Busted AL climber

[Spotted Owl]

Working this afternoon my partner cuttout, came down hard on his right climber and broke it. Had it not been for his boots it probably would have cut him up bad.

When his foot cut back in, it caught with everything he's got. About 2" above the replace gaff were the shank wides out it snapped. It broke towards his leg cutting through his 16" westies and scratching up his leg pretty good. He keeps good care of his riggin and inspects faithfully. He said he didn't notice anything different this morning lookin at them before the first climb today.

Just an FYI & CYA for those of you that use Bashlin Alum climbers.

Everything turned out good other than damaged equip, compared to what could have been. We were, he was, piecing out 5'ers on his way down an 80+ foot fir. This came about around 50 foot or so. He had his handline so I was able to send up my climber so he could get down.

Check your gear close and still be cautious. We all know how bad this could have been.



Owl

 

[Nailsbeats]

Thanks for the heads up. I currently use those climbers. Better go and inspect.

 

[coydog]

that story reminds me of the the recall on the original Gecko climbers, same situation, one snapped on a climber during a job, prompting a recall.

 

[Mitchell]

me to

I use the bashlin aluminums as well. I noticed that the screws holding the spurs tend to loosen off regularly.

 

[reachtreeservi]

Thanks for the heads up , owl. I've been using alum. bashlins for years, but My next set will be the T-2 's from buckingham for this and some other reasons.

 

[mudguts]

Yuk, I hate that sudden drop, even if it's my belt slipping just a few inches.How old were his climbers? I think the Bashlin alumis have a certain life span. I like those hooks but I exceed their working load limit.

 

[pbtree]

Thanks for the note. I still climb on steel ones, but know of others who use the aluminum ones...