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DIY hanging belay chair

bendi

27-Jun-2011
9:00:22 AM

best advice/links for home made belay chair?

adjustable chair, best clip in point etc?

cheers,
bendi

Miguel75

27-Jun-2011
9:29:24 AM

I made one out of polycarbonate and it is awesome. I'll send you a pic.

I'm away for a week though will post a pic on return.

StuckNut

27-Jun-2011
10:44:22 AM

I like this one.

Lee C

27-Jun-2011
5:07:33 PM

Seats are ok but what if you want to sleep?

D.Lodge

27-Jun-2011
6:58:48 PM

Plywood, 4 holes and 2 bits of cord. Adjust, pad and use. Easy as that. :)

Miguel75

27-Jun-2011
7:52:51 PM

Fish boy has 2 belay seats on his for sale post...

IdratherbeclimbingM9

27-Jun-2011
9:55:01 PM

On 27/06/2011 bendi wrote:
>best advice/links for home made belay chair?
>
>adjustable chair, best clip in point etc?
>
>cheers,
>bendi

If you can't acquire the materials and make your own, then a good cheap, and light, alternative is a kids plastic swing seat from Bunnings.
~> The contoured shape is more comfy than a slab of ply, ... unless of course you glue some cheap prayer-mat type foam to the ply.

If you are making your own then don't skimp on width, ie allow a bit extra both ends to drill holes through for the prusik cord loops, otherwise you will find those loops crush gear on your harness into your hips during lengthy belay sessions. This trait is not unlike the older style canvas (or newer model nylon), wrap around belay seats. Note; the biggest asset of those style belay seats is that they fold up small and light and can be carried in your back pocket.

Best clip in length is at full arms-reach when seat is loaded.

Adjustability? You can shorten the suspension loops if your belayer requires it by tying an overhand knot in them. If you are talking about leaning back in comfort type adjustment, that is called a chest loop improvised from a long sling!

bendi

30-Jun-2011
8:38:05 PM

Thanks M9, much appreciated. I have since made a simple chair with wooden plank and prayer mat, works a treat. thank you.

I need to access all areas of the wall, while enjoying the comfort of the chair. I have been descending and getting in place on a single fixed line, attaching the chair with Jumar at arms lengths sitting comfortably and safe. I need now to traverse the wall, using a second rope to get to another spot on the wall. So i traverse the second rope, if i attach to my gain on the second rope to my harness it pulls me off the chair, i don't want to attach to the jumar (worried to much presseure on the teeth could do damage) dont want to cross load stuff etc etc, plus its at a arms lenght and hard to manage. is there a simple solution to get into a position, that you must use to ropes two do so, and then sit comfortably and still be able to easily adjust my position on the wall with out having to do a 100 step process? am i missing something simple?

i have 2 ropes, prussics, gri gri, reverso and a chair and i dont want to get all industrial access protocol.

advice, good links/tutorials?

dont feel obliged to answer unless you would like to shed some light on this

cheers

IdratherbeclimbingM9

30-Jun-2011
8:52:31 PM

It sounds to me like your second rope is anchored too far to the side and when you are suspended on the first rope any attachment to the second is proving to be too strong a sideways load.

Solutions (if the above scenario is correct);
Anchor second rope closer to your main rope, & possibly provide a third rope further along the wall to complete the traverse.

... or, go lower on the wall on the first rope before moving sideways tension traversing on the second. This will have the effect of lessening the angle between the two ropes under load and thereby decreasing the sideways force involved.

If my solution explanation is a confusing to you as your description of the problem was to me, then I suggest you look at self rescue style books, or big wall technique style books at chapters dealing with lowering out / pendulumns / traverse cleaning while jumaring.

PS; A well set up bosuns chair, suspended on its own ascender (as you describe), can actually be used in ascent mode jumaring, without having to take it off the rope.

bendi

30-Jun-2011
9:23:00 PM

aaaahhhhhhh yes, M9 you are a wise man, thank you for your words. Now that you mention it, my second rope was coming in at quite a radical angle.......i shall return to the tree in the back yard for further practice.

Namaste

Miguel75

6-Jul-2011
8:21:41 PM

Here are a few pics of my polycarbonate bosuns chair. It used to have a wood seat but we picked up a bunch of poly from a job and thought it'd make a good chair. It's nice in that it actually flexes under your weight and is more comfy than the wood though the flexing is a little unnerving at first...

A pic of the base, and how the webbing slots in. The tape used to hold a small cushion, which sucked;

The slings that capture the master biner;

The beast in all it's see through glory (attached to a descender for work);

ClimbingNT

6-Jul-2011
9:26:47 PM

Pretty neat little setup you have there....

One Day Hero

7-Jul-2011
7:15:30 PM

That looks pretty sweet Miguel.........I'm not jealous of the pedestrians below who get to view your breakfast!!

Get a $12 bluefoam camping mat for padding, wrap with electrical tape to bind/waterproof, then a layer of strapping tape as arse-grip (stops you sliding out of it)

Miguel75

7-Jul-2011
7:55:29 PM

On 7/07/2011 One Day Hero wrote:
>That looks pretty sweet Miguel.........I'm not jealous of the pedestrians
>below who get to view your breakfast!!

That's what the X is for... While in Canberra I had a few people actually walk into the cordoned off area below us and start flicking my ropes. I asked them politely to move along, and then urged them along by accidently dropping a dash of cold, soapy water... They moved along pretty quickly after that!

>Get a $12 bluefoam camping mat for padding, wrap with electrical tape
>to bind/waterproof, then a layer of strapping tape as arse-grip (stops
>you sliding out of it)

I've tried a few mat/pad combinations and found they didn't sit too well compared to the wooden seat, and it is really very comfy without a mat. I did 5, 21 story drops in a day without any discomfort.

shortman

22-Jul-2011
10:13:55 PM

Just came across this pic and thought it seemed appropriate for the thread.

IdratherbeclimbingM9

23-Jul-2011
5:59:47 PM

Interesting pic, not unlike some others I have seen many years ago.

I am surprised that the parasol isn't tied off, to allow hands free use, belaying etc when required.

As an aside, I can vouch from experience that loooong belays in that style of stance, ie hanging belays regardless of the type of chair contraption, give knees and toes grievous punishment due bodyweight with the aid of gravity, crushing them against the wall, not to mention often having the circulation cutting off in ones legs due pressure from the leading edge of the 'chair'.

kieranl

24-Jul-2011
1:44:50 PM

On 27/06/2011 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:
>~> The contoured shape is more comfy than a slab of ply, ... unless of
>course you glue some cheap prayer-mat type foam to the ply.
Prayer-mat foam? Who has that lying around... and wouldn't the crushed glass embedded into it make it a poor choice?

IdratherbeclimbingM9

24-Jul-2011
5:25:41 PM

On 24/07/2011 kieranl wrote:
>On 27/06/2011 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:
>>~> The contoured shape is more comfy than a slab of ply, ... unless of
>>course you glue some cheap prayer-mat type foam to the ply.
>Prayer-mat foam? Who has that lying around... and wouldn't the crushed
>glass embedded into it make it a poor choice?

Heh, heh, heh.
I regard the cheapo sleeping mat foam available from Kmart etc more befitting of the title that one of my former workmats described them as (prayermats), because they are sufficiently uncomfortable such that they will have you praying for morning to arrive!

As an aside; ... with all the trundling threads lately, it is more likely they would have rock shrapnel embedded in them than glass...
;-)

There are 18 messages in this topic.