Climbing slings are an essential part of a true "complete kit" and can perform various functions in both mountaineering and sport and traditional climbing. The vast world of slings includes classic rings that can be used to create belays, multi-chains, daisy chains, lanyards and sling extensions, but the large family of textile equipment also includes other accessories such as brackets and energy dissipators for via ferrata kits.
The sling material
Regardless of the type of sling you need, the first choice you will make will be between Nylon and Dyneema: the first is the most widely and historically used in climbing, resistant and durable over time, economical but still reliable. However, Dyneema represents an extra step for some specific uses, such as alpinism where greater static, lightness and less water absorption can make the difference.
The open loop slings, which can be flat or tubular, have a very wide use in any vertical activity: you can use them to secure yourself in belay, to create lanyards, to extend belays or anchors or to equip a descent. These are already sewn sling rings, resistant and particularly suitable for lifting static loads: specifically, Nylon tubular rings are the most suitable for equipping belays.
Multi-chains are slings made up of rings connected to each other, each of which is tested to individually withstand the stated load. They are mainly used in mountaineering with the main objective of equipping belays, connecting two together for greater safety, to set up a descent or as a lanyard.
Daisy chains, on the other hand, find their primary use in artificial climbing and have a structure made up of eyelets that run the length of the whole sling. The resistance of daisy chains is evaluated on the sling and not on the eyelets: for this reason the practice requires to snap one eyelet at a time to avoid the escape of the carabiner in case a seam gives way. In addition to progression, you can also use them to hang material while you are in belay or to speed up descents.
Quickdraw Sling are used to replace a worn sling in a quickdraw with carabiners in excellent condition, or to create new ones tailored to your needs. Dyneema is always chosen if you want to mount belays for mountaineering use, while Nylon is ideal for sport climbing quickdraws where lightness is not a priority. The width and thickness of the sling can transform very light but difficult to handle quickdraws into extremely robust and comfortable to grip quickdraws.
Lanyards are part of the essential equipment of every good mountaineer: they are useful for double rope descent, for rope ascent and for self-belaying in belay but they are also used by canyoneers, speleologists and in work at height or in adventure parks.
