Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Technical Question: Vintage MSR Snow Fluke

I bought a fluke and when I looked in the back, I see some orange stuff and looks like the tubing was reconnected .... is that common for the back of the fluke? In adition, I notice two different kinds of tubing used ... looks like someone did a custom job .... the seller has no clue ....

Here are some pics:

http://s703.photobucket.com/albums/ww32/mygpaccount/10-0115-MSR%20Flukes/

password: fluke101


thanks,
seadweller

Looks like a custom job to me.

You know why it's called a fluke, right? Cuz it's a fluke if it works!

Yeah it looks like it has been modified. Just curious why you are choosing to use such an old piece of gear instead of getting a new one. They aren't that expensive.

The "extra" tube looks like a crimped cable ferrule where the two ends of the cable are spliced together.

I am almost positive that this is the way these flukes came (sans orange paint).
It is important to look at the swage (the crimped part that captures the wire ends) carefully to make sure that the wires are still adequately captured. The wires often get corroded near the swage (dis-similar metals!) and that could be a problem.
Being an aerospace engineer, I generally feel that metal/alloy climbing gear that has few or no moving parts can be pretty easily inspected to determine if they are acceptable to still be used whether it is my older gear or when buying some used gear, but in this case, I would have to ask the same question as Kurt: Why buy a used fluke? They are quite inexpensive new and I would think that the certainty and confidence that comes from buying a shiny new piece of gear would easily outweigh the savings of buying a used one.

.... forgot to add; in response to previous post about being called a fluke, 'cause it's a fluke if it works; The person who made the post may have just been joking?
I don't personally own any, or regularly use them, but I have on a few occasions from guying out a tent, to using them as part of an anchor for crevasse rescue. When they were used properly, they worked well.
A professional guide may be able to elaborate better on how good (or not?) they are as a piece of gear. Kurt?

Mountaineering joke. But seriously, I personally don't like them, they move too much under the snow for my taste. Besides, one time one ripped a hole in a brand new pack I had, so I am especially biased against them.