Neox for Seamless LRS and TRS
A final progress update and abandonment of the project
There was a lot of discussion anticipating the release of the Neox in relation to LRS. Since its release, there has been an almost widespread claim of it unsuitability as people obtained them and started using them. I was not one of them. I saw a lot of potential for it being a better LRS/TRS device. Most of the general concern re the Neox as a rope solo device stemmed from how free-flowing the rope is when used according to Petzl's instructions and how strong the cam-arm spring is. This, and some initial tests and statements by "test pilots" view that it would be difficult for the wheel to lock-up and stop a fall without a hand on the rope.
However, I saw other possibilities for overcoming those concerns through four modifications: removing the cam arm spring; doing a partial tab grind to straighten out the rope path a bit to further reduce friction but still preventing the rope from getting caught underneath the cam arm; coming up with alternative way to add back in the desired amount of cam-arm tension for LRS and being able to remove that tension at will for TRS; and, finally rigging it in a novel manner so the Neox is in a normal hanging belay orientation, but held up by a chest harness which would make it free to orient itself for a normal or headfirst fall and still lock-up.
After removing the spring, doing a partial grind of the rope tab, and starting work on some additional mods to make cam arm tension adjustable and removable, along with some additional mods and testing, I felt that it could theoretically be the "holy grail" that we've all wanted. And, be able to do all this with one device without removing from it from the chest harness. I still believe it might be possible, though at this point, I'm stopping further modification and development of it.
Sooo...why am I stopping development of that wonderful possibility?! There are five main reasons:
1) It would require so much modification that 99% of LRSers wouldn't (and shouldn't) do the modifications. 2) TRSing with it will never be as good as some of the other methods out there; 2) While for LRS it could rival a heavily modded GG+ for ease of feed and lock-up - the Neox is larger, heavier, more expensive and more complicated. 3) With the spring removed, and without a hand on the free-end of the rope it locks up quick. However, because there is no hand to initiate lock-up, the wheel can tend rotate more than it normally would because of of its orientation. This is evidenced by a clickedy-clack sound (the wheel-stops, start engaging hitting each other until it locks up positively). When used for normal belaying, the orientation of the Neox is 90 deg to the angle of rope pull which means a max of half-rotation before the wheel stops and engages. Because of the different orientation for both LRS and TRS the angles are different and the stops tend to hit and rub and go clickety-clack before locking up. To be clear - it DOES lock up very positively without the spring, however I wonder about the extra wear on these small stops inside the wheel. And, 4) the Neox is basically a "black box" - in that you can't examine the condition and wear of the stops inside the wheel/hub combo. I'm sure Petzl has created a robust device. However, they didn't create it for the unique orientations that are used for rope soloing. So without any means to monitor the wear of the stops, it is a huge negative for me. (The actual insides of the Neox wheel/hub combo can be observed in Beta Climber's video (who makes the same points, starting at minute mark 4:20). Lastly, 5) I had some Revo like repetitive lock/unlock issues while lowering my wife when testing it in the gym. I doubt this would ever happen with smaller ropes and heavier climbers rapping with it. But, still...
So there you have it. Nice idea...but for me, not worth further time/effort in sorting things out and testing. I actually didn't get to the final stage of mods before I decided to "pull the plug" on finishing up the final modifications and testing.
Sooo...the holy grail is still elusive. I believe it will eventually come in the future - either as a mod to an existing device or maybe as a ground-up design. Here's the rub though - we all want an all-in-one device that's "best-in-class" for each of the functions it needs to perform and we want it to be compact and lightweight. THAT, is a tall order to fill and we could be waiting quite a while for that. Of course I could be wrong because of all the increased interest in rope soloing. Until then we have to make compromises in function/performance and wisely assess the degree of risk we're willing to take.
No comments:
Post a Comment