What I think happened is as he fell I pulled the slack in just as fast, by scrambling backwards down a hill. He got to the bolt, there was no slack at all left. Essentially his knots was arrested by the biner on the bolt, zero slack and zero elasticity. FF2 or near it, maybe even worse. A hard friggin jolt from a 5 foot fall.

I must have missed that memo that said the 00 TCU was an aid piece, because I've been climbing it with on my standard rack for a few years. I took at least a 10 footer onto my 00 about 6 weeks ago. This is one of the older models though...Guess they just don't make'm like they used to.

TCU TESTIMONIAL -- Jeff Hollenbaugh

"Hey Dave, what's that splitter over there, the thin one with the fresh anchor and no chalk?"

Since we were at Supercrack Buttress I assumed all the lines had been climbed, and since Dave was a local I assumed he'd be in the know on who put the route up. Well, we all know what you get for assuming; Dave had no clue. Eying the crack I knew I would need a #4 TCU for a pod at the base of the crack. From there it was straight into several yellows (or #2s, your editorial choice here Jim), a couple of blues, a #7 for the hand-size pod rest at two-thirds height, then purples to the finish. Damn, this thing was going to be hard. Almost as an afterthought I said, "what the heck, I'll throw on a #00 just in case, they don't weigh much."

"Everything weighs something," Dave quips as I clipped the #00 to the back of the harness.

A black widow the size of a fifty-cent piece nestled in the initial jam should have been my first clue that we'd had a great day of climbing and that it was time to head for the cold beer at the car. Not heeding the caution, I headed up the crack.

Blood was drawn as I jammed my tips into the crack and tweaked on them for purchase; the lack of traffic on the route kept the crack's edges sharp. With the last blue TCU at my knees, I lurched for the salvation of the hand jam. The first purple went in just above the hand jam. Stemmed out, with one hand still in the jam, I stretched as high as possible, snagged the #00 off the back of the harness, fully retracted the lobes, and shoved it in the crack as high and deep as I could get it; it would be my last piece. Obvious from the size of gear being placed, I wasn't going to be getting my fingers in the crack, so what to do? A shallow pod on the left face held promise. If I could fire into the pod, lay it away, get a good foot out left, stand tall and grab the in-cut ledge, I would be in there. I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't concerned about my last piece. The #00 just below my feet was on my mind as I stood tall for the in-cut. I had a lot more on my mind when the in-cut turned out to be a sandy sloper and I was air born. Coming to rest down by the hand jam I eagerly look up to see the silver sling of the #00 taught with my weight. As I said, doesn't weigh much, and boy was I happy to have brought it along. No, I didn't get the on sight. But at least I was given the chance to go for the on sight. Had I left that cam at the base I would have had to hang and have it tossed up, blowing the on sight due to fear and stupidity as opposed to a sandy sloper. The beer tasted better because I failed being spit off. It is always bitter when I fail from being stupid.

anyway kudos to metolius for being so quick with the response. Does anyone think I could get the #00 pictured above replaced?

ps the middle lobe cam stop sheered off.... thats what the picture is suppose to show...

I must have missed that memo that said the 00 TCU was an aid piece, because I've been climbing it with on my standard rack for a few years. I took at least a 10 footer onto my 00 about 6 weeks ago. This is one of the older models though...Guess they just don't make'm like they used to.

This explanation does not satisfy me. The guy took on the cam - he did not fall. Annnnnd.... if you remember when metolius adjusted their Kn ratings downward for small gear a few years back, it was to reflect rock conditions/size of the unit/ real world holding -- not to reflect the joint breaking at 5 kn. To put that into perspective a #3 swedge cable is rated at 5kn and it is tiny. I'm starting to doubt this design philosophy and appreciate that I have only purchased one. Because there ain't always other gear there to back it up.

Hey
Someone mentioned that BD had a recall a while back.... Any One know what they were recalling>> Thanks