Wopper Posted June 23, 2001 Posted June 23, 2001 Gear loops are great for tying into. In fact I think they should rename them "tie in loops." Quote
Cpt.Caveman Posted June 23, 2001 Posted June 23, 2001 Should I take falls on lead while tied into them? Quote
specialed Posted June 23, 2001 Author Posted June 23, 2001 Seriously, you make anchors with acc. cord, you rap off cord. Is their a difference between 6mm acc. cord and 6mm static line? I haven't ever even seen 6mm x 60m ropes for sale anywhere, so I assumed people just buy cord by the foot or meter to use as a rap line. I know ski patrollers that use regular cord for emergency raps. Quote
willstrickland Posted June 25, 2001 Posted June 25, 2001 Special Ed: Consider using some 5mm Maxim Tech Cord as your emergency/rap line. Yes, it's static. It's also superior to spectra/vectran/nylon/etc. No, I'm not affiliated with Maxim. It's basically as strong (or stronger?) as spectra with a much higher melting temp. It's a little pricey though, here's the manufacturer's spec page: http://www.neropes.com/techdata/tech_cord 1200ft spool...looks like you'd need to find some like minded folks to split it up with. Personally, I find that the advantages of half ropes on alpine rock solve the problem for me. The package ends up being a little heavier, but all the rock routes I've done in the mountains seems to wander all over freakin' creation and the reduction in rope drag from using half ropes is a godsend when the climbing gets hard (or is that: the reduction in friction is a godsend when the climber gets hard?) KY Willy Quote
specialed Posted June 25, 2001 Author Posted June 25, 2001 Hairball, WilllStrickland: Thanks for the good beta and totally anwering my question! Quote
Pencil_Pusher Posted June 28, 2001 Posted June 28, 2001 Somebody mentioned something about not rapping off slings. Short of this different rope diameter stuff, you mean you'd rather rap off one rap ring than put the rope through all the slings? I've rapped quite a bit this way, always because the rope stays constant on the slings when loaded. None of the folks I've climbed with have made any mention of it and I certainly think it's wiser than threading that rope through the single ring. What do you all think? Quote
Lambone Posted June 28, 2001 Posted June 28, 2001 Hey Caveman, Come on dude lets leave these poor kids out of this. My sister might also be in one of these pics. Not funny... quote: Originally posted by Cpt.Caveman: Specialed, I know you are in one of these pics  Quote
Lambone Posted June 28, 2001 Posted June 28, 2001 Hey specialed, Here's some of my thoughts on the topic: Personaly I have given up on draging up an extra cord. If you are going to cary two, you might as well use them both to lead with-(many advantages). However, sometimes I use a thin Tag line on walls. I would go with 7 or 8mm staic-at least... For two reasons: 1. 6mm cord doesn't offer a whole lot of friction in your belay device. If you need to stop on the way down with an autoblock or the old leg wrap, it will suck. Plus you will wear out your hands. Funny Story: I once used a 6mm lower out line on the haul bags. My partner couldn't control the line on a really traversing pitch so it zipped out. The bags swong like 60ft or so, creaming a big dihederal. Next... the bottom of the poop tube went flying off and we jetosoned our load. 6 or 7 Depth charges sraight down on two the lower Nose. Bad Scene! I have to wear camo on El Cap now so someone doesn't recognize me!!! 2. Ok, back to reason #2. 6mm cord would be hard to short haul a pack with. 8mm would be much better. Easyier on your hands, and less likely to get chewed up. Way less of a mess. Have you ever tried to coil, or untangle 200ft of 6mm cord...SUCKS BALLS!!!!! My final word: If you are useing them for alpine or ice, invest in half ropes (well worth it). Save them for serious routes cause they wear out quick. If you want a tag line, I'd recomend 8mm staic (stronger, more friction, less tangley). Hope that helps, good luck. Quote
Lambone Posted June 28, 2001 Posted June 28, 2001 Pencil Head, I have also rapped straight off slings before, lots. But be AWARE: If you are using two ropes of different diameter, they will slip through webbing while you are rapping. Probably not enough to melt the webbing, but... Dude its not worth the risk man! Its you life on the line! Carry some old biners and give um up as sacrafices to the rap anchor gods! Also, think about the next guy! When you pull your ropes through the webbing, you damage it. It always melts alittle, take a close look next time. Then the next guy needs to add a new sling, then you have tweenty new slings on the tree. Garbage... P.S. For those of you who didn't know this, Rap rings should be used for body weight only, not as the main point on your anchor.They are not made to withstand high impact forces. Ok, I'll shut up now. Does anyone disagree with my opinions, please speak up. Â Quote
specialed Posted June 28, 2001 Author Posted June 28, 2001 Dude fecal projectiles on El Cap. Gnarly. I once had a brown paper bag full of shit land about 15 feet from where I was standing at the base of the Grand Wall at Squamish. The fucking knuckleheads who dropped it (on purpose) weren't even on a "wall", it was like grade IV. Take a shit before you get on the climb, please! If that bag had hit me, I swear I would have hiked up the Chief to the top-out and waited for those fuckers. Karmas a motherfucker though. The shit droppers got their ropes stuck on the last pitch. We rapped down (we only climbed to the top of split pillar that day) and were at the car drinking beer, watching them struggle to get their ropes unstuck and laughing at their dumb asses. Quote
Dru Posted June 28, 2001 Posted June 28, 2001 Specialed, you should have run up onto Bellygood and trundled on them! Quote
specialed Posted June 28, 2001 Author Posted June 28, 2001 If I had even so much as been mildly splattered with poo, I seriously would have. Quote
willstrickland Posted June 28, 2001 Posted June 28, 2001 Man, shit is pretty bad to get bombed with, but you'll live through it...what's worse is when (here we go again): Standing at the base of Lurking Fear, watching two dumb fucking spaniards try to learn how to aid climb while we were waiting to get on route and we manage to get this out of their limited english and my very limited spanish: Me: "Hola compadre, quantos dias nosotros en Lurking Fear?" Spaniard: "ascendan en tres dias" "Cool" we think, they're not fixing, just blasting. We'll wait till they're on three and blast. So we hang at the base, pack the pigs, rack up, and wait. After taking a fall on the bolt ladder (still don't know how they managed that) we start goading them a little. We're all laying on our backs staring up at them when I see the dude break out a HUGE cheater stick, an 8ft extendable painter's pole. He clips past something and clips the stick back to his rack. An hour passes and one of my partners is snoozing, the other is half asleep and I'm still watching the show. Next thing I know he's got the pole out again, then as I'm contemplating how big it must be (not as big as Big Lou's stick I'm sure) I notice that it's getting bigger all the time "HOLLLYYYYYY SHIIITTT!!!! MOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVEMOVE!!!!!!!!!" WHAMMMMMM!!!!! Bastard dropped the cheater from near the top of the third pitch and never said a word. It came down into the manzanita like a javelin, glanced off a boulder and stuck about a foot into the ground. My screaming roused the crew in time and we all went scrambling/tripping/diving out of harm's way. It was a pretty funny scene because noone really knew where to run to and we were running around like headless chickens. The missile missed my bro Jamie by about two feet. We screamed at them for about an hour, and then they dropped a tube of lip balm, then a stopper...we definitely didn't want to be below these guys on the wall so we humped all our shit back to the meadows (and if you've been up to L.Fear or the West Butt, it's a long approach by El Cap standards). Back in camp after a few beers we decided to go and see if anyone was lined up to get on Zodiac, we get to the meadows and "Hey, where are those assholes?" They fixed from 3 to the ground. Seeing the line to get on Zodiac we went back to camp for more beer and to try to find that cheater stick jerky in the yellow tights. Good thing we didn't run into them, someone would have gone to jail...Jamie in particular was ready to rumble. So, you know, it's all a matter of perspective...I hear some folks even like poo...Pope? [This message has been edited by willstrickland (edited 06-28-2001).] Quote
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