We all clip fixed draws and carabiners. Often times we feel we are doing 'community service' by equipping sport routes and anchors with fixed hardware, offering our fellow climbers the convenience of just clipping or lowering off... and it is! Also, if you climb a lot, your equipment won't stay new forever. It is important to remember that carabiners wear out! Aluminum is a very soft metal and wears out very fast from the sawing action caused by lowering with a rope. What I am saying is not an opinion, it is a fact. The wear can cause carabiners, especially the higher performance biners used in quickdraws, to get very sharp edges. I am in no way saying we should not clip fixed draws and carabiners but I am warning everyone to inspect them before trusting your life to them. It is worth the inconvenience of not sending your project or simply rappelling off the chains instead of lowering to not die. Also, regularly inspect your equipment, especially your belay biner that lives with your ATC or Grigri. This equipment doesn't fail too often but it certainly can and the last thing you want is to become another statistic. Check out the link below to read a report about a recent accident that happened for this exact reason.
http://www.redriverclimbing.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=13270
Climb smart and try hard!
Chris Tatum
http://www.redriverclimbing.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=13270
Climb smart and try hard!
Chris Tatum
