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BELAY, ABSEIL & ASCENT | | |
|  Photo: Roger Wensley abseiling down from the summit of the famous Orcadian sea-stack,
The Old Man of Hoy (E1), Orkney Isles, Scotland. |
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Belay Devices: | | |
| | A belay device is essential but the array on the market can be bewildering. Most climbers these days would use a belay plate for abseiling as well as belaying. Here are a few notes to help. If you have any intentions of climbing outside, buy a belay plate with two slots as you will probably want to use double ropes at some time. The safest for starting out are BD ATC-XP, Simond Cubic, Spring Sticht, Salewa Tubu and Wild Country Variable Controller as they have greater braking effect than other plates. Most Belay Devices can safely be used to abseil with in most situations (be aware that they heat up more quickly than a large figure of eight descender). Use of a Prussik Loop or a Shunt to safe guard yourself while descending is highly recommended. Please click here for some important and potentially life saving information about abseil knots. Also, Vertical Devices deals with abseil and descending devices and is a fascinating website for anyone interested in the history of climbing equipment. | |
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Via Ferrata Equipment: | | |
| | Via Ferrata is the term applied to alpine scrambles using fixed ladders to surmount difficult obstacles and fixed cables for protection. Click for more advice on Via Ferrata or for Via Ferrata Guidebooks. | |
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Abseil Devices: | | | Many climbers these days no longer carry a Figure of Eight for abseiling as the majority of belay devices can be used instead. Moreover it has been shown recently that Figure of Eights can, in certain situations twist against the gate of a screwgate karabiner and break it open. This has resulted in several deaths: for more information see Neville Macmillan's paper Karabiner Breakings when Using a Figure-of-Eight.
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However a Figure of Eight is useful in many instances and remains the first choice for those who abseil regularly due to its larger surface area and greater heat dissipation. The problem of accidental gate opening can be counteracted by using a DMM Belay Master Karabiner. A useful way of backing up an abseil device is with a Shunt or a Prussik Loop (see below). | |
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Ascending & Self-Belaying Devices: | | |
| | Ascending: For regular use, handled ascenders are best, but for occasional use and self-rescue from crevasses etc, micro ascenders are cheap and very light. The cheapest and lightest ascender on the market is a Prusik Loop. For climbing a free-hanging fixed rope, ascenders need to be used in pairs (though not matching pairs) and at a minimum, two screwgate karabiners and a long sling are also required. Anyone climbing multi-pitched routes anywhere should carry two Prusik loops, a long sling and some screwgates at all times (and know how to use them), as there is always a risk of falling into a position where you are dangling free of the rock, and your partner cannot haul you, nor is the rope long enough to lower you. Self Belaying: Some ascenders can also be used to protect a solo climber who is climbing along side a fixed rope, and some can be used to back up an abseil. Unfortunately there is no simple answer as to what is the best device for self-toproping. The Petzl Shunt has long been favoured by British climbers for self-belaying as it doubles up as a useful device for protecting abseils on either single or double ropes, and also as an ascender, and autobloc, and its smooth method of trapping the rope would suggest that sheath damage is unlikely (and indeed Petzl issue no warning about this). However as a self-protection device it has a serious flaw in that the lever can be inadvertently squeezed on bulges and overhangs meaning that it will not grip the rope if you fall, and also that something (clothing, other gear etc) can get caught in the mechanism also preventing it from working (we know of several groundfalls that have resulted). A good method of preventing this from happening is to tie a knot in the rope below you after several metres (allow for rope stretch) so that if you do slip you will not deck it, but this may not be easy to do if you have weighted the end of your rope down with your rucksack. Petzl themselves, although agreeing that the Shunt can be used in this way, issue dire warnings with it. See Shunt - specific instructions. Having said that, they also issue fairly dire warnings with the Basic ascender which is what they would prefer people to use: Ascender - specific instructions, and Ascender - warning, not the least worrying is the one saying that the sheath may be damaged (by its spiky teeth) with a force of 4.7kN in a Factor 1 fall - realistically though, if you use the Basic as recommended this is unlikely to happen as long as you don't allow any slack to build up in the system as you will simply allow your weight to come on the rope rather than fall on it (hence the need to tie a rucksack on to the bottom of your rope to keep it taut). Another device Petzl make that they recommend for self belaying is the Mini Traxion. This is neater than a Basic, but works in a similar way with spiky teeth so can still cause rope damage. The only device we found that we felt was better than this is something that was once called the Troll Rocker but is actually made by ISC. Unfortunately these would cost around £80 each at retail so they are not likely to sell against a Shunt. We did use to sell a few when they were £40. The advantage over a Shunt is that the lever is internal so it can't depress inadvertently, nor can things catch on it. However it will only take one rope, and can't be used for much else. Finally mention should be made of two devices manufactured by Wren Industries in the States, the Soloist, and the Silent Partner, both of which sound ideal for solo top-topers. Unfortunately they are not available in Europe as they haven't been CEN tested, also they are expensive, but we do know of people who have mail ordered them from the USA. It is also worth using a karabiner that ensures the pull is along the axis (such as the DMM Belay Master) to stop cross-loading, though Petzl say that it is essential to use an oval karabiner with a Mini Traxion. Be warned, none of the above methods is foolproof. There is an excellent article on Self-Belaying Techniques and Equipment on the Rockzone. Ultimately there is unlikely to ever be a completely safe sure-fire cheap device for self top-roping, and in the end, most people who try it give it up, discovering that, however appealing in theory, in practice it lacks that vital something, for as Colin Kirkus once said to Alf Bridge on the summit of Sgurr Alasdair, "You know Alf, going to the right place at the right time, with the right people is all that really matters. What one does is purely incidental." On a more mundane level, please note that prices are for a single unit. | |
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