UKH

Hi all,

Just looking for recommendations for Via Ferrata sets. I know there has been plenty of recalls in recent years and am not sure of the state of play in this side of the gear spectrum.
Also would appreciate it if anyone had pointers on gloves, especially female ones.

Need to get a brace of everything for myself and the missus.

Thanks in advance.
R.

In reply to RoK:

Hi Ronan, yes there has been a lot of recalls with VF kits, you can find lists of them online of you are thinking of buying pre owned gear or borrowing kit. Else, if you are buying new you should not need worry about the recalls. I would personally recommend the Simmond VF kit from Decathalon; it's only £35 and will do the same job as all of the other more expensive kits on the market. It even has the resting loop for attaching a krab to to allow you to clip in and sit in you harness to rest.

As for gloves my mrs has some black diamond fingerless VF gloves that she got on well with, I can't really comment on any others though.

In reply to RoK:

Any ferrata set you buy from a reputable shop should be fine - no one should be selling the recalled stuff.

For gloves, I just use my mountain bike fingerless gloves and they are great. I didn't see any point in buying a dedicated pair for ferrata. Basically as long as you get something that gives some protection on the palms and fingers you should be fine. Bike gloves also have the advantage that you'll be able to get small sizes as ladies versions are available which may not be the case with ferrata gloves. GOOutdoors or any bike shop should have a decent range.

In reply to RoK:

They are all much of a muchness. The recall concerns mainly well used kits. Frictional types suffer from the absorbtion rope fluffing up and then not pulling through the device. Ones with soring leashes suffer from the bunched up tape prematurely wearing. If they're new, neither will be a problem but its something to be aware of with any kit of that type, recalled or not. Other than that, there is a big difference in carabiners. Personally I prefer simpler ones as you know they will work right, for example there is a particular edelrid crab which operates by depress the black lever on its back, opening fully as it depresses - to my mind that is utterly flawed and dangerous and simply should not be on the market. In a messy fall like you would have on a vf the last thing you need is a self opening crab! Other than that just go for a robust, comfortable to use set...

In reply to Ronan O :

http://www.edelrid.de/en/Edelrid/Sports/Via-Ferrata-Sets/Cable-Comfort-2-3-...

In reply to Fiona Reid:

I also wore fingerless bike gloves for VFs this summer and they were fine.

In reply to RoK:

I found these quite good:

http://eu.blackdiamondequipment.com/en/climbing-gloves/crag-half-finger-glo...

In reply to RoK:

As a regular VF user(?), my personal preference is for elasticated lanyards and screamer, over the rope friction type. I find the rope type annoying, the tail always seems to snag on stuff and the Lanyards get in the way.

Adam

In reply to RoK:

As others have said if buying second hand check to ensure the device isn't recalled, also check for wear (furry lanyards etc) and age as most manufacturers recommend around a 5 year lifespan. Buying new shouldn't be a problem as no reputable shop will be selling recalled sets.

Karabiner style is important as it needs to be easy to operate (I found some of the larger krabs awkward in my girlie hands) repeatedly. These days screamer (rip) style devices appear to be most popular.

If buying a replacement set I would pay extra for longer lanyards - in many cases following the cable too closely puts you onto harder climbing.

Just got back from Italy and the sets are slightly cheaper over there, also there are many "cheaper" brands not seen in the UK which well undercut what you would pay here.

We used thin leather builders gloves, far cheaper than the ViaFerrata ones and worked fine - spoke to lots of people who had found "proper" ViaFerrata gloves wore out very quickly.

Don't forget a helmet! Freaked myself out after a I knocked a stone off a route and it narrowly missed people in the kitting up area (where we been sitting without helmets when eating lunch).

In reply to RoK:

As above, I like the elasticated sets with screamer more than the rope-pull system. More loops to tangle and trip over with the rope-pull... I have a black diamond set, if memory serves me correctly they were one of the few manufacturers not affected by recalls.

Regarding gloves, I have just returned from five days of vf in the dolomites and did not use gloves once. If you are going to pull on the metal cables a lot (like 99% of the locals) then they may be useful. But if you try to avoid cable-hauling then gloves are pointless.

Enjoy!

In reply to Everyone:
Hi all,

Many thanks for your replies. Great advice all round.

@Jenny C I have girlie hands myself so will have to factor that in to the purchase plan, cheers.
@mike kann, I was looking at a Mammut set that has a similar set up, Tec step Bionic I think. But looking at the pin that the action rotates about it looks to be at the opposite end so would need pressure from both sides to open the gate. I think.
Could be an expensive mistake if not.

RE: gloves, I think I might take a pair along for my girlfriend as I'm not too worried about my own hands.

Thanks once more, greatly appreciated!
Ronan.

In reply to mike kann:

+1 on these, I have used mine a lot over the last three years and they are great to work with. They do suffer from grit jamming the gates so rinse them under a tap occasionally and then spray with cycle chain dry lube to keep them sweet.

I will also +1 the cycling gloves but highly recommend good stout boots not trainers.

In the snow and ice I have also done VF's with axes and crampons! [good fun]

In reply to MaranaF:

I think Mike was specifically saying that these were not a good design. That if the lever on the back were to depress in a fall that the crab would open.

In reply to RoK:

Its quite clear from what Mike says he hasnt actually used them. I have, a lot, and they work in all situations.

In reply to MaranaF:

If you fall and the crab lands over a rung, back down, it will open the gate by depressing the lever. I'm not imagining this, it's the first thing I noticed when I picked it up. My opinion, yes but personally I wouldn't buy it on that basis. I want my krabs to stay shut under ALL circumstances, with these Edelrids, that's not guaranteed.

In reply to mike kann:

Carabiner requires inwards movement on both the back and at the gate at the same time to open.

In reply to RoK:

I would say take gloves even if you don't plan to use them - heavy duty gardening gloves are cheap enough and come in girlie sizes (trying to get girlie sized builders gloves isn't easy). Gloves will get tatty very quickly so you don't want to spend a fortune on expensive ones.

Regarding krabs, the ones MikeKann describes (where once unlocked the gate automatically opens) are not the norm. Most have a similar locking mechanism on the spine, but you also have to apply pressure to the gate (like with a snapgate) before they actually open. You can also get ones (usually cheaper) more like climbing krabs, but where the barrel is pulled down to unlock.

In reply to all:

Thanks for the further feedback.
Cheers,
R.

In reply to mike kann:

Hi Mike, I cant argue with your opinion but the market is moving in the direction of one handed crabs. I just looked it up and found some 30+ designs of VF lanyard and 90% of them have the Edelrid style "One Touch" crabs.

Clearly the gate 'can' be opened if the back of the crab is pressed against something hard but I have just been trying to get mine to do this in a way that could drop me and cant find a way of doing it. The problem is the life line we are clipped to is flexible so when loaded it doesnt hold the crab against anything, it moves out of the way and the crab tends to roll to one side or the other.

Someone will now work a way to make it open dangerously but after years of use and no problems I will stick with mine.

30+ lanyards here - http://www.teamalpin.com/de_en/bergsport/klettersteig/klettersteigbremsen.h...

In reply to RoK:

My 2p, after doing 5 Dolomites VFs this summer with my wife. I'd only done one before and she hadn't done any.

We had great fun and really want to go back.
Although the exposure can be big, it wasn't remotely scary, unlike Go Ape when I tried it in France in bad weather. The mountains don't sway in the wind.
Third, I would take gloves since you probably will cable haul at times if you are like me and everyone that we saw.
I would also use stiff shoes/boots rather than trainers.
My wife used the current Black Diamond VF set with elasticated lanyards while I used an old Petzl rope friction model that had sat in our attic for 10 years. Hers was constantly getting in a tangle and mine just didn't seeem to.

In reply to MaranaF:

I don't have a problem with single handed crabs though, I have a problem with krabs which can potentially open without human intervention. Most single handed crabs have a double action to open which is easy to actuate with one hand, or a springloaded sleeve on the gate, again easy to open one handed but secure against accidental opening. To me this particular Edelrid seems somewhat optimistic - even if the crab stays attached to the wire during this mode of loading, if the gate is open it simply will not stand up to the type of extreme loading you would see in any via ferrata fall. Carry on using it - it's your decision what you use. IMO, if I were Edelrid, I simply would not feel comfortable putting something out that has even the vaguest chances of failure through accidental failure...

In reply to RoK:

cycling gloves aren't up to VF use - it's the back of the hands and side of index finger that's the weak/thin point. I use Douglas Gill fingerless yachty gloves, they're much grippier than petzl ones. The main thing with using the cable is you slide your hand along and run the side of your index finger & thumb into stray wires. In terms of sets, the weight of the screamer is a pain on those sort of sets, and the tail is on 'pull trough' types. I personally have a petzl zyper (screamer types didn't exist when I bought mine) and it's actually the y-lanyard that gets snagged up, not the tail. You can reduce that on vertical wire sections by sliding your hand up the cable below the krab. It makes for easier clipping as you don't have to continually reach down to pass anchors like the numpty in the 'via ferrata fall' clip on youtube.

In reply to RoK:

Metolius fingerless leather gloves; fit like a glove!

In reply to Toerag:


Yes, I have used these but they are very expensive! I save mine for sailing and use the disposable builders type glove but a close fitting one. I usually have a few pairs knocking about in the van for putting the chains on or digging the van out of the snow in the winter.