I dun a wee bit o climin in my life an' my harness never failed me. I
did retire it when the stitichin showed some wear and made another. By
now, I probably climbed a couple miles of rope with no probs except
when I tried mechanical ascenders once. When I got to the top of the
pit, I realized the pin that held the cam in the shell of the ascender
had come loose, near gave me heart failure. Mechanicals also had the
habit of not gripping immediately which would put your heart in yur
mouth fer a fraction of a sec. Prusiks never failed me. OTOH, I have
friends who used commercial made stuff who are currently paralysed or
dead from falls although the gear was technically not at fault but I do
think they put so much faith in the expertise of others they failed to
give proper thought to technique.
I'd say my "gut feeling" is based on long term real experience.

So, your harness is UIAA certified but the halyard your climbing is
not? Does this make any sense?

wrote:
So, your harness is UIAA certified but the halyard your climbing is
not? Does this make any sense?

1.You are not supposed to climb the halyard because of potential damage
to the halyard.
2.You don't use a climbing (dynamic) rope either because of stretch.
3.The correct way to climb is to use a static line tied to the halyard
and backed up with a second halyard to your harness for safety.
4.Yes it makes sense to use a harness that has been approved. The fewer
weak links the better. If your harness fails nothing will stop you
(unless you are wearing two). It's the only single point of failure in
the belay system (as any climber would instantly know). Ideally you
would also have a chest harness on (approved) to stop you from inverting
by accident.
Does that make any sense?

wrote:
I dun a wee bit o climin in my life an' my harness never failed me.
Obviously.
I
did retire it when the stitichin showed some wear and made another. By
now, I probably climbed a couple miles of rope with no probs except
when I tried mechanical ascenders once. When I got to the top of the
pit, I realized the pin that held the cam in the shell of the ascender
had come loose, near gave me heart failure.
A prusik as a back up would be smart and is standard practice.
Mechanicals also had the
habit of not gripping immediately which would put your heart in yur
mouth fer a fraction of a sec. Prusiks never failed me. OTOH, I have
friends who used commercial made stuff who are currently paralysed or
dead from falls although the gear was technically not at fault but I do
think they put so much faith in the expertise of others they failed to
give proper thought to technique.
So this statement actually means nothing because "the gear was
technically not at fault". Your friends just did something stupid.
I'd say my "gut feeling" is based on long term real experience.
It always is. So is UIAA testing, "long term real experience" of many
people.

You still haven't convinced me. I wouldn't wear one of your harnesses
if you gave it to me (unless it was approved). I'd sooner tie a Swiss seat.

Gaz

OK, you climb your way, I'll climb mine. BTW, a diaper sling works
better'n a Swiss seat.

On a related note, did you hear about the MENSA outing where they went
rapelling. They were using two side by side ropes so two could rapell
at once. TWO of them rapelled off the end of the rope. I admit I read
this several years ago and do not have a reference to it so it may be
an urban legend.

In article . com,
wrote:

On a related note, did you hear about the Mensa outing where they
went rapelling. They were using two side by side ropes so two could
rapell at once. TWO of them rapelled off the end of the rope. I
admit I read this several years ago and do not have a reference to it
so it may be an urban legend.

Strongly suspect it's an urban legend, as I've been a member 20 years
and haven't heard anything even remotely approaching it. Every once in a
while, we get into a bout of "Stupid Mensa Tricks".

Sometimes it seems intelligence just gives you more creative ways to
mess it up.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

Well, this thread seems to have finally petered out from exhaustion caused
by all the climbing.

So, back to the original, and appreciating all the responses as informative,
even if not responsive to the question, and raising other questions:

What would be the preferred MAST TOP harness (never mind how you get there)?
Various climbing harnesses seemed to me the best in terms of non-dumpability
(no upside-down adventures), but there seemed to be some question about
comfort, long term.

Looking forward to those with far more suspended experience than I...

L8R

Skip, in rehab, inching closer to climbing (pardon the expression) aboard

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
http://tinyurl.com/384p2 The vessel as Tehamana, as we bought her

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Skip Gundlach wrote:
Well, this thread seems to have finally petered out from exhaustion caused
by all the climbing.

So, back to the original, and appreciating all the responses as informative,
even if not responsive to the question, and raising other questions:

What would be the preferred MAST TOP harness (never mind how you get there)?
Various climbing harnesses seemed to me the best in terms of non-dumpability
(no upside-down adventures), but there seemed to be some question about
comfort, long term.

Looking forward to those with far more suspended experience than I...

L8R

Skip, in rehab, inching closer to climbing (pardon the expression) aboard

Most climbing stores have a spot where you can try them on and hang from
the ceiling. Go try some.

Gaz