Cleaning Anchors

[merrick]

so how do people attach the rope to themselves when rappeling instead of lowering.

the way i do it is annoying. I pull up ten feet of rope and attach it to biner attached to me. then i untie and thread the anchors. I pull the rope until i hit the part attached to me. then i tie the end i thread through the anchors to myself. then untie the initial point where it was attached. then i pull the rope through the anchor until i hit the halfway point and toss.

there has to be a better way to do this. i don't like having to tie and untie so many knots, but i also don't want to accidentally drop the rope, or even have a chance of that happening....

[rmcfall]

Would save you some work if you just stopped after the step where you untie your knot and pull the end of the rope through, and just lower off your figure eight on your biner.

I use a sling attached to one of the anchors with a locker. Before untying the rope, I feed a byte through the rings/chain and then tie a figure 8 with it. This gets attached via a locker to my belay loop. At this point, I then untie my knot and pull the end of the rope through and retie back into my harness where I had untied it. I then undo the locker and untie the figure 8 on a byte and give the slack back to my belayer. Once I have double checked my knot and weighted it, I then undo my sling.

By doing this, I am never off the rope. There is always rope passing from the belayer through the anchors to me.

It might take a little more time but I like having the added security of always being tied in.

GWG

[merrick]

gwg, what do you do if you can't fit a bite of rope through the anchors? is this any more redundent than any other method of connecting using two slings/daisys/draws/etc?? i can't see why it would be?

[Guest]

Merrick, when you are attaching the rope to yourself to prepare for rapping, just use a simple overhand on a bite - takes 1 second. I do it pretty much the way you describe, only I don't untie it from the draw attached to my harness until I've pulled a bunch of rope out so there is no chance of it whipping back through the anchors. Of course I'm paranoid. I also hate being lowered.

SCIN, I hear 42 is the proper number. Don't you know anything??

[GWG]

You're right, it's not any more reduntent. I guess it's just going with what I was taught and feel comfortable with. Last thing anyone should do is try something new or don't feel good about when you're 80' off the deck.

If I can't fit the byte through, then I clip into the second anchor with a draw, tie an 8 on a byte and attach it to my harness. Untie and feed it through, retie and then undo the 8 on a byte. Clean the gear and lower down.

there has to be a better way to do this. i don't like having to tie and untie so many knots, but i also don't want to accidentally drop the rope, or even have a chance of that happening....

I too would love to hear how others do this. I do the same thing you described when I'm rapping down.

By the way, great way to share ideas and seeing if there are better ways of doing things.

Thanks,

GWG

[merrick]

i use an overhand as well but it still is annoying to have to tie tie untie. since the rope is attached to me i don't worry about it whipping through the anchors.

[lordjim_2001]

Well on the "dropping the rope" part for single pitch routes under 100 I bought 100ft of 550 para cord from Stuff's, put it on a biner and take it with me when I clean. If by some chance the rope does drop I can get it back with a minimum amount of fuss and bother.

Note: I guess the above method can work an multipitch routes. Never thought about it.

M

[rmcfall]

GWG- What I meant to say was just lower off your figure eight KNOT on your biner attached to your belay loop...

[pigsteak]

slings or daisy chains with lockers are soooo 1994...today's waif's hang off one quickdraw, do the exchange before even saying "take", and are back on in 17 seconds.....

[canadaclimbergirl]

I NEVER lower off of rings in an anchor...it puts so much wear on them. I always rappel so as to be 'nice' to the equipment in the rock. I also prefer to rapel so that I can control my descent. I hate being lowered to fast or to slow.

I anchor in with a sling girth hitched to my belay loop with a locking to one bolt. Some times I back it up. sometimes I don't. If I do it is usually just with a draw or if there had been a top rope anchor up I would just anchor into that.

I pull up about 5 ft of rope, make a big clove-hitch and slide it up my bicep. then I untie, feed the rope through the rings/bolts/chains...whatever...and then take the clove hitch off my arm and feed the rest of the rope through. I put myself on rappel, undo my anchor and rap down.
If someone is at the bottom, I get them to give me a fireman while I take off my anchor, and if not, then I just rap the rope around my legs or undo my anchor one handed.

that's all folks.