Slings
Essential Gear for Safe Rock Climbing
By
Slings, made with lengths of webbing that are sewn or knotted
into a closed loop, are essential pieces of climbing equipment that you use
every time you go rock climbing.
Slings work with carabiners, quickdraws, cams, nuts, and
a climbing rope to make a safe climbing
system.
Slings Work Hard
Slings do lots of climbing jobs, like attaching yourself to
anchors, creating equalized anchor systems, tying off natural protection
like trees and wedged chockstones, for making an autoblock knot, and clipping into the rope and
gear to reduce rope drag.
First Slings Were Knotted Rope
The first slings used by climbers were simply short pieces of
thin rope and cord that were knotted into a closed loop.
The use of strong nylon webbing in the 1960s, however, created
better, stronger, and lighter slings for climbers.
By the mid-1970s, climbing gear manufacturers began sewing
slings by overlapping the two ends of a length of webbing and sewing them
together.
Spectra and Dyneema Slings
Slings now are made with either nylon webbing or Spectra and
Dyneema.
The ideal sling material is Spectra and Dyneema, which are both
light, flexible, strong, and durable.
Both Spectra and Dyneema are polyethylene arranged as parallel
fibers, giving it a slick surface. which makes it impossible to tie and hold a
knot.
The fibers won’t accept dye so they’re white. Colored yarn is
woven into the fibers so that it can retain a knot.
Slings made from these materials are always sewn for maximum
strength. They’re also more resistant to ultraviolet damage from the sun.
The main negative characteristic is that they are less elastic
and dynamic than nylon webbing, so they don’t absorb as much energy when shock
loaded in a fall.
Nylon Webbing Slings
Nylon webbing is either flat or tubular. The flat woven webbing
is lightweight and inexpensive, while tubular webbing is more durable but
bulkier and more expensive.
Nylon webbing is ideal for constructing Swiss seat harnesses,
long slings for tying off trees or boulders for top-rope anchors, for leaving at
equalized rappel anchors, and for making knotted slings
of various lengths.
Modern Sewn Slings
Modern slings are made from lengths of ½-inch or one-inch
webbing that are either tied or sewn together in lengths from one to four feet
long.
Climbers commonly use two-foot-long slings. Sewn slings are
stronger than tied ones.
The sewn bar tacking on the webbing overlap of a sling is
extremely strong, as strong as most carabiners.
Tie Slings With a Water Knot
Tied slings can be made to various lengths and of different
material including cord rather than webbing.
Always tie the ends of sling together with a water knot, also
called an overhand trace knot.
Knotted slings that fail under a load or a fall usually break at the knot.
Stewart Green
Introduction
Author of more than 20 books about hiking and rock climbing
Senior rock climbing guide for Front Range Climbing Co. in
Colorado
Worked with the Colorado Department of Parks to solve climbing
problems
Red Rock Canyon Open Space and Garden of the Gods committee
member
Experience
Stewart M. Green is a former writer for ThoughtCo who wrote
articles about rock climbing for more than eight years. Stewart is an expert
climber and co-owns Front Range Climbing Company where he acts as the senior
rock climbing guide in the mountains of Colorado and Utah. Stewart started
writing about and photographing the outdoors around 1977, landing his first job
with Springs Magazine in 1979. Since that time, his writing and photography
appeared in numerous books and websites. Stewart's experience includes working
as a digital editor for Alpinist.com where he wrote about and photographed some
of the most famous climbers in the world.
Stewart is a prolific writer. His work appears on many websites
and magazines which target the outdoor enthusiast audience. He has more than 20
books to his credit about climbing and hiking. Stewart worked with the Colorado
Springs Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services to solve
problems with rock climbing in city parks. He was a member of the committees
for both the Red Rock Canyon Open Space project and the Garden of the Gods
project.
Education
Stewart M. Green earned a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative
Nonfiction Writing from Goucher College in 2007. He also holds a Bachelor Arts
(B.A.) in Anthropology from the University of Colorado–Colorado Springs.
Awards and Publications
2011 Golden Quill Award in Lifetime Achievement, Pikes Peak
Library District
Best Climbs Phoenix, Arizona: The Best Sport and Trad Routes
in the Area (Falcon Guides, 2017)
Rock Climbing New England: A Guide to More Than 900 Routes (Falcon
Guides, 2015)
Rock Climbing Utah 2nd Edition (Falcon
Guides, 2012)
Best Climbs Denver and Boulder: Over 200 Of The Best Routes
In The Area (Falcon Guides, 2011)
Best Climbs Moab: Over 140 Of The Best Routes In The Area (Falcon
Guides, 2011)
Rock Climbing Colorado, 2nd: A Guide to More Than 1,800
Routes (Falcon Guides, 2010)
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