the swede

Aha, interesting, think I have to play around a little with that one...

Thats sounds like something I can use when I do team-building excersices. At least when there is a bunch of "tough" guys wanting to do something extra. But I also think the F8 is great! You can use it in so many different configuration and no mechanical parts that can break or soft parts that can melt. You just have to know how to use it safely. But I think I heard someoone saying something like that about chainsaws to...

Yes, the knot itself looks like a bachman. It's really good for making a hauling system, the knot opens almost by itself when unloaded and the weight of the carabiner makes it possible to send the knot down the rope. But in that case it's used "up side down" from what is seen on the pic. Then there is some extra things in there. The cord that goes to the harness looks like some kind of backup to me (or if I translate "Reisleine right it's a line for raising but I can't figure out how it will work) and the arrangement with the ropeman is for advancing the knot while you footlook the tail. I agree to that it looks a little messy for ordinary work but nice to try and play with. You never know when thaat extra knowledge come in handy!

Do that and have some fun! Some 25 years ago I thought it was fun to jump of bridges with just a rope-harness-F8 and descend down as quick as possible. We did pick up some good speed and an adrenaline rush! I also work as an instructor on a rope course, on the "rapell-station" we have to hold on to the tail rope just to help them brake if something happends. So just take it a bit easy and don't go to high and fast the first time, a glove is also a good thing so you won't burn your breaking hand.

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.

About -20C! U just have to work harder to stay warm...

It's not the F8 itself that has to be backed up, it's your breaking hand. If something happends to that hand the ground will jump up and kick your butt! So some kind of prussik knot attached between the leg strap and the rope "below" the F8 gives you an extra breaking hand.

Jupp, sweden it is! About 80 km from Stockholm. But mostly work in the Stockholm area.

You are just a little bit to far away to try mine!

I have one BD ascender and I like it. Nothing special but I just feel that BD has that little "extra" in their stuff. One thing though, we did some rescue training and my rescuer had to disconnect my ascender from the rope. The mechanism works a little different from the other brands and he had a hard time figure it out under stress. Nothing big but...

No, certified rope access supervisor. Did some climbing in high and interesting places. But I didn't like the industrial part of it, cleaning and painting a rollercoaster for example isn't what I call a nice day (or months actually). Trees are living things and so much more interesting. So this is perfect for me, I get the chance to climb and have some air under my feet and work with mother nature in the same time. Just love it!

Hi! Newbie here and mostly lurking and learning. But coming from the rope access business this is something I know about. The ID is a great descender for rope access with good control over the descent with the big handle. But that is when you are "freehanging" in the rope. When you are on a slope or say limbwalking with a copule of meters rope under your feet you will have to feed the rope trough the ID. And there is some safety toothed cam that will engage making the feeding process a nightmare. And the size and weight make it hard to handle when you don't have tension in the rope. There will be a new version out in 2010 that is smaller and lacks the toothed cam and the panic stop but it's a lot smaller and nicer to handle. Are you just gonna use it for descending straight down it's lovely, good control and quick lock off with the handle. And a nice feature is that you install it on the rope without unclipping it from your harness so you won't drop it. In rope acces I use my ID but not for treework. /the swede