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Interesting that with all of these slings that none of the stitching failed, it was almost always at the knot. Great content!

I doubt this is any more versatile than using standard slings. Places like Joshua Tree I would find this hard to use because of the random anchor placements. Joshua Tree tip: bring a 30m static rope as a anchor sling, trust me you will want it.

It would be interesting to put 3 more load cells in each leg of the anchor to see how equalized they actually are. 7:06

Found your site looking for break strength tests on knots. Enjoy the heck out of the different rabbit holes the channel has headed down. In forestry/tree work rigging we can create some very strong loads, esp with mechanical assist using machines. Always learning. And your test rigs show some really cool stuff

Thank God you put this video out. I have been looking for proper ways to equalize my one point anchors. Now I'm dialed and ready! Greetings from Placerville.

I love this format of video. I feel like you and I have a similar type of brain and I can appreciate the curiosity and spontaneity and the need to share with other gear junkies and gear nerds.

An excellent examination of the subject. I think this is one of the best resources anywhere for knowledge around the topic of rigging. Love this channel!

My favorite channel hands down. Such great information coupled with wit and humor. Great job as always sir. Please keep up the good work. I have learned a lot from you.

Super fun video! Love this simple quick style of video. Lots of good information and it’s fun to see things that surprise you by breaking lower or higher than you think.

I feel the sliding V going to your rigging plate allows changes in the 3 anchor positions, which is also contributing to equalizing the load which is skewing the results a bit. Another way of pointing this out is that the rigging plate can pivot and any pivoting action of the plate causes one anchor point to move closer to the load and the opposite to move away from the load, where the test should be 3 unmovable anchor points. This is most noticeable during the un-equalized test around the 6 minute point.

It's so nice to arrive home and get to see another video of yours, I really love the content! Kind regards from Chile.

This was amazing. Been watching you for awhile. Thank you for your content. Rope access and rescue here, truelly clears questions that pop up in my mind all the time.

Great video! Please go on. I will never do such test so videos like this are very important to understand how your climbing stuff is actually working.

I'm not even sure how I ended up on your channel. This is probably the 5th video I watched from you. I like every single one! I'm not into climbing or anything like that really. But I enjoy every bit of information that you put into your videos. Great content. Thank you.

I really enjoyed the editing and overall feel of this video.

When I first started painting we did a house exterior and I had to climb the roof and they secured me with a 100 ft extension cord. Well when I was done we had a 107ft cord .

I actually retired those exact slings from BD last year when I got back into climbing and learned about the five years rule of thumb for softgoods.

This is some of my favorite content. (I don't even climb - anymore, not that I ever seriously did), I just like seeing things break for some reason lol.

My go-to was a cordolette made from 7mm nylon tied in a big loop. 3-points with a figure 8 similar to what's shown on the video, except I had 2 strands going to each bolt. I think I learned it from one of John Long's books. I'm not dead.

I like this content. I feel I just soak up information watching all of these its great.

Love this kind of content!

Very very interesting!! I would love to be able to test all my old mothballed old gear. Some of the crabs are 45 years plus!

Love this kinda video!

ur like "thats the E in Serene.... equalized" but half the letters in there are e

I really liked the third test. even thought only one anchor port was loaded initially, before the failure the load was shared by all 3 points. Anyone who has watched even one of your vids all the way through sees that webbing stretches quite a bit before it fails. It would be nice to see a two anchor two sling test with the lengths uneven. knots = weak!

fantastic demo- I would definitely like to see, and hear, what you do with some Tear Aways !!!

First off, thank you for generating such great content! I get to geek out about science and climbing. Now, the point ... There are some things to consider after watching most of tests that you did. First, the Dyneema (ultra high density or molecular weight polyethylene or UHMW PE as plastics nerds might say) tended to break around the knot. I would suspect that is due to the high friction produced as the webbing slid against the knot as the knot tightened up; that hypothesis is supported by the little Dyneema sling that broke and you noted the warm, rough, kind of melted break point. UHMWPE has a relatively low melting temperature compared to nylon, but I think that almost all of your knotted tests in this and many of your other videos have failed around the knot. The friction force * distance the webbing slides turns into heat, which softens the webbing and creates a weak spot that breaks. Though kind of freaky, but the breaking forces were still pretty large. As you said at the end, this effect that can minimized by shock absorbing hardware. The other detail to consider is to inspect your gear by feeling whether the webbing is still supple. If it is not, especially after a climb, then there could be melt points in the fiber that have fused adjacent fibers together. This can be in both Dyneema and nylon.

I have been using a shock absorber to protect my belay’s for 15 years now. I place them as dummy runner or on the high point of the anchor. Both on ice and rock anchors . They are old fixe dynema S-A but I tested 2 recently and those worked well 😅. I say yes to protect the belay with shock absorbers they work!

Great video, thanks!

I liked that Ryan summed up about 10 of his video experiments in one go.

In the UK we often build our anchors using excess rope instead of slings. I'd be curious to see the differences between in-reach and out of reach anchors, as well as how the number or anchor points/clove hitches affects the whole system's strength. Is this something you've already covered?

This makes me rethink the way I build anchors. I don't know which anchor setup to trust now

Part of the reason why you saw what you saw with the knot tied with uneven lengths was that the attachment point shifted so that the load was more evenly distributed than what it would've been if the sling was attached to a rock that wouldn't shift.

I'm not into climbing at all but highly interested in this video.

no but you are also tightening the knot around the weave, so the stresses are probably not going to be as evenly distributed coming out of the knot.

Great video.

Hey Ryan, So awesome, as always. Have you done this series using the sliding/ magic X? I'm guessing that the friction and bending in the knot is the weak link, especially with dyneema?

I've used some of these video to help rookies on job sites when securing heavy loads. Not this style explicitly but, really appreciate these videos and information! Shout out to betaclimbers as well for E.R.N.E.S.T. Acronym.

Would love to see the test done at 6:00 done on the drop tower! A non equalized anchor/bfk. Would be cool to see if the first 2 legs breaking first would be enough to absorb some force of the fall and save the last leg. I get that it might not be the most useful test, since you’d need a big mass, maybe with static rope in a F2 fall to generate enough force to actually break it, but it would still be cool 😂 or maybe using thinner cordellete, like 5mm or something instead of a dyneema runner.

You should do this video again, only measure how much force is on each anchor point, that would be really cool to see

Always fascinating to watch pull tests and see the results. Definitely surprising to see the two-point pre-EQ knotted anchors fail lower than the single-point sling. Dynema vs nylon, age, wear/use/bending (knots) are all contributing factors, but this was still surprising. Thanks!

"zero force on that quickdraw"... how did the screamer extend then? love the vids, great service to the community.

That was interesting even with older slings with knot in it was what it is rated for

there's no doubt your videos have made people think twice about a setup, reworked it and lived because of it.

The Petzl Asorb family is a nice piece or Petzl Absorbica I International Lanyard would be a good personal one if you're not expecting a 2 person load likely from a rescue.

High line anchor building will be a whole new thing for me to learn lol

Finally, some webolette love!

Hello, thank you for your very informative video. Have you already carried out the same tests on relays with "South Tyrolean stand" lark heads? the Lacrux site has shown tests but not in video would be interested to see how the knot slides. THANKS

I don't climb, but I do a lot of rigging and find these tests interesting. When we pull shoring the 2 way at the single shackle point gets hot enough to melt the grease out of the wire is interesting how much heat is generated at the knot

Thank you

Get your redundancy by using multiple pieces, not by tying knots in one length. Knots are terribly effective stress risers. Without the knot, it would be self-equalizing and you'd be using all four strands more evenly, even as the climber changed direction slightly. Your 27.75kN test result makes sense because it didn't have the knots.

2:05 Ryan break tests a whiteboard magnet bolt hanger

AYO, or practibolts in a HN2 video? Cool!

Quite an interesting result.I've been using "webolettes" for years (the term is being used generically) as it seems to be a very sensible, light, low bulk system for anchor building. @0 KN is super good enough, but I always figured they were WAY stronger than that. I did wonder if a simple overhand might give a different result vs the figure 8. Thanks for this deep dive.

im doin' more professional climbing and for me fall protection with shock absorber is natural. But yeah we have that problem whit the extending shockabsorber but my reasoning is that the harnes hopefully will at least break the fall and i might get a bruce instead of a broken bone, and the harses will hopefully help orient me so its my legs that will take the blow and not my head or back

You should measure the HEAT created in the various knots, during break tests. I am a sailor, using many knots, but new to Amsteel and Dynema. Prior boat owner, tied many knots in the Dynema, that have held a long time!

I would like to see more tests of the BFK with dyneema slings. I see this done often and I think many people believe it is much stronger than it actually is.

Our big energy absorber caribiners are only 21kn. We have a philosophy, anything over 20kn is strong enough. My last failed anchor was because the rock broke. Energy absorber refers to friction energy. The size provides a large thermal mass.

Years back I used screamer, but I haven't really added it to mt kit as I've picked climbing back up because I kinda thought maybe I was just overkilling safety back in the day - now I to am wondering.

I would be interested to see you test some screeners as described at the end of the film.

I am amazed, I guessed nearly spot on at 21kn

I love how instead of writing or drawing on the whiteboard, you just Velcro gear to it lol!

I do not rock climb but I believe that your count is wrong when a simple loop counts as "2" -> 1:30 The top center double is, when it comes down to it, just ONE rope (line?) receiving friction and stress at the friction/stress points. You count in a similar manner later in the break test, which is why I bring it up.

I have always enjoyed your videos and subscribe to your channel. Thanks for the great content. Have you done a video looking at the strength of sliding X's vs tied off sliding X's? For some situations I will use the sliding X still and I'm wondering if you have tested its breaking strength?

Appreciate the actual testing, but your title said 'not anchors are bomber', true, but every anchor you tested _was bomber_ , none failed at loads generated in even typical factor 2. BTW - your advice was spot on, I don't know why people seem obsessed with tying knots in slings, thinking it is somehow better than the lazy way, when the lazy way is demonstrably better: don't tie knots in slings, just use 2 slings.

I thought for a second you were joking with the "perfectly equalized anchor" at 2:26, but then realized you meant it with adequate length of sling going to each bolt. As is on vid there's literally only one bolt loaded. But finally got the point after thinking about it :D

Yo! I've seen some lead belayers in the gym using the Edelrid Ohm, seems like it does work and helps with the older ladies who are still belaying. I wonder if it could help with what you mentioned at the end of the video with larger fall factors and screamers... Just searched up some videos about it and there is like two.

Maybe a stupid question: here it seems the anchor plate + white dyneema shackles would also contribute to the equalization. What would you expect to be different if the plate could not rotate side to side?

I've read that you should not tie a knot in dyneema anchor slings. Just leave the loops free at the master point. That will eliminate the weak point of the knot and permit automatic adjustment to match the direction of load.

So if you have a run out section when leaving a belay it could be smart for the belayer to be attached to the anchor with a screamer and belay from the hip to reduce the chances of a catastrophic anchor failure. Have you done any factor 2 falls with soft humans to see what the actual forces are? (Have you found anyone brave/stupid enough to be the dummy)

Maybe this is a stupid question…but the knot being the failure point makes sense to me. Let’s say all three anchors are equally loaded. The thing that WONT be equal is the knot because it is going to cinch generating heat in a localized spot. That heat difference is what causes the line to fail at that localized point. Wouldn’t a failure at any other point be indicative of a defect?

You should be aware that a webolette rigged as you used it puts roughly twice the load on the piece with the two strands as compared to the pieces with one stand. This is because the double strand is twice as stiff. As the strands stretch the load goes to the double. Try it. Super good enough? Maybe for bolts, but it is worth knowing this for trad anchors and is why I stuck with a spectra cordelette.

Have you tested straight vs knotted? If not, it would be worth getting a handful of slings / straps and testing.. Even with the theory of half for the knot and double for 2 runs per leg, I'm willing to bet the knotted will be significantly weaker.

Wildly interesting video!! Isn't dynamic rope enough of a shock absorber?

Could you make a video about the momentary forces vs the constant pull slack snap. I assume slack lining and some other sports may have higher consistent forces. Where as climbing is mostly about small constant force and potentially large momentary force. Maybe you already have and I missed it. I know you have the drop test which shows real world shock forces better. Maybe a deep dive on real world forces from a sciency/physics point of view? And how you can interpolate the data from the slack snap into a real worlld scenario. I may be over comlicating things... Either way, thanks for the content.

Excellent video as always. I have a question. Did you do the resistance test with a tape like the one in minute 9, but without tying the knot? just curious to know if it has the same resistance as with the knot or with the anchor to a point I know it's not recommended to do it without the knot but it's just curious.

Great video. Have you ever tested webbing turned into a loop with a water knot?

This sort of reminds me of those giant spools of nylon cord at home depot. Rather than hunt down an employee to cut the thing, you just wrap it around your hand and use the nylon to cut the nylon. I think a similar things happening here. As the tension increases, the rope is cutting itself. I wonder if it would be feasible for these anchor ropes to be double sheathed. You have your normal sheathed core, and then a significantly weaker outer sheathing. In theory, it should make it so that as it tightens, it cuts away the outer sheathing, revealing the much stronger sheathing, which shouldn't be cut by the knot.

Ryan can you do another slacksnap update? I see you’ve put a surface over the aluminum trough and are you now using that space for the hydraulics maybe? I’d love to see how you rigged it with the redirect and both pistons.

Overview lesson: two independent dyneema slings with no knots is far stronger than any sort of giant, kludged knotted runner, despite its appearance as more robust or redundant, because the weak spot is going to always be in the knot. If you want to shorten or semi-equalize the system, just running the slings doubled, or a second time around a biner, is going to preserve most of the strength, whereas any knot is going to greatly reduce it. The persistence of advocating a "guide approved" quad, or any knotted arrangement, is just bad advice, perpetuated maybe only because most real world loads are far below the potential limit of a worst case (ff2 shock) scenario; just because most of the time people get away with something, does not translate to meaning that it is acceptable over the range of worst case situations. Infrequent as they may be, the rare catastrophic failure event does occur, and realizing that we cannot ever know in advance which day, which alignment of setups, is going to be below the threshold for survival, it behooves us to just always plan as if that day is every day. We may not ever experience the worst, but over time someone, somewhere will.

I'd like to see the webollete anchor with no knot. It would self equalize regardless of direction, and wouldn't have the issue of losing half its strength from the knot. I suspect you'd get a lot more out of it.

I use screamers as personal tethers in my work as a theater tech rigger

At 8:33, is the crackling sound the sound of single filaments breaking one after another? This is something I would indeed expect for an older work-out fabric in contrast to a brand new one where all the filaments are still kind of aligned and equally strong. I think I've seen a video where a guy from Edelrid stated that this is what you can actually hear when break-testing older stuff.

I think the two sling anchor is great for top roping.

So, you talk about factor 1 falls etc, which I think I understand, vaguely (I probably have found the video explaining it). This is more of an arborist concept, but I would love to see a drop test video looking at the shock loading of DRT vs SRT. The way I understand it, an SRT set up would always have a length of line up to the anchor/redirect, so say going up 20 feet at the ground you would have 40' of line and at the top you would have 20' while in DRT yes at the bottom you would have 40' of line but at the top you would have 0' of line.

This is great info and all, but in saxony you have a single ring as an anchor if your lucky

I’d like to see you test self equalizing anchors like a Portuguese bowline

The screamers sound like interesting content. Do they make reusable ones or are they all single use? Seems like a static rope would be easier to ascend and descend in say the arborist profession or applications were you are actively using the rope.Maybe a screamer and static line as opposed to dynamic?

Bros like the Whistlin'Diesel of climbing gear

In Europe we don't use slings for anchors anymore. We use rope loops instead

Did you ever do the screamer test video? All I could find was a short about the Petzl one.

Can you do some testing on the JRB ascender hitch(s) ? Variation 5-2-3 in soft bridge mode ? Thanks!

Maybe the lesson here is to use the rope to create the belay ? More shock absorption? Interesting vid though, thanks!!

Seemed all bomber to me!

So im a rigger not a climber but even tho the sling broke at auch higher load than it is needed at, it seems weird that you tied the fig8 knot in the sling.. id like to see the same test without the knot and the crab just joining 3 or even 2, without the knot they can move and equalise! Although if one log breaks you would obviously fall.. but it did break at the knot evertime...

heaps strong

Nice

I would like to see this done with a dual Purcell Prussik made with 6mm cordage

The unequalised anchor may have been better for a lead fall as it acted like a screamer and dissipated the energy across multiple legs instead of sharing it all at once. I’d be interested in the physics/math of this.