Dusting off the Silent Partner

Hey all. I'm new to this forum so forgive me if I missed a working thread on the subject matter. I bought a 'silent partner' (SP) years ago (before YouTube) and only used it a couple of time on top rope. It came with a small manual, that at best, gives mediocre instructional information. I am looking to lead climb with the device and want to educate myself before heading to the crag. I have become more familiar with it at home and understand it basic functions of how the sp locks/feeds out rope.

My question: does anyone know of an instructional video, preferably made in this decade, that walks you through the set up and use of the sp?

Have you downloaded the latest manual from Rock Exotica's webpage?

The device is unchanged, and I found their manual to be top notch.

Sorry, I'm not aware of a youtube video. I haven't used mine a ton yet.

The SP is terrible for top-roping but excels on lead. Use a separate device for following your own leads. I thought the manual summed up everything well enough.

There is a right way and a wrong way to tie the clove hitch and orient the rope strands through the device so that it feeds easily. Attach the device to your belay loop with 2 locking biners or something made out of steel where cross-loading isn't an issue. Orient the device so that you won't ever accidentally clip the WRONG strand of rope to your pieces.

Back-up knots are important, even required so that the device feeds well. You need to re-belay (various ways to do this) after about 80-100' of climbing so that the weight of the rope doesn't cause too much slack to accumulate through the device. This depends on the diameter of the rope and overall amount of friction through your pieces. Don't worry about rope drag, but do extend pieces to avoid walking. You will want to run out your pitches almost to 200 feet if you can since there's no rope drag and in order to minimize time spent messing with belay anchors and rope management.

Anchors need to be bombproof and multidirectional. For multi-pitch routes your anchors need to hold both a downward AND an upward pull. The belay anchors are less dynamic than they would be if they were attached to a real live 170 lb. person. It helps if you are big-walling and attach a heavy haul-bag to the anchor. This incorporates more "dynamic" into your belay.

Don't use the device in temperatures below 40 degrees.

Have the gear to self-rescue if the terrain is extremely overhanging or traversing. For pitches that overhang or traverse a lot, you need a second rope to rappel on which is anchored to your bottom anchor, which you can re-ascend to get back to your anchor. Learn to use the device on pitches that are straight up before tackling traversing terrain.

Depending on how you carry the backup knots (backpack or clipped to harness) they will get hung up on rock features while you are half-way through the crux. You will have more weight attached to you than you would while climbing with a partner and there is no "take" only "fall." Falls are longer because the device doesn't engage immediately.

Rope soloing can be great when partners aren't available but it is an entirely different experience than climbing with a partner. Much more work is involved, mental stress and fear are increased (which might be part of the allure), which might lead to increased sense of accomplishment and self-reliance, but there is no resting on spacious belay ledges while gazing off at the horizon at sunset and bringing your partner up.

"The SP is terrible for top-roping but excels on lead."

Ain't that the truth.

On my first outing with the SP I intentionally took a lead fall and a TR fall. Lead fall was close to the ground: it would have hurt to fall from that height, but I would had lived (and I had a backup knot). The SP did fine. It locks up slower than a human belayer, as mentioned, but it worked fine.

TR was a different story. Firstly, it did not feed nearly as well on TR.

I also took a 5 foot fall, and then a 20 foot fall, on TR (intentionally, at the anchors, both clean falls), both times I was stopped by my *backup knots,* not the SP. Both should have been very short falls, as there was no slack and I was on a TR, yet both times rope whizzed through the SP until I hit my backup knot (a disconcerting noise...). Hmm...

Ran out of daylight, and I didn't get to play more, but I decided I liked leading on it better than TR...

Thanks everyone for all that info.... I appreciate it! Looks like this week at the Pinnacles for the debut of the dusty silent partner.

Berget wrote:It came with a small manual, that at best, gives mediocre instructional information.

The Silent Partner's booklet may not look slick and modern, but the instructions are right on the money. So if you're not clear on the concepts, you really need to hold off on using the device until you've re-read the manual and understood it. The SP is an excellent (really, the best) tool for its intended purpose, but you need to have all your systems totally dialed or you may be in a world of shit.

There are other threads here on MP that discuss the ins and outs of using the Silent Partner, and you may get some useful hints from them. Just do a search on the name and they should be easy to find.

JL

Berget wrote: I bought a 'silent partner' (SP) years ago (before YouTube) and only used it a couple of time on top rope.

As another poster has said, the SP is poor for TR: there are many better ways of doing this.

Here is the link for the Silent Partner booklet in PDF format.

rockexotica.com/media/wysiw…

screw the SP, just teach this goat to belay and he'll be your rope gun

Rope gun