Rock exotica banned?

I actually dont think rock exotica was banned. I posted this for two reasons. That CYA statement of Rock Exotica is used as one of the biggest arguments against the Unicender. I would love to watch good people who know the Unicender, climb on one if they so wish. The CYA statement is annoying because it goes against the design of the tool in question. Im trying to imagine for instance how a swivel would be backed up and still retain positive swiveling properties.

I also think its fair to point out that there is no reason for the ITCC to believe that Rock Exotica backs up their Unicender any less than they do their swivel. So really, Im just rockin' the boat a little bit. Performance criteria comments were due yesterday as well so wanted to get people thinking about it.
 
I saw through your guise Kevin!
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The boat needs rocking. It is how things move forward. I agree on the CYA statements. I also believe there is a middle ground.

Thanks for working towards it!

Tony
 
Wait- what sort of rubber band are you supposed to put to prevent the cross loading of the pulley on the carabiner? What is the necessary breaking strength of this carabiner? Need it be designed and approved for tree climbing and competition use? How long can I use it before it has to be replaced? Who makes the decision on if the rubber band in use it adequate.

I think it's ridiculous, personally.

love
nick
 
Nick, I'm afraid I have to disagree.

Use a connector that has an appropriate rating and ensure it is loaded according to how it was designed to be, e.g. along the major axis. If, as is being discussed here, the connector/ pulley combo cannot be visually assessed, because of remote installation, or because you're moving away from it, it makes sense to ensure that the load configuration stays correct.

In situations where the system is frequently loaded and unloaded — as is the case when moving around the canopy of a tree — this becomes specially important. How you choose to do this is not really relevant, you could use a Blue Bandit, Duck tape, zip ties, specifically shaped connector, a thimble, a Beal Pinch, whatever. The primary goal is to ensure correct loading of the connector at all times and that is information that is available to you in the user manual that was delivered with the product.

But this is only one of a number of issues to consider when assembling components to assemblies and systems. What you should essentially be considering is compatibility of neighbour components and configuration issues. To my mind this is what distinguishes a competent person from others is that he or she is aware of such issues, knows what the tools under consideration were designed for, knows their limits and is able to base a decision when assembling components on a sum of these considerations.

So no, personally, I don't think considering how to ensure correct configuration is ridiculous.

Regards,

Mark
 
Im curious as to what pulleys with large eyes are designed for? Most companies make them that way and i find the large ayes practical as long as the carabiner is secured to the rope or sling with a tight termination. i havent climbed off a pulley of any sort in over four years so the issue is mute for me now. The fewer connections in my system the better,the fewer moving parts the better. I used to love my cmi pulleys though.

On another note, i had a great talk with the guys at rock exotica at TCIA and they said they were writing a letter to itcc to clarify that the uni is acceptable for treework without a backup system and the wording in the instructions should be taken as good advice but not practical in tree work.
 
I do have something to add to Nicks statement. He makes a valid point with the connector and how long it can be used before it needs to be replaced. there could be a connector or rope or other piece of equipment that might have been side loaded or shock loaded but still appear to be perfectly normal. The person doing the inspection does not know the history of the rope or piece of equipment unless it's brand new out of the bag or it's a coworker and knows the life of it or if it is borrowed from an inspector. We are taking the persons word for it that nothing bad has happened to this rope even though it may have been shock loaded and have internal structural defects that cannot be felt. Maybe we should do away with gear inspection all together. Maybe we should kill the advanced technology and truly see who's the best climber. Issue you every climber at the internationals a harness from a vendor a rope and basic equipment needed to complete the events and get back to who's the best climber and not who has the most new toys or tricks. Then all this b.s. would stop and everything would be new and on loan from a vendor and get sold at a discount afterwards. They would be issued the same harness and the same rope and everything and told to go climb. Ascenders would be done. It would be footlocking or body thrusting and just getting it done. If change is not going to happen when it comes to competitions and advancements then why not take a step back and go to the basics and get away from politics and make the playing field level across the board.
 
That sounds kind of fun. Everyone gets one 150' foot three strand, one steel biner and a weaver basic saddle with a buck strap... Id be totally down with that.
 
So, there could be another “Special Comp” …………

1. Geezer’s - for Old Timers
2. Old Styl’In - for Anyone

How 'bout an escalating age scale, similar to Geezers:
18 thru 39
40 thru 44 = 5 yr spread
45 thru 50 = 6
51 thru 57 = 7
58 thru 65 = 8

Just a thought ?

:-)
 
On another note, i had a great talk with the guys at rock exotica at TCIA and they said they were writing a letter to itcc to clarify that the uni is acceptable for treework without a backup system and the wording in the instructions should be taken as good advice but not practical in tree work.

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I think this is one step to getting gear approved and validating its use in our industry..
 
I was just talking to this guy inBaltimore who said if he made it to another masters challenge he was going to do it using a tauntline. I would love to see everyone go caveman.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I was just talking to this guy inBaltimore who said if he made it to another masters challenge he was going to do it using a tauntline. I would love to see everyone go caveman.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm finding this discussion incredibly ironic since that's more or less what's already happening. Have to use DdRT work positioning, have to footlock even though a smaller and smaller % of climbers actually use this technique, I'm thinking our competitions are rapidly becoming museum pieces.

No need to change the rules to make our competitions 'go caveman', just don't change the rules and let time do it's thing...
 
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