Ascender back-up device

[tomtom]

There was that death in Zion in 2008 where the follower was jugging the haul line, 15 ft of rope slipped through the top anchor (improper rigging), and the force on catching caused the ascender to chop the rope.

 

That fall/death occured on a static rope.

 

Good point.

 

The original topic was backing up ascenders for jugging fixed ropes, and fixed ropes may be static or dynamic, depending on the situation.

[sweatinoutliquor]

Petzl ASAP. Spendy!

[tomtom]

The only system i can see possibly preventing a cut line is to use a prusik above your top ascender, but in real world situations this would be a complete pain in the ass and never worth the compromise you'd loose in efficiency.

What system do you use for jugging fixed ropes? Do you typically use a backup beyond the two ascenders?

[hanman]

Bump- just saw this thread-

 

I like to use a microcender rigged pushed above by top handled ascender. You never have to mind it, and this minimizes fall distance in case something slips. Kind of a hold over from doing lots of industrial rope access stuff- I like to have rope grab type devices as far above as possible so they can quickly activate with no intent or action on my part.

 

MH

[layton]

Bump- just saw this thread-

 

I like to use a microcender rigged pushed above by top handled ascender. You never have to mind it, and this minimizes fall distance in case something slips. Kind of a hold over from doing lots of industrial rope access stuff- I like to have rope grab type devices as far above as possible so they can quickly activate with no intent or action on my part.

 

MH

 

Thanks, I agree you system is choice

[Moof]

I just use a grigri. You have it along anyway, and the feeding is only a minor hassle till you get some rope out. Just thumb the lower ascender while jugging the first bit. Also, you can quickly swap to the 2:1 cleaning rig for steep sections of cleaning.

 

Everything on the wall should be as multipurpose as possible, stick with the grigri.

[JosephH]

You could also use a miniTrax which works fine as well. But given a backup knot doesn't run with you, just using a grigri and yarding in the slack every now and then micmics the behavior of a backup knot just fine. Microscender above, miniTrax or grigri on the harness - pretty much a six of one, half dozen of the other sort of deal from my perspective. All will provide reasonable service as a backup.