Abseiling off Bootlaces and Novelty Carabiners - Do Not Try This At Home

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

THESE EXPERIMENTS WERE COMPLETED IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT

Have you ever wondered whether your 22KN sewn sling would actually hold a whipper? Zimpara puts some bootlaces to the test along with a novelty carabiner lead fall. Watch what happens when he abseils off his bootlace!

Zimpara abseils off a bootlace - Testing Novelty Gear

If that's not enough, he then tests a novelty climbing carabiner for a lead fall! Remember, all of these experiments were done under CONTROLLED CONDITIONS. Do not try this at home.

Lead fall onto a novelty carabiner results

Okay, I can see you are a little surprised by the results. Lets not all rush out though and start abseiling off bootlaces to save weight on our racks. (I'm sure none of us will be rushing to do that!). It is important to mention that Zimpara at the time was at a fighting weight of about 70kg. Doing the same tests with a 100kg body may bring different results.

While it is seen as extremely dangerous to use non standard and approved climbing gear in real time situations, it has not been unknown to do so in emergencies.

Lets us just hope that we never find ourselves in those situations desperate enough to improvise like this. It is however nice to know that there may be "some" hope.

>>>Maybe you have experienced a gnarly situation where you were forced to use these methods? I'd love to hear you stories, leave a comment below :)