RRC Archives

I just purchased 3 more quickdraws, a harness for my smaller kids and a couple of locking carabiners from REI online. Where is a good place online to buy dog bones? I couldn't find them on REI or Eastern Mountain Sports websites. I found some black diamond dog bones on Amazon for $5.95 each. http://www.amazon.com/Vari-width-Dogbon ... B004JSFXOC .

I inspected the dog bones on my current 7 quickdraws and they look brand new. No fraying, no discolor. Stored in a rubbermaid container in a cool draw basement. The carabiners still have the price tag from REI.

eident wrote: Where is a good place online to buy dog bones?

gearexpress.com

@qmhill Thank you very much. I'll check it out.

FYI, the climb at Red River gorge that requires the most quickdraws is called Boltergeist. It is in MUir Valley and it has 13 bolts plus 2 chains for anchors. so 15 quickdraws allows you to climb any single pitch sport route in Red River gorge. (That is why I own 16, I always bring an extra in case I drop one)

gearx.com and moosejaw have good deals pretty often.

Weird post. Thought I was going to talk someone into giving me a new rope. You are worrying about the gear when the weak link could be the safety techniques; do you know enough to instruct the kids?

@caribe. Thank you for your concern. My current rope is not my first rope. Yes, it's been awhile since I've climbed outside and only a half dozen times with my older kids in local climbing gyms. Before taking our hiatus from climbing we were regulars at the RRG for about a year. Before that we topped roped often at Devil's Lake WI and Taylors Fall MN. However, I do feel a rusty. I have been reading forums, articles on the web, and practicing knots for the last several weeks in anticipation of our trip.

But sometimes one doesn't know that they lack knowledge and experience. Therefore, we were going to meet up with a friend, whom lives about an hour from the RRG, and whom I introduced to climbing 18 years ago. He and his family have continued to climb at the RRG while I have not. My friend would step in if I was lacking.

I write in past tense because this past weekend was supposed to be our trip. We cancelled after looking at the forecast of thunderstorms and rain all weekend. Too far to drive 6.5 hours to sit in a tent in the rain, while it was a beautiful weekend in the Chicago area.

Nylon will become weaker over time, true, but what does that mean?

The nylon loses its elasticity meaning it has less ability to absorb the forces of a falling climber and dissipating them. Does it mean the rope will break sooner? Ultimately yes, but realistically it should still be plenty strong enough to lead with a few easy falls and to top rope and rappel no problem. Likely its still not going to outright fail, but not be as effective at softening your falls.

Note: I am only an armchair physicist. The views expressed within this post are not those of the creator, host, designers, affiliates, posers, or trolls of redriverclimbing.com. If you decide to sue someone should your rope fail catastrophically as soon as you begin to lower from your first climb back on real rock please direct your ire at me, as the only thing I have to offer as compensation is a rack of 20 year old climbing gear.

Bruisebrother wrote:Eident, Andrew's right-on. You'll have plenty to leave as Booty. Where did you get the idea that your 13 yr. old rope is not usable ? Brand new and stored out of sunlight, do ropes breakdown by themselves ? Maybe I'm missing something. I am getting old and can't remember everything. Climb-Safe.

Almost all manufacturer's recommendation on life of soft materials (harnesses, ropes, dogbones, etc) is a 5 year SHELF life. Less if used. But there is no life on hard materials such as biners that I know of. Take that information and use it as you will.