I'd need a couple of tips on how to improve (safety- and durability-wise) rigging when descending slopes and pits. I like my ropes very much so I'd prefer not to shorten their life too much by mishandling them.
I normally find trees or huge rocks nearby and throw my rope around one (it has a permanently tied eye on both ends, one to rig and one as safestop when descending) then circle it around enough to use a carabiner in the eyeloop and clip the "free" part I'd descend and pull onto.
Now, even if I don't plan to increase my caving difficulty level any soon, my thoughts are:
- would using a thimble (metal or plastic? I think the former would be rust-free, but I fear it may break under load and slice fibers in its way) be any better for the rope (spread the carabiner holding/pull on a wider area)?
- is rigging that way better than tying double fisherman's knots with the same end every time?
- if I'd use a webbing sling to rig the upper end of the rope, what would be the benefits since I think I'd still need to keep that end tied into an eyeloop?
Thank you very much
Alfred
