phat climber that frequently takes Homeric whippers!

Tom-o Erectus wrote: +1 for the great article Abram

Thanks, Tom!

Nice. Except I'm going w kalous not you on the whole bowline thing. And you are perhaps starting another myth: that you can get a #6 for $70....

JMo wrote:Nice. Except I'm going w kalous not you on the whole bowline thing. And you are perhaps starting another myth: that you can get a #6 for $70....

Haha! That's true, I think I had another piece of gear in there, and forgot to change the price when I changed my mind.

Enjoyed the post. Pretty much what I was looking for after taking a few years off climbing. A-a-a-and I went out and played around with the QDs. Sure enough I see you point. Switched 'em all around.

Worster than you wrote:Enjoyed the post. Pretty much what I was looking for after taking a few years off climbing. A-a-a-and I went out and played around with the QDs. Sure enough I see you point. Switched 'em all around.

Awesome, I'm glad it was helpful! Thanks for reading.