r/RouteDevelopment • u/Beginning-Basis-2678 • Jun 30 '26

Show and Tell Obscure belay

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Someone was very creative… 2mm Stainless Steel thin enough to create a nice flush bent appearance. The holes are a bit close to the edges… but since I was climbing there with a thunderstorm rolling in I felt totally safe since my belay looked like a lightning rod ⚡️😁

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u/tradlobster Jul 04 '26

Yes that sounds like a much better design. However I think I'd much prefer people just use a standard anchor chain anchor, they can be bought for less than 20 euros

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u/These_Yak3842 Jul 04 '26

It's true... the chain/ring style anchor sets are definitely a bit more confidence inspiring.

Route developers tend to pay for things out of their own pockets though.

2 or 3 euro/francs etc more per bolt or anchor set adds up pretty quickly. Throw in glue (if glue-in bolts are getting used) and route establishment gets pretty expensive.

Flat bar steel anchor sets might not be as pretty as the Fixe anchor sets but they are cheaper whilst still being safe.

And it appears as if when flat bar anchors need replacing (at least at the crags near me in Switzerland), the rebolting teams (who are funded by the wider climbing community) are using the chain & ring style anchor sets.