safety gear suggestion needed

Hey everybody.  I'm not exactly a climber but I figured here was the best place to consult for advice.  I'm about to do some work on a somewhat inclined roof on a 1 story structure and I'm designing the gear to keep me safe.  This setup is only designed to keep the rope attached to me in case I start to slide and need to get stopped.  There's really no possibility of getting into a freefall with my situation.  Here's the harness and rope I got...

The rope is just over 1/2 inch at 9/16 ths and looks more like boat rope.  Anyhow, the last piece I need is the attachment point between the rope and harness.  Not familiar with what it would be called but I've seen it as a metal piece that the rope loops through whereby the rope can be loosened and pulled through when I need to adjust.

Can anyone possibly give a picture and name of the piece I'm looking for keeping the rope size in mind?.  Also, what'd be a good place to get such a piece at a reasonable price?

Thanks for the help

Forgetting for now about what that rope is going to be tied to, and how you're going to get up there with it... all you need is a prusik knot (google it) in smaller (5-7mm, let's call it 1/4 inch), supple cord. Move that up/down your boat rope as needed. A locking carabiner will be helpful to attach the prusik to your harness.

Is this real?  I wouldn’t recommend “designing” your own safety gear for roofing. Get some scaffolding and some brackets to throw some planks on. Don’t do roofing harnessed in with a boat rope. Any device you’re looking for is to be used with climbing rope which you don’t have. Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen to be honest. 

At 14.5 mm rope diameter,  I don't think you can buy a self belay device for that rope.

If you plan on using that static rope for fall arrest,  be aware that any slack in the rope will result in major impact to your body when the rope comes taut. Keep it tight

A clove hitch on a large HMS carabiner might do the trick,  but if you just might die if you fall...

You should see what OSHA says.  I’m pretty sure they recommend marine ropes and keychain clippy things. 

Laralyn Mowers wrote:

Setting aside some of the safety points others have raised, you can actually just tie the rope into the tie-point on the harness (the red loop sticking up above the waistline). You don't need an ATC. Just use a Figure 8 knot to secure yourself. This is how almost all climbers tie into their harness—though, for the record, that's not a climbing harness you got. What are you planning on anchoring the other end of the rope to? And do you know what kind of knot is appropriate??

Of course that's a climbing harness. It's a BlueWater Voyager, or a clone thereof.  And tying into the rope, as you suggest, does not provide the adjustability that the OP - even in his newbness - understands that he needs.  In short - you are 100% off the mark.

Gunkiemike thanks for the prusik knot and carabiner advice.  I'll need to learn how to tie the knot in the prusik rope that makes it into a loop.  

For the 5-7 mm supple cord you mentioned, how would I search for it on ebay?

Any everybody else thanks for the replies as well.  Obviously I need to get up to speed on proper safety equipment.  Like I mentioned earlier though there's almost no possibility of a free fall in this situation.  The most the rope would be used for is to help steady us ascending or decending, or catching us if we lose our footing.  When I'm able to spend the money I'll look into getting better ropes.

brad hays wrote: Gunkiemike thanks for the prusik knot and carabiner advice.  I'll need to learn how to tie the knot in the prusik rope that makes it into a loop.  

For the 5-7 mm supple cord you mentioned, how would I search for it on ebay?

Any everybody else thanks for the replies as well.  Obviously I need to get up to speed on proper safety equipment.  Like I mentioned earlier though there's almost no possibility of a free fall in this situation.  The most the rope would be used for is to help steady us ascending or decending, or catching us if we lose our footing.  When I'm able to spend the money I'll look into getting better ropes.

Solve both problems with this:

https://www.backcountry.com/sterling-hollow-block-6.8mm-x-13.5?CMP_SKU=STE0040&MER=0406&skid=STE0040-YL-S68MMXS135&mr:trackingCode=C4C2013C-1082-E011-AFE3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA&mr:device=c&mr:adType=plaonline&CMP_ID=PLA_GOc001&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=PLA&k_clickid=d87bf513-8bf8-4899-a66c-f8f2a3de02a9&rmatt=tsid:1042790|cid:213417517|agid:13362830437|tid:aud-193378327477:pla-441057425972|crid:92885919877|nw:g|rnd:7444470517265987146|dvc:c|adp:1o1|mt:|loc:9052893&gclid=CjwKCAjwhevaBRApEiwA7aT538BArdVJGCtbKR0vqfREfHaR8x1Yu-SjtS61cIblfRGFFp7gAtivoBoCD94QAvD_BwE

I put up solar systems occasionally. For the more dangerous roofs, I use a husky anchor point set with two big ol' lags. I use a Petzl Grigri to attach rope to my harness. I tie a backup knot where the rope naturally meets the gutter because Grigris can slip.  But the device is very adjustable and can act as a third point of contact when I'm in an awkward position. I use an old climbing rope which is about 10mm.

If you post up your location, you might get someone to offer you a little section of retired climbing rope. If you're near Longmont, CO I've got something for you. I might even loan you a Grigri if you're in the area.

homedepot.com/p/Werner-Roof…

Your 1 story up... why are you bothering with any of this. It is more likely to cause you to fall than if you just go without anything. I know multi people who have taken bigger decks while climbing and have not got hurt.

Justin Veenhuis wrote: homedepot.com/p/Werner-Roof…

Wow, that whole thing costs less than a Grigri. 

Is that rope the cheap junk from ebay? I bought one of those a couple of years ago for a work project and quickly decided to not use when I found the "core" pulled through the sheath in multiple places and decided to not put any faith in the "quality" of it.

Ive used the Home Depot bucket rig working on a roof before. Totally fine. didnt take a fall on it but it gave me something to hold on to. 

Marc H wrote: I put up solar systems occasionally. For the more dangerous roofs, I use a husky anchor point set with two big ol' lags. 

Do you just screw the anchor point into the roof on top of the shingles and then seal the holes with calk when done?

When I used it we nailled it directley to the roof sheathing. There were no shingles yet. Im sure theres directions in the bucket

+1 for the Home Depot bucket. It's safe and looks easy to use.

But if you're cash strapped and going with the prusik setup, you should have some way of ensuring that the prusik can't slide off the end of the rope. Two ways I can think of to do this:

1. Tie your main rope (the white boat rope) to your harness' belay loop (the red loop on the waist belt of the harness) using a figure 8 follow through, then tie your prusik onto the boat rope, and clip the prusik to the belay loop with a locking carabiner. Move the prusik up and down the length of the boat rope as needed. Your prusik will be your main attachment to the rope, and if it fails somehow, you'll still be attached to your main line. Although as everybody else has noted, you're in for a really painful impact because your rope is static. And you might rip your anchor out and deck, depending on how big the fall is. Even a fall of a few feet onto static rope can rip out bolts on rock climbs, which are probably as strong/stronger than what you'll be using.

Pros: impossible to slide off the end, redundant connection to the rope
Con: You'll have a loop of slack coming off your harness that you might trip over.

2. Tie a bulky backup knot, like a double overhand, in the end of your boat rope (the end not tied into the roof anchor point), that'll get caught in the prusik if you slide it too far down the rope.

Pro: No loop of slack to trip over
Cons: Connection to rope not redundant, and it's totally possible that your prusik could become loose and slip over the backup knot. Minimize this risk by tying the prusik correctly, snugging it down, and dressing it (making sure that it's clean and "textbook"-looking, no strands overlapping that shouldn't be)

Edit: honestly, the redundancy offered by approach #1 is probably not a great thing to rely on, given the amount of force you'll probably generate in a fall onto static rope.
Edit 2: and also folks can chime in on the efficacy of using a double overhand knot to prevent a prusik from slipping off the end of a rope. I don't know if that's even reliable. A backup knot seems more likely to be able to get through a prusik than through an ATC

Ģnöfudør Ðrænk wrote:

Do you just screw the anchor point into the roof on top of the shingles and then seal the holes with calk when done?

That’s an option, but on the few that we had to install, we just left them. The systems always need servicing at some point.

I guess repeatedly climbing out my 3rd story attic window with a wet paint brush in my mouth and hanging one armed with a heel hook off the eve of the roof to get that top bit of the trim isn't OSHA approved?

Kyle Tarry wrote:

Dude, shut up.  People have also died taking single-story falls.  The guy wants to try to be safe on his roof, either provide some useful advise or take your garbage somewhere else.

+100

I’ve actually done this. I just used a junk climbing rope and a prusik system. The oils from the roofing material gumbed up the prusik a bit and made it hard to use after awhile, but it worked ok. Made the work easier in some ways. I could swing around on the roof pretty fast side to side. I built an anchor out of 2x4s at the ridge. Not OSHA approved, not AMGA approved, but I got it done, made money, and didn’t die.

I have used the systems that are actually designed for the purpose and they’re better, but this was what I had. I actually preferred using my climbing harness (again it was an old one I don’t use anymore) over the full body harness as it gave me much better movement.