When does an AutoBelay Explode?

[@HowNOT2]

We would have had to lift the rock up by pulling if it wasn't for the Z2R - we've come so far in our outdoor testing! 20% off Z2Rs until December 18th!

[@mit-cycle]

Would it be possible to also put kilograms in the Videos? I am watching from metric part of the world and I can't really calculate while watching.

[@TrueHelpTV]

8:30 its what they call a centrifugal clutch, incredibly reliable.. personally I'd trust it more, magnets are prone to cracking, which alters it's polarity at random, and/or spontaneous explosions.. I'd personally trust the centrifugal system more. A magnetic system is highly prone to failures from poor handling (dropping/banging the device, and extreme temperature changes)

[@thedoctor2102]

Those things do look pretty bloody heavy. Would a climber really want to be lugging around what looks to me like an extra six or seven pounds up or down a cliff face?

[@TrueHelpTV]

@@thedoctor2102 lol I sometimes have 80 lbs plus on my back going up stuff so its manageable. =p

[@thedoctor2102]

@ well for your I imagine it is not issue. But for someone with a lower degree of physical fitness/stamina , they almost certainly would the difference that adding on a measly six or seven pounds to an already 80lbs load can make.

[@matthewgough9533]

My trust in gear goes up with every episode, even though we're seeing things break. The insane measures you had to take to damage an old auto belay under worst case conditions with gratuitous overloading just goes to show how amazingly safe these are. Thank you for your gear fear breaking services.

[@kadmow]

- in this episode we also saw things brake... inertially, magnetically and mechanically.

[@snower13]

What isn’t shown is how things fail after use or neglect. If your gym doesn’t keep up with “required” inspections, you’re eventually going to have a bad time no matter how much safety factor.

[@wortel6969]

Very important thing to note here, is that even though in both 900lb tests the autobelays did not survive the test, the rock did indeed survive. So absolute worst case scenario with a very heavy climber and your "j" configuration strap slack, the device might be destroyed, but the climber might walk away. It does not look like it's possible to fail in a way that results in the climber falling to their death.

[@wyattroncin941]

You'll shatter your bad and be dead from that, but you at least will never ground fall if you're properly clipped in.

[@v0hero691]

the PD still worked after the test.

[@entitxy_4810]

Was gonna mention yea, the 900lb was descending slowly enough to where it would be a rougher but decidedly survivable landing

[@thecatofnineswords]

8:50 - Those coiled springs are usually really sharp on the edges, and will slice you right up! I was horrified Mike released it without gloves, but super glad he didn't lose a finger or an arm.

[@christophkogler6220]

Playing with the springs like that is a seriously bad idea! The intro had me wincing. I'm really surprised he didn't get his hands all cut up doing that. Tensioned springs are NOT something to play around with recklessly. They can store crazy amounts of energy, and when they start to release it's already too late to react. The type of spring matters, this looks more like a bundle of a bunch of low-energy springs than one big one, but even so - it only would have taken two of those bands hooking on a finger and he could have been degloved. He stuck his thumb right into that tangle. Silly!

[@obvioustrash7833]

Thats exactly what I thought... I had no idea how auto belay worked, but when he said there is a big spring in there I knew he was being stupid and lucky af, holy shit

[@alan_davis]

Yeah, idiocy.

[@jaymurp942]

I've worked on them, they're rolled edges so aren't sharp. If they were sharp the chafing would cause too much friction and swarf buildup

[@MrBadgers]

Perfect Descent uses a centrifugal clutch style device, looks like a drum break activated by the spin. Trueblue uses an eddy-current breaking system it looks like.

[@gulag_inmate69]

wats the life on those pads you rekon

[@MrBadgers]

At least 7x the amount of use they would get would be standard. Autobelays are inspected yearly (by the manufacturers), the webbing is replaced slightly more often than that, sometimes twice a year.

[@TheArmyKnifeNut]

Exactly. Which is why the Perfect Decents are super slow when you put lightweight kids on them but the True Blues are pretty constant speed no matter what weight (within reason) you put on them.

[@v0hero691]

Spot on indeed.

[@ben2268]

​@@TheArmyKnifeNutthe mechanism in the trublue is basically a centrifugal clutch but instead of pads it's the magnets which is why it's a constant speed no matter the weight as further the arms go out the more the magnets interact

[@caseyleedom6771]

But even with the 900lb load on the True Blue, yes you would have had a hard landing, but you would have almost certainly survived.

[@christopherwilkening7843]

Agree, you might come away with a limp, but given 3x the rating and slack I will take it.

[@DingleFlop]

I'm just glad I'm not 900lbs

[@maxscott3349]

That rock walked it off no problem

[@clown5911]

Yeah, even when it broke it still saved the rocks "life"

[@largeformatlandscape]

I thought it was a little unfair on the TrueBlue which 'failed' successfully

[@curiouslycory]

In theory the magnetic braking will last a lot longer since it's not friction braking or relying on the spring for resistance, but only if you're using it as intended and not for the new sea world orca climbing tank exhibit.

[@plwadodveeefdv]

Braking

[@curiouslycory]

@@plwadodveeefdv Thank you for pointing this out. Also I hate that you're right because the etymology of brake is from machines that break things and literally shares the same etymological root as break but they changed it for this specific application because English goes out of its way to be convoluted. So again, thank you, also I hate you.

[@beardedchimp]

Coming to cinemas soon, Free Willy: Vertical Limit

[@SitopApen]

Great video! I was the maintenance person at VW Redmond, and I remember talking briefly about auto belay maintenance with you one time when you came in. I had to replace lanyards a handful of times on Perfect Descents and it is somewhat nerve-wracking to do all of that work yourself, but the worst part is eventually human testing it after to make sure it's all good to go. Thanks for taking it apart and explaining how it all worked, even with speculation! It was really great to see in the innerworkings of both devices. I've always had an affinity for perfect descents, but mostly because they are way easier to haul up the wall due to their weight

[@dingbingbong]

I'm close to 300 lbs and have been too nervous to try an auto belay. I've broken a lot of things, like chairs, beds, bikes, snowboards, etc. I'm much more confident now, and will give it a try on my next trip to the gym!

[@walterbwd]

You are 300lb and rock climb?? You a ifbb pro or something??

[@Spaceman7612]

Nice to see Bobby again!

[@corbinfrisvold8063]

Yeah!! Ive missed him, I hope he’s doing alright

[@brightworksdetailing9746]

Yes🎉

[@chamonix4658]

bobby nation represent ❤

[@MrAdamyt]

A week ago, a fatal climbing accident occurred in Poland involving the use of an auto-belay device. As is often the case, the cause was improper attachment to the device. The climber was practicing clipping into quickdraws for lead climbing. He tied a short rope to his harness and attached the carabiner from the auto-belay device not to the central loop of his harness but to the knot of this short rope. The knot unraveled under the pulling force from the auto-belay device, and when the climber attempted to descend, he fell 14 meters. He died on the spot. Owners of several climbing gyms in Poland have noted that people often behave carelessly when using auto-belay systems. They don’t check each other’s setups, fail to interrupt conversations during the critical moment of attaching the auto-belay to the harness, and ignore safety reminders. Neither the triangular flags nor the signs on the wall reminding climbers to secure themselves seem to deter individuals who get distracted just before starting a climb without a proper rope connection.

[@DingleFlop]

The magnetic version probably experiences less wear over time, just because you're not using sacrificial pads and a clutch. It does use black magic to work, though. Magnets induce eddy currents which induce an opposite magnetic force which causes a ton of drag.

[@dannymoneywell]

And heat. Lots of heat.

[@marchelligaming]

This is what I wanted to write, about wear, as you would need to replace the braking surfaces, overtime, but with magnetic braking the issue is alomost non existant

[@junkice6930]

@@dannymoneywellI think that this is actually super important to mention, and very well could be why it broke as low as it did. Heat and materials under high stress are usually not a good combo and may actually lead to more problems long term…

[@НиколайТарбаев-к1к]

@@dannymoneywell The amount of heat is identical in both devices as they are converting the same potential energy. A more sophisticated (but probably less reliable) device could recuperate the energy into electrical grid or a battery.

[@beardedchimp]

@@НиколайТарбаев-к1к the eddy currents should release heat throughout the metal taking advantage of its thermal mass. Friction generates extreme surface heating that has to be conducted outwards.

[@mr.waffles8739]

We've had 2 major injuries at the gym I work in since they opened 10 years ago, both were caused by customers not clipping into the auto belay, it's kinda of wild to me that they didn't even notice while climbing

[@Aaron-xq6hv]

Even with some pretty massive tarps in front of them it's amazing how people still don't clip in. But in my gym I think bouldering and belayer incompetance still have accounted for more serious injuries in the past 10 years than the autos.

[@leewakefield8658]

Every gym I have been to has a tarp which covers up the bottom of the wall, you have to unclip the auto belay from the tarp to access the wall. I can't see how anyone could climb without clipping with such a device unless your gym did not have them?

[@mr.waffles8739]

@leewakefield8658 yeah we have big yellow triangles you have to unclip then clip to yourself, and we tell them to make sure it's flat on the ground and not folded up before climbing

[@Aaron-xq6hv]

@@leewakefield8658 The tarps didn't always exist. But even when we had kind of big tarps, and a sign at eye level saying, "Did you clip in?" people still managed to climb over them and they had to be replaced with even larger ones.

[@FelipeAdventures]

The routes doesn't always start directly bellow the auto belay where the triangles are located. A combination of distraction and muscle memory of how quick it is to clip in by experienced climbers its what causes the accidents where the Climber doesn't fully check if they are properly clipped in or completly forget.

[@TheMetalButcher]

Nice to know if I pack on an extra 705lbs and forget how to use an auto belay, I'll still be okay. Wow!

[@oovlocityoo2671]

As a watchmaker and clock maker, you are more than lucky to still have all your fingers!!!! But thanks for that video, it show how far the safety of those mechanisms are!

[@leveller4]

9:00 Looking directly into the half-exploded roman candle vibes

[@joeyoest1105]

I don’t think they understood how dangerous that spring is. It could literally kill you - that much force on a thin strip of metal can easily cut an artery. Yes - PD uses a friction-based mechanism and True Blue uses a magnet-based mechanism. I’d trust these (in a reputable gym) over a human belayer 100% of the time. To add to the conclusion - the complexity of the True Blue meant that it failed in an obvious way - it had failed internally and no longer worked. The simplicity of the PD meant that it had failed (the retention screw was bent, compromising the device), but it still appeared to work. I’d rather have a device that’s more likely to fail safe than to fail dangerous. Of course, this was only one break test on each, so we can’t draw sweeping conclusions.

[@Mike-oz4cv]

At the very least that thin strip of spring could easily cut deeply into your finger or other body parts. Crazy that they didn’t even put on gloves.

[@mattnichols3555]

Holy shit I puckered so hard when that spring let go. Also, wanted to say huge thanks to Ryan and the whole team for continually producing quality, informational content - the whole community benefits greatly.

[@Spitts]

Those descenders are basically a tape measure with brakes. Those giant wound springs are the same thing they use to allow tape measures to extend so far out but retract and the brakes look like drum brakes on a car that are triggered by rotating at a certain sped.

[@CarsonDarling]

The Trublue one looks like it uses an eddy current brake (magnets induce current in the metal and transfer energy to heat)

[@mobbat42]

Yep that's exactly what it is and it comes with the advantage of no wear on the break pads, since it doesn't have any. Would be interesting to see how quickly the pads wear on a perfect descent. And it would also be interesting to see if the permanent magnets lose magnetic force over time. Maybe one day a gym could send in their worn auto belays for further testing. I'd be curious to see how the gears wear as well.

[@Govanification]

@@mobbat42 The main reason magnets lose their strength is through heat, but it's pretty high like 80C (176F) for N52 neodymium magnets. The internal metal parts are pretty beefy so I'd be surprised if it got that hot inside, but would be interesting to know how warm it gets during back-to-back-to-back descents.

[@mr.shannon6137]

All brakes do is convert linear or rotational energy into heat. One setup uses magnetic eddy fields to convert linear or rotational energy to heat, the other system uses friction to convert motion into heat. I am curious how hot they got with the 900lb drop test.

[@daviddroescher]

​@mr.shannon6137 1hp to rase 500lbs 1' in 1 min. 1hp= 765watts Round the rock to 1k for simplified math , estimate 50' , estimate 6sec. So 2x 50' =100hp for a 1 min time x10≈ 1000hpor ~765,000watts or a potato in the microwave for almost 13hr.

[@9ZweihandeR9]

​​@@daviddroescher13 hours of microwaving would vaporize absolutely anything you put in the microwave. The device would explode if it took in all that energy over a few seconds. If your analogy doesn't make sense double check the math. That's the point of a sanity check analogy. All you need for the calculation is potential energy. No need to apply time, and 6 seconds is a really really long fall time, in the video it looks to be less than a second. Overestimating the weight of the rock even more to use SI units, a 500kg rock assuming 15 meter height which is close to 50 feet, potential energy is mass x gravity x height, so 500kg x 9.8 x 15 = 73,500 joules. To use the microwave comparison 1 watt hour is 3600 joules. An 1100 watt standard microwave running for an hour would produce 3,960,000 joules, which is 53 times the energy of the rock. The heat absorbed by the magnets would be more like running the microwave for a little over a minute. It would absolutely get them hot as hell still, microwaves are pretty powerful. If you don't believe me about the energy of a microwave for 13 hours blowing up the device, look up the energy per gram for TNT, I don't feel like writing out the calculations but I found it would be equivalent to blowing up 12.3 Kg of TNT. It wouldn't just blow up the device, it would take a huge chunk off of the cliff side with it.

[@joshsactiveadventures5611]

Really cool to see a video on these. Love all the stuff you guys put out about gear and rope systems. I learn a lot.

[@bensay8442]

Excellent video. I use ABs a good amount at the gym, and always wondered about their limits! Awesome to see you take them apart too.

[@itsmehere1]

The perfect decent is just a jumbo version of the retractable ID badge holder things 😂

[@pilom]

I have a number of friends who work at Trublue. They work through magnetic eddy currents like this video describes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKLHgKyuf7-dZrcsi=jxTShFhWIbAxSCmV. The big advantage of that is that there is no contact between a brake pad and a rotor/drum. That means there are no pads that need replacing and the braking force wont change over time as the pads wear down. My guess on how it failed is that the heat built up faster than it was designed which caused the magnet to explode. Personally though, if I wanted a personal autobelay that I was going to trust to work for years without annual servicing, I'd choose a Trublue. If I owned a Perfect Descent, I'd definitely be sending it in for servicing as those brake pads will wear away.

[@wyattroncin941]

If the magnets overheated it would experience a failure to arrest, since magnets loose magnetism when overheated. Probably just exploded from way too much braking force being put through it.

[@Tea-Pain]

I've always wanted to see the inside of an auto belay.

[@CaveChronicles]

Wish I lived more out west and could hang out with you legends! Thanks for doing this for us.

[@Mgreco0419]

So I can fall in confidence. Thank you.

[@daviddroescher]

So long as you are hooked in.

[@nannesoar]

2:09 He didn't have to specify that the climbing was fast - I could tell by those movements 🔥🤟

[@BloodyMobile]

5:45 really impressive that the retraction failed while the deceleration was still functional.

[@as3fawf]

damn those 900 pound people always climbing faster than the intake of those damn machines! really impressive video! tanks once again :)

[@ShurikB93]

Those are probably magnets. True blue doesn't have mechanical breaking, since padds need to be replaced. The magnet creat Eddy currents in the aluminum body and it slows the rotation down. Similar to dropping a magnet through a metallic tube

[@marcelwinkelhofer]

The flywheel is a centrifugal break. If the speed of it goes up the break will engage and will slow your fall. So if you have a hard drop it will break faster and harder and if it slowed you down it will start loosing the break and you start sliding down slowly (it almost gets a equilibrium between speed of the flywheel and the break engaging).

[@CyberdyneSystemsSkynet]

I can see where the Perfect Descent would survive the higher load due to the different design but I bet the simplicity and the friction devices it uses also result in a shorter service life under hard use. Once that clutch wears out it's done, the TrueBlue doesn't see additional wear on the braking mechanism with intensive use so it will likely always last as long as the webbing in most cases.

[@thelast929]

These types of tests are super helpful to those of us that are on the heavier side. Some of us recreationally climb, or have jobs that require climbing equipment.

[@brettcombs774]

Worth noting that the True Blue works off eddy currents and will essentially last forever. However the competitor brake pad / clutch design will wear over time, though I suspect it would take thousands of uses.

[@dgoodman1484]

Didn’t really get a good look at it but your anchor system was almost certainly better than anything I would have came up with! lol 👍🏼

[@filda2005]

Happi to see Boby in his natural habitat

[@kushking5354]

A break test on the tapes and carabiners would be class 🙌💯

[@boredbeingbored676]

that last one reminds me of a drum brake in an old car

[@PhilipNation-xm5lh]

The Perfect Ascent looks to be very well built. The centrifugal brake system obviously stopped that mega rock. That would be my choice.

[@RobertSzasz]

The magnetic brake should work consistently for many many more cycles compared to the centrifugal brake drum, since it's non contact. The downside is that when initially massively overloaded the brake pads just press harder into the housing drum, and the magnets got flung outwards hard enough to break. The magnetic brake either has a backup centrifugal contact brake, or regulates how much resistance based on spool speed, either way too much speed and it goes bang. Though, seizing is better than dropping the load.

[@danielking2608]

So excited for this. Havent even watchd yet

[@johncrawford1439]

The first piece taken off of the perfect descent looks like a centrifugal clutch mechanism, similar to what is used on elevator emergency brakes.

[@the_listamin]

The only other thing that you might consider when using one of these is if the carabiner's screw makes contact with your belay loop and could rip and degrade it when rotating. All the autobelays I've used had something like a distancer built in so that won't happen. Apart from that, the anchor of the device itself could be built badly which you wouldn't see from below. In any way, seeing this has definitely lessened a bit of my gear fear, thank you!

[@matiascamprubi-soms7719]

I just got my something-to-one and I love it.

[@patrickperkins7011]

Huh, that's REALLY fascinating just how different the two devices are!

[@chappaai66]

This is what everyone has been waiting for but no one realized that till now.

[@zackdiazabiblio9592]

8:50 i cant believe he didnt get a scratch ive seen those metal strips shred hands before!

[@RandomsFandom]

900lb is totally survivable. That autobelay works perfectly

[@thecatofnineswords]

Torx bits are really good at removing stuck hex head bolts. Go up a size and hammer them in for the really stuck ones.

[@ronl7131]

Fun tests, with serious findings . Great afternoon on a cliff.

[@Lotus_1776]

The blue one would probably last longer as the pads in the other one would wear out over time

[@cristianemanuelherlein6462]

Considering how long the pads on car last and how little pressure the pads on the autobelay had to withstand I would imagine it would never be a problem. The webbing and other components probably would wear way faster.

[@mr.shannon6137]

It uses a centrifugal clutch like a chainsaw or moped. Simple, bulletproof, and pretty smart.

[@williambyrnes4198]

Thanks for showing this and what autobelays look like inside.

[@archibaldtuttle8481]

OK -- not a conclusion, but speculation. One system uses magnetically inductive braking and the other uses friction braking. Friction braking ( my guess ) will wear out much more quickly. Inductive braking should last much longer so long as one gives the system time to cool between drops. If used over and over in a short period of time the friction based system will experience heat-fade as it wears out. I'm a Belt & Suspenders kid.

[@stibbits7087]

I had my safety squints on just watching when they were opening that spring

[@kushking5354]

Yess yes yes omg yess ive been silently praying for this 😂😂🙌

[@alt8620]

that brake thingy is a huge chainsaw clutch

[@ed-ey1yb]

12:20 I think the wrong person is wearing the gloves, lol

[@PsRohrbaugh]

Yesterday I checked my mail twice and didn't run out of breath

[@KaminKevCrew]

Basically any life critical device sold by a reputable brand will/should have a safety factor of about 4. That is, whatever the rating is, the device should be expected to stop perform its function at about 4 times that rating. The first device, while no longer being operational, *did* significantly arrest the fall of the 900lb rock, which is about 3 times its rating. The perfect decent design is interesting because it's basically a clock spring from a mechanical clock coupled with a centrifugal drum brake. Both of those technologies are very old, incredibly durable and robust. It looks like a very well thought out design to me.

[@glennmcgurrin8397]

The 900lb rock looked to be decelerating well when it hit, a longer distance to the base would have likely hit slower, it looked to be doing wonderfully with a very aggregious overload.

[@Wannabearborist]

7:51 here is what I can say: This is like a chainsaws clutch, the centrifugal force makes those pads wanna fly outward, however this only happens when the centrifugal force is higher as the force of the springs holding it back. So once it reaches a curtain rpm it’ll fly outward due to the centrifugal force. Withe chainsaws at around 3000 rpm (on average) the clutch will go out and grab the clutch drum which is connected to the sprocket and that makes the chain go, the clutch drum is free spinning on bearings but with this it just grabs the sidewall which doesn’t spin so that it breaks like with a drum break, drumbreaks however are activated manually while this clutch system works automatically. Edit: The clutch system is more reliable as the magnet system, the clutch can only fail if the pads are all gone or if the springs weaken, if the springs weaken however it’ll just engage faster so I don’t think it’d be dangerous. The weakest link of the clutch one is the webbing because the clutch will always work as long as it spins

[@wyattroncin941]

Eddy current brakes are considered more reliable because they cannot wear out. If friction pads wear out your brakes fail, as mong as the magnets are intact and haven't gone through a fire, they will continue to work nearly forever. In this use case, it's inconsequential. They're safety devices that are reinspected yearly at minimum, you'll never put enough laps through a perfect decent in a decade to wear out the pads.

[@jaymurp942]

Clutches can and do fail. Clutch bearings suffer from rollover if worn

[@Wannabearborist]

@ yeah, like you said “if worn” a clutch is easier to maintain than a magnetic system plus a clutch is made to withstand millions upon millions of rotations as they sometimes do a few thousand rotations a second. If you maintain your clutch it won’t fail

[@jaymurp942]

@@Wannabearborist sadly these cannot be maintained, they are sealed units produced by the big bearing manufacturers

[@Wannabearborist]

@ but because they do less rotations as a chainsaw clutch they’ll last longer.

[@jmd1743]

I would be more terrified of the mounting point

[@marekxkali]

Brake pads .... means they could wear out. I think magnets are much safer.

[@a.karley4672]

Surely you include the servicing / maintenance costs in your budget? and your insurance assessor wants to see your maintenance records at irregular intervals.

[@leewakefield8658]

I am surprised the 900lbs rock did not just rip the teeth off that little brass gear!

[@sage5296]

If you need to know how many to 1 a pulley system is, you can usually just count the strands of rope. If you've got 4 strands of rope in the loop, you need to move 4ft of rope to move the whole system 1ft, so it's 4:1 Edit: yea lmao i do agree that definitely qualifies as a something to 1 with that damage

[@quidproquo9000]

works good as long as it doesnt swing you back into the wall

[@davegeorge7094]

Springs are useful but counterweights are cheaper and more reliable but a solenoid brake is a must. Garage door would be useless without springs and other everyday uses useless.

[@JWoodcock]

In college, we'd pull armfulls of slack from the auto belay and take huge falls 😂 No wonder my back problems persist.

[@rafanubi]

Hey Ryan, MSA sells a similar device aimed at professional use (construction, oil & gas etc) that is constructed with transparent material. I wonder if gyms are using it in the US… It’s supposed to be easier to inspect, without the need to disassemble.

[@Sicnus]

Commenting to keep Ryan Happy :)

[@DreIsGoneFission]

I need to be “that guy” and point out that there is no such thing as a centrifugal force.

[@KamakaZex313]

i would wonder if water got into that friction braking system if it would slip at all, the magnets would have no change with moisture in terms of friction

[@ryanpenrod1859]

I think my gym got sick of constantly sending their TrueBlue units in for recalls and stuff because they've started getting a couple of PD's and the only thing I don't like about them over the TrueBlue is the jarringly loud noise they make when they're extending.

[@vlogerhood]

Not that they would ever let me use one of these in a gym (cause I am ~320lb), but it is nice to know I could.

[@patricksawesomeprobarly3331]

Dear God that spring!

[@mattd1188]

Bobby!! 😁

[@Parrmarks]

Wish they would make something like this, but you can use it for trad and can keep on the ground.

[@michaelmcdermed841]

when i worked at a climbing gym we had trueblue reps come and explain the equipment. it uses "lenz's law," like this video, kzbin.info/www/bejne/gX_FpaKmnN-qebM i also think they said something about how it fails too, but i forget. but they did say even if it broke inside it would never just drop the climber. but im pretty sure it also wont keep the climber stuck up there if that makes sense. that might be why it didn't seize and still lowered the rock.

[@szabolcskiraly6323]

That was a looots of probably... 😂 and fun 🎉 but a purrrfact descent 😂

[@BlackSoap361]

“Does this void the warranty?”

[@Alexbeauchesne1]

The true blue uses Lorentz force to slow down the descent. When you move a metal object across a magnetic field (MF), a current is generated in the metal object and it gets its own MF. The faster the object crosses the MF, the larger the current and MF are induced. The MF of the metal object then interacts with the magnet's MF and that creates a force. The force generated is proportional to the speed of the metal object, so the faster you fall, the greater force the true blue resists.

[@ShurikB93]

Bobby!

[@ryanpenrod1859]

That's some wild-looking conglomerate, is that around here (Seattle)?

[@bricenoh]

For PD, how long the manufacturer says it last? do they say how many dows it can do, I imagine a lot...could be nice to have a counter or a small window to see the wear on the pads.

[@brandondone2888]

Awesome video. Thank you for sharing.

[@Vincentalbot]

Great video!

[@anon_y_mousse]

That price of $2000 is pretty steep, but seeing the inside shows me it might actually be worth it. I guess if you value your life, safety equipment is always worth it, but then that presupposes you not only know your life is in danger, and fear it.

[@CreatureOTNight]

Perfect desent. Uses a "engine governor" type of brake pad system?

[@peterl0815]

Tbh I haven't much doubt in using this devices because if they where unsafe we would have heard from any accidents because of device failure. I've looked it up some time a go and basically nothing was on the internet. Pretty safe I would say (compared to cars).

[@mjp121]

Hmmm you know- brake pads sort of become jelly when they are under use for extended periods- I’d love to see you test a moderately overloaded system (say, 450 lbs?) on a loooong descent- you have spools of rope suitable for setting up an auto belay on a multi-day climb right? 😂

[@RandomsFandom]

The perfect decent is a centrifugal clutch/brake. Those are brake pads, not magnets.

[@sinisterthoughts2896]

Those do look like braking pads, and the anatomy of that apparatus looks to be a drum brake.

[@jopss1039]

yea i was climbing indoors on autobelay for the first time this summer and... oh my god i literally could not let go of the wall. i knew its safe but my body just didnt trust it XD could be because if i pull on it, it just doesnt lock or anything

[@deathtrap04]

Have you seen the lead auto belays those I’m super curious about I have zero trust in them with my Lrs experience

[@dragade101]

That would be cool if one autobelayer could be serviceable or you get so much use, its better to just buy a new one?

[@rockstarjazzcat]

I think you violated the warranty.

[@mikebond]

What crag is this? Looks super interesting

[@nasirebrahim1]

what’s that bike in the intro, it looks sick