RRC Archives

In the wake of Todd Skinner's fall/death, Wild Country did some testing on intentionally damaged (cut and abraded) belay loops with some interesting results:

PDF: http://www.wildcountry.co.uk/dnlds/Bela ... 20Lite.pdf
Video: http://www.wildcountry.co.uk/Downloads/ ... pBreaking/

In short, the seriously messed up some belay loops but it took a lot of force to break them. Either Skinner's belay loop was almost totally cut/worn through or something else contributed to the accident.

Also interesting is how much the loops stretch under high loads - yet another dynamic link in the belay system.

My bet is what happened to Skinner had to do with his rappel method. Ever rappelled with a grigri? It often starts bouncing, and once it starts, it gets worse and worse. I'd imagine that puts quite a bit of dynamic force on a belay loop...over and over and over.

Black Diamond did similiar tests the week the accident happened, with simiiar findings.

Makes me feel better about my gym harness; I think I'll keep using it a few more years.

so my mouse chewed harness probably has at least a few good years in it? Cool.

From what I remember about the accident report, Skinner had two slings girth hitched to his belay loop, all the time. This prevented the belay loop from spinning and wearing evenly.

If climbers are supposed to always double things back and back things up then why would someone JUST use a belay loop for anything but belaying?

It may scrunch my harness down more and make two points of pressure on my locker but nothing gets attached to me without going through my belay loop and my harness....even when I rap my webbing gets put through my harness and not my belay loop....call me paranoid.

Am I the only one that does this stuff?

i really like belay loops, they make things much more comfortable. If you want it to be backed up you can tie a 6 mm cord through both the loops and have it back up your belay loop

I think backing up the belay loop is overkill. You have to be able to trust your gear. The rope, belay biner, ATC, and belay loop are each life critical, which is why you should replace them when in doubt....

never belay through a belay loop that's dangerous! a belay is simply a peice of webbing to hold the two parts of your harness together.

rhunt wrote:never belay through a belay loop that's dangerous! a belay is simply a peice of webbing to hold the two parts of your harness together.

what????? the loop is there to belay from.