How do you replace the rope bridge on a Weaver Cougar?

[Plasmech]

So I'm staring at my Cougar....staring...staring...and for the life of me I don't see how one would be able to replace the rope bridge, which comes as a replacement part without the steel rings. Looks like a puzzle. Anybody ever do this?

 

[oldirty]

its just rings right? that their bridge is attached too?

tie a scaffold knot (double fisherman's) to each ring. instant rope bridge.

find out how much tail you need to tie a good knot and then you can figure out the length of the bridge you want from there.

 

[Plasmech]

its just rings right? that their bridge is attached too?

tie a scaffold knot (double fisherman's) to each ring. instant rope bridge.

find out how much tail you need to tie a good knot and then you can figure out the length of the bridge you want from there.

Thanks. I was actually talking about replacing the stock bridge with a replacement bridge. The Weaver bridge is just a little piece of crap rope with loops in both ends.

 

[oldirty]

look at the rings then. they should have a piece the you need a phillips head to screw out a pin type of thing that keeps the ring whole.

nothing wrong with using 2ft or so of 1/2 line. what i use.

 

[RacerX]

This might help:

http://www.wesspur.com/images/pdfs/weaver-cougar-instructions.pdf

 

[B_Turner]

On my cougar the rope bridge immediately developed bumps in the cover that soon had the cover pulling apart in one spot.

I got another cougar rope bridge and went to put it on tonight. I looked at the instructions and they looked too complicated.

It looked like the instructions were saying to take both sides of the saddle apart. So I ignored the instructions and it was easy to swap out the old bridge and swap in the new bridge with only taking one side apart at the ring (the loop through that side's ring that goes to the leg loop stays on and you simply pull the ring through the loosened knot in the rope ends) .

That way I could see how to put it back together more easily as I had the side I left intact as an example.

I really hope this bridge holds up much better than the first one. The price of that piece of spliced rope is about a 1/3 the cost of a whole saddle (which comes with a rope) and next time I would use a rope with stopper knots behind the rings.

 

[smokechase II]

Impressed

My son showed me his Cougar with a seat instead of leg loops (he got his for $250 with the seat) and I was impressed.

I used to make parachute harnesses.

He had put a large welded O ring over the rope you're talking about to reduce wear and extend its life.

 

[smokechase II]

Replacing that rope

"The price of that piece of spliced rope is about a 1/3 the cost of a whole saddle"

That rope can never fail. I bet its expensive.

Myself I trust other materials in certain uses than even a very good rope like that.

With one of my industrial sewing machines I would build a heavy harness webbing with buffers sewn with a box 4 point W with 3 cord nylon or better for replacement. I'd probably make something that didn't offer a free play capability and have to redo it.

 

[B_Turner]

My son showed me his Cougar with a seat instead of leg loops (he got his for $250) and I was impressed.

I used to make parachute harnesses.

He had put a large welded O ring over the rope you're talking about to reduce wear and extend its life.

With my rope I don't think a ring would have helped. The bumps and the fluff in the cover started immediately on top. No biner ever was in contact with that area - only rubs on the bottom of the rope. I switched to a pulley to roll over the rope bottom, but the cover still self destructed. Here's the bridge with very few hours on it.

My main issue with my cougar (other than the bridge cover pulling itself apart) is that the even snugged up, the rope tends to pull away from me more than I like. My next saddle will probably have more ways to clip in closer.But for the going price of $200, the cougar is still an amazing deal.

 

[smokechase II]

Contact

Turner:

I'd contact Weaver.

With that photo, rope certainly looks newish, I think you have cause and documentation to ask for a replacement.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that anyone who could build and retail a harness of that quality that they would take your input on the length away from your body complaint seriously.

Ask the about alternatives to the rope and what can be done to lengthen its lifespan.

-----------

(Myself; I'd try a thick 1" kevlar webbing sewn with bar tacked double loops on each end. Then possibly set up a wide heavy nylon webbing to be the intermediary between the kevlar and 'biner. I've seen a kevlar thick web used as a crosstie between risers on parachutes and I know that its strength is substantial.)

 

[Plasmech]

Turner:

I'd contact Weaver.

With that photo, rope certainly looks newish, I think you have cause and documentation to ask for a replacement.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that anyone who could build and retail a harness of that quality that they would take your input on the length away from your body complaint seriously.

Ask the about alternatives to the rope and what can be done to lengthen its lifespan.

-----------

(Myself; I'd try a thick 1" kevlar webbing sewn with bar tacked double loops on each end. Then set up a wide heavy nylon webbing to be the intermediary between the kevlar and 'biner. I've seen a kevlar thick web used as a crosstie between risers on parachutes and I know that its strength is substantial.)

Get a piece of 5/8" Kevlar/Nomex, DFL it on there and never worry again.

 

[B_Turner]

Turner:

I'd contact Weaver.

With that photo, rope certainly looks newish, I think you have cause and documentation to ask for a replacement.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that anyone who could build and retail a harness of that quality that they would take your input on the length away from your body complaint seriously.

Ask the about alternatives to the rope and what can be done to lengthen its lifespan.

-----------

(Myself; I'd try a thick 1" kevlar webbing sewn with bar tacked double loops on each end. Then possibly set up a wide heavy nylon webbing to be the intermediary between the kevlar and 'biner. I've seen a kevlar thick web used as a crosstie between risers on parachutes and I know that its strength is substantial.)

A little while back I emailed weaver and they said it was cosmetic only. They said if I wanted to I could contact my dealer and see about working out a replacement rope.

 

[smokechase II]

Another thought

Tubular nylon or other tubular webbings.

--------------

In a kernmantle rope there is an outer sheath that holds the ropes real strength inside.

Take the rope on the cougar and slide over it a tubular nylon sheath. Not meant to be real tight. Just a bit of protection from snagging/abrasion etc.

One of the potential problems with any sort of protective cover is that the user may not be able to inspect one of the most important parts of the harness.

But, these tubular webbings are fairly soft in nature and could be scrunched to one side for rope inspection.

I'm going to ask Weaver if they've tried this.

 

[RacerX]

With my rope I don't think a ring would have helped. The bumps and the fluff in the cover started immediately on top. No biner ever was in contact with that area - only rubs on the bottom of the rope. I switched to a pulley to roll over the rope bottom, but the cover still self destructed. Here's the bridge with very few hours on it.

My main issue with my cougar (other than the bridge cover pulling itself apart) is that the even snugged up, the rope tends to pull away from me more than I like. My next saddle will probably have more ways to clip in closer.But for the going price of $200, the cougar is still an amazing deal.

I've been staring at that photo for ten minutes and still trying to figure out how that happened.

There are times when splicing eye's onto ropes that it's difficult to pull the core out of the rope to make the splice and that's with a tool trying to pull it out.

 

[B_Turner]

I've been staring at that photo for ten minutes and still trying to figure out how that happened.

There are times when splicing eye's onto ropes that it's difficult to pull the core out of the rope to make the splice and that's with a tool trying to pull it out.

I watched as the bumps kept growing and wondered the same thing. Two of the bumps stayed under control because I would massage them everytime I would use the saddle and they would sort of loosen up a bit and lie flatter.

Nothing actualy touched the top of the bridge (if you look you can sort of see the big fluff was not actually pulled up by anything).

I think it is because the top of the rope bridge flexes/bends/stretches radically when a biner or pulley is loaded on the bottom, and as the point of bend moves something in the cover is sightly catching at the point where cover is pulling up.

After a while the edges of the strands sort act like small ratchets and as the top is bent they pull out a little more and when the rope is straightened they can't really pull back in. So with each of hundreds of flexes as I climb and move my point of contact around the fluff mountain grows.

I think the smaller bumps would have done the same thing except I managed to keep them smaller before they could quite exit the rope cover. Once the strands pulled away from the cover, they started pulling out fast - from barely being able to see the fibers to what you see in maybe two uses.

The bottom of the bridge showed some wear, but that would of course be normal as that part of the rope has a tougher life.

Also, my guess is that a sheath over the rope bridge would have actually made things worse, along with making visual inspection a little less likely.

 

[OntarioClimber]

My cougar developed bumps on the top of the bridge too, but they have not come out like the pic and I can knead them down some.

I called Sharon at Weaver, she told me it is a cosmetic flaw in that batch of bridges and it will not hurt the integrity of the bridge, but still, they will send out a FREE replacement if asked.

I just got mine in the mail via Purolater I'll keep riding mine until I think it progresses to a point that i can't use it.
But, I have a new one sitting here in my office, ready to go.

 

[B_Turner]

My cougar developed bumps on the top of the bridge too, but they have not come out like the pic and I can knead them down some.

I called Sharon at Weaver, she told me it is a cosmetic flaw in that batch of bridges and it will not hurt the integrity of the bridge, but still, they will send out a FREE replacement if asked.

I just got mine in the mail via Purolater I'll keep riding mine until I think it progresses to a point that i can't use it.
But, I have a new one sitting here in my office, ready to go.

Mine showed only bumps as first, then the left bump started to pull out.

I spent a few hours on my new bridge yesterday and it is already showing slight bumps, which hopefully will stay under control if I knead them. Only contact with rope bridge was a single Petzl biner, so I am not doing anything unusual to the bridge. I wonder if this rope was from the same batch as the rope on my saddle.

When I emailed Sharon about the first rope bridge she would not even sell me a new one, much less send me free one. She said I had to go through somewhere that sells the saddle, like Baileys, WS, or Sherrill.

 

[OntarioClimber]

Actually, i had to do that too, I went thru a supplier up here, but i did not pay a dime the suppliers know that Weaver will cover the cost, so no biggie on them

 

[OntarioClimber]

And my new one is a bit different, the core is alot darker, almost a black, my old one was light grey.

 

[treemandan]

Don't like those skinny bridges and kinda miss my D's. Its easy to swap out though. Comes apart in minutes, got the directions from Weaver or the store I bought it from.
I stuck a peice of 16 strand in mine, they original bridge looked worn out in 6 months but it is still on the saddle, I use both at once.