fig 8 drawbacks

[Will Hinchliffe]

easy peesy

 

when you clip on your 8, clip it on to your harness through the big eye not little.

 

then when you whant it thread as normal while clipped to harness then when you unclip it no matter if you drop it its on the rope. shown that little tric on an spsa many moons ago.

 

cheers

 

Excellent tip. Never been shown that before.

 

The fig 8 is an excellent bit of kit. Its great because you can use it to descend a double line and a single line.

[detritus21]

that is a top tip. Never been shown that before

[Dean Lofthouse]

I tried my fig8 a few months ago.

 

I clipped it on and let go of everything, I didn't plummet to the ground in a ball of dust and die

 

I just slowly descended, got stuck a couple of times where I had to move the rope about to get moving again.

 

In arb we very rarely use one on its own anyway, I use mine to save the clutch on the lockjack so the lockjack is still attached or below the hitch on a footlock line

[Bundle 2]

I want to see numbers also......

Its not 4 work positioning..no argument there whatsoever!

A straight forward descent to the floor tho' ? I want some evidence that this is beyond the wit of man to achieve 9 times outta 10....

[Angus]

I clipped it on and let go of everything, I didn't plummet to the ground in a ball of dust and die

Funny that. You were probably also using the correct sized fig8 for your rope too?

 

Has anyone got any numbers to back up the "inherent" risks of non-backed up fig8's in recreational and occupational activities?

 

I know for me, the weight of the rope alone stops me from descending. The video of Graeme doing that dead Euc I just recently posted, I was at around 180'. When I descend I have to lift the rope up from under me, and feed it into the fig8.

At 50' if I let go, I would very slowly descend - Its not until I'm about 20' off the ground, that I can finally use a brake hand... By then its all over!

[White Noise]

If you cant use a fig 8 in whatever style it comes . You should,nt be using one . End of .

 

If you want to live like a Trooper from Hereford get some swarming rope .

[the swede]

I clipped it on and let go of everything, I didn't plummet to the ground in a ball of dust and die

 

Glad to hear!

 

Did you try it in a DdRT or SRT setup and what was the diameter of the rope? In a DdRT setup the little extra friction and the fact that you only descent half the distance compared to the lenght of rope running troough the F8 makes a big difference.

 

But there is a lot of descending accidents in rock climbing, not only with the F8. It's more the situation where you finnish a hard line and start to relax and forget that you still in a dangerous spot. Then ALL techniques for descending that don't incorporate some kind of fool proofing is a risk. And there is also thinner ropes in rock climbing so the speed will get higher.

[Dean Lofthouse]

When I get time I'll try some different setups but even with 10mm on srt, I have some lying about, I still reckon you wouldn't descend at any speed likely to cause injury.

[Will Hinchliffe]

Its not 4 work positioning..no argument there whatsoever!

 

With a prussik above it and a second tie in why not?

[Bundle 2]

With a prussik above it and a second tie in why not?

 

Why bother...Do you back up your prussic with another prussic? I dont want to start talking at cross purposes with ya Phenom....Ihave worked from a fig8 when it was tied off ( I know of 2 configurations that "lock" the fig8 set up) No reason you cant...just dont see any advantage. Infact just see the fig8 getting bastardised for a,n.other application for which there are better alternatives..?