Panic protection for DRT descending?

[DeanBrown3D]

The wife is doing a little bit of DRT climbing with blakes hitch as support. I'm concerned that she will panic and descend too fast by pulling on the blakes hitch and not letting go. Is there a backup I can add to the system in case she does this, for peace of mind at least?

Thanks

Dean

 

[boo]

first thing is to make sure the hair-do is secured. :jester:
you could add a stop knot short of the ground to the tail end of the rope, or just tie it off somewhere so she can't get down until the lesson is over.

a better suggestion would be to go up the tree with her, keeping the tail of her rope to your saddle at a safe stop point.
I've noticed newbies feel alot more comfortable when someone is close by in the tree with them step by step.
remember you'll have more than twice the responsibility.

 

[Ekka]

Or stick her on belay with another rope connected to the back of her harness.

Best is like said, climb next to her.

Having another prussik etc will be cumbersome and in the way. Just drill her on the ground about letting go of the blakes if in panic mode.

Most hang on to the rope for dear life and dont give the prussik free reign, so it'll be cool, plenty of voice communication.

Like when she's up nice and high you say, righto love, you figure it out from there coz the games on ... bye! And you'll get hours of uninterupted TV. opcorn:

 

[Diesel JD]

Don't let her climb without gloves, I don't think she'll like teh resultant rope burns. Make sure you emphasize to her that the harder you pull on that Blakes, the faster you're coming down. Make sure that the bridge isn't too long, that she can easily reach the Blake's always, as this will lend itself to more security.

 

[JayD]

Panic Relief?

In this case I would let my wife climb about 1 maybe 2 meters off the ground and then let her get used to the feel of the Blake's hitch,build her confidence close to the ground,instruct her to pull slowly on the hitch let her descend a foot or so then tell her to let go of it, when she stops she will get the idea to let go of the hitch to stop in my opinion this will build confidence close to the ground,then I would have her close to the ground about a foot up and tell her to pull down on the hitch hard and let her experience what will happen if she does panic,when she is high in the tree I would do as Ekka suggested rig the back of the harness for ground controlled belay.
Hope this Helps
JayD

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Let the free end run through your gloved hands on the ground. Any trouble, clamp down on it. So, her climbing line; also becomes the belay line.

Also, she can wrap line around leg, and pinch line with other foot into wrapped foot for even more friction.

 

[moss]

The wife is doing a little bit of DRT climbing with blakes hitch as support. I'm concerned that she will panic and descend too fast by pulling on the blakes hitch and not letting go. Is there a backup I can add to the system in case she does this, for peace of mind at least?

Standard procedure for new climbers doing DdRT is to tie a slipknot with a generous bight (6 or 7 inches) in the downrope starting about 5 feet off the ground and every 5 ft. after as they ascend (they tie them as they go up, you remind them). The slip knot is tied so that it stops the Blake's going down. If you push down on the knot and it comes out it's backwards. Tie it so it won't come out when pushed down. You can pull out the slip knots from the ground in one firm tug when she's ready to descend. As long as you're holding on to the down rope you can stop her descent at any time.

Pick up this video, you should know every move on it before you put yourself in a tree:
Tree Climbing Basics

It's not an arborist instruction video, it's a basic DdRT climbing course on DVD.
-moss

 

[Tree Machine]

Hey Jay D., welcome to the site!

 

[JayD]

Hi Tree Machine,
Thank you, JayD

 

[Ekka]

Hey JayD, another Aussie in Sydney. Big city, expensive too.

Good on ya mate, but I've heard the name around before today ... anyway, have a say.

Too bad if it's a 5 day test match you're off to watch.

 

[JayD]

Hey Ekka,how the weather up there in brisvegas?...or the fish are on the bite..LOL

 

[Ekka]

Getting hot, cracked 30 today.

 

[arboralliance]

Try this one...

When instructing abseiling we say "thumb up your bum" to encourage people to wrap the tail around their leg or bum to create friction against this area to slow the descent...

Another thing to try is bringing the tail of the rope all the way around under the bum or legs and clipping it back through a biner up on your friction hitch or similar so there is friction around under the legs or ass of the descending person...

You could also use a gri-gri backed up by a friction hitch... OR put the tail of the rope through a gri-gri secured to the base of the tree or another tree so you ultimately control the rope... (Never stand under a lowering load)

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Unless you KNOW that a ring or loop on the back of a saddle is designed as a life-support anchor DO NOT use it. Get hold of the manufacturer to confirm.

Teach proper rapelling. That means one hand loosely above the hitch to release it and the other hand is the back-up break hand. The lower hand holds the rope just below the hip/butt with a full thumb/finger wrap. The rope slides up through the brake hand unless the climber slips. Then they are more likely to grab the rope with the brake hand.

Adding stopper knots is another good protocol. I think that more full time climbers should consider this bit of safety too. If the slipknot is tied with the tail of the slipped bight going to the ground it is a simple matter to spill the slipknot from the ground but not when the climbing hitch hits the slipknot from above. An even more secure way is to tie overhand bights on the way up.

 

[moss]

Adding stopper knots is another good protocol. I think that more full time climbers should consider this bit of safety too.

When I'm stopped in the tree to set a new anchor or make a pruning cut I usually put a slipknot stopper in the tail (as described by Tom) 3 feet or so below the hitch. Especially if I'm doing an extreme body position or something else unusual. That way I don't have to think about a branch pushing the hitch down or any other weirdness that might occur. A little bit of extra security is always nice.
-moss

 

[SRT-Tech]

first thing is to make sure the hair-do is secured. :jester:
you could add a stop knot short of the ground to the tail end of the rope, or just tie it off somewhere so she can't get down until the lesson is over.

a better suggestion would be to go up the tree with her, keeping the tail of her rope to your saddle at a safe stop point.
I've noticed newbies feel alot more comfortable when someone is close by in the tree with them step by step.
remember you'll have more than twice the responsibility.

^ BINGO! i have been training a person who has fear of height issues (very bad fear), and i simply ascend with her and have her tail-end line tie off to my harness.(both front and rear harnness rings are rated for 5000 LBS WLL, on my CMI Rescue Harness) Or i belay her from the ground with a figure 8 descender clipped to my harness.