you guys kill me... :lol: :lol:

wow. just wow.

However i have found that the orange extension cords work as the best rope and you can just connect them all so you never have to set up a belay station!

OK everybody.. this is what happens when you try to learn how to climb on the internet. These forums are littered with n00bs (ahem) doling out advice as if they were seasoned climbers.

I've seen a lot of posts in this thread raving about using cats as protection. This practice is dangerous and should be obsolete. My Black Diamond CatCentrics claim to have six different placement options. This is entirely untrue.

While it may be possible to insert the cat and seat it appropriately in six different positions, a cat is naturally inclined, in the event of a fall, to orient itself such that its feet are pointed toward the ground.

I learned the dangers of this first-hand in Seneca several years ago when my inverted cat placement attempted to land on its feet when I fell. The protection blew and sent me on a 50-foot screamer. The only thing that kept me off the deck was a bomber black lab that I'd tied off with a 2 foot loop of red webbing. Yeah, red webbing -- just gives you an idea of how long ago this was. Man, were we stupid back then or what?

Retire your cats. Or if you insist on climbing with them, please make sure you only seat them with their feet oriented in a proper landing position, and back them up with a more modernized Amazon bat placement.

OK I'll ask it if no one else will. We've all gotta do our R&D part....

If you're dead would YOU make good pro?

to adhere me to a wall.

It's official. coylec is a nerd that can be used as smear pro.

It's official. coylec is a nerd that can be used as smear pro.

Don't use the red webbing either. It's weaker than the other colors.

As stated below your lab is only rated for aid climbing unless you paint him yellow. Standard yellow labs are all good. Remember that when you paint him and it dries that he becomes "stiffer" (don't ask) but then you need to be careful about placing him over edges just like with forged friends. Also, due to the large size labs are only recommended for offwidths. Nookie should be good at any time...at least for me it is. I'd rate nookie at at least 15. Make sure not to use yellow rope for the slings on either piece.

The next time someone gets on your case about bringing your dog to the crag, just tell them that he's part of your rack.

I want to use two dogs in an opposite and opposed configuration for a top-rope anchor. What are the preferred breeds? Since dogs often greet each other in this fashion on the trail anyway (nose to butt...) this would be a natural use for our canine friends.

I can't believe that in SEVEN pages of this (bearing in mind, you've got the toy biner, the bucket, the water, and the border collie to haul them around), nobody's drawn attention to the "Official" use of "Puffer Fish Pro" :

"Load a wicker creel [bucket] with 5 to 15 fish, with the spines removed prefitting each with a neoprene or C-4 sleeve. On route simply pluck out a puffer, hold it inside the crack, and scream. Frightened, the puffer will swell, creating a secure but temporary chockstone, around which you loop a 1/2 in. tie-off. Our puffers have remained lodged for the duration of full-rope Devil's Tower leads -- the moving rope and rattling carabiners keep the puffer on edge. . . . To deflate, the second can tickle them under the chin with a toothbrush."

-B. Cannon, QUICK CLIPS (by Climbing Magazine), p. 7 (1997).

RHaj