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Climbing Equipment Specs
The working load limit (WLL) vs break strengths article describes why a factor of 3 is used for steel quick links vs aluminum carabiners in the table below.
|
Item
|
kN | lbs |
kg
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Chest Ascender - New Doar | 4.0 | 882 | 400 |
| Chest Ascender - Petzl Croll | 4.0 | 882 | 400 |
| Hand Ascender | 4.0 | 882 | 400 |
| Quick link 1/4 zinc plated steel | 6.5 | 1440 | 655 |
| Quick link 1/8 stainless steel | 6.5 | 1440 | 655 |
| PETZL Micro Traxion | 7.5 | 1654 | 750 |
| Beal Birdie | 8.0 | 1764 | 800 |
| GriGri Petzl 2 | 10.0 | 2205 | 1000 |
| Quick link 1/4 stainless steel | 12.0 | 2640 | 1200 |
| Foot loop Ascender Webbing | 15.0 | 3308 | 1500 |
| 8 mm accessory cord | 19.0 | 4200 | 1909 |
| 16mm Nylon Sling | 22.0 | 4851 | 2200 |
| Carabiner - Screwgate - Black Diamond | 24.0 | 5292 | 2400 |
| Quick link 5/16 stainless steel | 26.6 | 5850 | 2659 |
| Quick link 3/8 stainless steel | 49.1 | 10800 | 4909 |
Fall Force
The equations below are from the How to Calculate the Force of a Falling Object article. E is the energy, m is the mass, g is gravity, h is the height of the fall and distance travelled is the distance taken to stop due rope/equipment stretch/slack, after falling h. For the table below we will use 6" as the distance travelled.
|
kN
↘
|
125 lbs
|
150 lbs
|
175 lbs
|
200 lbs
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 ft | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 1.8 |
| 2 ft | 2.2 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 3.6 |
| 3 ft | 3.3 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 5.3 |
| 4 ft | 4.4 | 5.3 | 6.2 | 7.1 |
| 5 ft | 5.6 | 6.7 | 7.8 | 8.9 |
| 6 ft | 6.7 | 8.0 | 9.3 | 10.7 |
For more details read Fall Factor and kN Ratings. Specifically "Tiny 'micro' cams and nuts have low strength ratings and will only hold small falls. If you take a massive whipper onto a 3kN nut, it'll probably break.".
Fall Force Calculator
Bone Strength
It takes 4kN to break a human femur .