Alpine Runner

Lite and quick.

Great runner all benefits of traditional runner with increased durability, heat tolerance. Only downside you might not be able to sling horns as easily and might be worth keeping a few traditional sewn runners on the rack

This is a great little piece of equipment. I havnt used this style of runner before but so far I’m pretty happy with it. Primarily I’ve been using it in place of my double length sling as an extension/tether for rappels and I do really like it in this configuration. It’s also great for anchoring and protection as a runner and pretty much functions as a normal sewn loop would. One thing to note, the sewn ends really only fit one carabiner each. This is nice as it keeps the carabiner in place, but there are a few situations where I’d like to be able to put to carabiners in an end. But overall it’s a great product.

I have the 35cm, 55cm and 110cm alpine runners. The 35cm runners are growing on me for trad routes with bolts because they offer similar short connection points and easy of clipping to a 10-12cm quickdraw, but with the added versatility of being extendable. Comparing the 55cm to a standard 60cm sling is less clear cut. The sheath should improve longevity and cut resistance, and maybe the sewn loops provide enough structure to reduce carabiners shifting to suboptimal loading configurations, but they are not as easy to extend. The sewn portion must flip through the top carabiner during extension (sometimes causing it to ride up on the gate). These slings are fairly easy to untie after use in anchors and are pretty good for rappel extensions.

Not as easy to use as normal alpine draws. Sewed portions get caught when extending and this requires you to have dedicated sides of the draw for the rope and the anchor/bolt. It adds another element to think about that you wouldn't normally have to think about. This might be fine on easy routes, but if you're pushing hard on something it can be frustrating to fiddle with.