UKC

Was playing with my shiny new tibloc and micro traxion to practice ascending as per: http://www.petzl.com/sfc/servlet.shepherd/version/download/068w0000001OyzQA...

While much less faff than prussiks to go up, I couldn't figure out an easy way to release to traxion to go back down again. I ended up transferring my weight to a belay plate and prussik and abbing (In retrospect, for a situation* where you may need to keep switching between asscent and decent: replacing the traxion for a prussik would have been quicker than switching to abseiling).

*e.g. not sure if you left the gas on at home, locked the car, feeling masochistic, suffering form ADHD etc.

As long as it wasn't too high or under the load, the tibloc was easy enough to slide down the rope, but I couldn't figure out an easy/efficient way to slide the traxion down. In this video:
youtube.com/watch?v=Iov-skc4hpI& the tails on a [ropemen/ropemans] allow them to be released easily (when not loaded). The traxion doesn't have one of these tails, so releasing it involved getting enough slack in the rope to release the traxion's cam by hand while weighting the tibloc/leg loop.

Am I missing something, or is switching just a pain, so avoid it if you can?

In reply to mmmhumous:

No, your right, it's a pain in the butt. Using a grigri and Ropeman is much easier and is my preferred option if I know I am going to be switching between climbing and descending. I really don't like the tiblocks at all, if the krab isn't seated right when loaded they really shred the sheath on the rope. Whereas the camming action of a Ropeman, and Micro-traxion come to that, seem much kinder to the rope.

Steve

In reply to SteveD:

Yeah grigri/jumar (or rope man) combo is great for this.

In reply to mmmhumous:

I climb with a jumar clipped to harness and then step into it to take weight off the trax when I'm switching from up to down.

In reply to mmmhumous:

Good to know I wasn't missing a trick. I don't instruct/guide/bolt or big wall so don't plan to buy jumars. The only ascending I envisage doing is in an emergency or when failing to second a move or two behind a more competent leader. My tibloc and traxion double up as a crevasse/self rescue kit, but looks like an extra prussik and foot loop are a must if I need to unweight the traxion. Or an excuse to buy a ropeman

Cheer's all,

In reply to mmmhumous:

I assume the trax is your waist prusik and the tribloc above the trax and used for your legs? (This is what it looks like in the petzl diagram.)

1. to transfer to abseiling take seconds:
take foot out of sling
tie overhand in sling, just below the tribloc
stand up an clip a quick draw to the over hand and your belay loop
sit down - all your weight will be on the tribloc
fit belay plate and remove trax
stand up and unclip quick draw
abseil down

2. to prusik down with a trax
you need to switch from the trax being the waist prusik to being the leg one - but the trax needs to remain below the tribloc. To do this use much the same approach as for abseiling down. As the tribloc is now your primary prusik and the only thing keeping you from falling to your death, use backup knots!

Hope that helps.

In reply to mmmhumous:

My friends that bolt are a big fan on the Gri Gri/Shunt combo.