certified splices

[Cleetus]

I have run a small splicing course for 3 respected assessors. Before we even started to splice I ran through types of rope and their constuction, and which type of splice to use. This was completely new territory for them. I think before pepole even pick up a fid they should know how the rope they are going to splice is constructed. There are small diffrence between perfoming the same "type" of splice on a

"diffrent" type of rope, which can make it safe or not safe.

[Jamie]

Yales 16 strand XTC is very similar to Samsons Arbormaster, the difference is more in fine splicing techniques than actual construction. between different ropes in teh same construction genre there will be minor differences but like cleetus has said rope fibre differences makes a massive difference. a double braided polyester rope would be spliced differently to a double braided dyneema.

 

One of my problems with Yales Beeline is i've heard people splicing the 10mm in the same maner as they would splice the 8mm. both are totally different ropes.

 

Jamie

[Alex]

It's a power to the people kind of thing, if we give NPTC or LANTRA a clear idear of how many people are lightly to want the qualification and we get HSE to back it as a clear rout to a standered. We have other issues to look into such as EN and CE regs for terminations and as said it is more than just a test for one rope type or constucution, the qualification needs to look at severl splicing metordes and reconition of diamiter and matiral changes.

 

So the comment who has the time, it more who is willing to give the time to get the ball rolling, and who is willing to support the moves made rather than just pop of a cheap shot after considered work and effort. This will need trust, backing and commitment from those who will benift.

[Jamie]

Who do we have here that would be interested in pushing for this? I know there are many here with more in depth knowledge on the processes involved of pushing for qualifications that i have. I'm happy to work on at developing something, pushing the knowledge i have in the right direction to create something more legitimate than what there would appear to currently be.

 

There are others i know that most probably don't venture here that are equally, if not more, knowledgeable.

 

Anyone?

 

Jamie

[DrewB]

. a double braided polyester rope would be spliced differently to a double braided dyneema.

 

One of my problems with Yales Beeline is i've heard people splicing the 10mm in the same maner as they would splice the 8mm. both are totally different ropes.

 

Jamie

 

same here mate.dodgy.

[tokaloch]

This thread became so interesting, I couldnt help digging a bit deeper to try to find out more info.

It would appear that spliced eyes on slimbing ropes should have a seperate CE for the eye. The reason that most Arb ropes dont have this is because the standard for the eye was written around fall arrest and not ascending, decending or positioning. The splices used on arb ropes do not achieve the drop test requirements of the CE standard. Of course in tree climbing a rope is not used for fall arrest and that is why HSE do not persue CE certification on the eye, they only expect the eye to be spliced by a competent person. I hope that solves some of the mystery. The next step must be to determine what a competent person is, and how that is achieved

[Jamie]

Getting ropes load tested is a sure fire way of determining if the splice construction is capable of supporting the load.

 

Proving competancy is like said easiest achieved through training and assessment.

 

Jamie

[tokaloch]

Sure I agree, but it would be impossible to test every rope you splice due to the costs and of course no two hand splices can be exactly the same.

MMmmmm

Where to next ? I bet we rae still talking about this in years to come as I cant see who will take the lead in defining competency and how it can be achieved

[Jamie]

I'm sure if a group of people got together who know their stuff they could create a syllabus.

 

Load testing, for my non standard splices i test a few and work out an Average break strength. I follow the same instructions each time so each splice should be as close to identical as possible. same measurements every time. periodic re-testing to ensure standards.

 

I keep records of all my splices. i have rakes of different instructions by different manufaturers / authors / rope gurus. measurements vary slightly but all teh instructions are the same.

 

How do the big names in arb suppliers feel about certification is it something they are happy to push? I'm sure they have ways of pleasing their insurance companies that everything is above board and competent. Their voice is the voice thats missing here. I'm small time as are i'm sure others in this thread.

 

Jamie

[Cleetus]

The problem I see is that do we really want all and sundrie splicing ropes as PPE? I think that there would have to be certain rules to taking a course. For example 5 years climbing experience and LOLER qualified, and maybe a pre splicing course course!!!!!!!!!!!!!! to make sure the candidate under stands rope construction etc.

 

I started splicing because having climbed for 15 years I wanted to know how a splice was done. I have learnt all my splicing tricks from experience and talking to others, I now consider my self pretty damn good if I do say so my self, and am now able to splice commercialy and follow a quality assurance programme. As I have said before it takes a lot of splices before you are confident you are doing it right, not just a 2 day course.