The load-bearing becket on the DMM Pinto Rig is both a blessing and a curse. The blessings are obvious but the curse only manifests itself in certain situations.
One of those 'situations' is on the Treemagineers pulleySaver where the retrieval shackle rides up and jams between the sheave and the becket damaging both the pulley sheave and the DMM shackle.
Initially the problem was isolated to 'home-made' rope savers using the Pinto Rig with a stainless steel Wichard shackle for retrieval.
Obviously the Treemagineers would have been aware of this potential problem so they incorporated a stiff 'leg' above the retrieval DMM aluminium shackle on their pulleySaver to prevent the shackle riding up into the Pinto Rig becket.
This solution works fine when the saver is set relatively close to the top of the leg but it fails miserably if there is any slack between the two. Longer length pulleySavers used on smaller diameter anchors seem to exacerbate the problem.
The 'slack' in the retrieval tail allows the shackle to turn in on itself negating the effectiveness of the stiff leg. The DMM shackle then rides into the same position as the Wichard shackle did, producing the same end result.
It should be noted: the superficial damage to the sheave and shackle is not life threatening in any way - it is purely cosmetic (and annoying).
But, necessity is the mother of invention and there is a relatively simple solution to be had - add a Sirius RingLOOP 35 to the retrieval leg of the pulleySaver and the problem is solved. It must be a RingLOOP 35 - the 43 version will not work as a retrieval device.
Pass your climbing line through the DMM anchor ring before installing the pulleySaver.
The 26mm DMM Ring on the RingLOOP 35 will not jam between the sheave and the becket and cannot possibly damage the Pinto Rig as you can see in the picture below.
Retrieval is also improved as a result of this new addition.
Users of 'home-made' pulleySavers have known for some time that the closer the retrieval device is to the pulley the easier the retrieval.
Unfortunately the ring cannot be attached mid-line but that is not such a big deal according to users. The additional expense of the RingLOOP 35 is possibly more of a concern.
Thanks to Rossy Ross from Pro Climb for the above set-up
