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 Shane
  
Moderator
Location: Bronx, NY
Gender: Male
 |  |  |  |  |  | Re: A few lessons learned...
<Reply # 20 on 6/16/2009 9:07 PM >
|  | | | I was using an Anthron Double Stop Descender. It's worked great for me before and it lets me stop to take pictures/be hands free. This was the first time I'd ever lost control with it. It was a slightly smaller diameter rope than I'm used to with it, so I guess it had a tendency to go faster than normal. I wasn't backing it up in any way, and I didn't have friction on my hand at the time. I was busy navigating around a big metal beam, and must have squeezed the handle to just the right spot to let it pretty much free fall. The double stop is supposed to stop if you squeeze down all the way as well as if you let go completely, but it happened so fast that I didn't have time to react. If it had been a longer drop, I probably would have been fine. 10-15 feet just wasn't enough time to realize what's happening and react.
"Because there's no possibility of real disaster, real risk, we're left with no chance for real salvation. Real elation. Real excitement. Joy. Discovery. Invention. The laws that keep us safe, these same laws condemn us to boredom. Without access to true chaos, we'll never have true peace. Unless everything can get worse, it won't get any better." -Chuck Palahniuk |
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junkyard
Location: LaCrosse, WI
Gender: Male
Strategic Beer Command where the metal hits the meat.
| | | Re: A few lessons learned...
<Reply # 21 on 6/17/2009 3:58 AM >
| | | | I've used the Gri-Gri for that, but never liked it much, there is not much difference between fast and off on the fat ropes I use. SBG makes a nice cast ATC that can have a biner put in two locations to make more friction and is reversable for even more. That works good for that sort of stuff and you just wrap a few coils around your leg to hold. But Damn man! I thought that first part was funny about using biners as an anchor. Crazy fucker, and you were worried about a bit of surface rust on those bolts in Cobbs......Glad you made it ok. Next time you should toss back a few to make you fall slower and land softer. I've had to go back down and unstick a rope and switch back again after about 15 or 16. But I like the second setup, works like a charm on short stuff.
I drink gasoline for breakfeast and beer for dinner!
Any problem can be licked with a case of beer and a few sticks of dynamite.
Strategic Beer Command ruling the desert since 1995 http://www.strategic-beer-command.com |
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Shane
Moderator
Location: Bronx, NY
Gender: Male
| | | | | | Re: A few lessons learned...
<Reply # 22 on 6/17/2009 5:05 AM >
| | | | Yeah, I have a few descenders now. I have the double stop(which was fantastic until this incident), an ATC-XP, and the Petzl Pirana. I usually use the ATC for normal descents. The autostop is for when I'm takin pics or otherwise wanna be able to hang out for a bit.
The Pirana I mostly use for doing Aussie style drops face down. I put on the harness backwards and attach it with a 24" sling to help improve the angle so the rope doesn't burn my sides. I found that the ATC just wasn't smooth/fast enough to use on that type of descent.
Hell, I certainly woulda felt better about wandering down the aqueduct for other exits if I'd had a few beers with me for sustenance.
Finally got out to do something fun today. I experimented in the park with using a Blake's Hitch and a rope tossed over a tree to climb it. Tie one end of the rope to your harness, attach back to the other hanging rope with the tail from the harness knot. Pull on the running line, thrust your hips up, slide the blake's hitch up and relax again. Takes ya right up, surprisingly efficient too. To come back down you just squeeze the knot a bit and away you go. I was using normal static line though, so the hitch didn't work quite as well as it should. I gotta get a bit of arborist rope for this sort of stuff. It could definitely come in handy for getting up onto fire escapes, billboards, or ladders that have been cut off from the ground.
"Because there's no possibility of real disaster, real risk, we're left with no chance for real salvation. Real elation. Real excitement. Joy. Discovery. Invention. The laws that keep us safe, these same laws condemn us to boredom. Without access to true chaos, we'll never have true peace. Unless everything can get worse, it won't get any better." -Chuck Palahniuk |
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junkyard
Location: LaCrosse, WI
Gender: Male
Strategic Beer Command where the metal hits the meat.
| | | Re: A few lessons learned...
<Reply # 23 on 6/17/2009 1:48 PM >
| | | | Been wanting one of these for some time now. 3 college kids invented an ascender and the Army is probably their biggest customer. It is fairly lightweight and runs on Li-ion and you feed the rope a few turns around a drum and hook it to your harness and hit the button. It's got enough balls to spill your beer. I forget the specs on the finished unit. But it can get you up 100 ft FAST. There might be enough battery for 2-300. I'd have to look into that and get a second job........Google it.
I drink gasoline for breakfeast and beer for dinner!
Any problem can be licked with a case of beer and a few sticks of dynamite.
Strategic Beer Command ruling the desert since 1995 http://www.strategic-beer-command.com |
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DJ Craig
      
Moderator
Location: Johnson City, TN
Gender: Male
Break the Silence
| | | | Re: A few lessons learned...
<Reply # 24 on 6/17/2009 11:45 PM >
| | | | Holy crap! Glad you're ok dude! Personally, if I had been in a situation like that alone, I probably would have just called 911 and just dealt with the consequences. Mad props for finding a better solution!
"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..." -Dr. Suess |
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Wilk
Location: NYC
Gender: Male
| | | Re: A few lessons learned...
<Reply # 25 on 6/17/2009 11:53 PM >
| | | | Great story, glad everything worked out in the end.
Ready for liftoff
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Moe14
| | Re: A few lessons learned...
<Reply # 26 on 6/26/2009 6:27 PM >
| | | | Other Lesson: Drunk people at strip clubs 4700 miles away will not be able to help.
www.allcitynewyork.com |
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NotBatman
Location: MSP
Gender: Male
Secret Cult Member
| | Re: A few lessons learned...
<Reply # 28 on 7/1/2009 2:13 PM >
| | | | Posted by junkyard
But drunk people in the situation can help. |
Intoxication: The greatest credibility prop of all time.
I'm a "Leave only footprints, take only pornography" kind of guy, myself. |
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Naaman
Location: Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Gender: Male
| | | Re: A few lessons learned...
<Reply # 30 on 7/2/2009 2:32 PM >
| | | | Wow dude, thanks for sharing. Glad you are alive! Here's to your adventurous spirit.
http://leftbirmingham.blogspot.com/ |
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HalloweenKev
Location: Texas
Gender: Male
Leave only footprints, take only pictures... the UBER's code.
| | Re: A few lessons learned...
<Reply # 31 on 8/12/2009 10:40 AM >
| | | | seeing the pic of the only exit made me panic. I would have freaked 
Leave only footprints, take only pictures... the UBER's code. |
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Shane
Moderator
Location: Bronx, NY
Gender: Male
| | | | | | Re: A few lessons learned...
<Reply # 32 on 8/13/2009 2:22 AM >
| | | | I had a few moments where I almost felt myself losin it a bit with worry. Especially as it got darker and darker, I didn't want to use my headlamp as I only had that one set of batteries and might need it to find my way out. I was mostly preoccupied with thinking about how much of an idiot I was for gettin myself into the situation. I also told myself that the worst that would really happen would be that we'd have to call for real help and I'd get arrested/ticketed for it.
"Because there's no possibility of real disaster, real risk, we're left with no chance for real salvation. Real elation. Real excitement. Joy. Discovery. Invention. The laws that keep us safe, these same laws condemn us to boredom. Without access to true chaos, we'll never have true peace. Unless everything can get worse, it won't get any better." -Chuck Palahniuk |
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telefontubbie
Location: Latvia, Riga
Gender: Female
"No Trespassing" - It's an invitation!
| | Re: A few lessons learned...
<Reply # 33 on 8/13/2009 6:33 AM >
| | | | Thanks about sharing your experience 
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Clutchy
Location: B.C.
Gender: Male
Now with 20% less sarcasm!
| | Re: A few lessons learned...
<Reply # 34 on 8/13/2009 7:03 AM >
| | | | Great story, glad it all worked out for you.
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