Talon spurs by EDELRID: Improved version

Last year Edelrid developed and launched the new Talon climbing spurs. Thanks to its plastic shell, the Talon is one of the lightest spurs on the market and adapts optimally to the wearer’s leg. In four cases worldwide, however, the shell has been damaged. That’s why we addressed the manufacturer directly during the “Baumpflegetage”.

In Augsburg we spoke to one of the developers of the Talon at Edelrid – Georg Öttl. He has explained to us how the shell has been improved to prevent this from happening in the future.

Freeworker: Hello Georg, in a few cases the plastic shell of the Talon spurs has broken. How did you react to these incidents?

Georg Öttl: Although the causes of these damages could not be clarified beyond all doubt, we of course reacted immediately – and published a safety notice for all users of the Talon. Damaged spurs will be repaired or replaced free of charge. In addition, we have significantly strengthened the design of the shell in the development division in order to counteract the fractures that have occurred on the sleeves of the screwing.

What improvements have you made exactly to strengthen the affected parts?

We have increased the diameters of the plastic frames around the brass sleeves of the screwing. The struts in the shell (see photo) have also been significantly reinforced. The construction of the plastic shell has been considerably strengthened. We have also made further adjustments to counteract the problem of impacts against the shell.

What exactly did you do to absorb impacts better?

To solve this problem even better, we have modified the material itself. This means that we have mixed some additives into the plastic to improve the tenacity of the material and make it more resistant to impacts.

How exactly has the strength improved? What do the test results say?

The modifications of the material and the construction have resulted in improvements of the strength on static tension. Here, the test values have doubled – in terms of tensile forces in both longitudinal and transverse directions. The resistance to impacts has improved in particular. Due to the changes the test result has increased by a factor of 10.

Thank you very much for the interview and of course for your time, Georg!

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