In this photo the carabiner is radically tri-loaded.
An impact on such a carabiner could cause failure.
A tri-loaded carabiner is crossloaded. It will not hold a high impact fall. As such, it is important to use slings that are long enough to tie off. In the preceding example, there is not enough sling material to get all the way around the tree, but even if there was enough for the carabiner to hang more loosely, it could still triaxally load it.
One could tie the sling off with a pre-equalized knot, but this isn't required. The following photo shows one quick example of a tie-off that eliminates the possibility of triaxal loading.
Triaxal loading is a detail that a lot of climbers don't think about. But it is just these kinds of minor details that can get you in the end. The phrase, "the Devil's in the details," didn't come from nowhere.
--Jason D. Martin
4 comments:
Easy, simple, effective and safe.
So many try to overly complicate such things...good post - thanks!
Fixed it! By using longer sling. Good job.
Great to raise awareness of this!
If the sling is long enough to wrap around the tree and tie a knot before connecting to the carabiner - then - the included angle without the knot would probably not be a major issue. Every situation is unique and should be assessed. Most climbers I know are aware of the 3 way loading issue.
Kind of apples and oranges, though.. 1st photo you wouldn't have had enough webbing to do any kind of tie, second photo the webbing would have been enough that you would have had a nice 20 deg angle and wouldnt have an issue of tri-loading..
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