Ideation 2

Some of our concepts included:

• A gate connected rotating mechanism

• A carabiner snap-fit clip

• A grabber arm to undo the quickdraws

• A carabiner that can be released from swinging the rope

• Using a cord tied to the carabiner to rotate it off the bolt

• An integral releasing carabiner gate

• A spool holder to carry the cord

Concepts in bold were ones that our team identified as most likely to satisfy the need

Gate Connected Mechanism:

The gate connecting mechanism would involve sliding a camming mechanism onto the carabiner gate. A bolt or latch would be used to tighten or secure the attachment to the gate. Then a string would be looped through the bolt on the wall, and pulled at the bottom of the climb by the climber to open the gate and rotate the carabiner off the wall. This concept would fit on currently existing quickdraws, which is beneficial such that climbers wouldn't need to buy and use all new gear.

Snap Fit Connector:

Similar to how a hot dog fits in a hot dog bun, this concept would involve a sleeve or clip that fits the quickdraw snuggly such that it doesn't move or fall off the carabiner. This concept would be beneficial in that it uses currently existing quickdraws, rather than requiring the design of something entirely new. The clip would fit around the carabiner spine and then push into the carabiner gate when triggered to open the quickdraw.

Integral Releasing Gate and Carabiner:

As an alternative to the two devices above, the integral releasing gate carabiner would be more secure and redundant, as there is no risk of the device falling off when the climber is down the wall. The other benefit of this design is that the climber doesn't have to perform any additional actions when climbing down, other than stringing a cable through the bolt. The disadvantage of this device is that climbers would have to replace their current gear with it, and would have to know where they are going to bail on the wall, unless they buy and use multiple ones.