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Factor 2 23-Apr-2010 At 6:16:23 PM evanbb

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What I mean is the official fall factor measurement is purely a function of distance of fall/length of rope absorbing the fall. I do not dispute that putting gear in will make the fall less bad, and of course it will dissipate some energy. But, by definition, a pure factor 2 fall can only happen when a leader is directly above the belay point and falls with no gear in.

In the example the leader rests, however briefly, on a cam. It might even have been a factor 1.98, but, it definitely wasn't a 2.

I agree with everything else you say, of course the energy equations change and yes, falling still converts potential energy into kinetic. My original post that raised it was pure pedantry and in no way useful or important. All this is academic, the only thing that is important here is if the leader had put more gear in the fall wouldn't have been as bad.