Is this the best single pitch anchor?

Anchors 2
Written By John Godino
 

Normally, I publish a complete version of my articles for my Premium Members, and a shortened version of articles on the public part of my website.

However, for this article, I'm changing that. 

Because I think the topic is important and of interest to a wide range of people, I'm posting the entire article here on the public part of my website. 

  • Inspiration and peer review for this article is from Kevin Maliczak, aka ClimbingTaiwan. Connect on his Instagram @climbingtaiwan and YouTube.

  • Thanks to Evan Wisheropp for peer review of this article. Connect with Evan on Instagram, @evanwisheropp

For single pitch sport climbing, I'm a big believer that “clip and lower”, also known as an “open” anchor, is superior to rings, chains or quick links, aka a “closed” anchor.

This position is strongly supported by the American Safe Climbing Association. From their website:

“Durable lower-off hardware at the anchors [allows] efficient and safe descent without having to untie or retie the lead line. The ability to clip and lower to descend and clean a route greatly increases the safety margin for all climbers, preventing climbers from going off belay and preventing mistakes from happening while at the anchor.”

Closed anchors are fine for for multi pitch rappels, because you have the end of the rope available to thread the chain. (Open anchors can still be useful on multi-pitches, but the minor convenience isn’t always worth the extra cost.)

For a single pitch sport climb, a closed system takes more steps to switch from climbing up to lowering down, making the process slower and more complicated.

Check out the nice diagram below from HowNOT2 for some actual numbers on this. The fewer steps the better! Lowering through an open system is clearly the simplest and fastest.

However, there's room for improvement on open anchors.

This is especially true for a common set up in the United States, two parallel anchor (aka Mussy) hooks.

twin anchor hooks

These anchor hooks are extremely strong, very long lasting, fairly intuitive to use, and inexpensive. That's good.

What's not so good?

  • With the current design, a fall from above the hooks can make the rope unclip, similar to a back clip. If that happens, you're not attached to anything! This hazard may have been the cause of a recent fatal accident in Alabama.

  • Two horizontal hooks like this can also cause twists in your rope.

Below is my short video that shows the problem.

Here's my checklist of the ideal clip and lower anchor:

  • Primary benefit - The security of a “locker” on half the anchor, paired with the clipping convenience of an anchor hook.

  • Uses hardware that's generally low cost and widely available. (Although low cost shouldn’t be the primary consideration of any anchor system.)

  • In this case, with the load going to an anchor hook, an extra stout piece of hardware takes the load, lasting a very long time before needing replacement.

  • Uses quick links to easily replace gear as it gets worn out. (Some manufacturers call this a “modular” system.) If you need to remove a bolt or bring up an angle grinder to swap out hardware, that's lame.

  • Reasonably intuitive and easy to use, especially for people who haven’t seen this style of anchor before. 

  • Easy to set up a top rope off of your own equipment, and then have the last person lower off of the fixed gear. 

  • Every component is more or less permanently attached, reducing the chances of some jack-hole stealing any part of the anchor hardware. 

  • Can be installed on existing bolts that are either horizontal or vertical.

  • Zero twisting of your rope when lowering off because the load goes to a single point.

Non-modular vs. modular hardware

  • Left: When the carabiner on the left wears out and needs to be replaced, you have a big project!

  • Right: With the quick link “modular” system, it’s easy to replace the carabiner.

Here’s an anchor that ticks all the boxes above: the convenience and durability of an anchor hook, plus the extra security of two opposite and opposed carabiners.

Notes . . .

  • Almost all hardware is stainless steel, which should pretty much be the standard when you're bolting outside. (Titanium is usually preferred for ocean areas that can get salt corrosion, but that's kind of a special case.) Stainless steel anchor hooks are available, but currently hard to find. Hopefully that will change soon.

  • Quicklinks are 8 mm. (That's kind of the “Goldilocks” size for quick links; not too big and not too small.)

  • Note the odd number of chain links. Here I’m using three “long links”. Having an odd number of links allows the bottom carabiners to hang perpendicular to the rock.

  • On that note, in most cases, it's good to have all clipping points perpendicular to the rock. This reduces friction / rope twisting, and makes it easier to clip.

  • The unusual piece of hardware is the shackle, sourced from HowNOT2. This has a minimum size in the opening of 25 mm, which you need to fit the two fixed eye carabiners side-by-side. It has a hole for a cotter pin (not used here) so it can never fall out. Adding a dab of Loctite / thread lock fluid can help that nut stay where it belongs.

  • The opposite and opposed carabiners are there for security. It's functionally the same as a locking carabiner, but without any locking mechanism that gets corroded and stops working after it's been out in the elements for a while. (Is this overkill for just lowering off? Maybe. However, you know people are gonna top rope on this, so why not add that extra bit of security?)

  • The carabiners are fixed eye, which makes them very difficult to “liberate” from the anchor. (Unless you bring up a wrench, and you're a jerk.)

But wait, that anchor isn’t equalized!!!

Correct. Because the anchor is vertically offset, all of the wear goes onto the thick steel of the anchor hook on the top bolt. With a quality bolt that can hold 25+ kN, that's not a problem. Redundancy, yes, equalization, no.

Here’s a close-up of the shackle and the fixed eye carabiners.

Here’s a similar anchor with two vertical bolts.

The slight advantage to this: you don't need a quicklink and chain, so you save a few bucks.

A small downside to offset bolts is that it’s harder for people to top rope off of just two quickdraws (as many are used to), so they may be tempted to top rope through the fixed hardware. An easy solution: slide the anchor hook out of the way and add your own locking carabiner for a top rope session. See photo below.

Top rope setup

Top roping with this hardware is simple. Push the anchor hook up, and clip your own locking carabiner below it.

You can top rope all day on this “two locker” system with complete security. All the load goes to your carabiner, not on the fixed hardware.

Last person up clips the rope into the anchor hook, removes the locking carabiner, and lowers off.

Here’s a similar anchor with a single carabiner.

Benefit, slightly easier to clip and lower cost.

Potential problem with a single carabiner on the bottom

Rather than unclipping, a potential hazard with a single carabiner can be when lowering, the tensioned rope from the anchor hook gets loaded across the gate of the lower carabiner. This could cause BOTH rope strands to be clipped through the lower carabiner, which means everything is now hanging on the anchor hook.

Not catastrophic, but definitely not ideal! (Granted, with the flexible chain and the stiff gated carabiner, this is very unlikely to happen, but it's remotely possible.)

With the shackle and doubled carabiners, this slight potential problem is completely eliminated.

When you weight the rope, all the load goes to the top hook.

That's why you use the much thicker anchor hook on top. That extra steel will last for probably 1000+ lowers before you need to replace it.

This also means zero twisting of your rope when lowering off.

If an anchor hook isn’t available, a second fixed eye steel carabiner could go here as well. It would need replacing more often.

Hopefully obvious, but you clip the low carabiner(s) to ONE strand of the rope.

What about using a ram’s horn instead of an anchor hook?

rams horn climbing anchor

A ram’s horn (aka pigtail) is another type of open anchor that allows (mostly) easy clipping. In my opinion, they have a few drawbacks.

  1. The steel is thinner and will need to be replaced more often than an beefy anchor hook.

  2. People can easily steal a pigtail. Yes, you’re an asshole if you steal anchor hardware, but sadly, some people are gonna do it.

  3. They are very rare in the United States, so most people will be unfamiliar with how to use them. Anchor hooks are more intuitive.

  4. Apparently there have been several accidents in Austria related to pig tails. Granted, I think if you have a lower fixed eye carabiner like I suggest here, any issue with the pigtail is pretty much eliminated, but it's worth mentioning.

Quote from the article: “After a few serious climbing accidents, we (Austrian Alpine Club) have to advise against using pig tails for abseiling. In the event of jerky loading and unloading, the rope can detach completely from the steel bracket!”

Sequence for leader:

  1. Leader arrives at the anchor, and clips their rope into the anchor hook.

  2. Leader calls for tension/take. Leader clips the rope into the opposite and opposed carabiners. 

  3. Leader call for a lower and descends to the ground. (That's pretty much the series of three steps covered in the chart that's above.)

  4. If you're top roping a lot on the route, push the anchor hook up and clip in your own locking carabiner to take all the wear and tear of your top rope session; see photo above.

  5. The last person climbing the route simply unclips the carabiner on the right bolt, clips the rope into the anchor hook, and lowers off.

  6. Risk reduction note regarding cleaning: even though this is about the simplest possible anchor to clean, be CERTAIN that the last climber / cleaner is 123% certain about the correct procedure. If you have ANY doubts, do not have them clean!

Okay, sounds good . . . What does it cost?

Let's say this upfront: I believe that cost should not be a primary factor in deciding what hardware to use for climbing anchor. Simplicity, ease of use, and overall security should be the main factors.

Online retailers, such as HowNOT2, now offer a wide selection of quality bolting supplies at 20% off retail, or pretty much wholesale cost, so there's not much excuse for using cheap hardware.

Having said that, let's break down the cost of this anchor. 

  • I’m not including the bolt/hanger, because that's already in the rock.

  • All materials (except the anchor hook) are stainless steel, which should be the default in just about any area.

  • Prices are current as of July 2025.

(If any of the links below are broken, go to HowNOT2.com, and click Bolting from the main navigation menu.)

Left bolt (top down)

Right bolt

Retail cost: $40.25

Subtract 20% / $8.05 (because you're smart enough to have a HowNOT2 Bolting+ membership.)

FINAL COST: $32.20

Here's a cost breakdown for the single carabiner version.

(Pretty much the same as the anchor above, minus the shackle and one fixed eye carabiner.)

Retail cost: $29.20

Subtract 20% / $5.84

FINAL COST: $23.36

Let’s compare this to two quick links and two anchor hooks.

That's the standard of “clip and lower” anchors in many parts of the United States, and about the bare minimum in terms of gear required.

Retail cost: $24.40

Subtract 20% / $4.88

FINAL COST: $19.52

So, for about an extra $13, you get an anchor that’s significantly more secure. Is that worth it? For me, it's unquestionably yes. Others might have a different opinion. Quality hardware costs money. Would I as a user, gladly contribute a bit more each year to my local crag if they were using quality hardware like this? Absolutely.

For another point of comparison, this popular anchor system from Fixe retails for about $37. (Sidenote, that ring on the bottom make it a closed system, and therefore not ideal for single pitch routes.)

What could be better?

An anchor hook with a more secure gate system would be a big step forward.

I found this at HowNOT2: a double gate stainless steel anchor hook. It's currently not available, but this is a clue that it may be coming down the pipeline pretty soon. If it does, that would be pretty sweet.

This double gate hook could be matched with a regular hook on the other bolt. For very little additional cost, you could have a LOT of extra security, with pretty much zero chance of this ever coming unclipped.

Do you have an open anchor system that you think is better than this one? send me some details. There's a good chance I'll add it to this article.

 
John Godino
Next

How strong is it? GEAR (Part 1)