Beal Birdie Recall-Worthy Safety Issue?

Ryan Mac wrote:

Has Beal answered on this yet? Just checked mine and I've got similar cracking on the pin head.

Yep, see Jon.R's link.

8kN that is ~10 climbers.  Sounds good to me.  

I unboxed mine yesterday and it has some tiny cracks. Caught a fall on it today and nobody died. Not gonna worry about it 

Well this thread just became a lot more interesting. 

Eric Odenthal wrote:

have owned this device for about 6 months with light use. Today I lent this to a climber to rappel a single line due to a stuck rappel rope. While she was clipped in and lowering from the birdie, the handle snapped off of the device. IT SNAPPED OFF. I set up a line from above and hauled her back to the belay ledge. Holy hell. Could this be a lawsuit? Terrifying. 

bump for emphasis.

Eric Odenthal wrote:

have owned this device for about 6 months with light use. Today I lent this to a climber to rappel a single line due to a stuck rappel rope. While she was clipped in and lowering from the birdie, the handle snapped off of the device. IT SNAPPED OFF. I set up a line from above and hauled her back to the belay ledge. Holy hell. Could this be a lawsuit? Terrifying. 

IANAL, but absent damages, there is no basis for a lawsuit. But a recall would certainly seem to be appropriate.

Dan Daugherty wrote:

Looks like there was already some damage on the handle directly across the pin holding it in place. 

Not sure how that constitutes a lawsuit since the failure mode actually worked, nobody got hurt and you were using a device that probably should have been retired after the damage it received prior to this incident.

If you ask nicely, instead of immediately threatening a lawsuit, they may do a warranty replacement, even if it's out of it's warranty period.

I took a look at my Birdie, and I would wager that isn't pre-existing damage. Note the matching damage on the interior of the handle and the interfacing surface on the main body. Looks to me like a small pebble got into the milled out area between the surfaces, and then some time later when the handle was pulled the pebble got caught between the surfaces (where you see the matching damage) and acted as a lever, popping the head off the retaining rivet.

The purpose for the milled out areas seems to be weight savings, so I'd say this is a design flaw for sure.

Dan Daugherty wrote:

To note, I can't find a picture of a birdie online with that handle type. They are all smooth across the face with the pin flush instead of inset like in the one below. I wonder why they discontinued that design.

Hi Dan - the reason you can't find that design is because what you're looking at is the inside (interfacing side) of the handle. The damage you're seeing couldn't have been caused by a drop.

Just for reference, here is my lightly used Birdie. The handle appears to be secured with a peened rivet and a small washer / bushing thing. In the photo of the broken device it looks like the head of that rivet is completely gone.

Jared Chrysostom wrote:

Just for reference, here is my lightly used Birdie. The handle appears to be secured with a peened rivet and a small washer / bushing thing. In the photo of the broken device it looks like the head of that rivet is completely gone.

My guess is that the washer/bushing thing is actually nut and the rivet is actually threaded - that's why it has a channel for a modified flathead screwdriver.

(Edit to add: that's also why the cracks in the peened area don't matter that much since they are not the load bearing part - they just keep the nut from unscrewing. Having the handle break off does matter, tho.)

Gregger Man wrote:

My guess is that the washer/bushing thing is actually nut and the rivet is actually threaded - that's why it has a channel for a modified flathead screwdriver.

(Edit to add: that's also why the cracks in the peened area don't matter that much since they are not the load bearing part - they just keep the nut from unscrewing. Having the handle break off does matter, tho.)

You are probably right - I wondered about the slots. Maybe it’s threaded on and then the end of the stud is peened to make the attachment permanent? In any case, the end of that stud is missing in the photo of the damaged birdie above. 

I don't own one - is that portion below the handle with the now broken-off stud made of hot forged aluminum or is it steel? It appears that the part that broke off is not a separate threaded bolt but rather a contiguous piece of metal attached to the housing below.

edit to add - now I see: it is a separate bolt. All steel.

I just opened mine, and brand new never used, the pin head has a small crack, but i think i am in agreement, the direction of force on that pin is not in the direction of the cracks so i feel fine using mine. 

Welp, saw this and figured I'd ping you all:
https://www.reddit.com/r/climbing/comments/lj1ry5/beal_birdie_safety_recall_for_handle_failure_just/

Checked my 12/19 Birdie with a spare Euro I had lying around, and mine fails the test.   

Well, I'm officially off the birdie train.

Morgan Ganci wrote:

Welp, saw this and figured I'd ping you all:
https://www.reddit.com/r/climbing/comments/lj1ry5/beal_birdie_safety_recall_for_handle_failure_just/

Checked my 12/19 Birdie with a spare Euro I had lying around, and mine fails the test.   

Yep, mine does two. Just got an email response of them saying they'll post me a shipping label to return it to them.

I got an email saying that any Birdie from 2019 is included in the recall. Mine is 12/19. Guess it’s going back...

Wow, an amazing amount of people were cool with cracked belay devices!

Brandon Fields wrote:

Opinion: I think Beal is a great company and if they're willing to stake the future of their company on saying it's fine, i believe them and will be using my Birdie tomorrow without concern.

But let's do some word substitutions and see how this statement sounds:

Opinion: I think Donald Trump is a great president and if he is willing to stake the future of America on saying Covid is a hoax, I believe him and will be ignoring the threat from Covid without concern...

People/companies lie...  They do it all the time. Sometimes they lie because they don't know the truth, sometimes it's because the truth will hurt them, sometimes it's because they just don't care.

Personally, I have no opinion on the safety of of the Birdie...   Beal's  explanation (which sounds more like an excuse to me...) may be correct.  

But this way of thinking, when someones life could be at risk, seems a little cavalier to me.

ed "who knows: 'alternative facts' are just that, 'alternatives' to the truth..." e

Brandon Fields wrote:

Opinion: I think Beal is a great company and if they're willing to stake the future of their company on saying it's fine, i believe them and will be using my Birdie tomorrow without concern.

You may want to check how your partner feels about you using a recalled device while they climb. Because you may be comfortable using it without concern but I personally would have a concern about anyone using that device to belay me.

Colonel Mustard wrote:

Wow, an amazing amount of people were cool with cracked belay devices!

That's not at all what's happened here. Handle broke off and the failure system worked. The device held. The recall is worthy, but nobody is going to die from using a device that catches you when it breaks