Imlay SandTrap Advanced Anchor System
Imlay SandTrap Advanced Anchor System
The SandTrap, invented by Steve Woodford of Springdale Utah, is an interesting device for creating a retrievable anchor any time you have sand available.
Fill it with sand, then rap off it. Pull the retrieval line to spill the sand and retrieve the Trap, leaving nothing behind other than displaced sand. Ingenious! The only problem that I see with it is that I didn't invent it!!!
SAFE USE REQUIRES EXPERT JUDGMENT. A write-up for usage is given HERE. The SandTrap is a great new tool for a specific kind of canyon. Works well in canyons with lots of sand, when dryish. Two places in Quandary Direct are SandTrapable. No Kidding is a great SandTrap training canyon. Fiddle Me This in Zion uses two Trap placements… Otherwise, we are mostly talking off-the-radar canyons.
SandTraps are made here in Kanab Utah with the main straps bartacked with our contractor in Winslow, Arizona.
It takes a couple canyons to get the thing figured out. It really helps to train with an expert Trapper. Use with caution.
Folds up well into a PotShot. It is often helpful to have two or three PotShots along for when you need to move sand TO the Trap. (You would tend to have this kind of thing along anyway, in this kind of canyon.
Color: Assorted
Weight: 18.2 ounces (520 grams)
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The FiddleStick is an advanced canyoneering anchor tool. It is a new approach to retrievable anchoring, opening up a wider range of possible anchors, and making it possible to descend more canyons and leave nothing behind (aka “ghosting”). As an ADVANCED anchor tool, it requires skill, practice and understanding to use safely. Even when used properly, it has the possibility of failing, resulting in severe injury or death, or being stranded in a canyon with your ropes hopelessly stuck.
I was selling both my FiddleStick and BluuGnome’s Smooth Operator, but now the Smoothie can only be ordered directly from Luke at BG-Gear.com
Both are generally used with an Amsteel pull string that pairs (threesomes?) with the SECO-050 rope bag.
Imlay Canyon Gear PotShots can save enormous wear and tear on your partner's pack. Rather than tossing that large, awkward, expensive and fragile pack, put some sand in a PotShot, tie a rope to it, and toss it past the interesting obstacle ahead.
In many cases, it takes 2 PotShots to get out of a pothole; in some cases it can take 3 or more… the most we have heard about is 5. So far.
The PotShot makes a great storage bag for a SandTrap, and is useful for bringing sand to the SandTrap when necessary. If landing with too much energy, the PotShot seams can blow out, though we have made them much stronger than the original version, and this seems to have solved that problem. But still…