Hauling slab is shredding my haul bag. Suggestions?

The area I'm working on is mostly slab. Hauling is absolutely shredding my bag. The waist strap I can at least duck tape around to prevent more damage, but I'm not sure how to reinforce/repair the bottom or top strips of the bag.

Looking for suggestions to increase the longevity of my haul bags on slab, as well as tips to make the hauling easier as friction adds a lot of effort with heavy bags. (Currently hauling 1:1 most of the time, 2:1 when necessary using z-cord style 2:1). Bag is a 70L runout customs.

Photos are damage from ~200m of hauling (less than half the route in progress). They're worse now, and I'm worried my bags will be unusable if this wear continues with continued use, as I'll be returning to the area many times over the coming years. Its worse than the photos make it look. the strapping at the bottom is almost through to the underlying material, and I can put my finger through the waist band strap sideways. Being the flatter side of the bag, it always ends up dragging up this same side.

Strap it to a skateboard.

I have no experience with this, so read that as a joke or not.  I not messing with you  

Maybe a snow sled.  Or something like skate board rail guards from the ‘80s.  

You need something to take abrasion instead of you bag which ideally has a lower coefficient of friction than your bag.

Curious what the experienced will share. 

You're supposed to take that waist strap off, man! Does it slide out ?

Wrapping a foam sleeping pad around the circumference of the bag will distribute the pressure from the slab better too. Help avoid pesky hot spots.

P.S. Live Perched, you're thinking of the Dolt Cart. I heard it was so effective no one ever used it again. Took all the challenge out of climbin up them walls hahaha

Definitely also heard of the skateboard idea before. Probably worth a shot, right??

I made something I called a Haul Cone years ago for protecting a regular nylon climbing pack when hauling on alpine climbs. I used vinyl billboard material and duct tape to make a cone-shaped thing that worked to protect the bag and as a knot-protector, and it also really helped it slide past roofs and other features that haul bags catch on. Metolius now makes the "Nose Cone" but it leaves the knot and a carabiner exposed to abrasion. It looks great, but I think they could improve the design.

jt newgard wrote:

You're supposed to take that waist strap off, man! Does it slide out ?

Wrapping a foam sleeping pad around the circumference of the bag will distribute the pressure from the slab better too. Help avoid pesky hot spots.

P.S. Live Perched, you're thinking of the Dolt Cart. I heard it was so effective no one ever used it again. Took all the challenge out of climbin up them walls hahaha

Yes, I take the waist strap off (And shoulder straps). I'm referring to the damage to the straps that it slides behind.

I've seen a photo of the Dolt Cart. Definitely funny, but I'm actually thinking about it. A couple of bike wheels on a little frame would make things easier...

The sacrificial sled idea is pretty good, or maybe I can get ahold of some material to wrap around the bag.

Skateboard I can't see working very well, the small wheels would just get caught a lot, and any side-to-side action the bag would just roll off of the board.

In my experience, haul bags get beat to shit if you are actually using them. When it's time, find a shop to repair it or give it a go yourself. 

Ziggy Chalkdust wrote:

Ha! No way! Someone actually got it to work!

Back in the day when materials were no where near a sophisticated as they are now, a guy in New Hampshire used to make haul bags for us but would also make a full sheath that would cover the whole thing. The sheaths were slippery material and the idea was that it would wear out before your haul bag got damaged and then you would simply go buy another sheath.

These days, there’s ultra bombproof material out there. You might want to call Skot and have him make a sheath out of some of the material he has. The material he has is very expensive and the sheath will take up a few yards so expect to pay a fair bit of money for it but it will completely solve your problem.

For a little while in the 90’s Pika made a haulbag out of 55 gallon Barrels- their version obviously had hauling suspension and their pack-strap suspension was mounted to a backboard that you bolted on/off at the base/summit 

Quinn, immediately delete your post and

 Do. Not. Tell. Pete. About. This.
 
I can already see 5 of these inching up the wall…

Just needs bigger wheels obviously.

but I really like the idea of modifying a Metolius Nose cone to make a skirt of haul bag material to double up the outsides, seamless without external straps to wear.

To those who have big walled a long time, how many average walls does a haul bag last for?

That 55 gallon drum straps is amazing. Unfortunately a 208 Liter backpack is just too much capacity for my needs. Do the come in the 80 to 150 Liter range?

Also, how do you tie a rope to it? And doesn’t that part wear out too if it’s a soft good?

Lane Mathis wrote:

In my experience, haul bags get beat to shit if you are actually using them. When it's time, find a shop to repair it or give it a go yourself. 

I expect it to get damaged and need repairs, but at this rate it won't survive another 200m of hauling. I figure I can be proactive rather than it coming apart on the wall.

Mark Hudon wrote:

These days, there’s ultra bombproof material out there. You might want to call Skot and have him make a sheath out of some of the material he has. The material he has is very expensive and the sheath will take up a few yards so expect to pay a fair bit of money for it but it will completely solve your problem.

Thanks, I'll reach out if we don't come up with something I can find locally.

Ziggy's photos are amazing! I could see this working well with large enough castors. It'll still get stuck occasionally but thats to be expected. The multi-purpose usage there is great with it doubling as a belay ledge!

Nose cone is also a great idea that will help with the top-edge damage, at least, and help prevent catches.

I figure I'll probably will end up with some combination of all these ideas. The approach to the route we're working is quite short, so I don't mind adding some weight to make the hauling significantly easier.

I like where your head’s at Malcolm.Either way we’re gonna need a trip report with your scientific findings!

What if you slide a couple heavy duty inner tubes over the haul bag as a cushion? Of course they’ll try to explode and/or slide off but you could tie a keeper cord around the tubes up to the haul point. Worst case scenario you got a sweet belay seat for drinking a cold brew like them lazy river floaters!

Bb Cc wrote:

A flexible snow sled, roll up style. Do they still make these? Plus cone over that.... maybe need two sleds.

Maybe three of them, bungeed somehow around the haul bag.  Then, if it rolls when it hits a small obstacle, it just rolls onto another sled bottom.  Hm.

How about a kayak cart?  This one is called the C-Tug-Boat Cart with Solid Kiwi Wheels.  Seems to have the lowest center of gravity of the various kayak carts I  just looked at.  A modern version of the Dolt cart.  

I suggest the old plasti dip trick.  But your better off thinning the plasti dip with the recommended thinner, I can’t remember the spelling of it but it’s listed on the side of the plasti dip container. Thin it out at about 60/40 dip to thinner. This will be your base coat,  with the dip thinned the webbing fibers will absorb the dip and become saturated with it instead of just the surface of the webbing being coated with the dip (which peels off too easy). Once the webbing is completely saturated with the dip let it dry a lil bit and while it’s still tacky mix up some more at 80/20.  Recoat the webbing and you’ll be amazed at your new rubberized webbing.  It works fantastic for dramatically increasing the lifespan and durability of your haul bag webbing.

Skot Richards wrote:

I suggest the old plasti dip trick.  But your better off thinning the plasti dip with the recommended thinner, I can’t remember the spelling of it but it’s listed on the side of the plasti dip container. Thin it out at about 60/40 dip to thinner. This will be your base coat,  with the dip thinned the webbing fibers will absorb the dip and become saturated with it instead of just the surface of the webbing being coated with the dip (which peels off too easy). Once the webbing is completely saturated with the dip let it dry a lil bit and while it’s still tacky mix up some more at 80/20.  Recoat the webbing and you’ll be amazed at your new rubberized webbing.  It works fantastic for dramatically increasing the lifespan and durability of your haul bag webbing.

That's great! I knew about plasti-dip for repairing holes / weak spots, didn't think about applying it onto the webbing. Will definitely do this. Can re-apply each trip as well to keep it from wearing through.

Skot!s method is far, far better than just painting it on. 

To clarify Mark’s statement even further, painting it on WILL NOT WORK!! As soon as the haulbag touches the wall, the plasti-dip will peel and flake off. I can post pictures to prove this.

After talking to Skot, saturating the webbing is on my to-do list, but I haven’t tried it yet 

Have you considered wearing your haulbag for the very slabby stuff where you are low angle jugging the whole pitch?

bob steed wrote:

Have you considered wearing your haulbag for the very slabby stuff where you are low angle jugging the whole pitch?

I've done this when appropriate, but the route I've been working on has varying angle on pitches and its really inefficient to take the straps on and off. Also, jugging with 100lbs+ bag is exhausting, even on low angles, especially if there are roofs & lower outs to deal with.