I dropped my reverso this past weekend on a cliff. I pulled out my phone, found your video on youtube, and was able to get down to the ground safely. Thanks for the excellent tutorial. It was literally a life-saver!
rope twisting with a munter is no joke! I rappelled with one last year and absolutely could not manage to untwist the ropes fully since I couldn’t see the top of the rope! That led to us unable to pull the rope down, I had to climb back up the rope all the way. Didn’t know about Iten brake!!! Thanks a lot for the info I will definitely keep that knowledge in my tool bag!
As a hiker, woodsman, boulderer, i liked your commentary and clear demonstration. *I could see these becoming useful for rescue,* such as descending to a car or motorcycle crashed off an embankment. I guess i should add 2-3 SS Carbineers to my gear.
Hey Andrew, glad you liked them. That’s definitely a good point, I also have an old rope and some carabiners in my car…just in case. Just have to make sure that the rope is protected from the sun, the UV rays might be detrimental to the strength of the rope. Thanks for watching!
Dirty secret: so did I in making this video. Nothing keeps you more current than explaining stuff to other people. As the Romans said: docendo discimus.
Just an idea with regard to the classic configuration, from a tree surgeon in hamilton. I notice that the first carabiner could be functionally substituted for a solid ring, as the gate is never opened on that carabiner for the purposes of the configuration. I realise it may mean carrying an additional piece of hardware itself potentially connected by a small tool carrying carabiner in turn. Just something to consider. Interested to hear your thoughts.
Munter, Eaton, dulfersitz are some of the first things I show, when teaching how to rappel. Knowing how to descend when you’ve lost your device, have only 1, or no carabiners is important knowledge to file away. As well, being prepared to ascend doubled ropes is an important backup bit of knowledge. Whether with slings, shoe laces, or QuickDraws.
Hi Jesse, thanks for the question! In an absolute emergency you could, but there is a potential that the rope would be running over or along the part of the harness you’ve clipped the carabiner to. That’s generally not a good thing because rope can cut through these materials really quickly. Best Fabio
I’ve seen screw lock carabiners getting unlocked by the rope half way during a repelling. Luckily the girl had no accident and switched to 3-way lock systems at her next stand. But she got scared shitless
2 key things missing in this video are A) you can super munter the rappel to not twist the rope and create more friction B) you should flip the pear shaped biners so that the rope is running through and over the small curve not the large curve if using the carabiner rappel which would also create opposite/opposed screw gates rudicing the risk that the rock runs over the screw gate and ultimately increasing the risk one or both of the biners not being locked while rappelling
Hey Tobias, yes, this would definitely work, with the small caveat that I’m not familiar with your balcony railings - they obviously need to be able to handle the weight.
Shouldn't trust a railing. Especially if the building may be compromised. One thing you might do is to punch through the sheetrock in the wall on either side of a stud, and then anchor yourself to the framework of the building. Door jambs and window jambs are generally particularly sturdy. 👍
Hey Fabio, I hadn't heard of the Iten Brake. Thanks for showing it. One question about the Iten Brake, will it cause your rope to become twisted as you rappel. If so, how badly will it twist the rope? Thanks
Hi Brett, there is a bit of twist to be expected, in terms of how bad, I’d say it’s much less than with a munter hitch, but a bit more than with a tube. During the mountain guide course we had 8 people rappelling with the iten break and after pulling the rope through 2-3 times, everything was untwisted again. Best Fabio
It’s a cool version, especially because it’s super smooth. There isn’t a lot of friction though and - especially with thinner ropes - it might not be the best way to go for an improvised version, especially if you’re not wearing gloves. With a thick static rope, dry conditions and gloves any time. With cold hands, wet/frozen rope in a howling snowstorm - rather not.
Carabiner friction wrap works very well, you can add more friction by simply adding another rope and more wraps. I've rappelled people over 250lbs (lots of gear) with two ropes and a double wrap and it was easy and controlled.
In an emergency I would be more worried about the rope running all over my body n balls compared to worrying about what the munter does .Tuck n chuck n wish me luck
Hey Mike, I’d definitely also prefer a repel with the munter over any type of repelling with the friction generated by my body. I would only use that when I don’t have the necessary gear, but it is better than clinging to the climbing rope with hands only.
@@TakeTheHighground that is an interesting problem .I wonder if there would be anything you may have on you that you may be able to use to reduce any rope burn in a situation. A shoe maybe ? I know when pain gets too much that you can just give up in a real situation. So putting it out there ... any ideas ? A tree branch ?
Hey Mike, so I used the Dülfer Method/Body Belay already, and it’s actually not that bad. You have to rappel relatively slow compared to what you can do with an actual device, but it’s manageable. I found it to be the hardest on my hands, so gloves are highly recommended, but it’s not a real problem as long as you go slower. When actual climbing began, the body belay was the standard and they also made it work, but it’s of course slower, less safe, and not as effective as our modern means.
On body rappelling, no one in at least youtue didnt use prusik backup. Is that because it's not possible for man to control prusik knot with both hands holding rope structurally or some hidden safety problem(ie, both hands should control/hold firm each side of rope, so holding knot at the same time is dangerous...). If its possible, what hand should hold the knot? Thanks.
The problem is that with a body rappel the prusik is not really a usable backup. The prusik works with an ATC/Tube/Figure-8 device because the rope is fixed in the device and should the climber go unconscious, the prusik replaces the climbers hand. If you go unconscious with a body rappel, the rope will just fall off the body. Plus the idea is to use the body rappel when you don’t have the necessary gear (harness) with you, hence there is nothing to tie the prusik onto. Hope that helps, thanks for watching! Fabio
