Descending 3/4” Bull Rope
- Thread starter bgebz
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not proper by any means, never supposed to rappel on a rigging line
that being said, I quite often set a rope to pull a stem or whole tree over, and rappel down the rigging line on a figure 8, again, NOT ADVISABLE, NOT SAFE, NOT ANSI APPROVED
just how I do it, rescue 8 descender, prusik backup on it, works great, as does a munter hitch but good luck doing a munter with such a large rope
that being said, I quite often set a rope to pull a stem or whole tree over, and rappel down the rigging line on a figure 8, again, NOT ADVISABLE, NOT SAFE, NOT ANSI APPROVED
just how I do it, rescue 8 descender, prusik backup on it, works great, as does a munter hitch but good luck doing a munter with such a large rope
Yeah, rescue 8 is the ticket, and honestly, **** osha... if I trust a rope to pull a tree over, I trust it to get my skinny ass out if the tree... and vice versa, if I don't trust it to rappel out, I certainly dont trust it to pull a tree over...
hit the nail on the head!
I've climbed on some non climbing rated stuff before (shackles, quicklinks, etc), is it safe? probably, approved? absolutely not
my last crane job I was hanging about 160ft in the air off a 1 1/4" crosby shackle around the cranes cable, wired shut with a marking flag, did I die? nah, did I forget my crane bag with all my rigging and tie in? yup, job got done tho
the right way is usually the right way, but not always, never say never
In the woods, following OSHA regulations are likely to get you killed or maimed in many situations.
3/4" pelican on a munter, not perfect but it works
also I forgot to mention in my past post, theres no prusik on that line, the weight of the rope alone was enough to stop me from descending, I personally don't use a prusik with a munter or F8 but it is highly, highly suggested due to the nature of these devices/hitches, if anything causes you to let go, you're sliding down it, better hope you can grab the tail again
the nice thing about these, is even if you do start sliding uncontrollably they tend to limit your speed, I've had my akimbo flatten a rope and start to not grab, landed hard from 10ft but no big deal, and had my zigzag flat out refuse to grab one day, dropped me 40ft onto my side and the only brakes I had was my hands holding onto the rope (bare hands won't stop you, who woulda thought)
I walked away from both accidents, the scary thing for me was the fact every part of my system passed inspection, no cracks, no major wear (both devices had less than 8 hours use when they failed) both ropes were broke in but not worn out, bounce test and function test passed with flying colors less than 5 minutes before going up
this isn't to discourage anything, but more to say don't be like me and engage brain, be safe, have fun, try not to fall (the fall is quick, but man it feels like a LOT of time to think about whats about to happen when you hit the ground)
the nice thing about these, is even if you do start sliding uncontrollably they tend to limit your speed, I've had my akimbo flatten a rope and start to not grab, landed hard from 10ft but no big deal, and had my zigzag flat out refuse to grab one day, dropped me 40ft onto my side and the only brakes I had was my hands holding onto the rope (bare hands won't stop you, who woulda thought)
I walked away from both accidents, the scary thing for me was the fact every part of my system passed inspection, no cracks, no major wear (both devices had less than 8 hours use when they failed) both ropes were broke in but not worn out, bounce test and function test passed with flying colors less than 5 minutes before going up
this isn't to discourage anything, but more to say don't be like me and engage brain, be safe, have fun, try not to fall (the fall is quick, but man it feels like a LOT of time to think about whats about to happen when you hit the ground)
