IMPORTANT - Weaver's Cougar BRIDGE RECALL

[Tobe Sherrill]

It appears that Rich Hattier's recent post about the Cougar bridge failure has vanished from this site. PLEASE REPOST IT. A second bridge has been reported to have failed last Friday, shortly following visual inspection and with no alarming signs of use or abrasion.

Please all, get this word out quickly. Weaver reports approximately 1,200 units sold in 2010.

This is serious.

Here you go.

Anchor Bridge Ropeworks is calling for the immediate cessation of use of the Anchor Bridge Replacement Rope Bridge (part # ABR 7110)(Please see attached notice)

I have become aware of a single product that has failed during normal use. This incident did not result in any injuries. I am asking that all users of this product render the product inoperable by carefully cutting one or both of the eyes.

The official all for cessation of use is attached to this post with more information.

We are in the process of testing this failed unit to determine the cause of the failure and more information will be made available as it becomes available.

I appreciate any assistance that anyone can provide to help ensure the full compliance of this notice.

Sincerely,

Richard Hattier
Anchor Bridge Ropeworks, Inc.

 

[Altissimus]

... SERIOUS it is Tobe ...our lives depend on this gear ! ... nice to see you posting here even though it's the recall ... Dave ... PS were there any injuries / falls ???

 

[gf beranek]

Is the bridge made of an exotic rope type? Anybody know.

 

[Tobe Sherrill]

Manufacturers build to modern expectations and retailers sell what is sought, hopefully from reputable sources. Weaver is a reputable and fine USA manufacturer while Rich Hattier (splicer and supplier of the bridge) was splicing what he trusted.

Jerry, I can't speak for the suppliers on your request.

best

 

[CurSedVoyce]

On the second bridge failure.. Were there injuries?

 

[brendonv]

This is kinda bull shit.

What about all those saddles out there, who's owners don't frequent online/forums/magazines, whatever. How are they finding out their saddle is a death trap?

 

[woodworkingboy]

Good point, i also posted about that earlier, Brendon. I purchase lots of gear for buds here who don't read English. I try to look out for them. Still, there are many folks who can fumble their way through a catalog and order something, but are up shitz creek when it comes to recalls. The rings are a perfect example, I had to collect those. Basically, no rest for me until that was taken care of...or they would still be in use today, or worse!

 

[SkwerI]

I think it's all part of the risk of introducing new, exotic materials to replace old, boring, known materials. The constant quest for stronger, lighter, faster, better materials will always carry some risk. And when I was born I never got a written guarantee that everything I ever did in life was going to be completely safe and risk free.

The problem is using extremely high tensile synthetic cords for very low weight situations, but where it is constantly bent and flexed. I can take a piece of wire capable of holding 5000 lbs or more in a straight pull (like a coat hanger wire) but if I hold it in two hands and start bending it then after about 50-60 bends it's going to break. A high tensile strength means absolutely nothing in this application unless you have 12 men in your saddle with you.

 

[brendonv]

Brian, I wish I had your message conveying skills.

You write damn well.


-just an observation-

 

[SkwerI]

Thanks Brendon. So many times I struggle for words to explain what I'm thinking, other times they come to me. It's a constant battle.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I don't see any measure of justification for safety inadequacy based upon a competitive market. If a new product on the shelves puts you at risk from the equipment failing with proper use, someone isn't doing their job properly at the manufacturing end. Doing your job improperly is the worst way to meet the challenges of competition in the long run, it will usually catch up to you in a way that has negative business ramifications for the company, or in the least, you should likely be looking for another line of work as a poorly performing employee. Based on what has transpired recently, it would seem that there is need for safety testing improvement, or better engineering, or paying better wages to allow a friggen janitor who won't knock thngs on the floor and then put them in the wrong box. It doesn't seem to be asking so much. Failure in this regard is completely unacceptable. Unacceptable but it still happens, there should be a good answer to that.

That nobody got hurt is inconsequential to the fact that someone somewhere is guilty of a serious breech if responsibility. A recall doesn't amend that.

I had to get serious to collect those bad rings from people, still kind of feel that way about it.....

 

[Lou]

that was good timing for me, i just ordered one, and it got recalled...went with a petzel sit instead

 

[NeTree]

Just another example of K.I.S.S.

I've never heard of a recall on a Blake's hitch and 4 dee saddle.

 

[SkwerI]

If I was still climbing (especially if just rec. climbing) I'd be looking at a Ness.

 

[Widow Shooter]

yeah, but it is what you climb and how you climb...i have a weaver 4 dee in my shed, my 1st saddle, still in great shape, but i would hate to switch back to it and try some canopy work, or long technical, twisting limbwalks in it also, after a couple of 4-6 hour work- climbs in my Petzl weighing 3 pounds, the extra weight of the weaver would be a PIA now

 

[brendonv]

Just because you have the same saddle as Mark Chisholm, and hang your whole gear bag off it, doesn't mean you'll ever climb like him. (post not directed to anybody, just in general)

I like the KISS principle, too.

 

[Newfie]

It's better to look good than to be good.

 

[Widow Shooter]

I don't have the same saddle as Mark, or Beddes, or James but I do have the same as Cormac and Jared does that make be more bettah?

Agreed Brendon, I HATE a lot of shit off my saddle, i get it sent up as needed

 

[Blinky]

I think Brian is pretty close on this one. There is pressure for stronger, lighter, faster gear. I built my Vectran bridge because my old webbing one wore out really fast and I wanted a redundant bridge (two independent strength elements). I thought it was the shit until Jeremy reported his Technora bridge failing. I decided to replace mine since it was pushing two years old. Before I got around to it the damn thing failed almost exactly the same way his did. Now the Cougar bridges which I'm told are Tech Cord like Jeremy's are failing. I'm on edge about this because someone could still wind up hurt.

It all points to aramids (Technora, Kevlar, Spectra, etc.) and aromatic polyesters (Vectran). They are ridiculously strong in terms of tensile, some are super heat resistent... but they suck in terms of the bending fatigue a bridge sees. I'm with Nick, good old polyester makes the most sense at this point.
But I doubt those bridges were designed and made to be cheap. I know Rich well enough that he simply wouldn't go along with that, they would have to be safe and reliable first. NOBODY knew how the hi-mod fibers would hold up in a bridge, we're just now finding out. Mine looks almost like it was decayed by fungus or something, it's so compressed it's become homogenized, not even recognizable as a braid in the failure area.

I'm feeling pretty forgiving at this point because Anchor Bridge and Weaver did the right thing, they recalled first and asked questions later. That's how I want a safety gear manufacturer to behave and as long as they do, they'll have my loyalty. This has got to be costing them a bundle but they're wise to take the hit square on. They're putting the customer first... we can use a lot more companies like that.

 

[No_Bivy]

I like the bridge on the seqioia...easy to inspect and replace. Good ole webbing

 

[lumberjack]

I'm not 100%, but I figure the breaking was from fatige life issues, not new breaking strength.

 

[No_Bivy]

I watched a Brion Toss vid a long time ago......it said something about wear on some fibers.

Climbers used to sling thier friends short with kevlar cord...until everyone figured out that it did not like tight turns in the knot.....crumbled inside the sheath

 

[Blinky]

It should Brent and I've heard second hand that Rich did exactly that. The thing is, I think time is a factor in the failure along with moisture, minerals from sweat, the tight jacket... It's not just a bending failure... Even though it's not literally accurate, metamorphic is the best word I can think of to describe the forces.

This is mine taken apart after it broke. I left it big so you can see detail. (well, it WAS big before I posted it it)

Upper left, with the exacto behind are the two Vectran elements uncovered and separated. The parting line is basically planar from them being squished together inside the jacket. Note down at the break there are whole strands of Vectran that are flat, translucent and thiner than paper.

Going up the other side you can just barely make out some braiding but for the most part it's so compressed you can't even tell it's fiber. The pattern you see is the impression of the jacket which came from a retired dynamic climbing rope. The crack is the seam between the two elements.

Each Vectran element was spliced Eye2eye with crossed over tapers. One was a few mm shorter than the other.

It felt solid the day before I noticed the gap so it parted more or less suddenly, even though I'm guessing, it was waaay understrength for a long time beforehand.

 

[No_Bivy]

failed in the middle....the most common point from which you hung?

 

[Blinky]

Yep, right in the center... I'm a hanger, I hang around a lot.

You were there at the Fall Climb when I made this.