howNOTtoHighline
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Shorts, Machines, and Website
🕑 Added 2023-06-03 14:42:54 +0000 UTC1st of 8 Posts in June. As much as I like long-form, some tests just don't need to be 12 minutes long. Making the short form has helped me make the long form better. My main videos are at least 10-20% shorter without cutting out any information. Shorts are a great way for me to say yes to more people for random break tests without feeling like I have to make a full story around that piece of gear.
Totem Cam Test: https://youtube.com/shorts/qJUZ6YUDrNM
Super Dirty Rope: https://youtube.com/shorts/pfTa3TQ04h8
Cam crusher: I have a pile of cams to test and a bunch of rock plates that Steve Glotfelty has made me. Once I know that works well, we will test brands against each other and not just random cams sent to me.
Drop tower: I put up a climbing route to get up to a ledge I built making it way easier to go up and down. I added the max weight to the all thread and beefy eye bolt making my dummy 150lbs of steel weight which is enough to do most things. I also figured out a way to lift it up in a sustainable way for one person without electric winch. Personal anchors and screamers are first on the list.
Abrasion tester: Joe is coding more tomorrow. Figured out how to attach weights to it. Ordered a hardened "edge" Still need to figure out how to lift that weight up after it falls.
Linear Actuator: I'm working with a team of seniors at an engineering university to make essentially an Instron knockoff. $50k machine for $5k. I'll be able to do cycles and control speed which opens up 100 other potential videos. I may also see what is involved in getting my lab UIAA certified. That would be nice to do someday but I'm not in a hurry for that.
Website: Blogging past episodes is obviously not going very quickly if I try to keep up with episodes as I post them. Working with a few people to see if (1) I can learn how to delegate and (2) if they can keep the tone/vibe of the other blogs. The blogs are just a stepping stone to writing "Breaking Gear Fear", a book that would summarize all the break tests I do so people would be able to learn in a few hours what has taken us years to do. If I make another 500 episodes, that isn't very helpful for people with specific questions, especially with the clickbait titles.
Bolting Bible: We may have a solution to make it downloadable as a PDF again while keeping it easy for me to work on in the blog form. I also can start releasing the 20 banked videos I've been waiting to do until that was done, once I have 3 more chapters written.
Thank you for all your support, all of it goes back into the videos, lab or website!
Comments
I'll keep an eye on the flex, but it's a rigid box with thick steel plates (plus rock now). The only spot that could flex is pushing against 8 5/8" bolts. It might be the way the camera films it or the box twists as it's free spinning on the back side with my quad X holding it. I'll go back and see how much the cams open up in real rock cracks before failing to see if that is a cam thing or a rock adapter issue. I keep a list on a spreadsheet when people shoot me ideas. Email me at ryan@slackline.com for them and I add it to the list. I might do the wiki list someday that people can vote on. I've always been an opportunivore and do things as they are available to me but as I currate more stuff intentionally, then I refer to my list. Drop testing Petzl Evolv Adjusts and pulling on Connecticut hitches seem to be requested all the time haha.
On the Totem test, the cam opened up from about 30 degrees to a final 90 degrees.. Some of that might be the cam, but it appears that most of it is flex in the system. This will definitely be a problem on smaller cams - is it worth trying to find out where that flex is coming from? (great testing by the way!!). On another note - do you have a public register of 'ideas' (like a wiki that people can see what has already been suggested etc?)
Raj Giandeep
Very curious to see the results from your machine. thank you for all you do. new climber here since dec & your videos are super helpful to me.
