The piton brake bar is very similar to a Pitt
Stop. I don't have a picture of the piton brake bar, but it is just a piton clipped on
to a screw-gate carabiner, with the rope running over the piton and under the carabiner.
Safe | The piton brake bar cross loads the carabiner gate quite a lot, due to its small size, and this is the weakest point of the carabiner |
Quick release | Very quick |
In line | Yes |
Light weight | Yes |
Variable speed | Not easily. Using a smaller or large carabiner can change the speed, but this takes time to set up. |
Variable speed during descent | No |
Easy to lock off | Not particularly |
Rescue use | Poor. Adding an extra person would be inadvisable |
Belay use | No |
Heat dissipation | Below average |