RRC Archives

10.5 is old-geezer style. Hip kids use a nano 8.6 now. It's tre' cool.

How susceptible is the SUM to dirt clogging up the mechanism?

toad857 wrote:10.5 is old-geezer style. Hip kids use a nano 8.6 now. It's tre' cool.

The nano and sum seem to be pushing the limits a bit much vs. the old tried and true more simple designs. Not that advancements are good but you can take it a bit too far. I have cut a 10.5 down to the bone before and had it been an 8.6 I'm not sure it would have turned out so well. I have not problem rolling geezer style.

Meadows wrote: Art has in the recent past "happily" whipped all over my SUM too.

I can't read that without it sending my mind in the gutter.

Howie Feltersnatch wrote:

Meadows wrote: Art has in the recent past "happily" whipped all over my SUM too.

I can't read that without it sending my mind in the gutter.

Sir Arthur is one of the happiest whippers I know.

Man, these things really freak me out. My list of partners is narrowing each season. No SUMs and no. Cinches. Every single incident involving a gri gri or ATC had to do with pilot error. If there is ANY chance that a competent belayer could have their hand on the brake and deck me anyway....I'm not willing to take that risk.

The jury is still out folks ... it could've been pilot error.

I think the point that people are trying to make is that the SUM is a device that... because of its design provides many opportunities for it to not work (pilot error) and eventually stops working over time.

I can relate to that and awhile ago, I remember the exact words being spoken from ATC users about the grigri. I even switched back to the ATC after witnessing an incident on Mercy in '06 in which I was told that the cam on the grigri failed to engage.

But because I love the SUM and have caught many of falls with it (with I feel better friction than the gri), I want to understand the situation.