Shoulder length sling how long

However, considering that the sling is rated to forces of 22kN roughly equal to 4,lbs it is hard to conceive of a situation where a sling of even slightly reduced strength would be compromised.

Other small downsides are the fact that it is a bit thicker than other slings we tested that are also 11mm wide, making it slightly bulkier, and it also has a slightly rougher edge to it than the tubular design of the BlueWater Titan Sling , another solid choice for anchor building.

In the end, however, these concerns are far outweighed by the ease of untying knots and the myriad of choices, not to mention the very reasonable price, which makes this the ideal choice for your anchor building needs. Read review: Metolius Open Loop Sling.

Climbing slings are most commonly used to extend pieces of protection while leading, whether bolts, cams, or nuts.

The best sling that we've tested for this purpose is the Edelrid Aramid Cord Sling. Rather than being made of flat or tubular webbing, this sling is 6mm cord made with Aramid fibers, more commonly known by the brand name Kevlar.

These strong fibers have very high abrasion resistance which make them ideal for a sling to wrap over sharp edges.

Their stiff, almost rigid, handling is in stark contrast to the floppy and supple feeling of most slings, so they're easier to thread or place one-handed while keeping a grip on the rock. Add to that Aramid's high heat resistance, something not found with Dyneema or nylon slings, and these can also serve as a great rappel backup or prussic cord should you need one in an emergency. The downsides to these slings are that they are a bit bulkier and heavier than normal slings. The rigidity, combined with the rather large thermo-molded covering over the sewn ends, means you can't just crumple them into a ball to toss in the pack.

It also means that they aren't as low profile on the harness when you have them tripled up into an alpine quickdraw. And like Dyneema slings, they have very little dynamic stretch. These are small prices to pay for the enhanced versatility. Although we were rebuffed in our attempts to fund a "testing" trip to the Italian Dolomites, they have been designed with this style of climbing in mind — traditionally protected limestone where the rock can be very sharp, and pocket or tufa threads are plentiful.

For those of us in the States, slinging horns and chicken heads on the granite of the lower Merced in Yosemite or the domes of Cochise Stronghold could be ideal uses. For those who flock to frozen water in the winter, it should also be mentioned, they would also be a quick solution for v-thread anchors on multi-pitch ice climbs where their rigidity would make threading nice and fast.

It is very common while multi-pitch climbing to clip into the belay using a sling, or to use a sling to clip oneself into a rappel anchor on the way down while you pull the ropes to rig the next rappel. We have done this literally thousands of times, usually with Dyneema slings, because that's normally what we have on hand. But for anyone who does this, we recommend watching this extremely informative, and sobering, video made by DMM.

The takeaway is that with just a little bit of slack in the system, a small fall can generate catastrophic forces that are capable of snapping a sling, especially if there is a knot tied in it. To reduce this possibility, you can clip into the anchor using the rope or use the Beal Dynamic Sling.

This sling is a sewn piece of 8. So, whether you're rappelling, clipping in for just a moment while the belay device is switched so you can lead, or are leading in blocks, tethering in using the Beal Dynamic Sling should be safer than using a dyneema or nylon sling for the same purpose.

The downside to this sling is that it is far bulkier and heavier than a normal sling. We found it to be too bulky to easily triple up into an alpine quickdraw, so we had to carry it over the shoulder or tied in a knot on the harness.

The spot where the two ends are sewn together is also quite large and doesn't easily slide through carabiners. Basically, this is not a sling we would buy to use as a normal sling, but we think that it is a versatile choice to go in direct to anchors while on a multi-pitch or to clean a single pitch. Read Review: Beal Dynamic Sling. The head tester for this review is Andy Wellman, a lifelong climber with 23 years of experience under his belt. During that time, he has climbed all over the world, from the limestone sport venues of Europe to ice covered granite of Peru and Canada, as well as countless classic multi-pitch routes and big walls in North America.

He has spent his life living in some of the most famous climbing towns this country has to offer, including Boulder, Chattanooga, Rifle, Ouray, and Terrebonne. Andy is the former publisher and owner of Greener Grass Publishing, where he created the first guidebooks for many of the Southeast's most famous climbing areas, making significant donations to southeastern climbing advocacy groups from the proceeds. He is now based in the mountains of southern Colorado, where he tests and reviews climbing gear, trail running shoes, and backpacking equipment for OutdoorGearLab.

Adding to his knowledge is Chris McNamara, owner and founder of OutdoorGearLab and SuperTopo Guidebooks, who became famous for climbing countless frightening aid routes on El Cap before he was even old enough for college. Testing climbing slings involves a whole lot of going climbing. For this review, we tested slings side-by-side on long multi-pitch routes in Red Rocks and Eldorado Canyon, as well as in the alpine rock climbing paradise of the Bugaboos in British Columbia.

This testing allows us to get a feel for the strengths and weaknesses of each product and to notice what we like and don't like about them. We also conduct extensive internet research, attempting to identify what other climbers like and don't like, then evaluating these perspectives ourselves. To put products on the spot, we most frequently went to Smith Rock, to play around on the traditional cracks of the lower gorge, or the bolted multi-pitches on welded tuff.

Lastly, we perform side-by-side tests, such as weighing all products on the scale and tying and untying knots after weighting them, so we can most closely notice the subtle differences between the performance of each one. The end result is this exhaustively researched, heavily considered, and carefully tested review.

Climbing slings are loops of webbing that are sewn together using a special bar tacking machine, and are rated to a minimum force of 22kN or 4, lbs. Slings are generally made out of two primary fibers: Nylon, which was the most common until the late s, and Dyneema, a modern thermoplastic fiber made of polyethylene that is among the strongest known material. Dyneema is a brand name, and while there are numerous other fiber types with different names also included in this test i.

Spectra, Dynex , they are all extremely similar in their characteristics and are all made with high-molecular-weight polyethylene. Sometimes we will simply refer to all of these different fiber types as Dyneema. Slings come in many different lengths for different purposes. The most commonly used length is 60cm or 24" , which is commonly referred to as "shoulder-length," and most frequently used to extend a piece of climbing protection to reduce rope drag on the leader.

Another popular length is cm 48" , a sling that is most frequently used for equalizing multiple pieces of protection in an anchor. While these are the most common uses for slings, only your creativity can limit the potential they have while climbing. Related: Buying Advice for Climbing Slings. For this review, we tested the majority of the slings in single-length, while a couple that seemed to have characteristics that would flourish for anchor building we tested in cm length.

We tested and rated each sling for five different metrics that affect a sling's performance: Handle, the Knot Test, the Alpine Quickdraw Test, Weight, and Bulk. Each of these metrics, including why they matter, how we tested for them, and which slings were the top performers, are described in greater detail below. In all cases, slings were rated compared to the competition , so if a sling received a low score, it doesn't mean that it is not capable of that function, but rather that it performed worse than the others we compared it against.

Some products with lower scores, for instance, the two cord slings that we tested, still have very compelling reasons to buy them. An important consideration with any product is value. In general, we found that the price of Dyneema slings is closely bunched together, with little differences in cost between different companies. For these, the best value will clearly be to choose the slings that performed the best. For the best overall value, however, the wisest move would be to look to Nylon slings.

These generally cost less than half of the average Dyneema sling, which could allow a new climber to outfit themselves with a large selection at a considerable savings.

Handle is a term that is often used to describe the feel of a climbing rope in one's hands, and we use it here to assess slings with pretty much the same meaning. Think of handle as how comfortable or friendly a sling feels as it slides between your fingers, as well as whether it is soft and pliable or rather stiff and electrical cord-like. Although this criterion is mildly subjective, we can surely all agree that what feels softer and more comfortable to hold in one's hands is more enjoyable to use on a daily basis or in repetitive situations than something abrasive, rough, or stiff.

Handle, then, is an assessment of which slings feel the best as we are using them. Most of our assessment for handle came from using these slings repeatedly on long multi-pitch rock climbs, noticing along the way which ones were the most enjoyable, and which ones struck us as less friendly to use. We also compared them side-by-side on the ground, taking notes about how they feel as they slide through the hands, whether they have abrasive or smooth edges, and how smooth and low profile the bar tacking is.

In the end, three slings simply feel nicer than the rest, although the performance was close enough from one to another as to not present major arguments for or against each product. The Mammut Contact Sling is the lone Dyneema fiber sling that we feel is obviously friendlier than the others.

Nylon is softer, slipperier, and more comfortable in the hands, without any rough edges, and is also supremely supple, making these slings a top choice if handle is a priority. In the majority of climbing situations, a sling will be left un-knotted to slide freely through a carabiner. There are other situations, however, where one might want to add a knot to a sling, such as when building and equalizing anchors. When it comes to knots, and especially untying them, not all slings perform the same.

Compared to climbing ropes, slings have a propensity to become "welded" after being weighted, which essentially means they cinch up so tight that you can't get them untied, especially when trying to leave a hanging belay or while balancing at a precarious stance. The two most common knots that climbers tie in their slings are the figure-eight on a bight and the clove hitch.

We tied each of these knots in slings on the same carabiner, then weighted them, to see how tight they got so we could assess their relative ease of untying.

As a relatively simple knot, the clove hitch rarely presents any sort of problem to loosen and untie — simply wiggling it back and forth a few times is usually enough to loosen it so it can be untied. The figure-eight, however, is a whole different story. As any climber who has taken a lead fall on a climbing rope knows, this knot can cinch up very tight, and with so much friction built-in, it can be very hard to untie.

How easy this knot is to untie became the predominant factor in a sling's score for this metric. Our testing reveals that the thickest Nylon slings, as well as the very thinnest Mammut Contact Sling , present the most difficulty once a knot has been weighted. Method 3 is what I used to do, but I've seen this criticized because the knot is sitting right on the biner.

However, if the knot slips, the system doesn't fail, it just extends. Method 2 is what I'm doing right now. It seems OK, although it's difficult to properly dress the butterfly when you make it in a dyneema sling, and it can be a little time-consuming to untie.

It requires some fiddling to get the bar tacks out of the way before you tie the knot. This method uses the butterfy for its intended purpose and loads it in the intended way. If the butterfly pops undone, you get extension but not failure. An advantage is that you can adjust the length quite a bit.

When I am trad-climbing actually generally when rock-climbing , I carry 60cm shoulder length and cm slings. Some 60cm slings set up as alpine draws, the rest over my shoulder.

When setting up a belay station, 60cm slings tend to be too short. When using a double boolean as central point, that uses already most of the sling length. Further, when abseiling, I use cm slings in the following setup: Girth hitched parallel to the belay loop alternatively directly into the belay loop , then a knot eight, butterfly at about a third of its length.

Thus the autoblock cant reach the abseiling device. The remaining loop in front of the knot I use as self belay sling. Thus when I reach the next belay station, I can immediately secure my self. Another small benefit for the forgetful: While abseiling, you can clip the self belay biner into the rope, that you will pull down afterwards.

I do not see, what the problem of loading the sling at the knot should be. Even if you dislike it, you can simply adjust the girth hitch such, that the knot is not at the end. Both eight knots and butterfly knots can handle ring loads. If you are using a dyneema sling, the knot can slip, but very slowly.

This means that under constant load the knot may creep upwards, but I never saw this being the case when abseiling. Burning trough is anyway not a problem in this setup, as a slipping knot will not concentrate the friction heat to one point. Pass one end through your racking sling, and re-clip it to a single carabiner.

To deploy, unclip one strand and pull. It should extend to full length with one hand and no tangles. If you're on a route with lots of cam placements that wanders a bit from left to right, this can be a good racking strategy, because you can use the racking carabiner on your cam to clip to the sling. You can keep a few spare carabiners on this racking sling as well, to clip gear like stoppers where you typically need two carabiners.

Have a designated racking sling on one shoulder for slings and spare carabiners, and another racking sling over the other shoulder for rock protection. When you get to the top of the pitch, changeover with your partner is fast and easy; just hand them the slings with the gear mostly sorted, and they should be pretty much ready to lead. Thanks for joining the AlpineSavvy mailing list.