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Fritz
Trad climber
Hagerman, ID
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Oct 24, 2009 - 11:19am PT
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Peter: About 1971 my friend Harry & I attempted to climb a striking little pinnacle named "The Arrowhead" in the Idaho Sawooth's. Gordon Webster & a Sun Valley local, John Beaupre, had done first ascent a few years earlier.
The crux pitch is a wide crack that we didn't have protection for. We could see where a piece of its lip had been broken off recently. I remember Harry knowingly saying that the first ascent party had used "some kind of expanding nut" and we then speculated that the nut must have caused the breakage.
Any idea if Gordon Webster had one of your tools?
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Oct 24, 2009 - 01:40pm PT
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Peter
Somewhere I know I have a photo of Sacherer on the right side of the Hourglass from one of our earlier attempts. Will have to dig for that one.
Looks like Les is wearing the old army fatiguer pants we all wore back in that era?
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 24, 2009 - 03:42pm PT
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Yeah, Les was into those fatigue pants, got me started in them as well and would argue that their flat-felled seams made these pants tougher than the Levi's we later were typically wearing back then. No matter what, you shred anything you wear in big cracks. I was into knickers from Ski Hut for about two pairs 1963-64 but couldn't handle the cost since they got torn up immediately. I eventually just would buy slacks from Goodwill at a couple dollars.
Fritz, no idea if Gordie had one--- it is possible; he was certainly around tons back then. Love the Sawtooth range, spent a day by Elephants Perch and Redfish Lake back in the 80's. wow.
The remarkable values of Crackjacks are plenty: when placed reasonably well you cannot pull one out with an automobile and slack in your line even--- honest, that is how strong they are when tied into at one end on the rotating spindle; you could actually stand on them with absolute security--- they even rang like a perfect bong placement and inspired total confidence; they fit in cracks over 3-3/4" to any width beyond that; and could be even put in most flares--- the softer aluminum angle ends were floppy for this; the units were easy to remove; and when made in aluminum and no longer iron, were really quite light--- lighter than the current Valley Giants; Crackjacks were tolerant of frantic sloppy placing on lead and could be set with one hand within 30-60 seconds often quite a bit less---actually faster than placing a bong and even if put in sloppily they were ridiculously strong; while on a climb or anywhere for that matter, you could interchange the tubes for any variety of crack range without really getting much heavier overall since the tubes weighed almost nothing; and if set by hand only--- namely tightened just by hand, they were instantly worth thousands of pounds and if you then took a hammer and rotated the tube some more with the hammer beak in the tube sling you like granite with the things; and lastly they of course did no damage to the rock and left no trace actually.
All this makes me think we should make a bunch of these; I will consider it. Firing out a couple dozen of them would be easy. It would not be remarkably profitable of course, just really cool to revive them. I think also they could be a somewhat smaller overall diameter, making them even lighter; like the threaded part does not need to be 5/8" but would be fine at 3/8"--- all it has to do is provide the bracing force and does not experience ending bending forces. I would round off the angle end corners so they don't catch so easily on stuff. I would
They would have been more interesting to everybody if by that point in 1964-65 we had had other mechanically operated devices to usher the acceptance of complicated many-pieced designs in general that did come later. As it was, the comparison to the utter simplicity of ubiquitous pitons-- simple metal wedges of two basic sorts was pretty extreme and insurmountable, unfavorable even though Crackjacks have so many virtues. If you consider how open everyone now is to cams--- tri and quad--- and to sizes up to even the 12" that a Valley giant #12 goes, you have to consider that Crackjacks aren't all that kooky. A C4 #5 has at least 18 parts, at least 5 of these are moving parts; a LinkCam has something like 30 part and at least 13-- it is hard to count 'em there are so many--- are moving! A Crackjack has like 3 moving parts plus two floppy ends---a total of 10 parts!
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Oct 24, 2009 - 03:57pm PT
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Can crackjacks be placed using only one hand?
Looking at the converse, jacks have a few times been used to pry things off deliberately, the most notorious example being a pillar called "Positive Vibrations" at Vantage in central Washington. Basalt columns.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 24, 2009 - 04:05pm PT
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Yeah, MIghty Anders, they can. One end only rotates while the other end is threaded (RH thread). If you were in an offwidth trying to place one, you would plant either end against the rock almost in any sort of roughly perpendicular fashion and finger the thing to rotate (having set it roughly close to the final length required and in about a couple of turns you have something that is quite good enough. Much like a Big Bro. I like how Big Bros spring out and then you tighten them but their problem is they are basically kind of inflexible at the ends, less tolerant of natural conditions. They are awesome, for sure though.
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Ray Olson
Trad climber
Imperial Beach, California
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Oct 24, 2009 - 05:17pm PT
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Peter, if you do seek to build a limited number of these
devices, let me be among the first to wish you much success.
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David Wilson
climber
CA
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Oct 26, 2009 - 09:02pm PT
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peter, sounds like that bolt has become controversial. i better just go climb that thing and report back.
my dad is a bit of a cretin when it comes to technology. he probably has those scans, but i've never seen them. i'll ask him. in that butt shot from 65 i would have been 4 and dad 34. wow, that photo resonated with the years gone by...
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karabin museum
Trad climber
phoenix, az
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Sorry about the delay but here is the Crackjack in the Karabin Museum. It is a little longer than the one in Stephanes museum in Corsica. That shorter version is pretty cool! When Bridwell showed me this piece I was instantly in love. I don't think the piece ever left my hands. Great craftsmanship, unique shape, a wonderful collectors piece!!!
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 3, 2009 - 11:05pm PT
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Realize that you do NOT clip into the middle of the unit with the cord as pictured. You sling onto the spindle (no-thread) end. The cord as shown just above was threaded through a hole in the tubing so you could carry them on a hardware sling.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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How is the crash and burn recovery going, Marty?
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karabin museum
Trad climber
phoenix, az
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Peter,
Thanks for clarifying where the clip-in point is on the Crackjack. I was under the assumption that climbers were clipping that mid center cord....yipe! looks like old gold line as well with a follow-thru overhand knot. I figured that all of the Yosemite boys were smarter than that with all of the tied off pitons I have seen.
The leg is healing fast. It has been three months since the femur break and now I am walking with a cane. I hope to be back setting easier climbing routes by the end of November. Therapy is going great but getting tired of having my sore muscles tweeked and pulled on three times a week. I have a great therapist so things are fun in a sadistic way. Plus the doctors have taken the pain pills away..........NOOOOO!!!! But what about my Oxycotton addiction? Well three months of floating was fun, but back to the real world of pain.
I have been putting the Marty info and photos on Mountainproject.com....look under karabin accident.
Rock on! Marty
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Tom
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
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A crack-jack, like a tube chock or a Big Bro, is set, clipped, and you move past it. A cam, like a Valley Giant, can be pushed up the crack for "sequential top-roping" (the Bird's term), or for crack-jugging.
Setting a piece, or pushing a piece, is a matter of philosophy.
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Les23
climber
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Nov 20, 2009 - 04:45pm PT
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Hello Folks...
For accessing the CrackJacks web pages use the domain name www.crackjacks.com in the future.
Sorry...
...Les
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Dec 22, 2011 - 01:01am PT
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innovation bump
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Wade Icey
Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
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Dec 22, 2011 - 11:32am PT
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skating on stilts
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jan 29, 2012 - 08:39pm PT
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Wide Widget Bump!
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dmons
climber
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Jan 29, 2012 - 08:44pm PT
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looks like you could topple something tightening that down
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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May 17, 2014 - 02:57pm PT
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The Hourglass was certainly known to shift occasionally...Peter loosened it up by underclinging with gusto! LOL
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 17, 2014 - 03:39pm PT
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Stevie, it has to shift seasonally, at least. Water, snow and icefall gets behind it from the top and both sides; there are also chockstsones to help in a ratcheting-out effect. Once again repeating, here is a picture showing some crushed tubes and a hex found at the base of the Hourglass the spring after they had been fixed in place for some unusual reason and left behind. This might be Vern C.
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