Rappelling with very thin lines?

I cant imagine holding on to anything smaller than a half...

Your not going to have a belayer (spelling?) Your gonna be feet to a wall with a the rope tied in a harness! (check a knot book... gotta have a knife to get it untied though!)

Even then, it'd hurt like a mother to have all your weight on such a TINY surface area. :eek:

If yall can find a way, cool... sounds painful whatever you do!
 
I learned some basic rope work almost 30 years ago from a spelunker. I learned to use a rack before I ever saw a figure 8. I moved out west and they don't have caves... But there are more places for good climbing than I could shake a stick at... Never lead, but I was okay following up to 5.11 with ease.
It was at a local crag that I saw a Swiss climber with something called a "Robot"... it's a rappelling/belay/lowering device made by Kong Bonati. It functions in a manner similar to the Caver's Rack with multiple bars to wrap the rope around, only it's got a hinged, dual-track "gate" that fits into an oval shape similar to an elongated oval on a big Rescue 8. This allows for dual line climbing which I learned out here - it saves a lot of weight to split a big 11mm rope down to a 7.5mm/8mm package split between two partners. (or 8/9mm if you don't care to live too much on the edge!)
Unfortuneately, I don't have a pic, but I keep one on me whenever I go out and I carry enough 5mm line that I could double it and use it for an emergency rap. However, I haven't carried enough to get out of a ten story building - I was thinking of having to get down/across some obstacle that I may want a self belay deal going...
Don't know if that's help, but the Robot gives you a few more options than the emergency belay devices shown by MelancholyMutt.. they're good ideas, too, but the Robot is very light and I think may work for the situation at hand here...


PS: found a link: http://outersports.com/kong_robot_descender.html
 

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"Even then, it'd hurt like a mother to have all your weight on such a TINY surface area. . ."

I have done free rappels (descending on a line like a spider, touching nothing) with single 8mm rope. That would be about like doing a double-rope rappel with small line.

It does hurt, especially around the shoulder, so you have to be ready for that.

But if you have your coil-o-supercord in a bag, it isn't that much more room to toss in a simple web sling harness and a plain carabiner. As Doc Ron mentioned, you can do a carabiner wrap and get down quite easily.

Other things to think about:

Presumably you would be doing this because something prevented egress down through the building, like a fire. Given that windows tend to be 1) non-opening, 2) weak in thermal extremes, and 3) arranged in line vertically, how would you get out and avoid hot air from below?

Fire department ladders extend several stories. Would 50 feet of line really be useful? Maybe you'd want more.

Unless you are the night janitor evacuating yourself, there will be others. What do you do with them?

Scott
 
I think better than having an escape line, is to have a plan of escape. Most modern buildings are fireproof and have very well designed escape routes. In March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirt-Waist Factory, located in New York City, burst into flames and 146 women of all ages either leaped or burned to death. I spent many days in that building during my undergraduate years at NYU and it's pretty eerie...

Nowadays, due to reforms made because of that tragedy, you won't find a public building that does not have a reasonable means of escape and all it takes is a little time and awareness to note where the exits are. In other countries however, I don't know if this is true.
 
Lots of more folks here seem to know more about repelling then I (mutt for one).

I'll just add that I repel at work (fireman),one thing we do is practice getting out of buildings by repelling. We place an axe across the corner of a window tie off our personnal safety rope,loop it around our waist and go.No figure 8's etc. we just use the our gloved hands to controll desent.This is in full turnout gear with scba btw.Train like you fight and all that.

Now it will depend on the type of building.Highrises don't have windows that open for one and their windows don't break that easy either.

Frankly learn your building! which staircase has a smoke tower? which is for exit and which for firefighting? Got sprinklers? is the alarm system tested,do you pay attention to the fire drills? What doors are locked? Any private staircases? Do they test the back up lighting and alarm systems? Do you have the means to unlock doors/windows,see in the dark? Do you know if your building has a vanity address?? If its something like One Union Square,but its on Skidrow Bld. it does. Now does 911 have the correct address listed??
 
Lone Hunter said:
Lots of more folks here seem to know more about repelling then I (mutt for one)
Click to expand...

I am no means an expert. I rappell for fun and relaxation. I do mostly Australian nowadays and the only thing appropriate for something like this is 7/16 inch rope and a figure 8. Biner wrap doesn't give you enough control and devices like the Petzl stop is too complicated to work behind your back.

The window corner anchor seems very, very risky and sounds like a very ballsy proposition, but if the alternative is certain death by fire, I guess it's a chance I would take as well.
 
Given that you have enough rope...

You could tie a stopper not big enough not to fit through the window opening. :p

Depends, if there are any poles in the room... a bowline around the pole would work. Besides that... I dont know how you'd "Tie off" Unless you carry around some heavy duty hardware and a decent drill! :D
 
My original idea was to put together as compact a package as possible for something like 100ft/30m, a lot of good suggestions here. I was thinking of using a light weight harness anyway, the control device is still open, I wonder if something like the Grigri (??) used in wall climbing would work, it would have to be modified for the small rope though.

The whole thing really depends on the small diameter rope which apparently exist.

TLM
 
I've got an analogy... this is like the guy who gathers the best quality rubber to glue together into the best small home-made raft to cross a whitewater rapid-moving river that is traversed by a bridge just a few hundred yards away.
 
The bridge is blocked for "security reasons" or it is raised up and electricity just went out. Have fun!

I got the information i was looking for, thanks for everyone!

TLM
 
TLM said:
The bridge is blocked for "security reasons" or it is raised up and electricity just went out. Have fun!

I got the information i was looking for, thanks for everyone!

TLM
Click to expand...
Glad to help...Searching for the info you needed helped me to!
 
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