Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - Gear Lust / Lost & Found

Rave About Your Rack Please do not post retail SPAM.

Topic Date User

daisy chains 15-Apr-2014 At 1:59:09 PM PThomson

Message

On 15/04/2014 Climboholic wrote:
>
>Edit: It confounds me why a climber who knows enough to set up an anchor
>would fork out $50+ for a PAS. I think using a PAS is a worse 'Climbing
>Deal Breaker' than a daisy chain as you're buying extra gear just for that
>purpose.

Easily answered:

Diversity - It makes it easier to adjust quickly, knowing each loop is a complete loop (rated and without an obvious failure point), and in a position to be efficiently adjusted relative to the changing circumstances of a belay (ie: a full hanging belay).

Efficiency - Faster than tying the rope through the anchor system, and one less entity to take apart when you dismantle the anchor. It also keeps the rope clear of the system -less extraneous crap to complicate in the system. This becomes more important as the rope system becomes more complicated (double ropes in a full-hanging belay, for example).

I can only assume that anyone complaining about the weight must be climbing at the pinnacle of Australian grades (you know, at a point where a few grams of weight actually makes a difference), and is the sort of sport climber who believes taking any more than the EXACT number of draws to climb a pitch is the difference between success and failure, since the average PAS weighs about as much as a set of prussiks. If weight is an issue, eat one less doughnut during your week at work, and already you've saved more than the PAS adds.

So far, in all my climbing, I haven't found any viable argument or safety/technical reason to justify NOT climbing with a PAS. I consider it a hell of a lot more important to an EFFECTIVE day of climbing (rather than a slothful day) than peripherals like "grid lock" or "Belay" Carabiners which are -necessarily- slower to use than a standard 'biner, and superfluous if you're belaying properly. Yet every man and his dog uses those, and I don't see half of this forum denouncing them.

- Paul