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This section covers developments in our products and services that have occurred since the website was last revised. New items will be added at the top of the page, and the older ones may eventually fall off the bottom.
The ascenders are of the folded sheet type, which is ideal for recreational use. CT has introduced an innovative pivot feature on the release catches, making them much easier to operate.
Also to be introduced soon are the CT range of "catch-free" karabiners, which eliminate the notch found on conventional karabiner gates. These will be available around October.
We are delighted to announce the release of the Trulight, an innovative new LED lamp for caving. This is a highly efficient and lightweight light, incorporating its own independent backup system - two lights in one. Under normal conditions the Trulight will provide 12-15 hours of functional light for caving without changing its extremely compact battery, which is carried in a small pouch on the rear of the helmet. See the Caving page for details.
Our response to the changes is the Fall-stop harness, featuring D-ring attachment points at the front in the chest position, as well as the traditional rear attachment D-ring.
Details will be available soon on the height-safety page.
Pricing is a complicated issue, and the changes have been far from uniform, depending on when the last revision was made (SMC pulley prices were reduced last year), price changes from our suppliers, and changes in freight costs. Generally our US-sourced products (other than PMI static rope) have gone down around 15-20%, and there are some improvements with other products too.
We stock the 10.6 mm Wall indoor wall rope, which is imported as 200 metre spools. We sell this either as full spools, or in cut lengths by the metre.
We also have the 10.2 mm "Spire" in 50 metre and 60 metre lengths, and the 9.4 mm Elite 60 metre, in single ropes. In half ropes there are the Fusion 8.6 mm and Verglas 8.1 mm versions. Details are on the Climbing Ropes page.
We have started stocking CMI because their products complement our existing range and enable us to offer more variety. Generally their pricing is favourable, while retaining the usual American attention to quality. Most products are engineered to the requirements of the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association).
We will be progressively adding CMI products to the relevant pages for ascender, descenders, and pulleys.
The harness has been in use in the Full-on programmes for a season, and we have refined the design this year, improving the stability of the harness and adding foam pads to the leg loops. We have added the harness to our general product range because we are sure there are many other outdoor programmes that would benefit from a versatile full harness at a reasonable price.
Check out the full harness on the Outdoor Education page.
Twin-tail lanyards have two separate lanyards attached to a common energy absorber, which is then connected to the harness. They are essential where a attachment point has to be passed while working at height.
The accident has been ascribed in incorrect use of the product by connecting the usused tail back to another point on the harness, which according to the manufacturer caused the energy absorber to be bypassed, and generated high loads on the lanyard assembly between the two ends of the assemby.
Testing on Aspiring twin-tail lanyards has shown that they perform normally when subjected to this type of loading. This is because we use a different type of energy absorber, which forms a closed loop and so cannot be ripped apart in the manner that the Australian lanyard apparently was.
The Cinch is a self-locking device that responds to a sudden load on the rope, but otherwise allows the rope to feed out. It can also be used as a self-braking belay device. Check out the Cinch on the Belay Devices page.
The Nova has too many features to list, but is fully described on its own page at this link.
All major South Island crags are fully covered, including selected coverage of the Wanaka region, and full coverage of Britten Crags at Christchurch and Lovers Leap at Dunedin. There are also numerous smaller crags from the Port Hills and Queenstown that have been added. Many of the descriptions have been revised, and in particular the access descriptions have been improved.
South Island Rock has its own website. See http://www.southislandrock.co.nz.
Dyneema® is a high-strength lightweight material which is used to reduce the weight and bulk of webbing climbing equipment. It is similar to Spectra®, both materials being made from High Molecular Weight Polyethylene. HMWP has about twice the strength of nylon.
In its reincarnation as a jigger, the 4:1 haul system appears with a very short length of rope - about five or six metres - and has become widely used on rescue stretchers for altering the tilt of the stretcher and changing the position of the stretcher attendent. The jigger is described on the Rescue pulley page.
The SMC Micro prusik-minding (PMP) double pulley used in our jigger system is shown at right.
To recognise the success of the pack cover we have introduced a new model for this summer, the Tempest. This has an adjustable shock-cord around the perimeter, as well as a small webbing strap which is connected across the back of the pack. Both of these features are designed to hold the pack cover more securely on the pack. The Tempest pack cover is described on the Tramping page.
On the Mount Cook strop the rope ends were swaged directly into 10 cm diameter forged steel rings, which were then used to connect to the helicopter at one end, and to the rescue stretcher at the other end. The ring has plenty of room for hanging a rescuer and various items of gear, as well as the stretcher.
In a newer development we have connected an SMC rigging plate (as illustrated) on to the bottom of the strop. This has the advantage that each item or person on the strop has a separate connection point among the five holes provided on the rigging plate, thereby keeping everything separated.
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