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Topic Date User

clip belay loop or harness? 12-Dec-2008 At 1:11:26 PM Rock Weasel

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That Petzl diagram reminds me of an accident I saw in a previous life...

We were rapelling off the MFB tower in Richmond. I was helping out by hooking guys up and dispatching them out of the seventh story windows...Suddenly I heard a quivering voice murmur 'I think there's been an accident.' I turned to look and saw a figure-8 attached to the rope, sans rapeller. One of the guys asked, 'Where's the rapeller?' to which the guy replied 'Down there...'

I stuck my head out, expecting to see a McSplat with all the trimmings...but instead saw a dude hobbling off...After a bit of CIS-type speculation, we figured out that the guy was most likely hooked up incorrectly, and that the 8 had torqued and pinched the gate, allowing his device to slip out (there was a gouge out of the screw gate). The guy had tried to emergency brake himself, and it was only through his contact with the 11mm static rope and a solid landing on his brake man that he survived the 20 meter plunge...with a few bumps and bruises and a new-found fear of heights.

What I took from that misadventure was that gear is only useful if you employ it in the way that it was designed to perform...carabiners are not supposed to be pinched together...just as harness loops are designed for belaying and rapping...(I used to be a leg and waist loop man, but converted over to belay loop and rate it...)