Examples of real situation anchors

Hey everyone,

I finally put together a trad/gear anchor video. I had been doing the gear placements on lead for a few videos and a couple of people asked for this so here it is. Everyday can give you the chance to learn something knew, so feel free you share your thoughts, advice, and constructive criticism not just for me but for anyone who might stumble across it. I've personally already gotten some feedback that I already found helpful moving forward. As always feel free to troll as well, it is MP afterall. Thanks, see ya outside :)

You're gonna.....sorry force of habit.  Nice anchors.  Especially good use of cloves to get your master point right where you want it.  Recently been doing that more myself.

Dude you guys have to settle your overcam/not-overcammed issue!

Cesar- I thought all your anchors looked bomber. You were quick and efficient with them and your master points ended up in great spots.

If I'm nitpicking, I would offer two suggestions for best practice, both gate-related:

1) Your locker on the nut at 1:00 should be oriented with the gate away from the rock with the nose oriented down so jostling/vibration don't unlock it ("don't screw up" or "screw down so you don't screw up")

2) At 5:50, I would orient the two biners on cams with their gates facing up away from the rock.

Also, you're probably aware, but it wasn't evident in the video:

3) Sometimes the rock quality is questionable on the underside of those dome-top boulders. Your cams appear to be solid, and maybe you checked the rock quality and found it to be good, but on one of the anchors (3:20) it looks like there is some friable rock near your #2. Perhaps not, but something to be aware of if you're not already.

4) Your Red Rock anchor looks solid and I'm guessing you're tethered into another anchor? but can't tell from the video. If not, tossing a quick clove on a solid piece with the green rope (if you're tied in) would be a good move. I guess that's just personal choice though...

5) Your slightly overcammed #3 is fine. Cesar-1, Bridget-0. 

Enjoyed the video and the JTree scenery!

Great video. I'm trying to think how often the clove is useful? If both ends of the cordelette were clipped to the first piece, all arms would be double strands and most of the spare cord consumed that way. If any spare, just more wraps on the PowerPoint 

I think you are doing a great job and are fast (relatively) using the cord...

Making such master points so as to belay off the anchor are fine for one pitch JT cragging when you have all day or the second might flail is certainly ideal.

But I really think your climbing is making an important leap when you use a body belay. To move fast and light in the high mountains or longer moderate routes this is a very important skill to gain experience with.  Take it to the next level and use the rope to quickly stitch together a couple of cams backing up your belay off your harness loop and you are ready to really move fast when weather is moving in on your future Alpine adventures.

David Coley wrote:

Great video. I'm trying to think how often the clove is useful? If both ends of the cordelette were clipped to the first piece, all arms would be double strands and most of the spare cord consumed that way. If any spare, just more wraps on the PowerPoint 

I've never thought of this before, but now that I do, it seems obvious and more versatile than carrying cord tied into a loop (which is what I do now). Are there any downsides you can think of to doing this all the time instead of a closed loop cordelette when you don't need the length of an open cord?

Nate H wrote:

I've never thought of this before, but now that I do, it seems obvious and more versatile than carrying cord tied into a loop (which is what I do now). Are there any downsides you can think of to doing this all the time instead of a closed loop cordelette when you don't need the length of an open cord?

The nice part about this is when you want a closed loop all you have to do is clove both ends to the same piece.

I believe you are using the terms "BFK" and "Figure 9" interchangeably, while these are two different knots. A BFK (Big Fucking Knot) or BHK (Big Hecking Knot for polite people) is essentially an overhand OR figure 8 formed with 4 widths or strands (idk how you would say that) and the loose strand is folded back over the large overhand knot that is formed, and all 3 loops are clipped together. Thats a mouthful. A figure 9 is a figure 8 with an extra wrap. I don't think you could get into too much trouble exchanging these knot names - like the same kind of trouble you might tying in with a clove versus munter - but something I picked out. 

Edit: I really like your videos, subscribed! 

Nate H wrote:

I've never thought of this before, but now that I do, it seems obvious and more versatile than carrying cord tied into a loop (which is what I do now). Are there any downsides you can think of to doing this all the time instead of a closed loop cordelette when you don't need the length of an open cord?

I also carry a cordlette tied in a loop. It is very fast for building anchors using 3 pieces of gear or building a quad anchor on sport anchors. If I need extra length then I can untie the loop and use the method shown in the video but I find that the closed loop works for the majority of my anchors.

I switched from a closed-loop to overhand-on a-bite on each end. It allowed me to shorten the 7mm by a couple feet, as well as making it far more versatile.

Glen Prior wrote:

I switched from a closed-loop to overhand-on a-bite on each end. It allowed me to shorten the 8mm by a couple feet, as well as making it far more versatile.

I would probably use 8s on a bight personally.....it retains more strength than an overhand (15%-20% more).

Doug Simpson wrote:

I believe you are using the terms "BFK" and "Figure 9" interchangeably, while these are two different knots. A BFK (Big Fucking Knot) or BHK (Big Hecking Knot for polite people) is essentially an overhand OR figure 8 formed with 4 widths or strands (idk how you would say that) and the loose strand is folded back over the large overhand knot that is formed, and all 3 loops are clipped together. Thats a mouthful. A figure 9 is a figure 8 with an extra wrap. I don't think you could get into too much trouble exchanging these knot names - like the same kind of trouble you might tying in with a clove versus munter - but something I picked out. 

Edit: I really like your videos, subscribed! 

Thanks for the clarification. I guess somewhere along the line I assumed/heard a bfk literally mean just a big f'n knot, so when the "figure 9" had anymore wraps it was literally a big f'n knot haha. thanks again!

Thank you everyone else for you comments, I always appreciate them. Sorry I haven't really had the chance to reply to many this time around. Work/climbing is taking up a lot of time recently.