Worn saddle bridge pics

[rangerdanger]

Thought I would post a few pics of a bridge I've been climbing on now for 6 months or so. I decided to swap out this bridge for the original and dissect this one to see what 6 months of climbing has done to it.

It's made out of the new techorna/vectran blend, 5/16". The cover sheath was some blue moon cover. It's seen roughly 6 months of use, most of that time with 1 ring on the bridge. Don't know how to describe it, but there is a hollow section I guess you can say, in the middle of the bridge, which is where my weight would have been concentrated most of the time. It seems to have bunched up the crossover a bit to one side, which you can see some in the close-up pic with the knife pointing to the area of concern.

 

[rangerdanger]

Another

 

[rangerdanger]

You can see the slight bump in this pic. Where the knife is pointing to. This is where the small hollow section is also. Maybe not necessarily hollow, but definitely skinnier than other sections of the rope.

 

[UrbanTC]

I had the same problem. I had a new bridge made and it is doing the same thing. I have two rings on the bridge this time, same thing.

This is after 2 months of light use.

 

[NickfromWI]

Adrian- Are you sure that's a technora/vectran blend? Isn't that the all technora 16 strand from All-Gear?

Some of the abraded fibers do look vectran-ish, though.

I don't understand why the core fibers are so abused if you had a cover over it. Did you climb on it with no cover?

love
nick

 

[NickfromWI]

You guys need to be using polyester bridges. I have one that is years old and still looking sharp. I'll go take a pic.

 

[UrbanTC]

When it was new.

 

[UrbanTC]

The one before...

 

[rangerdanger]

Yep Nick, it's the Vectran/Technora blend. It's never been climbed on without a cover.

 

[NickfromWI]

This is the best thing I've found for a bridge. The newer one really only has about 20 climbs on it and had been double-dipped in Yale Maxijacket coating. The one on the left was used for 3 years and was never dipped. The fibers are still in GREAT condition.

 

[UrbanTC]

[ QUOTE ]
Yep Nick, it's the Vectran/Technora blend. It's never been climbed on without a cover.

[/ QUOTE ]

Same. I even used two rings to spread the load.

 

[GibsonTreeCare]

WOW ...3 years??? how often did you climb on it Nick?

that is impressive

 

[rich_h]

Ranger,

Is it possible that that tuft of cord is from the tapered and crossed buried tails? Are the tails tapered and crossed? There definitely appears to be a diameter change in the center of that bridge and I find it odd that the "damage" occurred on the side of the bridge that does not have the rings riding on it. The discoloration on the one side of the bridge clearly shows where the rings were riding, I wonder if the buried tails could have been pushed to the surface on the back side when under load?

That Blue Moon sheeth is a pretty large diameter sheeth to cover the 5/16" Tech Cord. Even fully buried with full diamter I think there would be some room using that sheeth.

Jeremy's bridge appears to have the same exact "tuft" in the same spot. If you both got them from the same source I would definitely take a look at the tapers. It just seems odd to me that the abrasion would occur on the side opposite of where the rings sit.

I have been riding a similar style bridge made from the same cord (different sheeth) for quite some time and I have seen absolutely nothing unusual in the abrasion on the bridge...granted, I am no longer doing production climbing on a daily basis but I have confidence that the bridge would hold up. Of course I would inspect the bridge routinely as well.

On a side note, are those locked Brummel buries a little odd? They appear be a combination of a locked Brummel and a standard eye splice.

 

[rich_h]

The more I look at that first picture, it appears that a Standard Eye splice was used, not a locked Brummel. Not that that should affect the tails "bunching up", but it would lengthen the initial tapers which could affect how much the splicer was able to crossover the tail buries.

 

[rangerdanger]

Hey Rich, I used the directions from All Gear's website on splicing the Tech Cord, so it's a standard eye splice, and not a locked brummel. When I spliced up this bridge I didn't know I could used locked brummels with tech cord, so I followed all gear's directions just to be safe. It's one reason I retired, so I could make a new one with locked brummels.

 

[NickfromWI]

I should've clarified the quantity of climbs on that bridge. 3 years of climbing can be a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

I was climbing just 1-2 times per week on average.

Adrian, you only sorta followed the All Gear directions for splicing that rope. Without a locked brummell, the splice is relying completely on the cover compressing down on the tail. Increased compression comes from burying a longer tail. A rope of this diameter should have a tail of about 14" or so. The All Gear directions account for this, but they are also making a hitch cord sling that is much longer than your bridge.

If your bridge is 10 or 11 inches, the tail wouldn't be much longer than 4-7" based on how the splice looks. You've cut the required tail down to half or worse.

It's a good thing you decided to take the thing apart and see what's going on.

At the top of the bend of the rope the fibers spread open making it easy for the ends of the tails to puff out. This is why I recommend full crossing tails inside bridges and many hitch cords.

love
nick

ps- Rich: good catch on the non-locking brummels. I was only looking at the middle of the rope and didn't even notice it!

 

[banjo]

[ QUOTE ]
This is the best thing I've found for a bridge. The newer one really only has about 20 climbs on it and had been double-dipped in Yale Maxijacket coating. The one on the left was used for 3 years and was never dipped. The fibers are still in GREAT condition.

[/ QUOTE ]

what kind of chord is that, and did you do locked brummels on 16 strand???

 

[NickfromWI]

I've done and seen locked brummels on 16 strand, but I don't see them as necessary. There is more than enough compression in the rope to keep a straight-bury together.

The bridge I make is the cover from 1/2" Double Esterlon.

love
nick

 

[rangerdanger]

So Nick, is that just some 1/2" Double Esterion, cover only?

 

[banjo]

[ QUOTE ]
I've done and seen locked brummels on 16 strand, but I don't see them as necessary. There is more than enough compression in the rope to keep a straight-bury together.

The bridge I make is the cover from 1/2" Double Esterlon.

love
nick

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you willing to give some more details??

what is the shortest eye-eye you can do with 16 strand (safety blue or the like)?