Doing canyons, using ropes, from time to time it becomes useful to clip into things. Anchors, guide lines, packs, companions - things like that. The standard climber-type things tend to be big, heavy, awkward and too too much. Lots of things dangling from your harness while canyoneering is not good. The Clipster is a tidy, minimal clip-in sling designed for canyoneering.
Made from burly 3/4" webbing tacked into a full-strength sling, the Clipster is then sewn together with a half-twist at the bottom end so it will girth-hitch neatly to your harness's strong point. The top end includes a major-brand rubber 'biner holder. The 22-inch length is perfect for canyoneering clip-in tasks, without having excess that gets in the way.
INSPECT your Clipster every canyon or two, and discard if there are even minor cuts or burn spots. Also inspect your belay loop and the rest of your harness at the same time. Be careful that the rappel rope does not cross your Clipster or belay loop while you are rappelling.
Strength: While based on a full-strength sling, the Clipster is likely to recieve more than its fair share of wear and tear. Please consider it strong enough for body weight applications only.
Scuttle Butt
Canyons involve a lot of sliding, scraping and general thrashing - which ends
up with a lot of scraping and thrashing of the gear and clothing upon which
that sliding is done. The harness, the shorts, the wetsuit - they all get destroyed
on a regular basis.
The Scuttle Butt intervenes between these valuable pieces of gear and the abrasive rock. It works with many leg-loops-and-waistbelt-style adjustable leg loop harnesses that have leg loops that fully open. (The Scuttle Butt does not work with BD Alpine Bod, Bod, and 2012 Momentum AL harnesses.) Often the back holdup straps of harnesses will need to be cut or modified to use the Scuttle Butt, so when putting the Scuttle Butt on harnesses, the harness will no longer work on its own.
Benefits: The Scuttle Butt extends the life of valuable pieces of equipment such as your harness, your wetsuit and your shorts. It also provides a bit of cover and padding for the butt, allowing you to slide, scrape and shimmy with impunity. To me, this latter is the greatest benefit.
Weight: 6.6 ounces or 187 grams
Zion: Canyoneering Book
My Zion: Canyoneering guidebook covers canyons in Zion and the adjacent lands. There are 9 on-trail hikes, 8 off-trail (non-technical) canyons, and 32 technical canyon adventures detailed, only a few of which have not really been public before. Careful beta and maps are provided, to hopefully keep people from getting lost. Interesting reviews from my fans and detractors are available on Amazon.com
Weight: 12 oz
Dims: 5-1/4" x 8-1/4"
256 pages including 16 full color photographs, 43 maps and 30 b/w photos.
Release Date: November 13, 2006