NZcaver wrote:chh wrote:Simple pro:
-as variable, if not moreso, than any micro rack I've used.
Care to elaborate? Not being a user of the Simple bobbin, I'm curious about this.
I doubt there's more variability in a Simple than a rack but I do think a lot of the variability of a Simple (and Stop) is neglected in comparisons to a rack. That is you can vary the friction by where you hold the rope with your brake hand up at 12 o'clock and you have the most down at 6 o'clock and you have the least, I think this variability is often assumed but it isn't so much offered in racks unless they have hyperbars.
The other thing I like about Simples and Stops is that you transition from a locked off position into the position of greatest friction and move from there to less friction. Conversely the rack needs you to move the rope from the half lock down to behind your hip before starting to descend (you could abseil with the rope over the hyperbar but let's not go there ). I think this smooth transition from locked off to abseiling is worth noting.
I beg to differ on the Stops being better on rebelays etc than a Simple. Generally I found the Stop handle didn't really come into play too much, perhaps more for rigging... We run SRT races and within my club the top 5 places were Simples then there was a couple of Stops, the racks were also runs... (The Simple users tend also to be SRT fans and spend the most time practicing so that may skew the results, or maybe they just spent that time finding out how good the Simple is? Oh in the interests of full disclosure I'm very much a Simple fan, but I've tried Racks and Stops and teach both)
I think the advantage for Simples comes in that they are generally quicker and smoother to thread which can make a big difference when your continually taking them on and off rope, that the fact that you can use the other hand to fight all the obstacles that go into our SRT courses.
Regarding depth, the deepest I've used my Simple on is 110m it was hot enough that I could feel the radiant heat from it on the side of my face as I was abseiling but that said I kept moving and pulled rope through when I got bottom and there was no sign of any glazing, for anyone wondering about loosing control on long drops it's a non-issue IMO with the rope weight below you, you tend to end up pulling up rope to allow you to move downward which makes for a pretty jerky abseil. For this reason if you had the choice I'd try breaking 100m plus pitches up with a rebelay in between, the added benefit is you can get your party up and down the rope close to twice as fast (2 people able to be on the drop at once).
If you had a one drop cave with a pitch over 100m without a rebelay breaking it up then the Simple wouldn't be my descender of choice but that doesn't happen very often (at all) around here so I don't think I'm missing out.