Rumers have been circulating for a while now about a redesigned Petzl Stop being in development and test. The first pictures have now emerged following an expo in China. Thanks to Qi Woo for posting these on the Rope Test … Continue reading →
Worn Connectors – Pull Testing 11-6-2017
Over the last few months I’ve been collecting a few bits of retired equipment from stores checks and ‘isolation’ bins with a view to looking at loss of strength due to wear. Nothing here constitutes a scientific test and this … Continue reading →
Recreational Caver Training – Does it Work?
When someone new to caving starts to make enquiries about how to get involved, and what is the best way to gain some experience, one of the more common responses is to suggest joining a club. That way, the helpful respondent states, you can learn how to cave in a structured environment and with more experienced…
Removing Sleeve Anchors (SPITS etc…)
I guess this post is a bit of a continuation from the blog post I did about pull testing SPIT type anchors in 2015. Sorry it has taken me so long to get round to doing this! The original post … Continue reading →
Team Condemns Theft of Rescue Equipment
Following reports received over the weekend, CRO members went to check on a ‘highline’ traverse which the team has rigged in Kingsdale Master Cave, in preparation for any possible incident during the upcoming European Speleological Congress (EuroSpeleo 2016). The high line traverse enables safe access and exit in the event of a major flooding event in the Kingsdale system. Upon inspection, it was found that a substantial section of the…
Photo Salon: Old School Caving
Peter Glanvill has dug out some of his older photos to show the nature of cavers’ attire from the 1950s to the end of the 1970s. Although not an old photograph, we see here what cavers may have worn when the sport was in its infancy. Basically, you would be concerned to keep warm, and…
Coiling Caving Ladders
Caving ladders are an integral part of the LCMLA Level 2 award. Being practiced with a ladder not only saves time but lots of faff. It can be hard to pack loosely coiled ladders into tackle bags, meaning they get … Continue reading →
Review – Petzl Club, semi-static rope
I had an email about a month ago from Shaun at Hitch n Hike. He’d been sent a 70m sample rope from Petzl to evaluate and once it came out of the box and he saw the colour, he knew … Continue reading →
Pulling SPIT anchors – Back garden test
This week I thought I’d embark on a little back garden test of some brand new SPIT self driving anchors and some SPIT Grip 10mm sleeve anchors. Both take a normal M8 bolt and hanger and can be found in caves … Continue reading →
Can you cut rope with a household jet washer?
After the last blog post where I tried to compare washing a caving rope in a washing machine to jet washing I thought I’d try to see how much damage I could do to a rope with a jet washer. … Continue reading →
Thoughts on jet washing caving ropes
I thought I’d ponder a little bit about the ‘myth’ of jet washers and caving ropes. I say myth because it appears that there is no real test data out there in the caving community. Recent caving forum discussions about … Continue reading →