1. How do they work?
2. Are they adjustable?
3. How far will you fall before it catches you?
4. Are they easy to use?
5. Are they safe?
6. Are they a better or worse alternative to a human belayer?
Self-Belay Devices....A Questionaire
Self-Belay Devices....A Questionaire
Religion is man's worst invention.
They are generally a pain in the butt for free climbing. If you are aiding then you might consider it. I advise that you check out the archives on www.tradgirl.com as this is a frequent topic on rec.climbing
soloing can be alot of work, but it can also make for some really rewarding and memorable experiences.
let me see if i can offer any advice
1-they seem to rely on magic. mostly smoke and mirrors.
2-no, but they WILL lock up on you while you are in the middle of a desperate mantle.
3-probably along ways. and the coolest part is, no one else will be there to recount the story, so when you try to spray to your friends, they will think you're lying. they will think you bent your fifi hook in a vice and that you did not take a 40 footer.
4-NO. anything that can go wrong will. your ropes will undoubtedly rise up against you and strangle your ass. you'll be 60 feet out with your dick in your hand saying something like, 'how the fuck was i supposed to know that a wind driven portaledge could clove hitch itself long-ways around the rapell line!
5-uh, better tie some back up knots.
6-it depends on who your partner is.
have fun and be careful.
let me see if i can offer any advice
1-they seem to rely on magic. mostly smoke and mirrors.
2-no, but they WILL lock up on you while you are in the middle of a desperate mantle.
3-probably along ways. and the coolest part is, no one else will be there to recount the story, so when you try to spray to your friends, they will think you're lying. they will think you bent your fifi hook in a vice and that you did not take a 40 footer.
4-NO. anything that can go wrong will. your ropes will undoubtedly rise up against you and strangle your ass. you'll be 60 feet out with your dick in your hand saying something like, 'how the fuck was i supposed to know that a wind driven portaledge could clove hitch itself long-ways around the rapell line!
5-uh, better tie some back up knots.
6-it depends on who your partner is.
have fun and be careful.
weather is occurring.
Here is a good site: http://www.thebikezone.org.uk/therockzo ... belay.html
I've had just about enough of this shit.
Ryan. I've used the silent partner a bit. It is supposed to be safe in the sense that it will catch a fall regardless of your or its orientation. I've jumped off and let it catch me but I haven't taken a real fall on it yet. It will feed itself as you climb and lock up when you fall. The biggest problem is probably that as you climb higher and the rope gets heavier on both ends the clove hitch starts to tighten around the device and it gets hard to feed. This means that you need to be able to stop and pull up a big loop on the non anchor side of the rope and clove hitch it into yourself to take the weight off one end. If you are on a route that has good rests where you can let go with one or both hands every once in a while it works really well. I climbed a crimpy sport route with it once and it was really hard. I would have to pull up rope with one hand and put it in my mouth while hanging on a crimper. I would have to change hands and pull up a little more or I would have fallen. I couldn't tie a knot in that situation so I just held the rope in my mouth to take the weight off. On the other hand I've climbed a 5.10 route with a roof and it was just as good as having a partner because there were good rests to deal with stuff. Another problem is pulling rope for clipping. It can be awkward and difficult -- again especially if there is lots of rope hanging on both ends. It helps to clip near the waist of course. The device is pretty large so in some situations it can get in the way. Overall it's a good thing to have cause you can go climb something on a moments notice if you get the urge. It is usually more of a pain than a real partner, but not always 
I've never used the other soloist devices but I have used a rescusender for top roping stuff and that works really well.
I've never used the other soloist devices but I have used a rescusender for top roping stuff and that works really well.
i've always used a petzl basic and it has never damaged my rope. they are perfectly safe. if you damage your rope, then it is probably because you were not paying attention. keep an eye on the ascender, especially during the first 20 feet or so when the rope is still to light to automatically feed through. you should never have to "take a fall" when using an ascender! it IS an ascender after all.Danny wrote:The croll can damage the rope even for short toprope falls. I use a rescuscender which doesn't have teeth and has a lot of contact surface area with the rope. Likewise a prusick will burn the rope even with a short fall.