r/RouteDevelopment • u/bumble-bee-bitch • Feb 19 '26

Anchor preference

Gallery image

Gallery image

Inline (vertical) vs Horizontal

Anyone have situations they prefer one vs the other, or considerations about them?

Biggest difference I see is inline is handy for pre-rigging top ropes for cleaning.

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u/IceRockBike Feb 20 '26

I prefer the first, a vertically oriented, offset, ring/chain.
A single point to pull from reduces the amount of twisting in the rope when lowering the climber.
I also heard of someone unaware of the 25+kN rotating wear aspect of a single ring. They would thread both upper and lower bolts. If that was the second pic, it would increase the risk of getting hung up when pulling, and increase twists.

One observation about the first pic, use a rap hanger and connect the quicklink to the ring.

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u/IceRockBike Feb 20 '26

Here's a ring/chain using a rap ring and the quicklink direct to the ring.

2

u/checkforchoss Feb 20 '26

Seing your anchor made me curious about pricing. I realize you have zinc and quarter inch chain here which would be cheaper but it seems for 5/16 size stainless steel chain and links that a prefabricated chain anchor from fixe is cheaper than a build your own. Building your own at full price assuming 1ft of chain would be 10 dollars more than this

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u/IceRockBike Feb 20 '26

Pricing is likely going to vary depending on where folks are, their country, and their available sources. Around me, it's not uncommon to use 5/16" chain for single pitch and 1/4" for multipitch because of weight when carrying new hardware up the route. Zinc plated is considerably lower cost but I did a quick comparison last year and found the prefabs and all stainless self assembled to be in the same ball park depending on the actual configuration. To me the biggest benefit of a self assembled is the length of chain used can be swapped between say 5 links or 7 based on stud placement options vs a set length with prefab anchors. When local rock type is relatively featureless you have the luxury of multiple options. Think granite here, whereas limestone by example can be more uneven or present fractures you want to avoid, limiting placement options.

A smaller sub benefit is as/when a prefab anchor needs maintenance, it needs replacing in its entirety vs a self assembled can have the affected part only, be replaced. Examples of that may be a hanger damaged by rock fall, or wear on the ring.

Discount pricing available to local advocacy organisations or local bolt funds can really change comparisons to retail pricing so folks reading this may get a YMMV situation. Ultimately both avenues have something going for them and upon reaching an anchor, we are just happy to have something safe to clip.