Black Diamond Infinity Cord Review
By Graham Johnson
The last great innovation in slings came about in the early 2000s when Mammut started selling those now ubiquitous dyneema slings (Mammut Contact slings). They were so much lighter, more compact, didn't absorb as much water and just generally all-around better than the previous nylon slings. That was genuinely an improvement for climbers. Since then, things have mostly inched better (skinnier, lighter, more supple), but there hasn't been a massive change and most of us don't get too excited when it comes to new slings and runners.
Black Diamond's Infinity Cord is a different product than we're used to seeing—a ‘continuously woven dynex’ loop covered in a nylon/dynex sheath. I'm not actually sure how this is manufactured, but the net result is a strong (22kn+), lightweight and thin (4.5mm!) cord. Because they are made as a single loop, there is no splice or stitching joining two ends together to form the loop. There is a tag, however—apparently this is a legal requirement, which is slightly bulkier than the rest of the cord. They come in three lengths—120, 180 and 240cm, which points to their intended use—as anchor building material, not as a replacement for the 60cm slings you make extendable draws out of. When I went to the store to buy these, they only had 120cm available, so that's what I have been testing. I might eventually purchase a 180 cm one if they ever go back into stock, but I pretty much never use a 240 cm sling.
In use, they are stiff in a floppy sort of way. I initially found them hard to rack as a result of this and usually end up tying them in an overhand knot vs the ‘fold, fold, twisty, twisty, clip’ method I use for my dyneema 120cm slings. As expected they are just as good for anchor building as a normal 120cm sling but—and this is the main advantage of the cord in my opinion—they are super easy to untie when you break the anchor down. Not having a sewn/bartacked part of the sling to avoid in the knot is also nice, but not that big of a deal. A pet peeve of mine is being handed the previous anchor sling with a welded knot at a transition as my follower is handing me back the rack. But that doesn't happen with the Infinity cord—they're that easy to untie, even after being loaded.
An unexpected benefit of the moderate stiffness is that they are easier to thread around/through things than typical floppy slings. I'm not someone who typically extends his abseils, so I haven't used it for that but I imagine it would work well. Other users have commented that they like to use them as third hand/prussik cord, but the low melting point of the dyneema used in the sheath would make me nervous about doing this.
Is this the next revolution in climbing slings? No. I think this is another incremental jump (step?) sort of forward and sideways. They are cool, I appreciate how easy they are to untie. I will absolutely continue to use mine, but I'm also not rushing out to buy more.
3.5/5 stars