ek wrote:Having now done NCRC level 1 and level 2, I am wondering...why is it that we always coil our ropes, instead of packing them in bags like firefighters (and many cavers) do so that they can be easily deployed and are protected from the elements in the cave? Packing ropes in bags seems to be much more efficient than carrying them in coils, and for rescue use it seems to me that this efficiency would really come in handy.
It's harder to pile lots of rope on the youngest caver ;)
As a rope bag manufacturer I'd like to see more rope bags used. As a rescue person they aren't
automatically better.
Rope bags have good points and bad points, and like EVERYTHING we teach at NCRC, few things
are perfect.
Pros:
RBs allow fast deployment.
Protect rope.
Cons:
Harder to see condition of the rope at a glance (did a mouse get into the rope? seen it.)
Bigger package/harder to move through cave.
Harder to estimate length at a glace.
Harder to carry more than a couple ropes (you can pile a half dozen ropes on the youngest caver!)
There's other pros/cons, but you get the idea.
In the Central Region Cache we have some haul/lower systems and belay systems in a bag ready
to deploy, and the rest are coiled. We have 1 600' rope coiled and 1 in a bag.
Remember answer number 1, Eliah: "It depends on the situation!"