An Australian consumer protection organisation has a magazine called "Choice"

Each year they present their "Shonky Awards" Not sure if the word "shonky" is widely used or might just be an Australianism - but it means "dodgy, poor quality, rip-off" etc.

This year a shonky was awarded for this:

http://www.choice.com.au/Reviews-and-Tests/Money/Shopping-and-Legal/Shopping/The-2010-Shonky-Awards/page/Shonky%20for%20hanging%20by%20a%20thread.aspx

I really doubt whether this product, bought in hardware stores, would fool a climber with more than ten minutes experience, but I guess you never know. I could imagine kids getting hold of it with possibly disastrous results.......

dadndave wrote:Not sure if the word "shonky" is widely used or might just be an Australianism

Take a wild guess.

I wonder how much they were charging for it...

Dunno, but I suspect the price would have been a clue to anyone with an IQ above room temperature.

Wasn't it Chairman Mao who said "A capitalist will sell you the rope you hang him with?"

This rope could be a good choice in that scenario assuming said capitalist weighs more than 25 kG...

Gary Schenk wrote:Meets Australian specifications? What does that mean, it's strong enough to hold down sheep?

It means nothing.

Pretty much everything sold here must meet a specific ANZS standard which should be referred to by number on the packaging if such a claim is made. This allows the consumer to look up the detail of the spec.

I am embarrassed to admit it, but...

When I was, oh, 12 or 14 years old, and couldn't afford a rope, we went climbing with a yellow polypropylene rope...

Thankfully those were the days when "The leader must not fall."

No need to be embarrassed. I bet there's a few people around here concealing secrets like that.

As a kid I used to climb sandstone cliffs (Wollongong NSW) about 150 feet high with no rope at all.


Of course, that was before before I "graduated" to using my mate's rope which I suppose was either nylon or polypropylene. It was hawser laid with no mantle and slippery as pigshit and had more bounce than a rubber band. About 10mm diameter.