Classic rappelling instruction!

[Marlatt]

This is classic - EIA, I guess.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWGcTvHtYQk&feature=player_embedded#!

[Stridergdm]

OMG, that's scary. I mean I did some sketchy stuff as a kid, but nothing like that and certainly didn't promote it on a place like youtube.(of course back in MY day, we didn't have youtube, but still.)

[Larry E. Matthews]

That is, without a doubt, the sorryest equipement I have ever seen anybody try to rappel with.

What was that rope? A cotton clothes line? He said to be sure it would hold 500 pounds !!!

Oh my God. I hope he has signed his organ donar card.

[gdstorrick]

Post deleted.

[Carl Amundson]

OMG, just watch the video.
That's some scary shit, this guy is rappelling on a clothes line.
This video should be removed.

[DeanWiseman]

What was that rope? A cotton clothes line? He said to be sure it would hod 500 pounds !!!

Oh my God. I hope he has signed his organ donar card.

Looks like a braided nylon boat rope. It might hold 500 lbs, but with no sheath, it's begging for trouble. But then again, those of us older than 35 probably all have a story about using gold line.

My favorite part is the square knot harness.


-Dean

[NSS8921]

Dean, I'll go one better (OK, worse) than Goldline. I was trained on manila. I even did Natural Bridge (VA) a few times on it! You could tell it was time to retire it when it got really limp and stopped making popping noises as much. That was in the day when it made sense to test your rope before each trip by tying it to a tree and having every one yank it a few times. Forunately, I got better mentors before I got darwinnowed.

John

[Chads93GT]

that kid said be sure it holds 150 to 200 pounds........ the entire time I was wondering what he was going to do if the drop really was 50' and he only had 30' of rope. why not just toss the rope over the edge like all of us do to see if its long enough. I guess he would have rapped off the end and fell to the ground, breaking his legs or worse.

[nathanroser]

I don't even want to know what he would try to use for ascending gear. Prusiks with his own hair?

[self-deleted_user]

I don't even want to know what he would try to use for ascending gear. Prusiks with his own hair?

Nonono, yarn spun of angora fibres so it's soft to the touch and won't abrade the rope :P

[nathanroser]

The fibers of dog's bane make pretty strong cordage, but the plant is also poisonous and the toxin gets on your hands. But that should discourage any critters from chewing up the rope.

[chh]

That's some stupid, dangerous stuff. I will say though, as a kid, I did some stupid, dangerous stuff. The difference was I knew it was stupid and dangerous and therefore I didn't tell anybody I was doing it
That was also before the age of the internet "expert".
I remember one time specifically when I was about 10 and some friends and I build a very rude zip line from the top of one tree to the bottom of another. This resulted is one of my friends falling from the tree and going to the hospital. When my dad found out, to his great credit, he didn't get mad. Rather, he brought home some retired lengths of webbing and rope from the fire department, taught me how to make a seat harness out of webbing and out of the end of the rope as well as a taughtline, prussik and carabiner wrap. He wasn't a climber or caver or even on the high angle team, he just knew I was going to do it anyway, and so he taught me everything he knew about it, which wasn't much. I never looked back, and have had some great times introducing my dad to climbing since. Thus the roles were reversed.
When I see that video I don't think so much about how bad the advice is so much as how badly that kid needs a mentor. I hope he finds one before his crappy stitching job decides to give up the ghost!

[NZcaver]

That's some stupid, dangerous stuff. I will say though, as a kid, I did some stupid, dangerous stuff. The difference was I knew it was stupid and dangerous and therefore I didn't tell anybody I was doing it
That was also before the age of the internet "expert".

Ditto, ditto, and ditto. All I'll say is abandoned mine shafts, old non-kernmantle boat rope, and a diving belt for a harness...

Then I had a stroke of genius. I decided to hook up with some cavers to learn real vertical techniques, and the journey began. Sometimes I wish I had some video of the early days, but even if I did I wouldn't post it on YouTube - at least not without a huge disclaimer.

[gdstorrick]

Post deleted.

[DeanWiseman]

I was on a trip to one of the deepest free-drop pits in Indiana at about 124 ft.... and right next to the entrance hole we found a bosun's chair fashioned from a 2x6 with a 1/4-inch eye bolt with a 6-inch shank on it. Attached to the eye bolt was 1/4-inch cotton rope. I don't think it actually got used, but someone was VERY close to visiting the ever-after.

-Dean

p.s. Probably this kid's dad...