Gesprungene Bambus (engl)

What to do with a bamboo which has a split?
Is it still safe to tie on that bamboo?
Bamboo is a material that is very sensitive towards changes in temperature and humidity, therefore it happens quite fast that the fibre of the bamboo expands and the bamboo splits (usually the split is in vertical direction, means between both ends, not around the bamboo.)
To get science proofed data about the stability of bamboo (with and without splits) in context of tension, stress, elasticity you have to know exactly which sort of bamboo you have, which diameter, section thickness, how long and where it has grown up, if it has been treated in anyway and how you plan to load it.
But even if you would know all that details you would still get only approximated values about the bamboos stability.
And remember: Safety is always about the weakest link of the chain and that is usually the rope (or suspension point if you are using simple hooks instead of a (wooden) rig).
According to that it is not very helpful or satisfying to spent too much effort into a trial to get exact data about the stability of a splitted bamboo. The bamboo will with the utmost probability not be you weakest link.
There are some safety advices to tie on a bamboo with a split: You should turn the side with the split down (floor-facing), so that your rope you are using while tying someone does not scratch over the sharp-edged split. But by turning the bamboo downwards, your attachment rope between bamboo and ceiling will get stressed by the sharp-edged split. Therefore you can attach straps on both edges where your rope attachment to the ceiling is. Why? The straps hold the bamboo together and guarantee that your attachment rope is not 24/7 stressed by the sharp-edged split.
This is only a shared experience, not a general guideline. If you don't feel safe tying on a bamboo with a split, don't do so. Usually a 2m long bamboo costs between 15 and 25€, so that is not a big investment and better to change your splitted bamboo than to feel uncomfortable and unsafe to tie on it.
http://bambus.rwth-aachen.de/de/Referate/mecheigBambus/referat.html
https://www.swr.de/naturwunder/thema-5-bambus-der-groesste-grashalm-der-welt/-/id=1223312/did=5324106/nid=1223312/1ohh6uq/index.html




