Good points, Rob. I will update the description of the image to point out the lack of second biner.

As for the slack, I would think that most anchors will experience some shock forces in a partial failure. In the case of a Quad, the amount of potential slack in the system depends on how you have placed the overhand knots. I will make a note of this as well.

I generally avoid using ice screws in a horizontal formation because ice tend to fracture horizontally. I don't see the point of them on multi pitch routes even if it's a sport route with bolts for every station. For flexibility, nothing beats sliding X.

Quad is a really useful tool for top rope in areas where top anchors are bolts with small spacing between them, otherwise, the V angle of load will increase the force on anchor.

Jukka,
I strongly suggest you buy a copy of John Long & Bob Gaines' 2nd Edition of Climbing Anchors. For $16, it's the best thing out there. A few observations:
1) As some of the guys mentioned, the quad is great for side-by side two bolt anchors, be it top roping or multi-pitch. And yes, if top-roping always use 2 biners, locking or gates opposed (Gaines recommends 3 biners if none are locking). One locker is fine for climber attachment - just remember to attach with the dynamic climbing rope, not a static sling or daisy chain.
2) If your anchor is anything but two side-by-side bolts, Gaines and Long recommend the "equalette" (basically the same configuration as the quad but not doubled - so you have one loop - knot - two strands - knot - one loop). This is great for tying off 3 or four pieces using clove hitches and still having great equalization. Use a locker on each of the two strands. Not only is it (and the quad) super fast, simple, strong, but also MUCH easier to escape from in an emergency (those clove hitches directly to each piece not only totally sacrifice any equalization but are a nightmare to escape should you ever need to). Personally, I think you should always have a cordelette on hand on multi-pitches for rescue situations anyway, so to me it's not an issue of extra gear, either.
3) Shock loading is a bit of a myth assuming you don't have HUGE extension potential (which you don't here) and the system is not static. True shock loading occurs when you do something like attach to anchor directly with a daisy chain or static sling, climb above the anchor, then fall. According to tests done Duane Raleigh at Rock & Ice Magazine, shock loading does not occur in a failed sliding X configuration with moderate extension as long as you are using dynamic rope. This, of course, makes perfect sense - otherwise, any leader fall would result in "shock loading" on a bolt, a quick draw's sling, and the biners on the draw. But of course, we all know that does not happen, thank god, because of the dynamic rope.
Get a copy of the book - it is really informative and, if nothing else, makes for a great read, complete with some horror stories of mistakes to avoid.

Maybe it's the kind of climbing I do, but I feel like 1/4 of my anchors lately are just a giant overhand on a bight of my rope draped over a nearby boulder.

TommyMac wrote:Jukka,
I strongly suggest you buy a copy of John Long & Bob Gaines' 2nd Edition of Climbing Anchors. For $16, it's the best thing out there.

...

Get a copy of the book - it is really informative and, if nothing else, makes for a great read, complete with some horror stories of mistakes to avoid.

Thanks TommyMac,

Sorry it took a while for me to respond, somehow this discussion has slipped my mind (a lot of personal stuff going on).

I will definitely heed your advice and find that book somewhere.

I do not claim to be an expert on anchors (or much else in climbing), which is why I wanted as much peer review for this article. And I genuinely appreciate all the constructive criticism offered.

My pleasure, Jukka! One other thing to add about the quad: It's only true down side is that, depending on the length of your cord, the quad can be a bit long, so one thing I've done is to cut a cordelette in half and then make a quad with just 10 feet (about 3 meters) of cord. It's very compact and light and perfect for most two bolt anchors. Or, you can loop your cord not twice, as normal, but three times to make it shorter, resulting in a configuration of, from end to end, 3 loops/six strands - big knot - six strands - big knot - three loops/six strands. Seems like overkill, but if you have two partners following, each person can clip two strands between the knots (with a locker of course) and nothing gets messy. Plus, you still have a full length cordelette in case you need it for self rescue or other things. And what the heck - I'll toss out one other idea - by tying two double-length slings together in a quad configuration, you get a super bomber and redundant quad-like set up. I just suggest always using two different colored slings so it's obvious when you clip into each sling between the knots you are sure to have clipped one loop of each of the two different slings. Of course, you can use just one sling with two knots and use two biners, clipping each strand between the knots, and still be redundant and bomber, but I do love the quad - it gives me that extra piece of mind and it's so simple, and as Bob Gaines says, it is "a virtually indestructible set up" that will "hold a submarine."
Happy climbing!

Bob Gaines and John Long also recommend setting bombproof pieces for your anchor. Once you've done that, it doesn't really matter what system you use to clip into them.

Setting good pro in good rock, that's the priority.

I've been rock climbing for 23 years, trad climbing for 16 of them. I've used just about every anchor out there. Ideally I'd be trading leads, using only the rope to build anchors. For every other situation, I got to say, I really like using a pre rigged quad set up made from 6mm nylon. Why?

PRO:
Simple, Solid, Redundant, Actively Equalizes, Minimized Extension
Fast - (unpacking, rigging, and repacking) Prerigged and slung over the shoulder, I can rig 2-3 pieces faster than with a cordelette. As is, it's almost ready to go. Have two bolts, clip clip, done. Have three placements.. you have four loops to work with.. Two loops on one piece, a loop on a second piece and a loop on a third or tie the third piece off short (clove/wraps/isolate the fishermans knot) or add an extending sling or bring two pieces of pro into one end (same two loops of the quad). Sure only two pieces will be actively equalized (better then none) Lastly you can slide and reposition the limiter knots if needed. It takes a little fine tuning, but you spend almost no time unpacking or packing it.

Multipurpose - As is, it's already set up to work as a personal anchor. It works great for those multipitch rappels. You could also use the same material to tie a cordelette, extended equalette or sliding x, lash a boulder...anything. For years I've been looking for the anchor that does it all...sport, trad, ice. I don't have to change systems for each anymore. For ice, I'd prep it by putting the limiter knots off center for vertical stagering of ice screws. If the direction of pull is predictable the knots can be closer, you'll have less extension. If you suspect the direction of pull may change, the knots can be spaced wider for a wider range of equalized pull angles, though you may have more extension. When I'm multipitch climbing I expect my direction of pull to change as I go from belaying from above to belaying from below. I'm a big fan of self adjusting or equalizing anchors. Even as I go from one stance on a belay ledge to another, the anchor moves with me keeping my weight distributed.

Overbuilt - This thing inspires confidence. I spend most of my time looking for solid placements now. I'm not worried about my rigging. With so many redundant strands, if you hack one with an ice axe or a rock falls on it, it might survive. It's no heavier than a standard cordalette of 20ft or so. I also wonder about the potential of the two overhand knots to act as shock absorbers in 6 or 7mm nylon cord. Adding a knot typically reduces the strength of a cord by a certain percentage relative to the tightest turn within that knot. If you look at the radius of the turn within the overhand in the quad set up...its huge. Instead of wondering if it's going to break there, I bet it adds a little shock absorbtion.

CON: It's a little bulky. I usually make mine out of 6mm nylon instead of 7mm
It looks complicated to some.. but I think the look of it masks an anchor that's truely faster and easier to set up. Understanding how to work a third placement into the quad matrix will be a snap for an experienced anchor builder with several tools in the toolbox. However, the cordelette may seem more intuitive to beginners in a 3 placement situation.

Overall, I think the quads faster, stronger and more versatile than most setups. Unlike the cordelette, the quad actually equalizes. My anchoring setups have all been standardized into this one. To me, that justifies the weight.

Ive considered changing to an equalette.... It's a lot less material. A big advantage in using the quad comes from it being prerigged and thus saving time. An equalette that would fit over my shoulder would be about a 10ft loop.. Much shorter.. I'd loose the extending capability of the longer one. For two placements I like the equalette more than the quad. However when I have to rig three placements with an equalette... Either two placements become statically equalized together into one end of the equalette(which sometimes happens with the quad)...or You end up with one side of it around the first placement and the other side split between the second and third placements via a single strand of the loop tied off to each.... I prefere not anchoring to a single tied off strand of 6mm. It becomes less than half as strong as it would otherwise be in a loop form. I like the equalizing aspect, but suddenly the old cordalette with its three loops looks stronger. I want something at least as stout but that also equalizes. With the quad, the most you'll ever have is one placement tied to a single strand (isolate the fishermans) while the other placements will have at least one if not two loops around them. With a little finess you can usually get at least a full loop around each placement. You could say I like the equalette for two sport bolts but the quad works better for trad and is still ready to go for sport. I also think a quad will have greater range or reach than an equalette of the of the same over the shoulder length. In a three piece situation, if you use one loop of the equalette for one piece and the other loop split and tied off to two other placements..... As those two placements get further apart, the length of the strand you have to work with on each gets shorter (being one loop). With a quad, no matter how far apart the placements get (still narrower is better), the legs won't get shorter since the end is made up of two seperate loops instead of just one.

Of course, solid primary placements are the foundation. No rigging system is magic.

This is basically a double-length runner used in a sliding-X configuration. Why not use that? I don't see a reason for using 4 strands--it's just more stuff to mess with. The usual way of clipping a sliding-X is to put a single twist in one of the strands, then clip both. You're still through the loop in the event on end rips, but you have both strands to hold the force when they both hold.

Steve Larson wrote:This is basically a double-length runner used in a sliding-X configuration. Why not use that? I don't see a reason for using 4 strands--it's just more stuff to mess with. The usual way of clipping a sliding-X is to put a single twist in one of the strands, then clip both. You're still through the loop in the event on end rips, but you have both strands to hold the force when they both hold.

The reason here, of course, is redundancy. With a sliding X, you only have one sling in the system, and if it breaks (for example following a bad FF2 after starting the next pitch), your whole anchor breaks.

Having said that, the amount of redundancy (or lack there-of) you are fine with is, of course, matter of personal opinion and experience.

One thing I think can't be overstated enough is to examine your anchor after every climb when top roping. I was out climbing a few weeks ago on a route that I have climbed and setup top ropes on a number of times. We had two newer climbers with us flail around a bit on the route for a bit before I went back up to break down the anchor and move on to another climb. When I got to the anchor, the 7mm cordelette had worn down to the core and prob had one or 2 climbs left before it would have snapped. I have setup a very similar anchor on this route a number of times and never even had an indication of wear on the cord before and for some reason this time it must have sat slightly different and nearly wore through the cord.