Backcountry ski repair kit tips

The bulk of this article comes from the experts at Pro Guiding Service in North Bend WA. Follow them on Instagram, Facebook, and check their website, proguiding.com. Photo and content shared here with permission.

Some other suggestions on this page come this article from Matt Schonwald, an AMGA certified Ski Guide, Avalanche Instructor and member of Northwest Avalanche Center’s Forecasting Team. Connect with Matt at BC Adventure Guides.

Here's another good resource and repair kit overview.

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Backcountry ski repairs can fall into into two major categories.

Category 1: a bummer, but you can keep moving.

• A broken ski pole

• Lost ski pole basket

• A tear in your clothing

• A broken walk mechanism in your touring boot

• A bent ski

• A delaminating ski

• A lost skin tail clip

• A lost or torn skin tip attachment

• A broken heel piece in a pin binding (this a category 1 if you’re a good skier)

Category 2: a major bummer and potential safety issue.

• A broken toe piece in a tech binding

• A toe piece torn off a ski

• A ripped out binding

• A lost skin

photo: https://www.facebook.com/ProGuidingService

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Here's a repair kit that can handle just about all of these situations, and a few more.

A few notes . . .

• This is more of a kit that a ski guide might carry on a longer tour or multi day outing. A few things, like the toe piece and cordelette, can probably be left at home if you’re on a shorter or less committing trip.

• Just like sharing the contents of a first aid kit, no one‘s going to agree 100% with everything. This is more of a starting point to get you thinking about what gear you might want to carry. 

• Do you think this gear is too “heavy”? I don’t know the exact weight of everything posted here, but it can’t be much over 1 pound. If that amount of weight is keeping you from your objective, consider spending more time training and less time obsessing about shaving grams from your gear.  =^)

(Reminder, AlpineSavvy has zero affiliate marketing. The links are provided only for your convenience.)

• A few zip ties. Consider steel zip ties, they are stronger and can hold up better in cold weather. You can also get heavy duty zip ties that can hold about 200 pounds/100 kg.

• Some 2 mm cord

• A meter or so of wire; 16g is a good size; stainless steel is best so it won't rust in your pack.

• Fabric repair tape; Tear-Aid (type A) tape is good.

• Small roll duct / Gorilla tape; Consider cloth hockey tape. It sticks well to things that are wet and cold.

• Epoxy; this may make the difference when you tear the toe piece off your ski. You can get single use epoxy packets that are more convenient to carry.

• Assortment of hose clamps; two small ones for pole repair, and two large ones to clamp your boot to your ski in case your binding breaks. Large hose clamps not shown in photo.

• Some sort of pole splint; 15 cm length of old ski pole tube with a slit cut lengthwise. I've heard of people using a section of aluminum can for a pole splint, never tried it.

• Assortment of standard binding screws; if you have a quiver of different skis/bindings, be sure you bring screws that cover everything.

• Helio coil inserts for torn out bindings screws; steel wool and epoxy can serve the same function.

• A multi tool with pliers and wire cutter; the Leatherman Skeletool, 5 ounces, is a good choice.

• Binding Buddy; heavy, but works well. Test it and be sure that it's long enough to reach every screw on your binding, sometimes the neck can be a bit short. The Topeak Ratchet is another option for a driver that has more leverage.

• Assortment of driver bits to use with your Binding Buddy or Skeletool. #3 Phillips, #2 Phillips and T20 (Torx / star bit) can be a good start, but check all your gear and be sure you have bits for everything. It's not standardized. Some gear requires Allen screws, typically #4 or #5.

• Allen wrench; if your boot has any Allen bolts

• 4 bolts and wing nuts and a 6mm cordelette for potential construction of rescue sled; sorry, no link for this.

• Glop Stopper wax; Black Diamond, glide wax for your skins, carry a small piece, not the whole big block

• Glide wax

• Metal ski scraper

• Tent pole splint; for fixing a broken ski pole, you can also cut a section from an aluminum can

• Skin tip

• Skin tail clip. Can't really improvise this.

• Extra ski pole basket

• Voile ski straps. Bring a pair, 24 inches is a good length. Good for loads of things in addition to the obvious holding your skis together. These are in addition to the ones you have to hold your skis together. Here's a whole article on Voile straps.

• Finally, a sturdy bag to put it all in. You can go bare bones with a stuff sack, or something that zips open and has a few dividers like a bag for a first aid kit.

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For longer or more remote trips, consider:

• Two cordelettes of about 6mm/ 6 meters long. For general anchor building and rigging a rescue sled if needed.

• A few carabiners

• Rescue sled

2mm cord cuts 9mm climbing rope

You don't need a knife to cut (okay, melt) a climbing rope.

• Take a meter or so of any kind of thin cord. In the video I'm using 2mm but I've also done it with 5mm.

• Tie a bight knot in each end, clip the loops to carabiners for handles.

• Rapidly saw back-and-forth through the material that's under some tension. You’ll cut it through in a few seconds.

Check out the message from an Instagram friend below, they used it to cut through a tether. Pretty much any cord can cut through any kind of soft good if you do it fast enough.

This should also be an outstanding reminder of one of the few “Nevers” in climbing: Never set up a top rope through any kind of cord or webbing. When you lower your partner off, all of that friction, and resulting heat, can potentially cut through or severely damage your anchor material!

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This is more than a party trick. Here's a message I got the Instagram after I posted this.

Petzl Sm’D carabiner - there’s a keeper cord hole

The Petzl Sm’D carabiner is a compact, lightweight locking carabiner available in screwgate or double action sleeve. It's a great choice just about anytime you need a smaller locking carabiner, plus it has a bonus feature:  near the base of the gate, there’s a tiny hole. As far as I know, no other carabiner offers a hole like this, and it's pretty darn handy.

This hole allows you to tie off a keeper cord to better secure expensive hardware such as a Grigri, progress capture pulley like the Micro Traxion, or mini ascender like a Tibloc. Of course, you can tie a bight knot on a keeper cord and just clip it to a carabiner, but then it’s flopping around and can hang up on things. This method is a bit cleaner.

And, hopefully this goes without saying, but the cord is only to keep you from losing the gear if you drop it. Clip the hardware to the carabiner and clip the carabiner to your harness. The cord is there only as a backup in case you’re an occasional fumble-fingers.

I've heard some people voice concern that this hole might weaken the carabiner. Let's trust the ace Petzl engineers on this one, shall we? The carabiner is just as strong and properly rated as anything else you will use. Do you think Petzl would sell this if it wasn't bomber?

Photo: A Petzl Tibloc secured with some #36 bank line. Bank line is heavy duty twine rated to more than 300 pounds, and useful for all kinds of things. Read more about it here.

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Here’s a Petzl Micro Traxion progress capture pulley connected to an Sm’D carabiner with some 1.3 mm dyneema / spectra / UHMWPE string. A mere 1.3 mm, but rated to 580 pounds, amazing!

Pro tip: the Micro Traxion actually has a hole designed for a keeper cord. (I’ve found a lot of folks with Micro Traxions don't even know this hole is there  =^) You need a string with a very small diameter to fit through that keeper cord hole in the pulley, that's why I suggest this 1.3 mm dyneema string. You'll also probably need a safety pin or something similar to work at through this tiny hole.

Here’s a link where you can buy dyneema string like this. Bonus, it can also work for repairing the trigger wires of cams. Share some with your friends, you’re going to buy quite a lot of it, like about 10 meters. 

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Finally, you can add a keeper cord to the Petzl Grigri. But, this requires that you drill a hole into the device, and doing so is not an approved practice by Petzl. So, I’m not going to give details on how to do it. If you choose to make this modification, Google is your amigo.

The Petzl Micro Traxion has a keeper cord hole

The Micro Traxion is a progress capturing pulley, popular for rock and crevasse rescue, rope soloing, arborists, riggers, big walls and more. It's also an expensive piece of kit, and you want to do everything you can to avoid dropping it.

Did you know the micro traxion has a hole in it that's designed for a keeper cord? Thank you, clever Petzl product designers! I’ve talked with people who have used it for years and don't know that it's there. I took a careful read through the technical documentation, and it's not mentioned in there either. (And, full disclosure, a Petzl product rep told me about it, otherwise I never would've found it myself.) Well, now you know, a secret little bonus from Petzl! =^)

You need a strong string/cord with a very small diameter to fit through the keeper cord hole. I used 1.3 mm dyneema / spectra / UHMWPE string. A mere 1.3 mm, but rated to 580 pounds, amazing! You may find something tiny (2mm?) at your climbing shop, good luck. You'll also probably need a safety pin or something similar to work it through the hole, be patient.

Now I get it, not everybody likes keeper cords. Some people find that they are fiddly, get in the way, and hang up on other gear. You'll probably feel this way until you drop a Grigri or something similar, then you'll be a convert. =^) Give it a try and see what you think, it's easy to remove if you don't like it.

(And, hopefully this is obvious, but please do not carry gear on your harness dangling only from the keeper cord. Clip it properly to a carabiner. The cord is there only if you’re a fumble fingers.)

Here’s a link where you can buy dyneema string like this. Bonus, it can also work for repairing the trigger wires of cams. (Or so says British expedition climbing expert Andy Kirkpatrick, I personally have never done this.) Share some with your friends, you’re going to buy quite a lot of it, like about 10 meters. 

An excellent carabiner to pair with your micro trax is the Petzl Sm’D. This is a modern compact D shaped carabiner, available in screw gate or double action twist gate. It has the bonus feature of a small hole drilled just below the hinge, which is designed for the other end of the keeper cord. See photos below.

Gear we love: the sun hoody

If you're on the lower slopes of Mt. Rainier on a warm summer day, there's one piece of gear you'll see most every guide wearing: the sun hoody.

The solar oven of a large snowfield or glacier is strong enough. Combine that with high altitude, where there’s less atmosphere to absorb solar radiation, and you can get a memorable sunburn in about 30 minutes on most any exposed skin.

Sunscreen? It’s heavy, expensive, messy, and there's increasing evidence some of the chemicals enter your body through your skin, yuck!

The sun hoody is a better solution. Instead of a snug fitting, cold weather base layer, the sun hoody is a loose, long sleeve shirt with sweat wicking, UPF protection, and you guessed it, a hood. You can combine this with a ball cap style hat and even a buff for pretty much complete face protection.

One more bonus: bug protection. You can treat the shirt with Permethrin and pretty much keep those pesky insects off your upper body.

These shirts are now popular enough so you can get them from many different vendors. Most seem to have some bit of odor prevention in the fabric; your mileage may vary on the effectiveness. (The one I have is from Patagonia, and to be honest, I’m not too impressed with the anti-stink compared to my wool shirts.)

Here's a nice article on the sun hoody from Northeast Alpine Start.

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Perfect for a day on the glacier, hanging in the yard with your dog . . . or maybe witness protection.

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Here are a few options:

• Patagonia Cool Daily Hoody

• Black Diamond Alpenglow Hoody

• Outdoor Research Echo Hoody

• RAB Pulse Hoody (snug / athletic fit, less baggy)

• Bight Gear Solstice Graphene Hoody (designed by Rainier guides)

(Alpinesavvy has zero affiliate marketing. These links are provided for your info and convenience only.)

Petzl Tibloc - Everything you need to know

Petzl TiBloc, Ver 2 (left) and original

The Petzl Tibloc, developed in 1998, was one of the first micro ascenders available. With a simple design, solid steel construction, and sharp teeth that can grab the rope through ice and mud, it remains one of the lightest (35 grams) and most compact emergency ascenders. It’s a handy bit of gear and can be used in some clever ways, some of which may not be very obvious. It can also be a bit finicky unless you know some tricks. Let's take a deeper look at this popular and time-tested piece of gear.

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First off, how do you pronounce it? You may have heard several different ways. Petzl USA confirms that it's "tee-bloc", as in “drink some tea”. The original French pronunciation is a truncation of the words "petit bloqueur," meaning "small ascender." (Sweet, glad we got that settled!) The first rope ascender from Petzl (intended for caving) came out in 1968, so they have a very long history of ascender R&D.

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How can you use a Tibloc?

• emergency ascender for going up a fixed rope

• the “tractor” pulley in a mechanical advantage hauling system

• progress capture on the anchor

• safeguard the leader when simul-climbing (advanced use only!)

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Before we get into the rigging, a few notes . . .

• Around 2018, Petzl introduced Tibloc version 2. In addition to being made from gray steel that offers a better grip, the newer version has a orange plastic hood on it with a small spring. This spring tension gives a much better connection between the carabiner and the rope, regardless of the rope diameter or carabiner shape. (My single greatest grumble with the older version was its tendency to somewhat randomly slide down the rope, which is usually not something you want an ascender to do. See video below). The spring on the Tibloc 2 pretty much eliminates any slipping down the rope, a substantial improvement.

• Avoid taking any kind of a fall with a shock load / slack in the rope onto a Tibloc (or any other toothed ascender.) For example, if you’re ascending a rope, you get to the top of the cliff, and then take a few steps forward without moving the rope through the system, that's generating slack. If you were to fall at this point, you're putting a large force with a toothed ascender onto probably a short amount of rope. No bueno. Avoid this by always minimizing slack rope between you and the anchor.

• The Tibloc is rated for ropes from 8 mm to 11 mm. But, it's also approved for use on the Petzl RAD crevasse rescue system, which uses a special 6 mm static rope. (So, if you need to use it on a slightly smaller rope, you can probably get away with it, but it's not recommended by Petzl.)

• The Tibloc has a bit of a reputation as a rope shredder. In a long-ago crevasse rescue training, I saw firsthand someone put a 1 meter long core shot in an 8 mm dynamic rope as they were putting their (sizeable!) body weight on the Tibloc when ascending. However, most of the time rope damage is probably due to user error, like using the wrong kind of carabiner with an older style Tibloc on a rope that's borderline too small. The Tibloc 2, with the spring-tensioned orange hood, seems substantially more rope-friendly.

• Possible damage to the rope can happen when the carabiner is pressing the rope against the device, and then you try to move it up when it's weighted. Like with most ascenders, try to unweight the Tibloc before you move it.

• It's not for big walls. This is designed for improv and emergency use, If you're jumaring fixed ropes in El Cap or an expedition peak, get a larger handled ascender.

• Petzl recommends always using a locking carabiner with the Tibloc. With the older Tibloc, it’s best if this is a rounded oval or HMS carabiner to avoid damage to your rope and make the Tibloc behave properly. With Tibloc 2, a more modern I-beam style or locking “D” shaped carabiner works fine.

• Speaking of carabiners, the Petzl Sm’D is a great choice to pair with the Tibloc 2. In addition to being a svelte, modern locking D carabiner, it also has a tiny hole, intended for attaching a keeper cord for important bits of hardware like Tiblocs, Micro Traxion, Grigris, etc. See photo below. (This is a much cleaner way to attach a keeper cord then having it flop around the carabiner with a bight knot.)

• Add a keeper cord if you like. There is a small hole in the Tibloc to add one. If you're using it for winter or snow climbing when you might have gloves, make the cord loop fairly large. If rock climbing, you can keep it much smaller. 3 mm climbing cord, or my favorite, bank line (in photo) would be good choices. Some people find the cord is fiddly and gets in the way. It’s entirely optional, so try it and see what you think. See below - the Sm’D carabiner with a clever hole for a keeper cord.

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The video below shows a couple of things.

1. The difference between the original Tibloc and version 2. You can see that the original version can slide/fall down the rope if it's not under tension. Not good. No such problem with version 2.

2. You can move the Tibloc down the rope, but it's not very intuitive. You sort of rock the device forward with your index finger and thumb. It's a better show than a tell, watch the video to see how.

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Does it damage ropes?

Excellent question! Short answer: it doesn’t damage your rope significantly more or less than other toothed devices, such as Micro Traxion or a handled ascender. Check out the detailed video below from BreakTest Meister Ryan Jenks at HowNot2. Ryan found that the Tibloc destroyed the rope around 6-7 kN.

Some other testing from Richard Delaney at RopeLab show a higher value with an 11 mm static rope of around 10 kN. See that short video here.

Below is a screen grab from the online technical documentation for the Tibloc, showing results that are fairly consistent with what HowNot2 found.

Image: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Ascenders/TIBLOC

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How to clip it (for ascending and as a “tractor”)

There is some discussion as to whether the carabiner should be clipped around the rope (left) or hang straight down from the Tibloc (right). According to Petzl, either way is fine when you’re ascending or using it as a tractor. However if you're using it as a progress capture or to simul climb, it's important that the rope be clipped through the carabiner, as shown below on the left. More on that below.

I got a few comments on social media saying that the rope must ALWAYS be clipped through the carabiner as on the left. Check out the video just above. It was made by rope rigging expert Rich Delaney (who runs the excellent website Ropelab), and you can clearly see that the carabiner is not clipped around the rope.

Petzl’s technical documentation says this is not true; see screen grabs from their website below.

(If you find it easier to remember to always clip the carabiner around the rope, that's great, go for it. But let's not slam on people who use this gear in a different and Petzl-approved way. =^)

Related diagram from Petzl website:

image: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Ascenders/TIBLOC

Another diagram from the Petzl website, where the Tibloc is a tractor in a 3:1 haul. The carabiner clipped to the Tibloc is not clipped around the rope.

image: https://www.petzl.com/INT/en/Sport/Crevasse-rescue-no--3--haul-systems-for-crevasse-rescue

And finally, here’s a screen grab from a YouTube video produced by Ortovox and the German Mountain and Ski Guides Association (“Verband Deutscher Berg und Skiführer” or “VDBS”). You can clearly see the carabiner is clipping the Tibloc and not the rope. (If some of the top mountain guides in the world say this is how you do it, then I'm gonna roll with that. =^)

image: screen grab from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsTihq92IlQ

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Use #1 - As an ascender

For self rescue from a crevasse fall or improvised rope ascending, the Tibloc works great. It’s MUCH easier than the old school prusik! Clip it to the rope with a locking carabiner, add a double runner as a foot loop, and stand up. You can combine this with various devices clipped to your harness to capture your upward progress, such as a Grigri, a plaquette style belay device in guide mode, a progress capture pulley such as a Petzl Micro Traxion (photo below), or even another Tibloc rigged as a progress capture.

A few notes on the photo:

• The blue double length / 120 cm runner is the foot loop.

• Note the single length / 60 cm sling (yellow) from the Tibloc to the harness, plus the Micro Traxion on the harness belay loop. These give you the highly recommended two points of contact to the rope at all times.

• If you want to simplify things a bit, you can omit the yellow sling, but in that case you would want to tie back up knots in the rope below the Micro Traxion every 5 meters or so.

And, since we’re talking Tiblocs, if you happen to have two, you can use a second one on your harness as the progress capture, as seen below. (This is not going to be as smooth or hassle free as the options listed above, but it's possible. Generally, use a Micro Traxion or Grigri if you have one.)

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Use #2 - As a “tractor” in a hauling system

In a mechanical advantage hauling system, the “tractor” is the term for the rope grab that’s doing the work. The Tibloc is well-suited for this, and because of its camming action and lack of moving parts, it can bite down and hold on ropes that might be icy or muddy. (If you're not too thrilled with using a toothed cam as a critical component of a hauling system, you can of course use something soft like a prusik loop as the tractor instead.)

Note the orientation of the Tibloc: the orange top is pointed toward the load, not toward of the anchor. (If you set this up wrong, it will become immediately obvious when you pull the rope.) Also in the photo, we have the Micro Traxion progress capturing pulley on the anchor, which is a perfect application for this great piece of gear.

One advantage of the Tibloc if you ever have to pass a knot through your hauling system (such as you might have to do in a two person crevasse rescue scenario with brake knots in the rope) is that it's very fast to remove from the rope and reattach below the knot. (Learn more about dealing with brake knots in crevasse rescue at this article.)

Below is a standard Z drag, which gives a theoretical 3:1 mechanical advantage.

And, if you want to go a little crazy with the Tiblocs, if you happen to have three of them, you can rig a theoretical 6:1 mechanical advantage, as shown below. (If you'd like to learn more about rigging a 6:1, see the Alpinesavvy mechanical advantage pages.) A standard prusik loop can be substituted for either of the two tractor Tiblocs in the photo.

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Use #3 - As a progress capture

This is a clever use of the Tibloc that a lot of people don't know about. It grabs the rope with a minimum of friction while maintaining your pulling progress. Rig it so the hole with the keeper cord is in the direction of load. The device will flip back-and-forth over the carabiner sort of like a munter hitch as you change from hauling to resting.

Note: This is best used for emergency or improv (like hauling a backpack) not as a device for sustained hauling of heavy loads like on a big wall. Reason: there are two sources of inefficiency, which is to be avoided whenever possible when pulling big loads:

1. The flip-back-and-forth motion, because you lose a few centimeters of progress every time you rest.

2. You’re hauling through a carabiner which is about 50% efficient, instead of a good quality progress capture pulley such as the Petzl Micro or Pro Traxion, which are rated about 90% efficient. For big walls, you definitely want a proper progress capture pulley!

Safety note: be sure to clip the rope into the carabiner along with that Tibloc when hauling! A common mistake is to set this up as a progress capture with the rope NOT in the carabiner. It appears to be working correctly, but as you can see below on the right, the rope is not clipped in. Probably not a catastrophic mistake if you're hauling a backpack, but if your load is more substantial, you want the rope running through the carabiner for sure.

Note for eagle eyed readers: this setup is slightly different than the one above marked “How to attach it”. In the diagram, Petzl says it doesn't matter whether you clip the rope inside or outside the carabiner. (I’m guessing that for simply ascending the rope under bodyweight it doesn't matter if it's clipped or not, but for hauling a potential large load, having the rope run through the carabiner is best practice.)

Related diagram from Petzl website:

image: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Ascenders/TIBLOC

And here's a nice video showing how to use it as a progress capture.

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Use #4 - Simul-climbing protection - ADVANCED CLIMBERS ONLY

And finally, for the very advanced climber, the Tibloc can be used when simul-climbing to protect the leader from getting pulled off by the second. I remember when this idea was introduced in Climbing magazine around 15 years ago, and it was extremely controversial, Since then, it's generally become more accepted, but it's still an advanced technique; think of it as making a dangerous situation only slightly less dangerous.

Typically in simul-climbing, if the second falls, they will likely also pull off the leader. (This is also why the more skilled climber will usually go second, a reversal from normal climbing.) But, if the leader clips a Tibloc to protection, and the second then falls, the second will probably not pull the leader off.

Typically the leader will place the Tibloc AFTER a crux section, not before as with regular pro. This takes a little getting used to and can be easy to forget in the heat of battle, ask me how I know this. =^)

This is for advanced climbers only who clearly understand the risks of simul-climbing. There are a LOT of cautions and considerations to do this properly, way too much to get into here. I only mention it here because Petzl has it on their website as an approved technique, so it's not such a fringe, crazy idea anymore.

There's lots of info on the web about this if you want to read further.

• Here’s one image from the Petzl website, and you can read more about it here.

• Outstanding article from Brent Barghahn about simul-climbing with Micro Traxions

image: https://www.petzl.com/INT/en/Sport/Progression-with-a-taut-rope-using-a-TIBLOC

In real life, it looks like this:

All about sewn pocket daisy chains

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How should you use it? Black Diamond spells it out pretty clearly on their website:

image: blackdiamondequipment.com

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A sewn pocket daisy chain like this has been a part of climbing for decades. It's a tempting piece of gear to use for many things, especially for new climbers. Look at all those handy pockets! You could use that for all kinds of stuff, right? How about I use it to build a top rope anchor, or maybe I can clip in to the anchor with that along with the rope?

You can probably get away with many of these uses, but please don't. These are designed for body weight, aid climbing only (usually for connecting your harness to your ascenders when cleaning, or to your aid ladders when leading).

As Black Diamond says: a sewn loop daisy like this should not be used as part of the belay or anchor system.

Climbers who use these for other applications may not be aware of their primary limitation: While if it's loaded end-to-end it's rated as a full strength sling over 20 kN, the stitching that separates the pockets is only rated to a maximum of 3 kN. If you clip the pockets wrong and the stitching blows, the carabiner can come completely off the daisy, yikes!

Now, this is old news to many climbers. But as I recently discovered, not everyone has got the message (details below), so it bears repeating.

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It’s okay to use these as a personal bodyweight tether, as long as you know the drawbacks. There are a couple of acceptable ways to set this up. There’s also one way that's definitely not recommended, and that’s clipping the end loop and any other single pocket with one carabiner.

(And, if you're wondering about girth hitching to the belay loop instead of your tie in points, it's okay to do that.)

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Let's look at a few different ways to use this as a personal tether, first the wrong way and then two acceptable ways. For this to completely fail as shown, you would have to have an epic load that breaks the stitching on about 7 pockets. Highly unlikely, but still not best practice.

The next two ways are fine: gold carabiner in the end pocket, and blue carabiner in any intermediate pocket. If the stitching were to fail in the pocket clipped by the blue carabiner, you would simply move to the next pocket with no chance of becoming completely unclipped. Another way to think about it: you need two locking carabiners to stay safe, unless the daisy is completely extended.

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Black Diamond has some nice diagrams on their website. It's tempting to adjust the daisy length like in illustration #2, but that can have a very bad outcome, as we’ll see below in a couple of videos. Illustration #3 should be pretty obvious: if that stitching fails the carabiner is completely off, as in illustration #4.

image: https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/

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Let's have a closer look at illustration #2. What's the problem with that, you might think? If the daisy takes a big load and the stitching in a couple of pockets were to fail, you're still clipped into the end pocket, right? Well, guess what, it can fail, and even when you watch it happen slowly it still looks like a sleight of hand, rope magic trick.

Now, if your daisy has a twist in it, then your anchor will not fail. But the twist is very subtle, hard to see and not something you want to rely on. It’s tricky to describe this, but if you want to play around with this, you can replicate it with a sewn runner and some masking tape.

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But, daisy chains can be misused in other ways as well. I was recently at a local top rope crag in Oregon, and right next to me some climbers had set up a top rope anchor with two sewn pocket daisy chains. Each daisy was clipped to a solid bolt and extended over a cliff edge. One daisy was fine, clipped only in the ends. But the bolt end of the second daisy was clipped into a pocket and the end loop, to shorten it and better distribute the load, in theory. 

The top rope anchor my neighbors rigged looked about like this:

At first glance, this might look okay. Two sewn daisies, locking carabiners everywhere, bomber bolts at the top, nice load distribution, small angle, fully redundant . . . good to go, right? Well, not quite.

Close up of the left anchor. If the sewn pockets were to fail under a sudden load, the carabiner might completely unclip from the daisy.

Here's another variation, this time using a single daisy chain for a top rope anchor. Please don't do this either.

And, one more variation. I think you get the idea. Don't use a daisy chain as a top rope anchor.

Now realistically, a failure here is VERY unlikely when top roping, when the maximum load your anchor is likely to see is around 3 kN. And, even if the stitching on the yellow daisy were to blow out on one pocket, you would drop to the next pocket and then the load would probably transfer to the purple daisy, and everything would be okay and you'd have a great story to tell.

But, having said that, we can all agree that using gear correctly whenever possible is the best practice. Please don't use a sewn pocket daisy chain for building a top rope anchor, and please don't clip the end loop and any other pocket with the same carabiner.

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If you want to see daisy pockets popping one by one in a break test, check out this great video from the Italian Alpine Club, forward it to about 13:20 and 22:10.

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When I started climbing wayback-when, daisychains like this were very popular to use as sport climbing tethers for anchor cleaning. Fortunately this practice has pretty much faded into oblivion, but like I saw at the cliff recently, not everyone has got the message yet. Please, if you see anyone using equipment in a potentially dangerous way, consider giving them a discreet and polite reminder of the proper use. 

Maybe a better question to ask yourself is why use a daisy chain at all? If you’re aid climbing, most climbers find an adjustable daisy is a better option. For most trad and sport leading, there may not be much reason to have a daisy /PAS / lanyard on your harness at all. When you’re cleaning sport anchors or rappelling, a simple sling works fine in almost all circumstances for a tether to the anchor.

But, if you happen to have a sewn daisy like this in the bottom of your gear box, there are a couple of things they are good for. One, they make a pretty good over the shoulder gear sling, and two, for big wall climbers, they can help you organize your vertical camping spot.

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These inherent problems with sewn pocket daisy chains prompted the invention of tethers like the Metolius PAS (Personal Anchor System) or the Sterling Chain Reaction. These are made of individual loops that are each rated to 20+ kN, so there's no more concern with the stitching breaking between pockets. Some climbers find these bulky and a little awkward to use, other people like them a lot. Give it a try and make up your own mind.

Below: Sterling Chain Reactor (top) and Metolius PAS

"The Bolting Bible" - free PDF book

Ryan Jenks, a mostly fearless, generally hilarious and always high energy guy, is behind “How Not to Highline” (YouTube and website). He somehow manages to combine humor, science, and exciting real life testing to shows some of the break limits of climbing gear and rigging.

Ryan wrote a very detailed e-book on bolting, called “The Bolting Bible”. It's all here: ethics, metal types, rock types, hole drilling, mechanical bolts, glue in bolts, different types of glue . . . 130+ pages, 400+ photos, 200+ links.

If you ever plan on placing a bolt, this e-book will help. And for the rest of us who rely on bolts and really hope they are properly placed, this is a great tutorial on how they’re properly installed, and occasionally what to look for when they’re not. It's also updated regularly with new testing results and materials.

While you can download the e-book for free from the link below, Ryan would certainly appreciate it if you could make a modest donation so he can continue to produce more high-quality free educational material that benefits our entire community.

Note: Placing bolts is a BIG responsibility. Follow these best practices:

• Practice bolting somewhere obscure no one will ever see or use, not at your local crag. 

• Have an experienced person check your work. 

• Study and follow bolting regulations from land management agencies. 

• Don’t add bolts to an existing route.

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Let's talk about off-axis carabiner loading

Short attention span version: Loading your carabiner in three or even four directions is not really a concern for climbers. The carabiner can take a higher load than you will ever put on it in a realistic recreational climbing scenario.

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Carabiner rating overview: To attain the CE (“Conformité Européene”) safety rating, carabiners are tested in three loading configurations: along the spine (major axis), gate open, and minor axis (aka, cross loaded). These values should be visible on every carabiner, and surely you’ve noticed them.

The optimal load for a carabiner is along the major axis, or spine. This number should always be the highest of the three ratings, which tells you that’s the strongest configuration. Hopefully you learned this on your first day of climbing, because it's pretty important.

image: https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/qc-lab-off-axis-tri-axial-carabiner-loading.html

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However, in many real world climbing situations, carabiners are loaded in something other than these three tested configurations. Let’s look at a few.

One of these is the weakest configuration, “nose hooking”. A nose hooked carabiner can break at a load as low as 2 kN, yikes! (Here's an entire article from the Black Diamond Quality Control lab about nose hooking.)

A nose hooked carabiner, yikes! This is super dangerous, if you ever see it, stop and fix this right away!

There are other ways carabiners can be loaded, which is from three or four different directions. Our engineering friends call this “tri-axial” or “quad-axial” loading.

Note, there’s no official strength rating for carabiners under these multi directional loads. (Probably because there are too many variations and it would be hard to test consistently? I don't know, that's a guess.)

What about these examples of tri-axial loading? Is this really something to be concerned about, or not? Most people would say yes, because when you see the Petzl “Yer Gonna Die - YDG” icon, that should get your attention!

But okay, you might be saying, these examples below are kind of silly, most climbers know you shouldn’t load a carabiner like that . . .

image: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Examples-of-dangerous-carabiner-loading-?ActivityName=Rock-climbing

And, from this page of the excellent Petzl website, comes this interesting graphic.

Now, depending on your anchor building style, this might be something you see more often. Petzl says don't do it, but what are the real world values we're talking about?

(Let's not freak out about that 7 kN value. Petzl is talking about directly cross loading the gate, which we all know is bad, but still something to keep in mind.)

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Good thing the clever engineering gnomes at Black Diamond had the same question and decided to break some gear to find some answers. The premise: When a carabiner is loaded in three (or more) different directions, it’s weaker. The question is, by how much, and is it enough to worry about?

We have some real data and testing results below, but let's first look at a real world anchor.

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Let's have a look at this anchor below made by IFMGA Certified Guide Karsten Delap. The top “master point” carabiner is clipped through both of the rappel rings. (Some folks get concerned doing this might damage the rings. It actually won't, because the rings are steel and the carabiner is made of softer aluminum. It's like using a plastic ice scraper on your car windshield. The soft plastic doesn't hurt the harder glass.)

image: IFMGA Guide Karsten Delap - https://www.instagram.com/p/B5EjrGojxdI/

This is “quad-axis” loading, as the carabiner could receive a load in four different directions. Problem, or not?

No problem. Realistically, loads in this configuration are going to be low. It's the hanging weight of the belayer on the clove hitch, say 1 kN, and belaying your second up directly from the anchor, a max load of say 2-3 kN. (Also note that the second is being belayed on the right, or spine side of the anchor carabiner, which is the strongest orientation.) Once the second is at the anchor, and the new leader heads out, the new belayer will probably only have a clove hitch on the master carabiner.

As we see in this nice diagram below from Petzl, when you do clip two different loads to the same carabiner, it's best to clip the heaviest one closest to the spine.

So, once again the forces in the real world are going to be significantly less and in a different orientation than in the laboratory.

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But, breaking gear is fun, so let's see what Black Diamond has to say!

Here’s the original article from the Black Diamond QC lab archives. (Keep in mind that this testing was done on a very small sample size, on one model of carabiner, from one manufacturer, so the results do not apply universally.)

The Black Diamond website tells us that the Vapor Lock screw gate carabiner has a major axis, closed gate strength of 21 kN. Below are photos and test results from some tri-axial and quad-axial loading done by Black Diamond.

(If you're on a mountain rescue team or doing industrial rigging, or need to maintain your 10:1 safety factor, then you're probably using things like rigging plates to attach multiple carabiners to one anchor and not doing three or four axis loading in the first place.)

image: https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/qc-lab-off-axis-tri-axial-carabiner-loading.html

Summary of tri-axial loading test: With two loads on the widest end, the carabiner was weakened approximately 20%. With two loads on the small end, the carabiner was effectively not weakened at all (Remember, the carabiner is rated to 21 kN.)

image: http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/qc-lab-off-axis-tri-axial-carabiner-loading.html

Summary of quad-axial loading test: With the carabiner locked, the weakest iteration of the test showed about a 25% reduction in strength. Even so, this was still almost 16 kN, which is sufficiently strong enough for just about any climbing application. (Look at the loading angle onto the top of the carabiner in that top left photo, that is pretty extreme!)

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Here's a great video from our friends at How not to Highline. The video is on three-way loading in general. They test various configurations of quickdraws pulling at different angles, and different shapes of carabiners. In one example, and oval carabiner clipped with two quickdraws at about a 90 degree angle broke at around 21 kN.

A tiny CAMP Nano carabiner, one of the smallest made, broke at around 17 kN with the double pull on the narrow end, and about 11 kN with the pull on the wide end. (Screen grab below of the set up.)

So, it appears it if you are going to triload a carabiner, having the double directional pull on the skinny / hinge side of the carabiner gives increased strength.

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Here's another test, from Over the Edge Rescue in New Zealand. The carabiner is a CT Snappy screwgate, rated at 23 kN on the major axis.

Three-way loading, wide gate down, three different tests. Average breaking strength: 23.7 kN.

That’s higher than the rated strength!

image: https://overtheedgerescue.com/canyoning/vlad-master-carabiner/

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And, here's a 30 second video from Australian rigging expert Rich Delaney at Ropelab: “Three-way loading, no problem.”

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Takeaway:

• Always try to load a carabiner along the spine (the strongest orientation) whenever possible.

• Quad-axial loading can reduce carabiner strength by a maximum about 25%, to about 16 kN. Other configurations of tri-axial loading show essentially no reduction in carabiner strength.

• In all cases, this is considerably stronger than 9 kN, which is about the maximum force possible in climbing.

• So, in those oddball situations where optimal carabiner loading is not possible, it's probably going to be fine. Just don't make a habit of it. =^)

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So, that’s some lab break test results, admittedly on a fairly small sample size. Alpinesavvy does not give advice, we offer ideas and information.

I'm not here to tell you what you should or should not do when to comes to building anchors. Look at these results and decide for yourself.

What do you think?

CE rated quick links from CAMP

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• CE rated quick links from CAMP

• 5mm, 8mm and 10mm (Note, the 5mm is stainless only, not CE rated, and 22 kN)

• galvanized or stainless

• starting at about $3 each

• strength - 25kn to 50kN (!!!)

Let's take a moment to appreciate the humble quick link. Also known by a few other terms, such as “rapid links” or “maillon rapide” of just “maillon”, it's a simple, inexpensive, near bulletproof, and long lasting connection point that’s useful in many aspects of climbing. It was originally used by farmers, who needed an easy way to repair or extend chains. They are popular with cavers, who needs sturdy connection points that take a lot of abuse.

Of course you can buy quick links from the hardware store, but they're going to be made at some unknown machine shop in a far away country. Is that where you want your life support hardware to be from? I didn't think so. (Although, I added a video at the bottom of the page that shows even these hardware store versions are probably gonna be fine. . . )

Instead, for about the same price, get a proper CE rated quick link from a reputable manufacturer, such as CAMP or Metolius.

The 8 mm galvanized steel quicklink, rated 40 kN /9,000 lbs(!), is just $3, whatta deal!

Try a Google for “CAMP quick link” or visit the CAMP website.

(And, as is the policy at Alpinesavvy, this is not an affiliate link and I earn $0.00 by referring you to buy these quick links or take Mark’s class. I’m simply sharing good gear/info I think you’ll like too.)

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But quick links are too heavy . . .

Many people like to hate on quick links, grumbling that they are “heavy” and single use item.

But are they really that heavy, compared to the gear you’re already carrying? Perhaps not! Check out the photo below. The 5 mm stainless steel quicklink is actually stronger, lighter, and less expensive than a small snapgate carabiner.

It does look about as robust as a paper clip, but can't argue with 25 kN! Yes they are a fairly specific single use item, but they do that one thing pretty darn well.

When rappelling, it’s best practice to run your rope through some sort of metal connection at the anchor. Doing this gives a smoother rope pull, with no chance of damaging the anchor webbing. In alpine climbing where you don’t have bolted/chain anchors, this usually means three options: quick link, rappel ring, or your least favorite carabiner. (Carabiner tip: tape the gate shut to make “cheapskate locker” for a more secure rappel anchor.)

Quick links are a good choice at rappel anchors for two reasons:

1. You can open the threaded sleeve and put it OVER existing cord or webbing (which you can kind of do with a rappel ring, but I find it sketchy).

2. They have a very small opening, which lets them be used with a blocking knot. (Blocking knots are an advanced technique; you can learn about them here.)

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Notes . . .

• It's best practice to close the sleeve of the quick link by screwing it down toward the ground. This means that gravity is helping keep the sleeve closed. A little pneumonic to help remember this is: “Screw DOWN so you don't screw UP.” Also applies to locking carabiners.

• If you have a link that you want to fix it more permanently, give it an extra turn with a pair of pliers; a multi-tool is your friend. And if you’re a route developer, feel free to put a few drops of Loctite on it to really hold it closed.

• A study from On Rope Canyoneering states that quick link breaking strength increases by roughly 10% if you use a wrench to tighten the sleeve rather than your hands.

What size quick link should I get?

• 5mm: Leave behind at alpine rappel stations, and as a master point if you're going to use a knot block, because it's so small. Fits rope up to about 10.5 mm. Yes it might look like a paper clip, but it's rated to 25 kN, #SuperGoodEnough!. From CAMP, comes in stainless steel only.

• 8mm: Nice all around size. A bit too heavy for alpine climbing. Fits two carabiners, and rotates through a standard bolt hanger. Good for connecting chain to hangers and rings. Rated to 40-50 kN.

• 10mm: Tie up aircraft carriers, and for master point / rope connection / lowering point at high use areas. Last a long time, cheap and easy to replace. (Yes, it's good practice in most areas to lower off for the last person rather than rappel. ) Rated to 40-50 kN.

When are quick links useful?

• An alpine climb where you anticipate building your own rappel stations. The 5mm stainless is a good choice here.

• If you're a good Samaritan and want to improve anchors at your local crag. (It's best practice in most outdoor climbing areas to use stainless steel hardware whenever possible. It lasts much longer. If you are equipping outdoor anchors, spend a few more bucks and get stainless steel.)

• Making an anchor where you want to do some kind of a knot block (Reepschnur), and want to be 120% certain that the knot is unable to pass through the master point. A quick link is perfect for this.

• Making a durable and (mostly) theft-proof “gym quickdraw” from a fixed eye steel carabiner and a quicklink for your project route or “clip & lower” sport anchor. (Photo below.)

• You can chain two “dogbones” together to make an ultra-long quick draw. (Photo below.)

• For certain applications in big wall climbing or rope soloing, where do you need a supe- strong, very reliable connection.

• Please do NOT use them to bail off of a sport climb, use a carabiner instead. Reason: the gate is often quite difficult to open for the next person up who needs to remove your gear.

DIY “perma-draw”, like what you find on lead routes in many climbing gyms.

You can chain two quick draws together with a quick link, as seen on the right.

Here's where you should probably NOT use a quick link: retreating from a sport route. It can make it difficult to clip for the next climber, and they can be hard to remove, especially if they've been there for a while and the threads start to rust shut.

Leave a carabiner instead. If you're not comfortable with lowering from one snap gate, leave a locker, or tape the gate closed, aka “cheapskate locker”.

So, how strong are those hardware store quick links after all? Here's a video from On Rope Canyoneering that tries to answer the question.

They tested two diameters, zinc (non-stainless steel) hand tightened, five links of each size tested.

• 5/16” (8 mm) broke at an average of 31.5 kN

• 1/4” (6.4 mm) broke at an average of 10.5 kN

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Gear Breaking, Italian Style

Let's get one thing straight. The CAI has a terrific logo. =^)

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Click below to watch the video.

As climbers, we never want our gear to break. But it sure can be fun watching people do it in the lab!

The Italian Alpine Club (Club Alpino Italiano, or CAI) founded in 1863, is the second oldest alpine club in the world. They have been doing gear tests like this for more than 50 years. They made a terrific video showing all manner of testing and destruction - ropes (both sudden drop test and slow motion steady pull, with and without knots), slings, carabiners and harnesses. Also, various tests of the flat overhand bend, with different combinations of rope material and diameter. Girth hitch? Yep, we got that too.

Lots of these gear testing videos are in the original language, often Italian or German. I paid to have subtitles added to this video so this important information could be brought to a wider audience. (That's why it's on my YouTube channel, but all content is from the CAI.)

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Note, the units in this video are the kind of unusual “kgf”, or “kilogram force”. This is different than the more commonly used kilonewton (kN), which has a climber you are hopefully familiar with.

Fortunately, the math conversion is easy: simply move the decimal two places to the left for an approximate conversion to kilonewtons. For example, if something in the video broke 1268 kgf, move the decimal place to places to the left and you get around 12.6 kN. (technically it's about 12.4, but hey I'm not an engineer and that's good enough for me.)

Yep, they tested Dyneema girth hitches.

Plus the flat overhand bend, in lots of different combinations of material and diameter.

Pocket Fresnel lens for the small print

So, the way I heard the story . . . Several older and experienced hikers were hiking in the Columbia River Gorge. As light was fading, they needed to make a route choice at a trail junction. They pulled out their map . . . and couldn’t read it because no one had reading glasses! They didn’t know where to go, and decided to stay put for the night. (That was probably the best choice, and luckily they had the gear to do so in reasonable comfort.) The next morning, when there was enough light to read their map, they walked out unassisted.

For more “well seasoned” climbers, reading the small print on a map or phone screen can be tricky. But who wants to bring reading glasses on a hike or climb? 

A lightweight, inexpensive, and functional solution is a pocket Fresnel (pronounced fruh-nel) magnifying lens.

image: https://www.amazon.com/Outus-Plastic-Reading-Magnifier-Firestarter/dp/B06W5FCS4Q/

These little puppies are simply thin, flexible, plastic magnifying glasses. About the size of a credit card, they are dirt cheap, magnify to about 3x power, and really help to read that 8 point font. (The image clarity is not as good as what you’d get with a lens actually made of glass, but it’s probably  good enough to read your map and make the correct trail choice.)

If you want to show off your bushcraft skills, they can apparently be used in a pinch to even start a fire, provided you have steady hands, perfect tinder, and bright sunshine. (Disclaimer, I have never done this, your mileage may vary, and YouTube is your friend.)

You can get a multi-pack of pocket magnifier lenses online for something like $1 each. So, buy a bunch, keep them scattered around your gear bags, and give ‘em away to your friends. Search Google for “pocket Fresnel lens”.

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Science geek note: the Fresnel lens was invented by a French physicist in the 1800s, and was originally used in lighthouses to concentrate the light beam. Several excellent examples can be seen at historic lighthouses, including several in Oregon.  When seen full size in a lighthouse, they are quite amazing! 

Fresnel lens in Cape Mendocino lighthouse, California. Image: Wikipedia

Backup battery and charging cable - the 11th Essential

With smartphones ever more common as vital backcountry navigation tools (try our favorite, Gaia GPS), it’s also crucial to have a means of charging them. While always putting your phone in airplane mode at the trailhead to save battery is good practice, having some backup power is inexpensive and lightweight.

Some people only will take an auxiliary battery on a multi-day trip. That works great provided you remember to charge your phone fully in your car driving to the trailhead, but that is a little task that's easy to forget. For me, it's more reliable to just carry a fully charged extra battery and cable as standard practice.

Anker makes great auxiliary batteries in a variety of sizes. With the larger batteries of modern phones, probably 5,000 mAh is the smallest do you want to go, which should give you one full charge. (Geek note: “mAh” means milliamp hours, a way to describe battery capacity.)

If you're going on a longer trip, sharing your battery with partner(s) or don't mind carrying a little more weight, go with a 10,000 mAh battery. That should easily last one person a week or so.

I like having both - this small one for short term emergency backup, and a 10,000 for longer trips.

In addition, you can get a tiny 4 inch long charging cable for your iPhone; no need to bring the long cord you use at home. I'm sure there's one for Android folks as well.

Tip: cheap charging cables can get damaged getting banged around in your pack and fail when you most need them. Try to buy cables that are a little more durable, and consider bringing two of them on longer trips, they are inexpensive and extremely lightweight.

The auxiliary battery and the charging cable together cost about $20, and weigh 3.5 ounces. Personally, I consider a battery and charging cable the 11th essential, and carry this tiny additional weight with me on every trip. 

Note - If you search online, you'll find loads of different battery options, many from off-brand companies. I’ve tried a few of these trying to save a few bucks, and been disappointed. I recommend you pay a tiny bit more and get a name brand like Anker.

The photo below is a few years old; now I'm using a 5000 mAh battery. but you get the idea.

(Sharpie pen shown for scale)