alpine self belay and reverso/guide
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I've had a hard time refining my search through the forums, so feel free to tell me I missed a forum that will help me out. |
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rope solo
dirtbag wrote: 1. does not involve cutting my rope in case of a fall (cynched-down clove hitch)Can you explain why you think a clove hitch will cut your rope? While it is certainly true that the knot reduces the rope's breaking strength, the figure 8 reduces it substantially as well, so I'm struggling to understand this one. |
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Yeah, I was under the impression that a clove hitch was the most bomber form of self-belay, just a pain in the ass. What do you think Jim Beyer used all those years ago? |
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Chris Drover wrote: rope solo Can you explain why you think a clove hitch will cut your rope? While it is certainly true that the knot reduces the rope's breaking strength, the figure 8 reduces it substantially as well, so I'm struggling to understand this one.I've read a couple accounts where the clove hitch was so cinched-down that it was impossible to remove from the locker (the climber had to cut the clove off). Although I haven't fallen on a clove myself, I don't find this hard to believe... i used a clove on a hammock swing and those forces were enough to make it nearly impossible to remove from the carabiner. In short, I'm under the impression that a clove on opposed lockers is a bomber form of self belay in an emergency situation, or when a fall is very unlikely. Those who know better, please correct me. |
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Use two lockers reversed for the clove hitch. |
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Again, I'm very interested to hear any thoughts/experiences w/ using the plaquette device in auto-belay mode... very unconventional and likely dismissed... although if it could work, it would require no extra gear and would facilitate quick jugging as well. |
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You may not have seen this on the link that Chris posted, but here is what you are looking for: |
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dirtbag wrote: I've read a couple accounts where the clove hitch was so cinched-down that it was impossible to remove from the locker (the climber had to cut the clove off).Gotcha. I misinterpreted what you first wrote and thought you meant the rope being cut by the knot during the fall. Although I've rope-soloed on a clove hitch, I haven't fallen on it, so I can't speak to that. My understanding with the ATC guide/reverso is that there is some risk of the device not being in the proper orientation to engage in the event of a lead fall. That being said, I do use my ATC guide to top-rope solo when re-climbing each pitch after lead soloing it, and have never had any problems. Chris |
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Kevin Cossel wrote:You may not have seen this on the link that Chris posted, but here is what you are looking for: mountainz.co.nz/content/art…thanks Kevin. Still open to thoughts and personal experiences with this and other methods. |
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My thought and experiences are this; if you are worried about a self belay, you have probably picked something that is too hard for an alpine solo. When I solo in the alpine arena, it is with speed in mind and it is highly unusual for me to use a rope other than to get down. Protecting such climbs is a waste of time in my opinion. Now, in a pinch, I have been scared and used a clove hitch for self belay, but this has been for short sections only and I have never fallen on it. If I am soloing something that requires real belaying, I use a dedicated device (a soloist in my case). I rarely do this for alpine climbs as it is just too slow. I can imagine using a reverso, but it would be only in a pinch and not a regular practice. |
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csproul wrote:My thought and experiences are this; if you are worried about a self belay, you have probably picked something that is too hard for an alpine solo. When I solo in the alpine arena, it is with speed in mind and it is highly unusual for me to use a rope other than to get down. Protecting such climbs is a waste of time in my opinion. Now, in a pinch, I have been scared and used a clove hitch for self belay, but this has been for short sections only and I have never fallen on it. If I am soloing something that requires real belaying, I use a dedicated device (a soloist in my case). I rarely do this for alpine climbs as it is just too slow. I can imagine using a reverso, but it would be only in a pinch and not a regular practice.thanks for the perspective... although that's not what I was looking for, it's probably more relevant for me at this point in the game. Cheers |
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dirtbag, |