Can you safely pass a via ferrata with caving equipment, especially the lanyards?

 Short answer to that question is NO, this is not safe!

Why not? A caving harness has a much lower attachment point (your delta is your attachment point) than a climbing harness. In addition, your lanyards are not made for use on a via ferrata route. A via ferrata will often not only be a horizontal route. And that is exactly what makes the difference when using your lifelines or a via ferrata set. A via ferrata set is actually a set of double lanyards with a fall absorber in between. And the shock absorber is essential for making the via ferrata in case things go wrong. If for some reason you let go / fall on a diagonal or vertically a bit of climbing in the route, a Fall Factor of 2 can be possible (which is what your normal caving lanyards can handle). When the force is released, the shock absorber in your via ferrata set is activated and the tire material tears out to absorb the force (instead of your body). If you do this with your caving equipment lanyards there is a very good chance that your lanyards will break or that the full blow will come to your body with your back breaking very large or both combined with even greater consequences (up to death) . And especially if you use the speleo belt, the tipping point is so low that you have a good chance of hanging upside down if you make a small fall, which can also create a difficult situation.

For more information regarding Via Ferrata see CanyonZone's Knowledge Base  Via Ferrata / Klettersteig.

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