Broken aluminum ring

  • Thread starter Tobe Sherrill
  • Start date
  • Replies 205
  • Views 27K
T

Tobe Sherrill

Guest
Friends,

I was just informed that an aluminum ring that we splice into an adjustable friction saver has broken. No one was hurt. Without the broken parts in hand we have yet to conclude whether the ring was abused, defective or of substandard materials, but the worst is to be expected.

All we do know is that the ring WAS NOT MADE or supplied by Buckingham, Petzl or DMM. From a photo that I've seen, the ring appears to match what we have in stock from Kong. If, in the coming weeks it proves out that the ring was defective or of substandard materials there will most likely be a recall issued by the manufacturer.

The ring mentioned is most commonly spliced into our adjustable friction saver (code 33002, 32152) but are also sold alone in two sizes, small and large (26585, 26584). The variety that broke is polished aluminum (silver in color) and without any logo or other markings. This ring also has a faint "casting seam" around the outside edge. http://www.sherrilltree.com/Professional-Gear/Rings/Large-Alum-Ring-828

PLEASE INSPECT life support tools periodically for signs of damage or defect. If you drop (purposefully or by mistake) hardware from height, consider disposing of it permanently as is common in many other life support professions. Hairline cracks in metal can be difficult to detect with the naked eye.

Given the circumstances, and even without a recall, SherrillTree will voluntarily replace any SherrillTree-supplied product having the above-described ring with a more clearly marked and certified variation as soon as they come available. Please mail your polished aluminum ring or ring-attached splice to;

Ring replacement
SherrillTree
200 Seneca Rd.
Greensboro, NC 27406
(please include your return address and telephone number inside the package)

Further details to be posted (within this thread) as soon as available. We sincerely regret any inconvenience or anxiety this is certain to cause.

Tobe Sherrill
 
Still a lot of questions to be answered on this. And if any information is the least bit untruthful or inaccurate the repercussions could stifle a lot of resellers and manufactures.

I've used quite a few such aluminum rings in friction savers I made myself. Always doubled up in that use. Though over the years I've seen a number of climbers use a single ring as sole support on the saddle bridge.

This is pretty serious.
 
Thanks for posting that Tobe. Can you post a picture of the adjustable false crotch you think the broken ring was on?
 
not sure if this hotlink will work
media.nl
 
The second one wasn't one of Tobe's part numbers for the record but does look like the same rings
 
I'm not too worried because I use that one for chunking down the stem and it never gets dropped or used without a lanyard as back up.
 
Though over the years I've seen a number of climbers use a single ring as sole support on the saddle bridge.

Well, I'ld be one of those. Used to use a swivel but thought I would get rid of the excess wear of moving parts and use something more reliable...like a solid ring.

Think I will reconfigure until this is all sorted out.

Dave
 
I don't have any of those problems.
I'm too paranoid to use aluminum rings, all my frictionsavers are with steel rings.
 
I have a friction saver made with those Aluminium rings purchased from Sherrill- but I very seldom use it and will wait for some more info before panicking and sending the rings back. Like Stig I find myself more comfortable with the steel rings and have an adjustable FS made with those that I use for blocking down spars.
 
Why use AL when these issues keep cropping up periodically? Steel seems bombproof and better able to endure abuse, and the weight difference, in use, seems negligible to me.

Of course thousands and thousands of AL pieces of gear are in use w/out problems, but I'm with Stig, too paranoid to use it. Steel requires no second guessing.
 
Friday we got a bulletin that States that all Bartlett employs are to turn in any aluminum rings for testing and replacement. I have 4 or 5 rings on various things.
 
Excellent post, Tobe, and a great way to back up what you're selling.

:thumbup:
 
I've been using those aluminum rings as my attachment point on my bridge. I also have a bunch of friction savers I've made using those rings.

So, are the rings that Sherrill sells alone the same as the ones spliced into their friction savers? I've taken a 6' fall on one of those rings when a sucker I didn't see broke sending the rope down into the main crotch.

All the rings I've bought seem good, and I check my gear pretty regularly. Eager to hear more though...
 
Aluminum life support devices need to be checked all the time on a regular basis, not just after some big news about a failure with absolutely no details on the situation or history of the device. I don't know about anybody else but that was one of the first things beaten into my head when I first started using aluminum carabiners, pulleys, and other items. Aluminum alloys are much lighter than steel, but there's a price to pay for that weight savings and it's a lack of durability. This is nothing new. If you're hanging your life on aluminum and aren't inspecting it regularly, you're doing it wrong.
 
I have a few polished Al rings from wesspur in the larger size, but they do have markings on them, some digits and 24kn. I also have a few of the smaller Al ones that are gold colored made by petzl. I don't like unmarked safety equipment.
 
Back
Top