UKC

Hello,

In France last week I watched a guy ab using a single rope (not doubled over) and a 'knot' that was placed at the bolts. The 'knot' held his weight during the ab but came undone - very neatly - when given a sharp tug after he'd finished his abseil. In this way he would have been able to ab for distances of greater than 25 m using just one 50 m rope.

Does anyone know of a 'knot' that can be used to do this?

Watching this guy ab peaked my curiosity.

Cheers

In reply to Lumbering Oaf:

Are you sure he wasn't using a tagline? (An equal length of thin cord that doesn't bear any weight of the abseiler, but can be tugged to release the rope)

If not, I've never heard of this method and it sounds very scary!

In reply to Nick Russell:

I didn't see a tagline. I thought it rather ballsy at the time.

In reply to Lumbering Oaf:

A Kamikaze knot??

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheepshank#Kamikaze_knot

In reply to nameless_rob:

Good name. I think I'm going to try to forget that knot so I'm never ever tempted to use it!

In reply to Lumbering Oaf: I enjoyed the moment of an old geezer who abs to the halfway point then spins around to create lots of friction between the ropes then allows one rope to pass through, sliding him to the ground gently. I imagine this to be extremely dangerous if it doesn't work but I might still try it indoors at some point

In reply to Lukem6:
Sod that!

In reply to Lumbering Oaf: If you inted to do that often enough I think the best thing to do is to write you last wishes now.

In reply to Lumbering Oaf: In AK Climbing tips he refers to a system where you tie one end of your rope on a fifi hook, then you tie the top of thew fifi hook a few centimeters up below the know connecting the fifi hook to the rope with a small bungee cord. When you weight the rope the hook stay in place on the anchor but as soon as you release the weight, the hook pops off backwards and you can retrieve the whole rope.

He does say that you have 90% chance of dying if you try it.

In reply to Lumbering Oaf:

Pierre Alain used to propose for sale a gadget that allowed single rope abseiling. It was a spring loaded hook device which worked like the elasticated fifi mentioned just above, as soon as you got to the bottom and took the weight off the rope the hook sprang of the abseil point.

It was pretty expensive but I don't think that was why he didn't sell many

In reply to Lumbering Oaf:

Ze Saxon Cross? Arrrgghhh!

In reply to Lumbering Oaf:
you didnt mean this did ya:

tie a loop in the middle of the rope
with one end: thread the anchor and the middle loop
pull it tight to the anchor.

the end you threaded is your ab side, the other your retrieval.

Remember to remove your stopper and to make sure your on the right side.

you can do similar with a running slippery hitch, more advanced would be the Macrame rappel

and you can have a look at cambium savers.

What do ya think?

In reply to Keiran.A:

before retrieving.

In reply to nameless_rob: saw bear grylls use this on one of his shows and yes he was still 10ft short lol

In reply to shumidrives:

NO... You saw a technical advisor set up for the cretin to then lie to the camera about.

In reply to Bruce Hooker:

Ah yes, the Decrocheur Allain http://lh4.ggpht.com/_HZMYfs1ZHeo/SSCDr2BM6EI/AAAAAAAAA2Q/wRj_VTzl6NM/P1050... .

After weighting the rappel, you pulled on the little cord, which unlocked the hook, which thereafter remained in place only by virtue of tension in the rappel line. When you unweighted the rappel, the hook sprang open and the device fell the length of the rappel and clocked you in the head. Additional note to self: do not momentarily unweight rappel on an intermediate ledge.

In reply to rgold:
There's the method from the venerable Ashley Book of knots,

http://www.chockstone.org/upload/userfiles/mikllaw/deathrap33.jpg

And here is a video of the fifi hook trick done for real.

youtube.com/watch?v=b8Ute5c2BVk&

In reply to nameless_rob:

Oooh, I like the look of the Kamakazi Knot!!! That was the sort of thing that happened: the guy abed off the cliff, he reached the bottom, he pulled/yanked the rope, the knot came undone and the rope was retrieved. Pretty cool, but pretty dangerous.

In reply to rgold:


I watched it and felt ill. Do we have any proof he made it to the bottom alive?

In reply to MikeTS:

I think they would have recorded that as well if it happened.

Seriously though, how many accidents as a result of this method?

Possibly none.

Not that it is recommended, but because it is so obviously dangerous he was probably being very careful.

We are often only one silly mistake from a disaster. Take care or use systems that have some element of redundancy. A lot of modern techniques and situations don't.

In reply to nameless_rob: My Dad showed me that knot, and he was never a climber; I have no idea where he picked it up from, possibly his teacher Frankland (as in 'Franklands Green Crack' fame) or the scouts in the 1920s...

In reply to Rick Graham:
>systems that have some element of redundancy.

This technique is kind the opposite of redundancy. Redundancy enables you to survive unless everything goes wrong. Here you survive if everything goes right.

In reply to MikeTS:

exactly, with a bit of luck thrown in

In reply to Lumbering Oaf:

Highwayman's hitch.

In reply to Lumbering Oaf:

It works fine but only with Elven Rope

In reply to DubyaJamesDubya:

Like

I remember being terrified doing a single rope abseil (fixed) at the Galloway sea cliffs.

In reply to Milesy:

The semi static I use for that kind of thing is so stiff that you have to push the rope through the belay plate if you ab on it doubled. It's just about right on a single strand.

Tends to be a figure of eight with plenty of tail and tons of redundancy in the anchor for me at the top though. No way you would catch me doing anything like the OP described.