Be wary of taking a highly effective device and making it complicated, as you increase both the cost and the number of potential failure modes. KISS (keep it simple and safe) is always the best operating principle.
The Grigri is a very popular belay device, but I know of one fatality that occurred because a single grain of sharp sand got lodged next to the cam and cut a kernmantle rope clean through.
Keeping it simple stupid, is why many like the X-Rigging Rings and why I would think that even rescueman would like them.
One of the large arborist supply companies told me that I wouldn't believe how many blocks they get back that are destroyed, many from people not putting them back together fully or other abuse. They said being simple and no moving parts is what is so great about the XRRs.
I thought you said the sand cut the rope, but I think you mean a "single grain of sharp sand" caused the cam to do something odd.
The words SINGLE GRAIN and CUT CLEAN THROUGH. And also MICRO EDGE on hard-coat cutting a rope is what cause me to put you into a small group of people I have met a few of.
When I was in college, I joined the college rock climbing group. I was already doing tree work from the age of 15 by the way.
Well, I had never officially rock climbed with a belay and all, but being a climber type people, myself and my younger brother that also joined was fairly decent at it right from the beginning; which actually pissed a few of the other members off that had been climbing the rock wall for years.
Anyway, we did one field trip with them. On that trip I witnessed people freak out and scream at the other person that would dare step onto their rope.
They claimed that dirt from the foot would work dirt and abrasives into the core of the rope. working with the rope would cause those abrasives to work on the core, cutting it's fibers. Then one day, without knowing it, the rope would be weak and snap.
I might have said, you wouldn't believe what our ropes with tree work would go through then.
Then another thing happened that I still will never forget. While on the ground, a guy dropped his steel forged large figure 8. Dropped it from his waste to the ground at his feet and it dinged on the rocky ground.
he was like, "OH NO, that thing was expensive, that sucks". I asked him what is the problem.
He said that he can't use it from now on. It might have micro-cracks that can never be seen and break without warning.
He promptly put tape around it and wrote something like CAUTION, DO NOT USE.
He always kept in his college room for display and I think conversation.
Those things caused us to leave the rock climbing club; they were too ridiculous.
But, years later, I do understand how a person could be like that. IF you don't do it every day, you are likely extremely nervous and scared. You need everything to be pristine and new in order to have some trust in it.
I don't appreciate some adult rescue geek trying to find fault with an awesome tool that is both simple, safe and amazing. Especially when he hasn't worked with it and doesn't even do this type of work.
Also, every thread I can think of, RescueMan turns it into a Geek theory fight, even the Best Picture of 2014 thread was derailed into a rescue rope argument.
Yet, I can't but feel a little bad for him now that so many jumped on him. I gotta remember..... he really had it coming, he really asked for it.
I do have friends that rock climb and are rescue and fire department friends that are NOT like this. (one is fire chief and my cousin is a captain of a paid major fire department) So, I want to clear it up that I don't think all of them are like this.
