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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Mar 19, 2013 - 05:37pm PT
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eKat.... hi.
How many of those suckers did you sell???
I understand if you don't count all the ones sold for cash....
The IRS and all that.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Mar 19, 2013 - 06:08pm PT
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Damn! Where is weege on this thread!! His sp is scratched to sh!t!!
I've always had loud partners myself!! Best solo free climbing self belay on the market from what I hear! I take it you guys sold the patent Ekat?
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briham89
Big Wall climber
san jose, ca
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 19, 2013 - 06:55pm PT
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No. . . never broke it to the point of freewheeling.
That's good :)
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Zamfir
Trad climber
Danbury, CT
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Mar 19, 2013 - 07:20pm PT
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Guess this is the right thread to bring up the following --
I purchased one of the first public batch of 50 that was made / offered for sale. At least that's what I recall -- it's obviously been awhile.
After a couple of years of use, not heavily since I had regular partners and I kind of liked the modified gri-gri (limitations and all), I did have it fail to lock up. Fortunately this occurred when I was testing the device at the beginning of the day/climb.
Sent it back to them (hmm... Wren/RE?... memory is fading) and it was taken apart and the cause was found to be the anodization on the *inside* had flaked off and was jamming the mechanism. The device was 'fixed', sealed, and returned to me. Seemed to work fine, but never felt really happy about it afterward. They stated that later batches (not sure if the discussion was more detailed than that) did not have anodization on the inside.
I believe the fix was to remove the interior anodization from mine.
OK..long winded, but I've always been bothered by the following thoughts --
-- Was I the only one that reported this? And in any case, was there ever an announcement made to warn other early adopters? I'm not blameless here, because I only mentioned this to others I know who had an early device (i.e, not many).
-- Were there other issues w/ the early devices that were not reported? I don't recall hearing any issues at all, but I don't actively seek them out either. Obviously dovetails with my concerns above (lack of announcements AFAIK).
Thinking about dusting it off again... and would like some reassurance -- if such is possible. Buying another is an option I guess.
Todd Mummert
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RyanD
climber
Squamish
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Mar 19, 2013 - 09:54pm PT
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I want one!
And Ekat, help me out. What's a thrustworthy businessman:-)
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hillrat
Trad climber
reno, nv
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Mar 19, 2013 - 10:07pm PT
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It's new to me. Picked one up used, CHEAP, which seems to work fine. I haven't fallen on it yet, and don't really plan to; but since this climbing thing is relatively new to me as well, I probably will.
Anyone have some pictures of the internal guts of the thing? I'd love to see it. Seems a brilliant piece of invention to me. Thanks!
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kennyt
climber
Woodfords,California
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Mar 19, 2013 - 10:07pm PT
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When my partner is silent I know I'm in deep shit!
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climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
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Mar 19, 2013 - 10:14pm PT
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last time I remember a live partner was silent Grant Walker.. was my first summer of leading... all three bolts had unclipped and I was making a 10c move to the anchor. Thus I learned that just a biner on a bolt was not advisable. I also learned a lot about focus and confidence and a bit about myself.
Havn't fallen on it? Jeez the first thing I did when I got mine was fall on it.. alot. Set up a nice top rope setup. Practiced rapping with it and disengaging from a fall. If I had the money for two of em I'd have done a lot of crazy stuff to break the first one.. I tried to make it fail.
Get to know your gear.
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Mar 19, 2013 - 10:44pm PT
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Steve Schneider's in a day solo ascent of the nose (21:22?) with a SP was nothing short of astounding to me. Curious if he's still utilizing the SP these days. I wonder what he would think his time would be if he repeated it in the near future.
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karodrinker
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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Mar 19, 2013 - 11:18pm PT
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Briham,
That castle rock in the OP? looks like the 5.6/5.7 lieback at the waterfall cliff
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briham89
Big Wall climber
san jose, ca
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 19, 2013 - 11:42pm PT
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^yep nailed it! It's fun to do a few laps on that doing the left and right end variation and then setup a tr solo on the 5.11a next to it.
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Mar 20, 2013 - 01:09am PT
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I had one for a while---not one of the early runs Todd mentions. Never fell on it in real life, but tested it periodically in the gym or from trees, as well as always giving it a good yank at the base of every pitch of the routes I soloed.
It always worked fine for me, but I eventually sold it. I've done a ton of free soloing (retired from that now) and always loved it, but I discovered that part of the love was being totally unencumbered. With rope soloing, I had loops hanging down, I was doing fiddly things to manage rope weight, I was worrying about getting good upward and downward pull anchors, I was climbing up, rappelling down, and either re-climbing or jumaring every pitch, and it all started to seem like the other end of the spectrum from what attracted me to free soloing to begin with.
Meanwhile, at almost seventy, I've had more than enough of my own damn company. There are a few people willing to spend time with me; it's just that I'm not one of them. I like climbing with other people a lot more than I like climbing with myself at this stage of life. After seven decades, one doesn't know how long it will be before the final veil of silence descends. When it does, there will be an eternity of it, I don't think I'll be needing any supplementary practice for that journey, and so my Silent Partner is gainfully employed safeguarding a much younger person, someone who, like all youth, thinks life is infinite.
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Mar 20, 2013 - 09:40am PT
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I'm in total agreement with Rgold. I've bought several of the solo belay devices and they all remind me of breaking rocks with a small sledgehammer, whereas free soling is more akin to flying a glider. When I'm not in tune, which is more frequently as I get older, rather do a solo TR lap or get a partner. Leading with any solo belay device is suckage incarnate.
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John Mac
Trad climber
Littleton, CO
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Mar 20, 2013 - 09:56am PT
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I have one and have been using it for years. With my weird work and oncall schedule, it is often the best of only partner I can find. I toss the rope in a small pack so I don't have to worry about rope tension.
Mine is all banged up and scratched to hell but it works like new.
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TrundleBum
Trad climber
Las Vegas
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Mar 20, 2013 - 06:26pm PT
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Silent Partner appreciation BUMP !
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RyanD
climber
Squamish
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Mar 20, 2013 - 07:32pm PT
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RGold, your wisdom never ceases to amaze me. Seriously, thanks.
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divad
Trad climber
wmass
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Mar 20, 2013 - 07:44pm PT
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never had a partner I didn't like, especially if they talked...
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briham89
Big Wall climber
san jose, ca
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 20, 2013 - 09:23pm PT
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Don't get me wrong, I've always liked my climbing partners. It just seems that there are times when no one else can climb, but my silent friend still allows me to, and for that, I love it!!
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Norwegian
Trad climber
the tip of god's middle finger
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Mar 21, 2013 - 08:45am PT
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Slabby D
Trad climber
B'ham WA
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Mar 21, 2013 - 09:55am PT
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Love my Silent Partner. Well used and whipped on. Partner (actually friends) are great but sometimes you just need to enjoy the uninterrupted process of doing it all yourself.
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