footloop storage
Posted: Nov 30, 2013 4:43 pm
Hey all,
I was having a discussion with a friend lately about footloop storage in between pitches where there is some real caving in between. I've never been happy with my methods, even though they have never slowed me down or really gotten caught up much at all. I'm always looking for ways to further streamline my stuff in between pitches. The problem I have with my methods is that what is fast is a little sloppy, and while the slower methods are more streamlined, they are, well.... slow.
I typically use 4 methods depending on the length and type of cave in between pitches. I'll list them in order of most common usage to least common. I guess it's also important to mention that I use 6ish mm cord for my loops, not tape.
1) triple the footloop and stuff it in the rope channel of the upper ascender, close the cam, and then hang the ascender on my gear loop via it's connecting carabiner.
2) for more crawly squeezy stuff I'll actually take the time to bundle or knot the footloop securely to a length about that of my upper ascender and then still clip one or two loops into the rope channel so that when the ascender is hanging from my gear loop, the footloop is not longer than the ascender and is secured both to the connecting carabiner and the ascender, actually kind of stretched between the two so there is a minimal amount of loopage to get hung up on stuff.
3) For nice easy walking passage, I throw the footloop over my shoulder and clip it into my ascender in the front bandolier style.
4) Very rarely I will pull the footloop off my upper ascender all together and put it in the exterior breast pocket of my cave suit. I usually only do this on the way down in technical caves when I anticipate the need for cowstails and/or upper ascender for rebelays or traverses, but not really my footloop until I'm on the way out. This usually also means tight pitches in addition to rigging that is installed for froggers with appropriately sized rebelay loops and such. Again, pretty rare.
So who has figured out something so blindingly simple that it's going to change my life?
I was having a discussion with a friend lately about footloop storage in between pitches where there is some real caving in between. I've never been happy with my methods, even though they have never slowed me down or really gotten caught up much at all. I'm always looking for ways to further streamline my stuff in between pitches. The problem I have with my methods is that what is fast is a little sloppy, and while the slower methods are more streamlined, they are, well.... slow.
I typically use 4 methods depending on the length and type of cave in between pitches. I'll list them in order of most common usage to least common. I guess it's also important to mention that I use 6ish mm cord for my loops, not tape.
1) triple the footloop and stuff it in the rope channel of the upper ascender, close the cam, and then hang the ascender on my gear loop via it's connecting carabiner.
2) for more crawly squeezy stuff I'll actually take the time to bundle or knot the footloop securely to a length about that of my upper ascender and then still clip one or two loops into the rope channel so that when the ascender is hanging from my gear loop, the footloop is not longer than the ascender and is secured both to the connecting carabiner and the ascender, actually kind of stretched between the two so there is a minimal amount of loopage to get hung up on stuff.
3) For nice easy walking passage, I throw the footloop over my shoulder and clip it into my ascender in the front bandolier style.
4) Very rarely I will pull the footloop off my upper ascender all together and put it in the exterior breast pocket of my cave suit. I usually only do this on the way down in technical caves when I anticipate the need for cowstails and/or upper ascender for rebelays or traverses, but not really my footloop until I'm on the way out. This usually also means tight pitches in addition to rigging that is installed for froggers with appropriately sized rebelay loops and such. Again, pretty rare.
So who has figured out something so blindingly simple that it's going to change my life?