Crimping steel cable for climbing

[Kram]

Have recently started climbing, and saw the prices of protection! First I will never use anything I make myself, atleast never rely on it.

Interested to know if strong reliable steel cable crimps can be done easily? It would obviously need to withstand shock loads and be resistant to fatigue. Some examples below..

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DMM-Dragon-Cam-climbing-friend-3/283240702144
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DMM-WALLNUT-FULL-SET-1-11/232665212913

 

[Justme]

With the right tools its easy, without its not.

 

[addjunkie]

Ive had steel cable ( trike handbrake cable) cut and re crimped at a local yacht chandlers who does rigging before, as said with the right kit like most things its easy.

 

[merryman]

My local lifting equipment supplier makes wire rope slings down to that size. I used to have clutch cables that I sell, made by them. They can load test too. I now make the cables myself using a cheap nicopress cable crimp tool from LAS Aerospace. It is supposed to be good enough for passing the tests on aircraft rigging ropes.

 

[sako243]

I think getting a strong crimp is probably easy enough. Making it repeatable, flaw free, light weight and certifiable is where the difficultly lies.

After all peoples lives are literally hanging off these crimps.

 

[pedrobedro]

We used Gripples on handbrake cables

 

[outofthefire]

I wouldn't even use second hand climbing gear let alone home made.

 

[mike os]

Cheap enough considering the years of use you get and that it could save your life.....

 

[CompoSimmonite]

There is a saying in motorcycle circle that buy a cheap helmet if you have a cheap head. Same will apply to cheap / homemade climbing gear. Do you really want to risk injury or even your life ?

 

[fizzy]

I wouldn't even use second hand climbing gear let alone home made.

2 of Britain's most famous climbers did just that!

Don Whillens and Joe Brown used to make their own harnesses and used machine nuts on wire.
Where would we be without some ingenuity?

I used to do quite a bit of climbing although never in their league. I was totally broke at the time so made my own crampons - literally a load of brass screws through the bottom of my boots! They worked extremely well on sheet ice but were deadly on rock. I was only 18 at the time

I did progress eventually to proper gear and did quite a bit of ice climbing.

 

[Chillitt]

2 of Britain's most famous climbers did just that!

Don Whillens and Joe Brown used to make their own harnesses and used machine nuts on wire.
Where would we be without some ingenuity?

I used to do quite a bit of climbing although never in their league. I was totally broke at the time so made my own crampons - literally a load of brass screws through the bottom of my boots! They worked extremely well on sheet ice but were deadly on rock. I was only 18 at the time

I did progress eventually to proper gear and did quite a bit of ice climbing.

There's not many out the now using a Whillans harness, or anything else they had... In them days 'The leader must not fall' now they are popping off all over the place. Not sure now, but a few years back a few of the manufacturers would rewire or tape gear either free or very cheaply. Anything more complicated than tying a bit of static on a hex, I'd let the pros get on with it

 

[Sean]

The Don Whillans sit harness AKA "the nut cracker"

Home made gear didnt Johny Dawes do one of the Welsh slate extremes using an old kettle on a sling for protection?

 

[Perry Owens]

When I was a caver in the '60s we made our own wire belays and ladders. The rungs were 1/2in alloy tube, cross drilled near the ends. Hemp cored galvanised wire rope was threaded through the rungs and a panel pin driven through between the wire strands inside the rungs to spread them then the whole thing filled with Araldite. Quick release end fittings were made from cross-sawn chain links fitted to ferrules which were swaged on by the local yacht chandler. We all survived.

 

[Seadog]

I still have an original Whillen's Sit Harness. Luckily I never lobbed off when wearing it

 

[outofthefire]

2 of Britain's most famous climbers did just that!

Don Whillens and Joe Brown used to make their own harnesses and used machine nuts on wire.
Where would we be without some ingenuity?

I used to do quite a bit of climbing although never in their league. I was totally broke at the time so made my own crampons - literally a load of brass screws through the bottom of my boots! They worked extremely well on sheet ice but were deadly on rock. I was only 18 at the time

I did progress eventually to proper gear and did quite a bit of ice climbing.

There's plenty of people free climb, I wouldn't risk that either

 

[maz0]

A lot of the old routes were established hundreds of years ago by farmers and country lads who's protection was a pebble wrapped in cord the same way we would use a nut. Not saying I would advise that mind you....It's your safety that's at stake so do what you are comfortable with. A guy that I go climbing with turns up with ropes and protection his dad used about 40 years ago, he has done most of the climbs and Munro's in Scotland and is a very experienced and accomplished lead. On the other hand I've seen guys climbing with 2k worth of fancy protection and making the most basic of errors like back clipping or being ignorant of fall factor.

 

[Kram]

As I said, Id not rely on it, it might be in addition to the proper, purchased, branded gear.
All protection can fail so it helps to have more/redundancy.Ive been reading about sport climbing and found most routes should not be trusted - traditional climing is probably a lot safer than a poorly glued U bolt from 1980.

I have a quite expensive bike lid, and at the same time my bike has not seen a mechanic for 7 years and has done 75k miles since, becuase I dont trust them.