Am I likely to die while ascending

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Your boat is decidedly more luxurious than my own. My having absolutely no aquaintances with any knowledge of or interest in rope ascension, I have been able to try exactly nothing that I have not set up myself, making my vessel in this case a bark raft held together with old wire stolen from a fencerow and propelled across the lonely void with a fragile branch not quite long enough to reach bottom...

Har! Maybe just a couple steps up from your boat only because I have a small head start from you and initially I had no interest in vertical work. So, while our members were be taught by trainers from SoCal Grotto who were visiting, I went into the cave to practice photography. I told them I didn’t want to go vertical because of my fear of heights and because “I may like it too much!” and I didn’t want the addition expenses. But after seeing photos of the vertical drops and formations that can be reached by rope, I took the plunge… but by then our trainers had gone home so I learned from second hand info and now from cavechat.

Btw, we make our rafts out of bamboo poles tied together. Probably safer than using bark because the bamboo has natural air filled chambers between its nodes. No need to steal lashing because we use thin bamboo strap to tie the poles together and our poles for navigating do reach the bottom.

Photo by Rawen Balmaña

I agree with Chad, then you’ll have a Jumar setup minus the chest harness. Next try making the Texas setup NZcaver suggested:

The way I read it, the system seems more like the old classic Jumar system or rock climbers jugging setup where one ascender is connected to one foot, and the other ascender is connected to the other foot. Probably the least efficient type of climbing system. A Texas is a little more efficient and looks like this.

Since you have a slow internet connection, try to get someone or go to an internet café to download Vertical by Al Warild as Bill Putnam suggested. At least download Chapter 7 on ascending.

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Luckily my caving buddy dropped by so I got her to take a couple shots:


On the left is my first frog setup that I used only for above ground practice. I borrowed my brother’s BD BOD harness (early model) and attached a small Jumar brand ascender with a 9mm quicklink. I was reluctant to use it to drop pits because it is not as efficient as using real caving harnesses so I used a borrowed GGG harness for the caves.

On the right is what I was suggesting for you. The cam of the large ascender sits twice as high as that of the small ascender but it still works only the standing stroke is limited.

Btw, I found this topic that may be useful if you try the Texas setup: proper adjustment for 2-ascender Texas system and this topic for a frog setup with a climbing harness: Advice needed on ascending/descending setup