Black Diamond 'SPINNER LEASH' it's like climbing leashless.

LOVE BD's Spinner Leash! I hated wrist leashes right from the very first day I climbed ice. Problem was, I didn't feel confident enough to climb leashless. I was glad to hear about this perfect compromise. No tangles due to the swivel connector. Time saved when you're not fumbling with disconnecting and reconnecting wrist leashes when placing pro. Peace of mind knowing that you can't accidentally drop your ice tool to the base of the climb or on your belayer for that matter. Why risk climbing leashless when with the spinner leash you have the freedom of movement and the security of tools always close at hand? Best of both worlds in my opinion. I feel no need to ever climb leashless.

Black Diamond's 'Spinner Leash'. BRILLIANT!!!

Anyone besides me think that the tat on the attachment point was too short? I could barely thread my belay loop (which seems to get in the way) let alone waist and legs. I ended up chopping mine and attaching a longer piece of supertape.

I believe that's done intentionally to minimize play on the spinner. The closer it fits to your belay loop, the easier it is to rotate the spinner.

I've climbed with mine for 3 days and feel like it's fits perfectly around the belay loops of both my harnesses (BD 'Primrose'rock harness and my BD 'Blizzard'ice harness.

I like mine - I experimented with making a set with webbing and threaded elastic but the BD leash compresses MUCH more creating less of a loop when they are contracted. I can't max out my leashes with my reach and the loop is very manageable when they are at my waist. I girth hitch my belay loop just fine with the webbing, it keeps things nice and tight and I don't feel like it is too much of a CF to have it on the belay loop.

I just purchased the BD Spinner Leash and use it with my BD Reactors. I can't give you a full report because this set-up has only seen two days on the Ice. Last week in Kinsman Notch the leash worked great when I used it (which was only for a few laps on TR). The leash rarely got tangled, never snagged on anything and stays out of your way. However on it's second day of use in Huntington Ravine on Mt. Washington - I got the leash stuck on icicles twice, although this could be my lack of awareness as a new ice climber. Secondly, the clip connecting the leash to the spike of my ice tool came off twice while I was climbing! When I evaluated the clip, I found the gate of the mini-'biner stuck in the outward-open position. I'm not sure why or how exactly it got opened…

It will take a few more trips before I can get the hang of the leashes and give a better review of the system.

I like mine. It does get caught on icicles. You can just bash the small ones off to free it but you have to be more aware on the big ones. After getting used to leashless I've been only using the spinners on hard leads or big routes where dropping a tool is more than a hassle. I've yet to drop a tool but it's a mental thing on harder stuff and nice to not worry about it so much.

for long rampy routes, feeling the calf burn, cool.
for technical & mixed switch-offs, not so much for me.

Do you feel it is any better than building one out of shock cord, weebbing, and a swivel?

Evan

Evan1984 wrote:Do you feel it is any better than building one out of shock cord, weebbing, and a swivel? Evan

Yes, it is better as a "leash". But, it does not have the KN rating of something that you could build yourself. It is also lighter and more compact than anything that I could build, so...

Life is just a series of trade offs.

I dont use mine when just "ice craging" but I do when I do multipitch.

Buff Johnson wrote:for long rampy routes, feeling the calf burn, cool. for technical & mixed switch-offs, not so much for me.

+1

You can make this, and use those free biners that come with ads on them. You don't need the spinner either, just run it through your belay loop, no big deal if it twists. now you have one 1/2 the weight of the BD, and half the cost.

I like mine. It does get caught on icicles. You can just bash the small ones off to free it but you have to be more aware on the big ones. After getting used to leashless I've been only using the spinners on hard leads or big routes where dropping a tool is more than a hassle. I've yet to drop a tool but it's a mental thing on harder stuff and nice to not worry about it so much.</quote

Ditto.

I hate leashes too, but I'm terrified of those spring leash systems. I keep thinking what would happen if I took a fall while looking up, a tool sticks, the spring leash stretches, the axe pops out springloaded with my weight and smacks me right in the face. I don't know the chances of this actually happening, but I'm terrified of it anyway. I have taken a fall on an ice screw once and I was looking up at the time.
On single pitch stuff that is not so hard I climb leashless, but when I want extra security I use a leash system I made myself from some old BD leashes, copying some old Camp system I once saw. I have pictures here (sorry it's in Swedish but you get the idea when you see the photos, three at the bottom of the first page, two at the top of the second page):
utsidan.se/forum/showthread…
There are two downsides to this system. The first is that you still can drop an axe. This has only been a concerne for me when I've whacked the axe in too far and need to hit under the hammer in order to get it out. In this case I might clip into the axe before getting too voilent. The second downside, which does not concerne me, is that you can't brag about climbing leashless because this system is for wrist support.
If wrist support is of no concerne for you, you probably will not have any use for a system like this. But for us that want some extra wrist support but hate leashes, there are not many options out there.