Screamers are specialist extenders for marginal placements of the sort usually encountered whilst aid climbing or winter climbing. They generally consist of slings sewn up with stitches that are designed to rip under load so that the impact of the load is gradual rather than sudden. They provide added protection in climbing and rescue situations where they not only absorb energy directly because of the stitch ripping effect, but they also allow your rope to absorb more energy from the fall by increasing the time interval of the fall. The standard Screamer (for instance) can effectively reduce peak loads by 3-4kN in any climbing or rescue system.