Before we talk off this forum I must inform you that I will be taking legal counsel with respect to the statements you have made.

My responsibility also lies with the manufacturer and I will be sending them a link for them to view the statements made and take any action they feel appropriate.

Absoutely. Please email me at candief@eldowalls.com and we will set something up.

I have been alerted by a very happy customer of ours to this thread. I’m not one for blogging, but I’ll give it a go.

I’m an honest guy, so I am Dan Griffiths of Applied Safety Solutions Ltd based in the UK. We are the company appointed by North Safety to responsibly distribute the North Controlled Descent Device.

I am alarmed by some of your comments and wondered if you would like to discuss some of the issues you have raised??????

I’d like to ask specifically about the one way clutch. Fancy a chat??

Our research shows that the TRUBLUE auto belay is the only auto belay to meet US, Canada and NZ/Australia safety standards for fall arrest devices. The North Safety unit it the only other auto belay we know of that meets fall arrest safety standards, but this is for Europe only.

On our website we list the safety standards with which the TRUBLUE auto belay complies. This can be found at http://www.climbtru.com/trublue-auto-belay/safety-standards/

The magnetic system does have a track record of almost a year in field testing, as well as 4 years in development and safety testing.

My statement was that “we believe” that this is the best option. This is not conceited…it is a fact. Because we believe that this the best option, we have purchased the company and distributing the product. We are not the only climbing wall company distributing the TRUBLUE. Rockwerx and EP will also be distributing this product.

As far as the bearing issue, you have a point that I do not have evidence on my post backing up this statement. My understanding is that the bearing in the centrifugal unit wears over time and is therefore a potential point of failure.

Here are the facts:

-TruBlue is NOT the only auto belay to meet international safety standards. A number of other belays were engineered to meet those standards. So this is simply NOT TRU. ))

-TruBlue has not provided ANY evidence of the safety certifications it has. Although it has been ‘engineered to meet the standards’ there is no official proof that it actually meets them!

-Candie makes a dangerous statement that clutch bearing is a ‘key potential point of failure in modular auto belay systems’. However, she does NOT provide any evidence that this is so. Clutch bearing auto belays have been around for almost 20 years and we still don’t know what caused the MSA recall. Was it clutch bearing or something else in the belay? Either way, she makes an empty assumption to toot her own horn.

-The magnetic system has absolutely NO TRACK RECORD and we have no idea how it will perform in field conditions a year or two years from now.

Finally the statement that TruBlue is ‘the best option and will set new standard in auto belays’ is very conceited. This belay has not even been on the market and has not proven to be better than hydraulic or centrifugal break belays.

Making loud statements such as this one before the product has even proven itself does not reflect well on the company or its employees. Definitely something to keep in mind when researching auto belay options.

The TRUBLUE uses a self-regulating magentic braking system, which eliminates the needs for a clutch bearing (a key potential point of failure in previous and current modular auto bealy designs). TRUBLUE is owned by Eldorado Climbing Walls, and we think it is the best option on the market and will set a new standard in auto belays.

A lot of our existing customers for whom we built climbing walls have been coming to us complaining about this problem.

We have a solution that is similar in size and shape to the Red Points. It has a double centrifugal break system and can be easily swapped for the Red Point Descenders.