slapout wrote:my rack never gets hot or even warm even after a long rappel down El Capitan at yosemite
Im kind of curious how you pulled this off. Rappelling on el cap and your rack doesnt get hot? At Golondrinas we had some burn themselves on their leg (they were in shorts) with their rack. I don't think I have ever done a drop and not had my rack heat up in some form or fashion.
As far as the 8's go, you'll wear through an aluminum one in no time. When we were canyoning in Zion with Piranhas we saw significant wear on the devices due to sand and grit that were in the rope, and we were using 9mm. I couldnt imagine what 11mm muddy pit rope would do. Steel 8's work, but then people yell at you for twisting their rope.
The rack is the Cadillac of descending devices.