Beal Uni Core Enhances Climbing Rope Safety

Beal has recently come up with a new rope technology, called Uni Core, which binds the sheath of the rope to the core, enhancing safety in extreme conditions. By allowing the sheath and core to stay bonded together, sheath slippage is virtually eliminated in the event of a cut.

Below you can find the demonstration video (in English). For other languages (French, Spanish, German and Italian) click here.

By eliminating sheath slippage, Uni Core allows a climber/caver to safely pass the damaged section of the rope should the sheath be cut. Where the sheath of normal climbing ropes frays when cut, Uni Core allows temporary cutting of rope lengths without melting the ends.

Uni Core also helps to reduce shrinkage in water by up to 50%, all without affecting the ease of use and suppleness of the climbing rope.

Beal has implemented this technology in a whole new range of Uni Core ropes for caving (Spelenium) and climbing (Access, WallMaster, WallSchool) .



Source: http://www.beal-planet.com/sport/anglais/unicore.php

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Mammut recently developed a similiar technology: They mechanically link the outer sheath to the inner core using the so-called „quick braid technology”, giving the same advantages. (no need to melt the ends after cutting, no sheat slippage or shrinking and enhanced safety)

More info can be found on their website: http://www.mammut.ch/en/ropes_reep_procords.html

Marquette Backcountry skis: Forget about skins!

Dave Ollila, the inventor of the Marquette backcountry skis designed them so that they requires no skins to climb but can slide down easily without catching.

The idea behind it was to find something that was, much like snowshoes, flexible enough to let anyone explore the woods and hills in winter but at the same time be able to enjoy a faster downhill experience.

The unique scale design on the bottom of the skis grabs the snow and keeps the skis from sliding backwards while climbing.

Threaded inserts allow for no-drill mounting of standard three pin bindings so you don't have to go out and buy all new special kit.

The Marquette backcountry skis costs $179 and can be directly purchased from the company's website.

Helmet Releases Awful Stink When Damaged

You know the feeling-you have taken the occasional rock or ice chunk to the head or had a couple of nasty falls on your mountain bike but don't want to get a new helmet without knowing for sure the old one is toast. Well now you will be able to know for certain if it is necessary to replace your helmet with a new process that causes stinky oils to seep out of plastic materials when they are damaged.

Only completely damage-free helmets do the job of protecting your head properly. Normally it is recommended that you buy a new helmet after a certain period of time but it is hard to throw away a perfectly good helmet and spend money on a new one.

Developed by research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, a new helmet making process produces polymer materials or plastics that start to smell if they develop small cracks. Large cracks will really cause a stink.

The smell comes from stinky oils enclosed in microcapsules, measuring just 1 to 50 micrometers, which break if cracked. A layer of melamine formaldehyde resin encloses the capsules so that they are completely airtight and mechanically sealed until broken.

The capsules will open and exude the stinky substance at a level according to the amount of damage, as a sort of warning indicator. This means you will know you need to change out your helmet way before the damage gets outside of the recommended safety range for failing.

The microcapsules are inserted in a thick foil made of polypropylene, which is fastened to the head gear. So now you know if you are intentionally dropped on your morning ride or can't find a belay partner anymore, it is probably time for a new helmet.

When will we see this being picked up by Petzl, Black Diamond and others for their climbing/caving helmets?

Source: The Gear Caster (Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Share Alike)