Moderator: Tim White
Stridergdm wrote:What sort of system are you building?
That would partly determine the answer. My guess is a frog?
Alternatively, for a small fee I'm willing to travel to Tasmania and do demos.
Anonymous_Coward wrote:For building frog systems, I usually point folks to this link: http://technology.darkfrontier.us/Vertical/Frog/
It shows how to build a frog system without a bunch of extraneous equipment but still has everything you need. No need for any maillons really, except for the large demi-rond to close your harness.
I would recommend constructing your footloop out of a non-stretchy material like spectra or Titan cord. Nylon footloops stretch with each stroke, compromising efficiency.
As for what type of carabiners to get? Cavers generally use screw lockers, and pear-shaped ones are especially popular because they have are easy to clip quickly and have the right shape for making munter hitches. On your cowstails, many will say that non-lockers are the way to go. I prefer to have lockers for those times that I really want to lock them.
You should carry one or two prusiks, and know how to use them.
perigrine wrote:generally a locking one on the descender (though I don't know if that one 'lives' there 24/7).
perigrine wrote:I seem to recall the rigs have a locking one on the hand ascender as well, rather than the oval quick link.
paul wrote:It is highly recommended that you always be prepared to change over from ascent to descent and vice versa in case of unexpected problems so you should always have your descender clipped to its normal place for descent even when ascending. So that locking carabiner would indeed live there 24/7.
Extremeophile wrote:paul wrote:It is highly recommended that you always be prepared to change over from ascent to descent and vice versa in case of unexpected problems so you should always have your descender clipped to its normal place for descent even when ascending. So that locking carabiner would indeed live there 24/7.
It's getting a little off-topic, but I do not do this, though I do have several well respected friends who do. While ascending I generally keep my descender attached to the gear loop. If I do need to changeover I can quickly attach it to my D-maillon. In many years of caving, and many miles of rope work, I've only ever had to changeover from ascent to descent once, and even on that occasion I could have just as easily down-climbed since I was only 20 ft off the floor. The only risk I see in keeping it on the gear loop is that it may be possible to drop it during a changeover, but given the low probability of needing to perform this maneuver, I've made the conscious decision to keep it clipped out of the way.
Tim White wrote:To avoid it being a drop hazard, I clip one end of my Cow's Tail to the descender before removing it and repositioning it to my central waist connection.
But unlike Extremeophile, I have had to do many change-overs and this method always works for me.
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