QC Lab: How strong is the Spinner Leash?

I don't usually write-up BD product specific tests and results, but I've just been getting so many of a similar type question on the Spinner Leash lately, that I felt I needed to. And to be honest, these questions are kinda freaking me out.

"I just bought the Spinner Leash, How strong is it?"
"Is the Spinner Leash strong enough for it to hold me if I get too
pumped?"
"Will the Spinner Leash hold a fall if I whip onto it?"
"I want to make my own ice climbing tether system, how strong do I need to
make it?"
"Is the BD Spinner Leash stronger than the Grivel Double Spring Leash?"

Why do these sort of questions freak me out?  Because it shouldn't matter how strong these things are.  Sure they're rated to 2kN—like most tethers—and you can hang on them if you wanted or needed to, but you must remember that the leash is only as good as the
placement of the ice tool it's attached to. Think of bounce testing a Pecker with a daisy chain. If the Pecker blows, you have it zinging towards you—same as if you decide to weight your tools via your Spinner Leash, except the tool is further out of your reach and has way more mass, and now it has the potential to slingshot towards your head. Ouch.

Ultimately the real purpose of these leashes is to stop your tool from falling into oblivion should you drop it on a long ice or alpine route. They're not really designed as something that you should sit on if you get too pumped mid-pitch (they are too long, and then you will have to climb back up to the tools), and they're definitely not intended as a "just in case"
if you were to whip, or used as a personal anchor system at a belay. I could compare this potential misunderstanding of usage of a Spinner Leash similar to the common misunderstanding and mis-uses of a daisy chain. I've seen folks using daisy chains incorrectly when aid climbing (e.g., you should never use a daisy chain such that there is even a possibility of taking a fall directly ONTO it).  And I've seen tons of folks at the cliffs
using daisy chains as personal anchor systems—do you know the pocket strength on most daisy chains is ~ 500 lbs, a load easily generated with a slip, small fall and jolt onto the anchor? Daisy chains aren't designed for that kind of loading scenario—and neither are Spinner Leashes.

Bottom Line
The Spinner Leash and most new-school leash/tethering systems are intended to stop your tool from falling, NOT intended to stop YOU from falling.

I apologize for the soap-box-type speak, but just wanted to spread the word about the tether systems and the fact that you shouldn't be anchoring into anything with them, whipping onto them, and strongly consider the risks of weighting them at all if you are pumped.  

Be safe out there.

KP

Kolin Powick (KP) is a Mechanical Engineer hailing from Calgary, Canada. He has nearly 20 years of experience in the engineering field and has been Black Diamond's Director of Global Quality since 2002. Kolin oversees the testing of all of Black Diamond's gear from the prototype phase through continual final production random sample testing.

Recent Talk (1)

• Jerry Sullivan
  4 Feb 2010, 10:12AM

  Hey KP,
  Thanks for the info. Really good advice!

• Samuel Johnson
  4 Feb 2010, 2:21PM

  Thanks, Kevin, for making explicit this information about the Spinner Leashes. They are a great and slicker alternative to home-made sets. We all look forward to reducing the redundancy in the amount of equipment we carry into the alpine, but this doesn't seem like on of the areas in which one should skimp. My good friend recently thwacked himself in his helmeted head (thankfully not as seriously as the caricature in the above illustration) when he took a whipper while mixed climbing with the Spinners.

• Chris Alexander
  6 Feb 2010, 4:36AM

  KP,
  
  Great write-up, exceedingly clear and concise - thank you for all the work that you and everyone at BD do, not just in producing superb gear, but in supporting the enthusiasm of climbers everywhere. Please do keep up the extraordinary work.

• BD crew
  22 Feb 2010, 2:39PM

  “If you fall and have the tools placed in 2 good placements, you are exposed to a fall onto the spinner leash with the consequences above.” -Correct.
  
  “Not sure if it does make sense to use them if this is the case....”. -Using leashes, going leashless, going climbing at all… are all choices that each individual climber needs to make and needs to understand the consequences of these decisions.
  
  Regarding the spinner leash question in particular, here are your options the way I see it:
  
  With spinners
  · 2 good ice tool placements
  · Fall
  · The tools COULD hold your fall (though that is not the intent), and you’d be psyched
  or they could not and…
  · The tools COULD come out and smack you in the head
  · AND you take the big whipper, but you still have your tools
  
  Without spinners
  · 2 good ice tool placements
  · Fall
  · No tools in the head
  · Take a big whipper guaranteed
  · Tools are now either stuck in the ice way above you, or have fallen into oblivion
  
  Take your pick (no pun intended).

• jorge hayler
  22 Feb 2010, 9:19AM

  Thanks for the information. What doesn't make sense is the fact that if you fall, and have the 2 tools correctly set in 2 good placements, you would be, by the facto, exposed to a fall into the spinner leashes with the consequences explained above. Not sure if it does make sense to use them if this is the case....

• Rhoads
  22 Feb 2010, 6:04PM

  I'm pretty new to ice climbing but the general rule I've picked up is: Don't fall. Anything else is inherent hazard.