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Re: [petit_suisse] EDDY as a solo belay and its camming action DANGERS (?):
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healyje
Oct 24, 2008, 6:55 PM
Views: 36845
Registered: Aug 22, 2004
Posts: 4204
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petit_suisse wrote: Hi Dorian, Take care with the EDDY, because we made some tests in a "standard" configuration : one climber fall after about ten meters with a lot of friction (quick draws in zigzag) and the EDDY didn't block at all! Even with the speed of the rope increasing! The EDDY blocks only when you have a strong shock from the rope. Tests made with new ropes Ø9.4 and 9.7 mm. EDDY is given for Ø9 to 11mm ropes. I'll never use this equipment for solo... So take care. petit_suisse
This testing was clearly done with a total and complete misunderstanding of what an Eddy is and how one works. I can tell from the verbage use that your testing was done with the assumption that an Eddy does and should work like a grigri. It doesn't and shouldn't, which is exactly what makes it good for [my] roped soloing.
The grigri employs a spring for constant pressure on the rope - an Eddy does not. The grigri is a [sometimes] 'autolocking' device - the Eddy is not. Let me repeat that statement: the Eddy is not an autolocking device. It looks more or less like a grigri in that it is roughly the same shape, a rope goes in and out of it, and it has a handle you pull back. But for all those visible similarities, they are not functionally equivalent inside the devices and that is by design.
Any expectation - under any circumstance - that the Eddy should autolock is entirely misplaced and represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the functionality provided by the Eddy. With ropes from 9.8mm on up it will provide the illusion of autolocking when the rope snags the locking cam and flips it, but that is not the designed purpose of the device. I have no doubt whatsoever that a sub-9.8mm rope will not provide that autolocking illusion under almost any circumstances.
Once again, if you use a sub-9.8mm rope and expect the Eddy to [auto]lock off the rope without you restraining the rope travel with your brake hand you are going to be rudely and consistently disappointed - it was never designed for such use.
Any expectation or assumption that an Eddy should perform or function like a grigri is doomed to disappointment and probably result in an accident sooner than later.
(This post was edited by healyje on Oct 24, 2008, 6:59 PM)
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Edit Log:
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Post edited by healyje
() on Oct 24, 2008, 6:57 PM
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Post edited by healyje
() on Oct 24, 2008, 6:59 PM
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