Today we tested webolettes, a tool for building 2, 3, and 4 point anchor systems. Most climbers build similar anchor systems using a sewn sling, also called a runner, which utilizes a loop of material. The webolette has two sewn eyes at either end of a single strand. It's basically a long rabbit runner and a sewn version of the Open Cordelette, that Jeremiah likes to use on big walls anchors. The webolette never gained wide popularity. That's probably because its uses are limited and it doesn't save much weight over a quad (240cm) length sewn runner. Tests We broke three webolettes on our Slacksnap machine. The first two were equalized towards the direction of pull and the third was equalized at an off angle slightly off of the direction of pull. We also pull tested two slings of the same age in two point anchor configuration as sort of a control experiment. One sling was dyneema and the other was nylon. 10% Supports HowNOT2 Climbing, Caving and Canyon gear here Results Our first webolette broke in the knot @ 20.99kN. The second broke the same way @ 26.3kN. The third, which was not equalized in the direction of pull broke the short strand @19.83kN, then broke the other strands 10kn, the knot completely disappeared. When we tested two single-length slings of similar age we got some interesting results. The dyneema sling broke @ 13.70kN! That's a pretty low result, still super good enough but definitely less force than we like to see. The nylon sling broke in the knot @22.5kN. All of these anchor systems and results are strong enough to handle more force than is ever generated in a normal climbing situation. Would we trust the webollete? Yes! No problem. Would we carry one? Probably not. A double, triple, or quad lengths runner (120, 180, and 240cm respectively) can all provide the same functionality and also perform many other functions while adding minimal weight, so we'd carry those. However, the webolette has a place in ultralight alpine anchor systems or amongst climbers who find it simple and intuitive to use. What's Next See how quad anchors hold up

UFO's are fabric wedges with climbing shoe rubber that are between a nut and a cam. They are used in Czech Republic and some parts of Germany and Switzerland where the rock is so fragile that they outlawed metal protection. Would you whip on these? IF it held it was stronger than a cam at 23.06kN, but it would also slip out at 1kn to 4kn. Fun unique climbing gear to see how it works. @Jenny.Lemonpie says they are a bitch to place one handed. What's Next? Find out how well these didn't work

Whoopie slings are spliced adjustable slings but Samson's instructions say that the bury has to be so long for the adjustable eye that it's almost unusable. For our 1/4" or 6mm Amsteel Blue sk75 Dyneema, that is a minimum of 3 feet long. Of course, it can be as big as you are willing to make the tail. We wanted to test if you can get away with smaller bury lengths and also the strength a whoopie loses because it doesn't have a gentle taper, but abruptly comes out of the side. Samson says you can expect 70% of the average breaking strength which is believable but it is sure fun to test it anyways. The Instructions A fid is a splicing tool that is 21x the diameter so 1/4" = 5.25". The INSTRUCTIONS say to bury the adjustable part of the whoopie 3.5 fids or in our case with the 1/4" dyneema, over 18"! Overall, with a 2 1/4 fid brummelled eyed makes 3 feet the smallest this adjustable sling! Our Experiment I sent 150ft of 6mm or 1/4" Amsteel Blue (yes it was orange, that is a brand name) to Jarod Lojeck and he spliced up 3 samples each of 1 fid, 1.5 fid and 2 fid bury's for the adjustable eye. From quick tests in the past I knew 2 fids was going to hold so we didn't bother with 3.5fids like Samson recommends. The eyes on everything was 1.5fids, shorter than they recommended but as you can see, it had no affect on our results. Our Results Metric Results 10% Supports HowNOT2 Climbing, Caving and Canyon gear here What To Think I have no idea. It's all super good enough and it's nice to see nothing slipped but it is absolutely surprising that eye to eye was the same range as the whoopies. HMPE products break in a huge range whenever I pull on it so just leave yourself some wiggle room of safety and use the next diameter up if you are that worried about the strength. If you spliced 1.25 fids for the eye and only 1 fid for the adjustable part, the smallest your whoopie would be is 18" and that is way more usable. Disclaimer: the more your life depends on this the closer you want to follow their instructions. What's Next Another manual, by Teufulberger, had splicing instructions that made our Brummell slip!

Derrick Weiss brought his 7 year old climbing gear to the lab and we pulled on it randomly. We tested some random things like the Belgian Knot, pulling on climbing slings against the stitching, and even drilled holes in the quickdraws to tease the last EPISODE we did where we drilled holes in carabiners. A Quick Summary The climbing slings broke 10% and 20% lower than what they are rated for. The dog bone broke at 21kN and its 2 carabiners broke at 24kN and 25kN Sliding X in a dyneema sling broke at 34kN but the girth hitch master point broke at 28kN which is totally fine. Anything above 20kN is super good enough. Pulling a climbing sling against the stitches did not lower the force as we got 21kN. It would probably deform that spot if you did it all the time but it isn't dangerous. ATC in guide mode shredded the rope at 5kN, the ATC loop broke at 8kN and the eye broke at 31kN Drilling 3 holes in the dog bone saved 0.3grams and reduced the strength about half, that was a fun way to end the video, DON'T DO THAT FOR GEAR YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON! Extra Thoughts The girth hitch master point, when one leg was cut, slipped at a very low rate. That is probably more of a result of it being around a large smooth surface and it would be way way better than a sliding X if a normal carabiner was used at the master point. If you need 1 leg to be really isolated, then tie a bfk. The Belgian Knot is a trick to adjust a sling, usually industrial slings. If you need a sling half the size that is easy, but if you need it to be a specific size, this could be an answer. It has held up at "full knot strength" (50% reduction) in this VIDEO but it slipped at 8kn in this video and shredded the sling. Not the best solution for dyneema products! What's Next We tested other climbing gear that was NOT super good enough

Reliable communication is essential for outdoor activities, and if you take a walkie talkie, but don't understand its batteries, channels, or nuances it can really hose you! My projects fall apart like a house of cards when I didn't have communication because someone (most often myself) didn't know how to use their Rocky Talkie. Why Rocky Talkies It has a bomber way to clip it to you. The 1550 mah battery lasts for 4 days The powerful 2-watt mode reaches as far as I ever need it You can't hurt the screen and it's durable enough to be dropped from a cliff or run over by a car. 10% off at RockyTalkie.com/HowNOT2 Durability Test We threw this off a 100M cliff and the first fall broke off the antenna but the 2nd one survived with hardly a scratch. Rumor has it, that have replaced people's Rocky's a few times when it rarely breaks the antenna, like 2x in 30,000+ Rockies Sold. I drove over with a car because, well, I could. I didn't get slow motion the first time so I backed up and did it again. The Rocky is totally fine. I broke test the carabiner and it's a rated full-strength carabiner, so it of course broke over 20kn. The rubber eye it is attached to, we pulled it apart at 335lbs. The keeper coil broke at 50lbs. All super good enough Battery Test I checked two Rockies inside at room temperature every few hours and it took over a week to drain. I did it again in the cold and it lasted even longer. However, you can see on both graphs that once it hits 25% you maybe only have an hour left before you get below 15% and you can't transmit anymore (since that requires too much of the juice). Now those tests were in standby mode so realistically if you are using these throughout the day and not turning them off at night, you can easily get 3 days out of them, but I usually get 4. To conserve battery, you can turn it off at night. Also, keep it in low power mode, especially if you are climbing and only 60M away from each other. And remember at 25% you don't have much time left. They say it takes 5 hours to recharge, but it usually only takes me 1 hour. Range Test If you test this on flat ground, especially in a car, you will be underwhelmed. Most of the cone of electromagnetic waves that it sends out passes by the person if it doesn't just pass them over. And a weed or butterfly or your car can block some of the signals. It shines in the mountains where the signal can bounce all over until it gets to your partner. We got less than a mile where it was flat and still in the car, we got 3 miles in the mountains. If you are direct line of site, you can get 25 miles, in case you want to rig a 25 mile long highline! I've done big projects and I've never had a problem with range. 2km world record highline 700 foot rope jump 900 foot zip line How Channels ACTUALLY Work They say there are 128 channels or 22 real channels and 121 privacy codes and some are CTCSS and DCS and it gets all really confusing. If you aren't a radio-ologist, this will really help. FCC says that FRS (license free radios) can only play in the 462MHz to 467MHz range and with 125KHz increments that only gives them 22 channel frequencies to work with. If you go to channel 23 you can hear it on channel 1 because the same 22 frequencies start to repeat. But there are 121 privacy codes which is a horrible name for them because they are the opposite of private. Channel 23 on any privacy code can be heard by channel 1 but Channel 23 does NOT hear channel 1. So they are more like 121 "LEAVE ME ALONE" codes so you don't get interrupted. There are two types of Privacy codes 1-38 are CTCSS or analog which is a squelch you can't hear. If the other radio has the same code, when it hears the squelch, it will tell you the message. 39-121 are DCS or digital which spits out a few 0s and 1s before each message. If the other radio has the same code, when it detects the 0s and 1s, it will tell you the message. If you keep hearing other people's conversations, move the privacy codes around as channels 23-128 are pre-programmed with some but you can change them and 22 channels x 121 privacy codes = 2662 different usable "channels" you can be in. If you scan, it only scans the first 22 channels which have privacy codes off. If you hear someone and you try to talk to them and they don't respond, it's because they have a privacy code on, or you have 15% battery or less. 10% off at RockyTalkie.com/HowNOT2 Other Radios FRS shares 7 frequencies with GMRS radios, the ones you need licenses for. So you could match up to those or even different brands even if they have a different privacy code numbering system. It all works the same, just look at the end of the USER MANUAL and you can see how to match those up with someone else's radios. Final Tips LOCK IT! Nothing worse than it getting bumped and changing channels and you don't hear your partner when they need you. Turn the Roger Beep off if you want it quieter. When it is off, push the power button and talk button at the same time (like a screenshot on a phone) and it will turn on without the beep. Do it again and it will bring the beep back. The rocky is IP56 splashproof rated but they recently came out with a IP67 water proof mic which can be handy if you want to keep your Rocky in a dry bag or just on your harness and not take it off every time you want to talk to your climbing partner. You can bring a spare battery if you think you'll need it. Just pull the rubber case off and it's easy to slip the new one on. 10% off at RockyTalkie.com/HowNOT2 What's Next? See where we dive deep into the C4 Ultralights and talk to the engineers who designed them