what's the point? Ascender points ground down.

[RopeArmour]

Thought to get rid of these points because I gather there meant to bite through mud, snow and ice. Working well for me especially disengaging
Green is ground and yellow is untouched.

 

[Pelorus]

Is rope picking / shredding the issue here? If so, wouldn't making a change in climbing technique, and/or cordage construction be a better option?

 

[RopeArmour]

No shredding and minor picking but nothing that couldn't be fixed.
Detaching is much easier especially with the croll that I use like a third handy hand. I'm terms of technique, I suppose so but climbing trees requires twisting and pushing and pulling in odd ways. A better tool would swivel xyz.

 

[RopeArmour]

I'm very found of 11mm or less ropes so sm dia ropes may be more prone to the picking.
Either way you know I am looking to make things smoother and easy

 

[Pelorus]

I totally get the "point" of trying to make things smoother and easier! Gravity is getting stronger as I get older.
Recall someone or other posting on the Buzz awhile back about doing the same thing, but he filed too much off, and it adversely affected the ascender's grip ability.

 

[Altissimus]

Hmmmmmm... Not sure about the idea.

 

[Joezilla11]

I did that to my haas with good results but only the top row or two of teeth. As careful as I could be it would still pick my ropes. I just took a small sandstone rock and ground it in there. It could have been a burr on one of the teeth but I couldn't get it with a file and the stone worked well enough

 

[RopeArmour]

Everything still working AOK. Ima gonna do the handled ascenders tomorrow.
For long ascents are most of you using a hand ascender or bare handing?

 

[DMc]

Bare handing. Actually gloved hands. Try to set yourself up with a good knee and foot ascender and just use your hands for balance. Using hand ascenders will just encourage you to use your upper body more than you should.

 

[BIGTWIG]

I use a double handed ascender on long ascents. Not sure if you're asking for our opinion here on grinding the teeth down, but I think it's a terrible idea if you're grinding down teeth on the croll(or anything) while using it for life support, I would rather have rope pick and take another 5 seconds to disconnect gear than take a slide.

 

[Burnham]

I had to smooth a few specific teeth on a handled ascender cam once, they were slightly deformed to a hooked tip, new from the manufacturer...picked badly, but a chain file did a nice job of getting rid of the problem.

I don't think I'd go as far as you did Thomas, and I have not had rope wear problems or picking from ascender teeth in original form, so far.