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When you have to leave a rap anchor... webbing or cord?

EricSchmidt · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2013 · Points: 0
Brian Hudson wrote: I guess you could place it like a blade...cam it in a horizontal and hope for the best? Also, Eric, your sense of humor needs some retuning if you think you're telling jokes.
Hahaha right.... And who is the idiot who took me seriously? Thats you Brian!
Peter Hurtgen · · Dallas, TX · Joined Dec 2011 · Points: 110

How about leaving stainless chain? Around a tree? It'll last long and it's less visable.... Would that work or would people take it and put up webbing?

Forthright · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2011 · Points: 110
Peter Hurtgen wrote:How about leaving stainless chain? Around a tree? It'll last long and it's less visable.... Would that work or would people take it and put up webbing?
You going to lug enough SS chain up your climbs?
Greg Pouliot · · Rumney NH · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 90

Webbing is strong and cheap. Bring a couple 1-2 foot knotted slings with you and you can make a multitude of different lengths. A rap ring is super cheap and you can always bring one with you. If not, just leave a few biners.

Kip Kasper · · Bozeman, MT · Joined Feb 2010 · Points: 200
divnamite · · New York, NY · Joined Aug 2007 · Points: 90
Keenan Waeschle wrote:http://cascadeclimbers.com/forget-that-bulk-webbing-by-blake-herrington/
The article mostly applied to alpine. If you do local cragging, replacing older anchors with real rap ring and good wedding is good for the community.
Mark E Dixon · · Possunt, nec posse videntur · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 974

Peter Hurtgen wrote:
How about leaving stainless chain? Around a tree? It'll last long and it's less visable.... Would that work or would people take it and put up webbing?

NorCalNomad wrote: You going to lug enough SS chain up your climbs?
I usually carry a few pieces of chain on my harness just in case.
MTKirk · · Billings, MT · Joined Dec 2011 · Points: 245

I make my double length slings from 9' of knotted 9/16" tubular webbing. I can use them for runners on the way up, if I need to cut them up for rapping I can usually make two rap stations from one sling, at $.40 per foot it's pretty cheap. They can be worn over the shoulder with one biner or clipped to the harness. They can also be untied and used a Web-o-lette if for some reason I don't want to use the rope. I can use them to make ascenders and prussik/mariner hitch combo's for rescue type stuff. You could do all the above with 7mm accessory cord, but I don't like wearing cord slings over my shoulder.

I also carry a couple of rapid links on my harness for rapping (in the cari-tool slots that I never use).

Peter Hurtgen · · Dallas, TX · Joined Dec 2011 · Points: 110

norcalnomad wrote:
You going to lug enough SS chain up your climbs?

im mostly thinking about hauling it up once and replacing big ugly webbing bundles with chains that will last much long and look alot better what would people think? would it damage the tree too much or maybe just get stolen? i would be willing to haul it to make peoples outings a little safer on highly used descents. what are some opinions, is this a good idea??

T Howes · · Bend, OR · Joined Dec 2010 · Points: 20

I've never seen chain around a tree before. It seems like a bad idea... I think it would be harder on the tree than webbing or cord.

RWC · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2008 · Points: 0

I know a guy who knows a guy whose wife had a girlfriend with a big rack and she had to use her bra as a rap anchor. It was wire-framed, of course.

Thomas Beck · · Las Vegas, Nevada · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,025
angieL wrote:Just looking for an answer to a question that maybe I'm over-thinking, but if one has to leave a rappel anchor, or if an existing anchor looks sketchy, which is a better material to leave behind- 1in webbing or cordellette (say 6mm)? I'm not so much concerned with which will get me down safely, I have confidence either one would, but for those who come after me, I might as well leave the best thing should someone else need it. Thus, I'm specifically looking for which one wears better in the long run, which one will visibly show wear better (to help others determine if it's safe-- don't want something to look fine but really it's crap), and if it could be a factor, which one would be better for the environment, though I know leaving anything behind is not exactly good. Any opinions/insight is appreciated! Thanks!
Yep.. Over-think. Once you begin thinkin' about leaving a piece of tat, you are already opening the book to the "dire chapter".

You are in a wet cold climate so anything you leave out is not gonna last that long. In the desert where I live Ultraviolet rays degrade and webbing or cord. People will notice the fading of black and hopefully calculate how much they are trusting your left tat.

I don't normally carry a cordelette, but if I had one or my partner had on I cut a length of that before sacrificing a sewn sling. If I am out on something with unknown anchors I normally carry about 5 to 5.5ft. of 9/16 black webbing. Compact, light and girth hitches on a gear loop without taking up a lot of room. Around here that will set you back about $2.40. Once a rope gets pulled through from a rappel then the webbing is compromised anyway . If you want to be extra considerate put a 5/16" screw link in the system and rap or lower through that. I buy screw links in boxes of 50; one box lasts along time and the price is about 1/5th of what you'd pay in a hardware store
robrobrobrob · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 10
RWC wrote:I know a guy who knows a guy whose wife had a girlfriend with a big rack and she had to use her bra as a rap anchor. It was wire-framed, of course.
I'm not understanding, I have rappelled with very big racks... and people who've descended Mt. Thor have used even larger ones. Now, i don't actually wear a bra, but I fail to see how that would affect anything....This is one of the biggest racks I've seen...



;)

oh and THOSE guys left some SERIOUS tat behind... sunk into the rock with cement if I recall.
Bryan G · · June Lake, CA · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 6,167

I have a couple retired 8mm twin ropes that I've been slowly chopping up for bail cord. Should last me a few years... and by then I'll have retired another set of twins.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Trad Climbing
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