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[tradmanclimbz]

So after  a season and a half on the terathers I am a convert especially for soloing. They help me relax my grip as well as feel more secure at rest stances. The relaxing the grip thing  is great.  last weekend i shouldered the tools and laybacked an icicle on a super thin pillar/curtain. No worries about loseing a tool.  the day before that soloing shoestring as a party of three I would sink my tools real good at a rest stance while I waited for the person ahead of me to do a skinny section. My homemade teathers are strong enough that I feel very safe from falling ice and was able to really mentally relax much better in a spot where I would have had to focus  more had I been leashless with no teathers.

 Question. do any of the commercial teathers have the strength to hold body weight?

[Admin Al]

I think that the BD ones will hold 2kN. there is something about tethers on the web site that Pete pointed to a while back. it's a blog about mainly ice climbing.

[DLottmann]

While I don't ever see me using them personally I would suggest that tethers are a better idea for someone seasoned like tradmanclimbz and not a new ice climber as they can encourage some bad habits, mainly leading above your skill level due to a false sense of security.

I did loose a Quark off the top of shoestring a few years back, so who knows... I should probably try them once... I just hate anything that feels "in the way" when I'm climbing...

[tradmanclimbz]

 Isa gave me crap about my teathers last season then she  followed me up Ragnarock. Somewheres on the wild 3rd pitch she realized what a world of Pooo she would be in if she lost a tool up there. She arrived at the top with nomics clipped to slings. I feel that doing any kind of real serious climb leashless without a 3rd tool or teathers is rolling the dice.  I much prefer the teathers over the weight of a 3rd tool. Those of you who claim that dropping a tool is never going to happen have your heads burried in the snow

[markvnh]

The first season I went leashless I climbed without tethers. I found myself over gripping the tools quite a bit - especially my weak side. Went to tethers the next year and haven't turned back. I'm much more relaxed, less pumped and no worries about dropping a tool. And honestly I don't even notice them.

[Admin Al]

so - what kinds of tethers do people use? if you have homemade ones, how about some pix?

[goodrockrich]

I thought that this video and short article was relevant to this thread.   http://mountainlessons.com/gear/umbilicaldesign

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[Admin Al]

This is the article I was thinking of...

http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2011/01/ice-tool-umbilicals-repost.html

[neiceclimber]

I use the BD ones. Not a huge fan of the attachment clips. I've used the Grivels and liked them. INMO any tether built without the spinner thingy is going to be sub par.

I had a friend who built some by jamming a thin bungy cord up some webbing. They worked well for him but he walked out of the woods more often than not with a frozen tether strapped to his pack.

[markvnh]

BD's.

[tradmanclimbz]

4mm cord and full strength mini biners. no swivel.

[Admin Al]

4mm cord and full strength mini biners. no swivel.

Did you read the thing about falling on tethers? I also think that the swivels would be really important.

[tradmanclimbz]

I do not intend to fall on them but I would hope that mine might help keep me on a good stance if i was hit by icefall. I did take a top rope fall on them @ the beginning of last season. the one teather that was in held me before the rope had a chance to catch me. That ice tool looked like a midevile battle ax aimed at my face with that cord stretched tight as the g string on a mandolin!  The only time i count on them as some sort of minimal belay is when I am at a stance waiting for annother climber to  play through a skinny section. If I am very concerned about icefall in those situations I fire in a scew.  you would hope they would hold a slip but I certainly would not climb with the intention of testing that theory.

[tradmanclimbz]

That video confrims my standing polocy of dialing 911 for a pre emptive rescue whenever I encounter  ice climbers with go pros.  also seems like those britts are exceptionaly good at falling off of winter climbs.......

[tradmanclimbz]

Santa brought Spinners for Christmas I Carefully removed the cheesy little metal clips and replaced them with full strength micro biners. 400ft of 4+ today and they Rock! Way better than my homeade  cords.