Does anyone use a petzl shunt

[gillip]

The other day several friends and I had rigged some ropes in a tree and were practicing vertical. I had lent out a good part of my kit and instead of waiting, I improvised a frog system. I was using a jumar as a chest ascender and a petzl shunt as an upper ascender. It actually worked well, at least until the changeover. I then tried using two shunts. Using the shunt as a chest ascender required a little bit of tending the rope, but it worked ok. Using the shunt for an upper was not hard at all. Of course there are obvious disadvatages. It is harder to get on and off the rope, and as a result doesn't really work as a QAS. It would occasionally, but not often, slip. Wet, muddy ropes may increase the slipage. I am sure edges would be a problem. But one major advantage is that down climbing is much easier with the shunt. I was wondering if anyone else has used the petzl shunt(s) to ascend/downclimb a taunt rope.

[volica]

Well, my girlfriend uses shunt as additional safety while descending. IMHO as for ascender it would slip too much since lack of teeth or grooves on cam.

[Tadpole]

A friend of mine recently started working in industry and on double ropes (which is apparently an OSHA thing). They use shunts as backups for decent and ascent there, so while it's not common in caving, I'd check out the industry arena for more information about them.

[E-man]

My first ascender was a shunt. It works well, and because it has really good leverage, the lack of teeth does not really matter that much on wet, muddy ropes. I used it as a chest ascender for a while, but the drag on the rope makes it really suck. It is also a pain to get on and off rope with the damn thing. I use a croll these days. The Shunt is a good ascender, but there are better ones out there.
Peace, Eli

[Stridergdm]

A friend of mine recently started working in industry and on double ropes (which is apparently an OSHA thing). They use shunts as backups for decent and ascent there, so while it's not common in caving, I'd check out the industry arena for more information about them.

Yes, OSHA requires two ropes, the second is strictly a safety line.