Cordelette 101

Newbie question(s).

Is the cordelette used only for anchoring a belayer or can it be used for a toprope or rappel anchor also?

What kind of cordage is best, can you just use 7 or 8mm accessory cord or is a specialized cord like the Blue water Titan etc. the only way to go?

Lastly, the local mountaineering club offers a one day class on anchors and the required gear includes 3 locking biners with at least one parabiner. Whats the difference? I've googled parabiner and it just looks like every other locker.

JmH wrote:Newbie question(s). Is the cordelette used only for anchoring a belayer or can it be used for a toprope or rappel anchor also?

It can be used for both.

JmH wrote:What kind of cordage is best, can you just use 7 or 8mm accessory cord or is a specialized cord like the Blue water Titan etc. the only way to go?

7mm nylon is the standard. Some people use the 5.5mm spectra, but you should use a triple fishermans due to the slippery sheath. I don't like that cord due to its rigidness when equalizing the cordelette.

JmH wrote:Lastly, the local mountaineering club offers a one day class on anchors and the required gear includes 3 locking biners with at least one parabiner. Whats the difference? I've googled parabiner and it just looks like every other locker.

Are you sure they didn't say "pear biner"?

JmH: Cordelettes can be used for all kinds of anchoring purposes including multipitch anchors, toprope/rappel anchors, and more. Heck, I use them occasionally to sling large blocks or in other instances where I need a *really* long runner for something.

My stock of cordelettes have included both 7mm perlon (nylon utility cord), 5.5mm titan (spectra) cord, and an 8' pre-sewn spectra webbing runner. There are advantages to each in terms of durability and packability but they all function about the same. There are pre-made versions you can buy, or you can tie your own from utility cord (get to know the triple fisherman's knot).

As to carabiners, a parabiner (usually pearabiner) is a pear-shaped carabiner significantly wider at one end than the other. My usual supply of locker includes a handful of small D-shaped or pear-shaped lockers as well as one or two large pear-shaped biners for belay and rappel duties.

Good luck with your course.

You can use a cordelette to constuct an anchor for toproping or rappelling as well as intermediate belays on multipitch climbs.

As a beginner, I would suggest a 20' length of 7mm or 8mm nylon cord. If you plan on using it for toproping much at all, I would go 8mm. Of course, make sure you are buying cord from a reputable climbing manufacturer and not something off the spool from the hardwear store. Other than that, there aren't many huge differences between one manufacturers nylon cord and another. If you are interested, though, check out the new cord from Mammut which uses a slighly different weave than most core/sheath construction cord. It's stronger and I've found it to be extremely durable.

Avoid specialized and expensive cord like Titan and stick with nylon for your cordelette. The material used to make these cords, usually something similar to Spectra have very little elasticity, which means that your anchors could potentially be subjected to higher forces in some scenarios. They also wear out very quickly and are much more expensive. Most climbers I know have abandoned the use of high strength cord for anything other than reslinging cams and hexes.

If you plan on doing alot of toproping, I would invest in a ~40' length of static line. It will give you more material to work with than a standard 16-20' cordelette, and the beefier material will be much more durable. In addition, it is easier to work with than the long lengths of tubular webbing that you often see people using. If you are toproping in an area where you are mostly utilizing trees for anchors three or four 8' lengths of tube webbing and 40' of static line with a handfull of biners will cover just about any situation.

As far as parabiners, what you mean is a pearbiner, which is another name for an HMS carabiner. HMS (an abbreviation for a German word meaning "half of a clove-hitch) is a type of knot known in the US as a Munter Hitch. It can be used to belay, lower, rappel, and create a type of knot that can be released while under load. HMS carabiners have a larger basket end to give clearance and make it easier to work with a Munter hitch. Some people also like this style of biner because its size allows you to clip more stuff into it, but keep in mind that as with all biners you want to apply the load as close to the spine as possible. The large basket on an HMS biner can act like a lever and applying a load near the nose of these biners will be much weaker, by more than 50% in some cases.

My favorite locking carabiners are the Trango Superfly and my favorite pearbiner is the DMM Sentinel, as they are both very light and functional. I would also reccommend the BD Positron locker as well as the Petzl Attache pearbiner. Keylock gates make clipping and unclipping from anchors much easier.

I personally dislike any type of autolocking carabiner. Many of the are prone to mulfunction, gumming up with dirt or ice, or are less durable. They can also be harder to clip and unclip because of thier intrinsic desire to always be locked. I believe in the KISS rule and stick with screwgates.

James Beissel wrote:... Avoid specialized and expensive cord like Titan and stick with nylon for your cordelette. The material used to make these cords, usually something similar to Spectra have very little elasticity, which means that your anchors could potentially be subjected to higher forces in some scenarios...

I can't fault the rest of your statements, but this seems just a little off. Realistically, yes, you could shockload your anchor if the rope is not absorbing any of the force. But this is true no matter what material you use, and avoiding titan cords due to perceived shockloading risk (as opposed to UV sensitivity, stiffness, and an overall lack of durability) seems to me to be missing the forest for the trees. And frankly, if you find yourself in a situation where the relative elasticity of your static anchor material comes into play, you've gone so far outside the realm of safe climbing practices that I honestly wonder how you got there. I'm not a rescue guy, I try to avoid situations where the margin for error gets so small that elasticity of the material (as opposed to slippage due to knot tightening) is a legitimate concern.

In other words, you're making things way too complicated for this poor guy. KISS is right.

I'd go with the first reply.

The one thing I've not understood, the newer dyneema/spectra 5.5s are sheathed with nylon, how is this conducive to slippage more than other perlon cords?

Obviously I've used a double fisherman with no problem whatsoever, including a flat overhand, though it's all taboo; for some reason the nylon sheath on dyneema is completely different in material property than nylon used on every other product??

Also, I've never understood to equate toproping to shockloading an anchor to failure (I don't think James was talking about this issue - I think he was addressing more applications toward advanced anchors with respect to this type of rigging). So, in general sense & not addressing anyone that has written on this topic, shockloading an anchor to the point of failure with respect to going out with your friends & top-roping some climbs given a dynamic rope, somewhat a dynamic belay (even with a gri-gri or similar device, you'll still lift the belayer, & also get deformation), & body weight at most with some small fall impact -- shockloading seems to be the biggest bunch of bs in this application.

James Beissel wrote: If you plan on doing alot of toproping, I would invest in a ~40' length of static line. It will give you more material to work with than a standard 16-20' cordelette, and the beefier material will be much more durable. In addition, it is easier to work with than the long lengths of tubular webbing that you often see people using. If you are toproping in an area where you are mostly utilizing trees for anchors three or four 8' lengths of tube webbing and 40' of static line with a handfull of biners will cover just about any situation.

I like this idea. I have a couple of those long runners (25 ft.) and they are kind of a hassle. I'd feel real safe with a 20 foot 7/16 static line for a cordelette, butI guess the reason for not using a thick static line for a cordelette is on a multi-pitch climb where the weight and bulk are an issue.

Still I can't get my mind around clipping into a 5.5mm anchor...

Thanks for the responses

Use 1 inch webbing for your top rope anchors. Get a 10' 20' and 30'. Its easy to tie and adjust to equalize and is cheap.

Go with the cordelette for gear anchors, 20' of 7mm nylon or the fancy stuff. For bolt anchors simply use two quickdraws (extendable are great for this), put lockers on them for extra safety if you want. This method is lightning fast so you can spend more time climbing. Ask a guy at a climbing shop how to make the etendable ones, aka "trad draws".

I took a top-rope anchor course a long time ago and I was convinced to buy a 40' long piece of static line to exend my anchors. I rarely use it but in areas like Joshua Tree where many anchors are built far back from the cliff it comes in handy.

PS the longer I have been climbing the less tubular webbing I have been using. I think it's supposed to be harder to abrade through so that's why people use it to tie onto trees for rappels. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Pear 'bners are bigger than regular ones so you can use them for the Munter hitch. Good to know if you drop your belay device. You can belay and rappel with one.