How NOT to human test your homemade gear

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The video doesn't show it that well because they were deeper in the crack but there were actually 3 cams backing me up for those falls, but jumping off was still scary

Thanks for testing this! I definitely had fun building it.

This gentleman gives off tech priest Rasputin vibes.

Honestly, even though I wouldn't want to climb on that homemade cam, I REALLY respect him for having the guts to make it, and I respect it even more that he was willing to send it out for destructive testing. As easy as it is to dismiss the device because of it's flaws, we also should pay a lot of respect to Makers who aren't afraid to just try stuff out.

2:05 his rope gets clipped in the carabiner of the backup

I am assuming he probably assumed pure shear force in the napkin math, but did not calculate bending strength. With all of the space between lobes, the soft aluminum material without a hardened bushing, and it being a slip fit for motion, you need to factor in bending strength which is much lower than pure shear. Without having bushings between each lobe and a bolted ridged joint, you are never going to eliminate bending failure, which is reflected in all of the retail parts failing in the same way.

This has been a peak internet experience. Amazing.

I love when I see people make their own gear. I'm amazed he made something that could have been potentially used in a practical way even if never intended to use it in practice. It a great feeling to see something you made actually useable. I've made some of my own hiking and climbing gear and love when it ends up working out.

I thought for sure you would have broken the dyneema thumb loop after to see what force it could handle on it's own.

So Napkin engineer here, that looks like the pin sheared. This could be poor choice in materials (IE I wanted the harder metal because more number vs picking a softer springier material that can handle normal deformation), or that bar was probably cold rolled and has s defect in it. I am probably sure that most highly rated climbing gear companies use binned material, or they are doing their own analysis on the metals to make sure those defects are not present. Very cool though to see the DIY community breaking into spaces!

The heat treat on that axle is what got him in the end, it was too hard to give at all. Pretty cool though tbh

It looks like he had two pieces as backup to me.

I'm pretty equally impressed by how well the cam performed, and the balls of the climber taking whips on it

He had a cam less then a foot bellow hos homemade cam, then, if you zoom in, it looks like at least 2 more pieces under the overhang. Also, that has to go on your wall! Please?!?!? 🥺

That's awesome he sent it to you.. good stuff

I mean basically all climbing gear originated in people's garages. This is probably better than Ray Jardine's original "friends" were

Good job Andrew!!

Great video. I would love to see more small businesses like this making climbing gear!

I’m curious to know more about why the thumb loop didn’t keep slipping. Great job Andrew for taking some big falls on his home made gear!