Someone cutting your rigging

[creektrails]

30 years ago I was working on a barn roof and had a ladder attached to a rope on the opposite side of the barn and tied off to a light pole in a hog lot. Even though there was a small fence around the pole and several knots holding it in place. I had to come back down for another can of paint as it turns out just in time. There were three hogs working together standing on each others backs to reach the rope and had me down to one knot! Believe it or not... I would not have believed it either but it happened. Animals natural curiosity can work against our modern methods and there are a lot of wild hogs in the east and south.

Ron Fulcher
NSS44706RL

Ive got to say that must have been a site. I dont doubt that it happened but (well maybe a little bit) if you could have photoed it you could have retired on the proceeds.
I once saw some roofers tied off on a metal roof w/ their rope running over the peak and tied off to a pickup truck bumper. There were no acrobatic hogs present but I sure hoped the guy tied off up top was holding the keys to that truck in his pocket.
Nate

[Downundercaver]

Thats the best thing in Australia, most caves are out in the middle of no where and only people who cave visit there. Don't get me wrong there are some caves close to civilisation but you get my point.

[Dangerjudy]

I think the policy of leaving someone up top with the rope is a good one. But sometimes it isn't feasible... say if you're going to McClendon's for a 5 hour trip, who is going to sit outside with the rope for 5 hours?

What's given me the heebies lately is someone's story of a caver starting to de-rig a rope that was wrapped three times around a tree and then clipped with a 'biner that was on a figure 8 on a bight knot... his buddy had decided to bounce a pit one more time and was on rope... fortunately friends stopped the de-rigger as he had already unclipped the biner from the rope and was about to unwrap it from the tree...

[Extremeophile]

What's given me the heebies lately is someone's story of a caver starting to de-rig a rope that was wrapped three times around a tree and then clipped with a 'biner that was on a figure 8 on a bight knot... his buddy had decided to bounce a pit one more time and was on rope... fortunately friends stopped the de-rigger as he had already unclipped the biner from the rope and was about to unwrap it from the tree...

Pulling the rope before derigging the anchor seems like a best practice. It would prevent scenarios like this one and also helps reduce the likelihood of dropping your rope down the pit.