hey. what are you using for top rope hardware? right now we have equalized anchors made with slings or quickdraws in some walls, or chain anchors with carabiners on others. but we are about to expand the gym and put up about 10 new lines, so we are looking for other options. maybe something with a bit more radius, so the rope wont bend so much so it will last longer? or what do everyone is using?

thanx....

thanx. i was thinking something like that, a 3 or 4" pipe, but i dont know if i would like to wrap the rope around it....

hey. what are you using for top rope hardware? right now we have equalized anchors made with slings or quickdraws in some walls, or chain anchors with carabiners on others. but we are about to expand the gym and put up about 10 new lines, so we are looking for other options. maybe something with a bit more radius, so the rope wont bend so much so it will last longer? or what do everyone is using?

thanx....

we have been runing for 10 years, using regular equalized anchors... but wanted to see some other options... what other place to ask people who has been on a lot of gyms??? it doesnt means im going to do everything i am told, but it can give me some ideas....

i will sure post pics when we are done... and, where else could we seek for "opinions" if not from here?? this is the ONLY climbing gym in the STATE... and, we are not in the US...

I sure hope you know what you're doing, otherwise I feel sorry for the guy who hits the deck.
http://www.fixeusa.com/...ng_gyms_hardware.htm

I have seen think pipe with the rope over, or often wrapped once around the pipe. The one wrap does make it very forgiving for a bad/sloppy belayer, though for lowering light climbers you almost feel like you need to push the rope through the belay device. This has the added advantage that the rope can be shifted right/left along the pipe to better line it up with on or another route on the wall.

I've seen stuff like at the top of an outdoor climbing route -- generally steel biners or, more often, quick links, thick heavy and solidy shut, used in pairs. Sometimes positioned a bit apart from each other to increase the radious -- that is, so the rope goes up, over some distance (sometimes a foot, sometimes a few feet, the 2nd again allowing one rope to cover a couple different climbs.). Sometimes chains hanging down, and the rope through big links on the end of a pair of chains.

This is what we use at my gym. I made them myself (I’m a certified welder) but you can buy them from a company but I can’t remember which one. I thought it was rockwerx but I couldn’t find it on their site. The other option is to find a welding shop local to you and have them made, expect to spend a couple hundred each on them. I used 2 ½” Sch 40 pipe 12” long and ¼” plate for the sides and back. Using these at least doubled the life of the ropes over the 2 quicklink on chains system the previous owner had set up. We don’t double wrap because it adds too much friction and makes it imposable to lower the little ones (we did try it for a few weeks and then switched back).

Unfortunately my gym is all 2x6 framing so no. I nailed a 2X12 on the back side and bolted through with four ½” bolts.


I took the time to holesaw the side plates and corner to corner weld the pipe from the outside so the rope wouldn’t be running against the weld. I also put a slight bend, 5deg or so, on the top and bottom of the sides so the rope wouldnt run on the corner of the steel plate.

here's what we ended up doing, almost finished... for the anchor we used 2 hangers and 2 quickdraws at each route, as you would find in an outdoor route, just without the chains... we will include chains to some routed to teach people how to clean an anchor...