Duct Tape Rope Protection

[Canyonette]

Since everyone’s going public with these differences of opinions, I’d like to hear your
opinion on something that was being taught by ATS as a method of rope protection (I attended the REI slide show here in Orange County).

This method was presented to a group of “would be� canyoneers.

Mr. J was teaching the audience to wrap the rappelling rope in duct tape to prevent
edge abrasion. “Once you’ve pulled your rope, you carefully slice the duct tape away with a razor blade� he said. I’m like “What?!� :eek:

That sounded extremely dangerous to me!

Is ATS still recommending this Darren?

What do the rest of you think? Would you yourself ever use this method, or recommend it to others?

~R

[Darren Jeffrey]

Hey Randi, haven’t heard form you in a while, just a quick clarification, we still teach that method as part of our recreational leader program and I use it on a regular basis when guiding larger groups. The part you may have misunderstood was that the rope was not wrapped in tape directly. On some rappels that have sharp or abrasive edges (AT THE START OF THE RAPPEL) we slide a short piece of 1� tube webbing down over the rope that remains within reach of the person who is managing the rap station from above and who will be the last person to descend. A quick tight wrap of tape (cloth or duct), will need to go around the outside and middle of the webbing chocking it off so that it doesn’t freely slide down the rope and become the burden of the person "on rappel" to deal with during their descent. The application of tape needs to be tight enough so that the webbing will not slip freely, but can still be slid up and down the first few feet of the rope. When the next person is ready to connect to the rope the rappeller or the manager of the rap station can easily reach down and retrieve the webbing by sliding it back up the rope and above the point where the rap device would connect. As the next person begins their descent the manager can slide the webbing back into place to protect the rope as the rappeller passes over the sharp edge.

Before the manager or last down enters the stance they will need to remove the webbing from the system which with the right style of contingency anchor can be done quite quickly. (This system works best on a single line rappel) The webbing sheath can be reused as you move down cyn. This system works quite well with the movement of the rappeller, the rope will still be able to flex inside of the webbing sheath and there is no change of force back into the anchor system.

The Razor blade part you referred to comes into play if you are using the same piece of webbing on different size ropes in the same day etc “to exaggerate� switching from 8mm to 10.5mm... You can peel the tape off by hand most of the time, if not, the use of a sharp knife or razor can get the webbing off as well. (Sometimes the ol paws get to cold and a knife works best…) You should not place tape on the rope directly especially if the tape will be in a place where a rappel device would need to pass over, as the tape will bunch and jam the device and that would leave us with another inappropriate type of auto block…!

The slide show you refer to was winter of 2003... We no longer present at REI due to our partnership with Sport Chalet...

[Canyonette]

I just couldn't imagine anyone doing what I originally thought you were doing: duct tape/rope/razor blades! It sounded crazy scary!


The part you may have misunderstood was that the rope was not wrapped in tape directly. On some rappels that have sharp or abrasive edges (AT THE START OF THE RAPPEL) we slide a short piece of 1� tube webbing down over the rope...

Now it makes more sense. It sounds like a reasonable idea now! :)

Cavers use similar rope protection (although their not generally dealing with pull downs, so a cloth pad suffices) only this method you're using sound quite a bit more versatile. I'm going to try it next time I'm out. It sounds like a great way to protect the rope.

~R

[meuon]

As I learn about canyoneering, I understand ya'll (I'm in the South) like to travel light. But something about having knives/razor blades near my ropes for doing this makes my skin crawl, plus tape leaves sticky spots on the rope. I have and use things like the
<A HREF="http://www.onrope1.com/index.php?mode=store&submode=showitem&itemnumber=rc4802x">PMI SuperMantle</A>, but I've also made my own out of old firehose for really rough lips and redirects. Although I have played with a Piranha, I usually use a rack. In either case, having things to feed though my descender, or to unhook my descender and hook it back on below seems more dangerous than locking off, slipping open the sheath, descending past it, and reclosing the sheath.

[rcwild]

The tubular webbing solution is one of those "nice-to-know-in-an-emergency" tricks. Inconvenient because the webbing must be slid on and off from an end of the rope. If you split it so it's easier to put on and take off, it won't stay in place.

Duct tape? When the paws are too cold to remove tape, they are probably too cold to safely use a knife or razor blade near rope. Simpler to just use a wrap-around edge protector.

BlueWater also makes a nice wrap-around edge protector called the Spectra Rope Guard (http://www.bluewaterropes.com/home/productsdetail.asp?Channel=Recreation&Group=Accessories&GroupKey=7&Category=Accessories&CategoryKey=5&ProdKey=30). Tough and very light to carry.

Wrap-around edge protectors are easy to hold in place with a prussik. No duct tape required.

Fire hose works well for caving because you're ascending the ropes you rappelled and can easily retrieve the hose. I use it when I teach rappelling. For canyoneering, it's too heavy and bulky. Presents the same retreival problems as tubular webbing.

[Canyonette]

something about having knives/razor blades near my ropes for doing this makes my skin crawl, plus tape leaves sticky spots on the rope.

Yeah, knives and razors around rope are good for one thing ~ slicing through your rope! Makes my skin crawl too. If I understand this correctly, the tape is actually wrapped around the webbing not the rope.


something about having Randi post messages makes me think she's mean-spirited

Anyhow, it's much safer than what was origionally being taught (I know what at heard at REI the first time around) and I was trying to show some semblance of my less than mean- spirited side by touting the NEW method as a safer alternative... :D

See ~ I can be nice on occasion! ;)

MD Canyonette

[rcwild]

Oh, great! Now that Randi has figured out how to use the quote tags, we're gonna see some creative quotes.