climbing swivels

Tags :: §suspension equipment §suspension safety

Climbing swivels in a suspension allow you to spin your suspended subject.

Some additional benefits:

• Sometimes your suspension might start to spin due to twists introduced into the uplines or slings; you won't be able to stop the spinning easily without unwinding it entirely. The swivel absorbs the torsion and prevents such twists, and can easily be stopped from spinning.
• For photography, allows you to adjust the angle of suspension for lighting and background

This is Nice To Have for beam suspensions, but could have safety implications when using an §eyebolt as the swivel stops the eyebolt from being unscrewing by torsion through the system.

When using a swivel, it takes up an additional amount of vertical space. Gated swivels which attach like carabiners are popular as they solve this problem and also allow easier sling attachments.

Some examples:

• Petzl 1-gate micro-swivel
• Petzl 2-gate swivel open
• §Crash Restraint recommends the RockExotica Shackle Swivel which is designed to connect directly to §eyebolts and slings. However, shackles give me the heeby-jeebies.