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Say you have a group of 6 climbers + one leader. Now the leader sets up the TR through the anchors and lowers. Then each of the 6 others hangdog thier way up with a power beley and lower. That is 13 uses of the anchor hardware. If the leader sets up the TR with draws and the last person cleans and lowers, then there is only one use of the anchor hardware. If you look at routes that are not TR'ed much, but that still get lots of use from cleaning and lowering (like some 11's and 12's), the hardware is in pretty good shape.

Wes

Good point - I was thinking of a single TRing of a route - lots of climbing with the rope unweighted, a few hang/stretches and a lower. The situation I just described doesn't cause much more wear than a single lower. But the very common situation that you are describing does tons more wear to the anchors.

Thanks Wes, finally someone making some sense.

I have never drilled a route but if were to drill a moderate route (say under 10c) I would expect all the gumbies to TR through my anchors and not use their own draws, so I would use inexpensive lowering hardware..ie quick links or old safe biners, then let others replace when needed.

1 quickdraw.... c'mon people life's a wild ride, relax and enjoy.

It depends sometimes if I have enough gear I set something up thats acutally safe, but usally I just use a quickdraw. I also sometimes use a draw and double the rope out and through it that way if you fall the rope still will catch you, I cant really explain that way but I think R@I had a blot on it a month or 2 ago.

DaggerX

So I was out climbing a couple of weekends ago...with a newbie...and I was giving a catch to my guy friend...all the while explaining to the newbie what was going on while he was cleaning etc.
He only hooked into one anchor with two draws bc he forgot to take up another draw to hook his slack to...
When he finally got back down to the ground...I told him that if he ever did that again while I was on belay I'd never climb with him again.
Did I overreact?
I just felt that it was stupid safety wise...and a poor example to the newbie.

I'm a safety geek so, no, I don't think you overreacted. With a beginner, I think it's especially important to not make out climbing as all fun and games because beginners who feel that way are often times the ones who get hurt. One thing that kills me is when I see a beginner toproping and they hold onto the bolt with their finger. I have no problem telling them that that's a good way to lose a finger in an effort to try to scare the crap out of them and deter them from doing that again. If you're taking beginners out then it's kinda your responsibility to teach them correctly and if it takes being stern about it then so be it. Just remember...you can still keep a smile on your face and be stern at the same time.