Backcountry Beacon

Not to flog a dead horse, but with rock climbing season coming into full swing, and I’m once again bracing myself to see climber after climber using their daily chains incorrectly and risking their lives. There is nothing wrong with using a daisy chain to clip into anchors, but you must use it correctly. If you use your daily chain incorrectly, you may as well be clipped in with your shoelaces. Here’s a very quick tutorial showing the right and wrong ways to clip in with your daisy chain.

The other option is to get yourself a Metolius PAS, which is essentially the same thing as a daisy chain, but it uses individual and independent full-strength loops, so there’s no way to clip in wrong.

P.S.: I realized when I watched this that I slipped up and said “where you would normally girth hitch your rope” when I meant to say “where you would normally tie in with your rope.” Please do not girth hitch to the rope when climbing.