Quote from: petejh on May 21, 2011, 07:59:22 pmmay I suggest for future re-equipping (on allowable crags) you consider going with Bolt Products' 6mm twisted-leg resin bolts... ...from pigeon's cave last year.Climbed down Pigeon's t other day and they are pretty unobtrusive so it could be a good way to go. My only issue was I thought they were going to snap they are so skinny!
may I suggest for future re-equipping (on allowable crags) you consider going with Bolt Products' 6mm twisted-leg resin bolts... ...from pigeon's cave last year.
Already we've got places where three or four bolts have been placed in close proximity as the fixings become untrustworthy. This is after less than thirty years in most cases, and is totally unsustainable.
...Or was the idea to drill out the old bolts, and then resin a new one in the old hole?
Quote from: Johnny Brown on May 22, 2011, 10:00:52 amAlready we've got places where three or four bolts have been placed in close proximity as the fixings become untrustworthy. This is after less than thirty years in most cases, and is totally unsustainable.When the Peak Bolt Fund drill was purchased, the donor felt sufficiently confident in the people who would be running the fund, that he made no requests / provisions on where it should be used.He did, however, request that in all cases where routes were re-equipped, the old bolts (however many generations) must be removed (to stop our precious countryside becoming like a junkyard). He provided several additional high spec drill bits specifically to help with this process.He sincerely hopes this reequest didn't get forgotten...
Do the 6mm eyes deform under a typical pre-use test of 6kN?
I only know of one person (an aussie irata supervisor) who pull tests their bolts after placing them on routes and I wouldn't recommend it.
My idea was that if all else failed, providing bits capable of drilling out metal, would mean an old bolt could be at least part-drilled out, and the hole then filled with resin with rock dust, or whatever. There are people capable of doing a very neat job of such a task, so after a period of time, there will be little sign that there was ever a bolt there (though like you, I am not one of them!).
It might not be typical to do pre-use tests but I fail to see how it isn't relevant. When you've got the BMC sub-contracting rope access firms to place bolts on their land, I'd say a pre-use test along the lines of EN 795 would seem very sensible. QuoteI only know of one person (an aussie irata supervisor) who pull tests their bolts after placing them on routes and I wouldn't recommend it.So you cite the example of one of the few people who is likely to have had professional training in bolting, but you wouldn't you recommend it? Why not?If folk agree the aim for bolts should be longevity, a pull-test can also help restore faith in bolts of unknown provenance. Just to remind folk, the Peak bolt fund has a pull-tester available for anyone who wishes to use it.
A battery powered angle grinder would be a very worthwhile investment for the PBF.
Not my patch but I noticed the 'visual intrusion' bit - may I suggest for future re-equipping (on allowable crags) you consider going with Bolt Products' 6mm twisted-leg resin bolts - they're very unobtrusive compared to any other bolt I've seen out there, way less visible than a petzl hanger or a fixe resin - almost invisible from the ground unless you look hard. Might make the landowners a bit happier. I think doylo's got a picture of them on his blog from pigeon's cave last year, the bolts not the landowners.
Which rope-access company's are being funded to place bolts?
There are so many clueless irata members out there who know how to place bolts in an industrial setting but who don't have much of a clue in a recreational setting (and vice versa) that using an irata company who place bolts in the workplace is no guarantee of a good job on a sport crag. Likewise there are many good irata members too - the point being that irata is a red-herring when it comes to deciding if someone would be good at sport-climb bolting.
Don't you dare suggest I would retro-bolt E4's with galvanized gear. I don't mix my metals, just my drinks.