Rappel Back-ups
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A recent rappel mishap led to a fatality. applewood wrote:It appears he clipped only one strand of his rope into his ATC when rapping instead of 2 and so fell about 70 feet. Check your rap and other setups...Yes, check your rappel set-up, but I would add: Use a rappel back-up. We are human, we make mistakes. I can cite two recent examples of very experienced climbers I know clipping only one rope strand into a ATC-type device- once while rappelling Crack of Delights after an ascent of the Diamond, and once with a guide friend on a work day. One of these climbers has been climbing for over 40 years and had never had a mishap like that happen to him before. In both instances, a third-hand friction hitch back-up was used, and an accident was avoided. Rappel back-ups are easy to use, require very little equipment, and can save your life. |
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and so easy to inspect, apart from anchor, ropes, etc. Just you attached to the rope. |
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For me, the jury is still out on friction hitches. Yes, they can save your life but only if they are set up correctly. With a friction hitch, the autoblock can be tricky to set up and fail relatively easily. I don't like the idea of giving someone a false sense of security during rappelling. |
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Can I ask how one manages to clip only one side of the rope? Was it a failure to clip one of the strands that had been passed through the device with the biner? |
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In my case the tail on the rope was several feet long and I loaded one of the correct strands and one of the tails. I felt something odd in my hand as I started to descend and stopped. I was not using an auto block and nearly shit my pants. |
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matt c. wrote:For me, the jury is still out on friction hitches. Yes, they can save your life but only if they are set up correctly.Any technique/piece of equipment, if done/used incorrectly, can result in serious harm. Learn to use the friction hitch correctly. There are many instructional books that can show you how to do this, or hire a guide if you can't figure it out on your own. Used correctly, a third-hand friction hitch can save your life. H.. wrote:Can I ask how one manages to clip only one side of the rope? Was it a failure to clip one of the strands that had been passed through the device with the biner?Yes, a failure to clip one of the strands passed through a belay device into a locking carabiner. It is easier than you think to look down and just see the top part of your device/rope/biner set-up and think all is good. Add being momentarily distracted, in a hurry, or tired, or in the dark with a headlamp, and bingo, you are dead. Use a rappel back-up. |
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I always use a Prussik as my backup. It will never fail if set up correctly. But when weighted they can sure be a bitch to loosen up. From my understanding, using a autoblock as your back up is fast and efficient but I've heard from a few people that they are not the best to use when it's wet or snowy. They tend to slip I suppose? |
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Years ago my husband told me after a rap that he had made a mistake and only threaded one strand through his device - he wasn't in the habit of using a friction hitch back-up then, but thankfully he was in the habit of weighting his rappel to test it before taking himself off the anchor. He was pretty shaken up that he had made that type of mistake, but fortunately it was a non-issue that day. I can't remember the circumstances, but it was probably the end of the day and he may have been a bit distracted. He has 25 years of climbing experience and had never made that error before (or since). It can happen to anyone as previously mentioned. |
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whatever happened to weighting your rap before you disengage your tie-in point? |
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We tend to be rappelling at the end of the day when we are tired and hungry and dehydrated and it's getting cold and it's getting dark and all these things gang up on us and we make stoopid mistakes. |
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Adam Burch wrote:whatever happened to weighting your rap before you disengage your tie-in point?THIS. Every time. Weighting your device is part of the double-check while you're still anchored in. |
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And keep the tails of any knots to 18 inches or so. Tails that are several feet long is way unnecessary and just asking for trouble. |
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Adam Burch wrote:whatever happened to weighting your rap before you disengage your tie-in point?This TEST your setuo BEFORE taking off the safety A 2 wrap autoblock/kleimheist/prussik clipped with a non locker to your leg loop (how many folks do it) is a poor thing to depend upon to stop a fall of an ATC setup incorrectlt especially if you havent snugged up the friction know yet The problem wasnt the lack of "backup" but the failure to test the system In the video posted above they used an autoblock but FAILED to test the system I see folks thinking that "backups" will protect em and fail to go through the proper steps Backups are just that ... Backups, not a cure all ... Use em if you want, dont depend in em or substitute em for proper technique or complacency |
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I'm really glad the back-up saved them, but I wouldn't count on it to do that. |
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Travkrack wrote:I always use a Prussik as my backup. It will never fail if set up correctly. But when weighted they can sure be a bitch to loosen up. From my understanding, using a autoblock as your back up is fast and efficient but I've heard from a few people that they are not the best to use when it's wet or snowy. They tend to slip I suppose?An auto block is easier to tie, adjust, and untie than a prussik. On wet/icy ropes, you can add another wrap to increase friction if you need it. Like any friction hitch, before relying on it, pull it in the direction of use to test that it will catch. Extending the rappel device with a sling girth-hitched through the hard points of your harness (many ways to do this) and clipping the carabiner/hitch loop to your belay loop eliminates the chance the hitch will ride up to the rap device and fail, for example if you were knocked unconscious by falling rock and collapsed into a fetal position. Sterling makes a nice pre-sewn loop called the Hollow Block that works very well for this application. |
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bearbreeder wrote: The problem wasnt the lack of "backup" but the failure to test the system In the video posted above they used an autoblock but FAILED to test the system I see folks thinking that "backups" will protect em and fail to go through the proper steps Backups are just that ... Backups, not a cure all ... Use em if you want, dont depend in em or substitute em for proper technique or complacency rgold wrote: Rappel backups, if not installed too loosely, allow you to consciously and/or accidentally let go of the brake strands. I don't think they should be relied on for anything else.While I agree that challenging the system before going live should be part of the rappel protocol, I disagree strongly that a third-hand back-up serves no purpose other than to stop mid-rappel and go hands free. In the rappelling near-miss on the Crack of Delight I mentioned above, the climber had weighted the system before untying his tether, and thought all was fine. It wasn't until he was a few meters down that the problem revealed itself. When close in to the rappel anchor, your weight can easily be held by one strand of the rope in an improperly rigged ATC rappel set-up, especially on slabby terrain, as was the case of C of D. Use a rappel back-up! |
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I almost always use an autoblock (below the belay device) on rappels. I guess we're assuming it would save you when you only thread one strand through your rappel device, provided you put the autoblock around both strands? Yeah, I think that could save you. |
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Gunkie Mike, in my case we were rapping on another parties rope as we all were getting down off a moderate in Red Rocks. I was working on 2-3 hrs of sleep from the night before and had taken a nap. My partner woke me up as they were pushing off and I think I still groggy when I rigged my rap. |
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Steve Levin wrote: While I agree that challenging the system before going live should be part of the rappel protocol, I disagree strongly that a third-hand back-up serves no purpose other than to stop mid-rappel and go hands free. In the rappelling near-miss on the Crack of Delight I mentioned above, the climber had weighted the system before untying his tether, and thought all was fine. When close in to the rappel anchor, your weight can easily be held by one strand of the rope in an improperly rigged ATC rappel set-up. Use a rappel back-up!AGGRESIVELY test the system I see many folks lean back to "test" it but most of their weight is still on their tether You should be fully hanging off ur atc and there should be decent slack in the tether If you cant weight it for some reason, tripple check it visually and get your partner to as well As to prussiks, are you using em because you - are guarding against unexpected events or stupid mistakes Or - you dont have the proper confidence, technique or brake control to rap properly If the former than thats yr call If the latter then the prussik is acting as a bandaid hiding other errors The video posted is a prime example of this ... The person setup an autoblock, thought he was safe but FAILED to TEST the system ... And his autoblock failed when he depended upon it My suggestion this case is to practice rapping over and over again without a friction backup but with a FIREMANS so you gmlearn the proper techniques, checks and rope control Then if you want and can rap confidently, use a friction backup One of these days you WILL find yourself without a prussik when rapping And if you cant rap with proper control, how can i depend on you to lower me? I think we should do some tests with a 2 wrap autoblock/prussik/kleimheist falling off the anchor ... Im skeptical its a good idea I see folks all the time who use friction backups but dont test em properly or have a host of other errors Personally i dont use one as i wrap in assisted breaking mode on my smart or a grigri most of the timr |
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Humbly ... neither a rap backup nor a "bump test" replace a 100% visual inspection. Why think of them in the context of saving us if we fail the visual? |
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I agree with Matt c.: "With a friction hitch, the autoblock can be tricky to set up and fail relatively easily. I don't like the idea of giving someone a false sense of security during rappelling." |