You'd have to know the thread and have your sewing technique down to be able to beat the simple reliability of a water knot in this application. I found that having the knot located below one of my armpits prevented it chaffing and irritating me in any way.

When you're climbing Mt Rainier you want a solid tent. 😉

I've also gone as light as a Bivy Sack, but comfort is comfortable ;-)

I know nothing on glacier travel but its looks like a hazard, why not just alpine butterfly or double fig 8 or bunny-bowline and clip into the belay loop? Cleaner and easier to inspect using less rope.

the chest harness comes into play *after* a fall and you are dangling in a crevasse. You'd pull yourself upright using the rope attached to your climbing harness, then clip your chest harness on so you don't need to expend energy staying that way as you prussik up the rope or await rescue. Having it clipped onto the rope while climbing would be dangerous, because it would make it easier for you get jerked off your feet, and generally make the rope be more in your way.

+Byrce Milton Yes That's what I thought was the intention. I would have thought that using 'kiwi coils' would solve three problems at the same time i.e. 1) Keeping coils for partners crevasse rescue and 2) keeping upright if down a crevasse. 3) Keeps victim upright if knocked unconscious. I can imagine there are very few climbers who would use the chest harness technique, (although I could be wrong) in your part of the world.

mack man There’s a catch about the chest harness. If you are the one to fall, then it’s good to be clipped into it to keep upright, yes. But if someone other falls, having the rope attached on your chest could drag you down torso first, instead of just nicely making you sit. So it would be nice to know the future, but then you wouldn’t need the harness at all. Some people only clip into the chest harness when it’s more likely for them to fall at the moment.

How would you tie in to the middle of the rope with alpine butterfly?

@@rockclimbinghacks9222 You tie the knot in the rope and clip it to your belay loop with a locking carabiner (some people use 2 carabiners).

I love the simple beauty of the Alpine Butterfly as well, but as a rope leader, I also like something that is a little harder for someone behind me to simply unclip from without my notice. It's also one fewer knot to teach new climbers, as the bowline is so broadly useful.

One Step at a Time - check out OSAT.org for more information

The bowline on a bight isn't (quite) as strong and is definitely far less elegant than the alpine butterfly, but it has the advantage of tying into the rope in a manner that is harder to untie\accidentally un-clip from, and teaching the learner a more generically useful knot. The alpine butterfly is another excellent choice of course, provided your fellow climbers know it and how to inspect it. Like you said, the chest harness comes into place once you're dangling in a crevasse to help keep you upright.

Yeah, now that waterproof down is actually a "thing", we'll need to update this! As for mountaineering on a budget, I think that might make a great topic in and of itself! My daughters are growing quickly, so every November I can either go to REI and spend a thousand dollars outfitting a kid for winter fun, or $40 at the right thrift store on the right day... I make a habit of cruising down a few pre-selected aisles in a Goodwill located in a wealthy suburb on a semi-regular basis on my way to work, because I find some amazing items, and can drop off some items for donations all in one shot :-) I've had tremendous experiences buying used gear at great prices on Craigslist. Also, arranging "Gear Grab" buy\sell\trade events for local outdoors enthusiasts can be amazing - My local climbing club does this annually and it's a great way to get people into the mountains.

How could he be the middle man if he tied into the END of one of the ropes?

Freedom of the Hills has been updated, but this was very nearly "state of the FOH" as of 2013. It will be updated again soon though.

OSAT looking forward to it

You need two biners for safely passing over anchor points on fixed lines, for example. In most cases, you're just clipping in with the locker, or maybe using the non-locker as a backup into another system. 2nd biner could be a locker too, but at the cost of $ and weight. Everything's a compromise, right?

The pack is rising in this system, just half the speed of the climber. but the pack isn't going to help assist without some elements of a system not present here.

Those are called the Warrant gloves, by Outdoor Research. Much to my dismay they were discontinued. :(

This system works but it is too old school. There is a reason why every 5 years the UIAA protocols change after new studies on material and the usage on terrain. This method only uses TOO MUCH gear IMO.

this technique just confuses me. You tie in to the end of the rope, so what do you do with teams that are larger than 2 persons? How long is the rope and where is the spare rope for rescues? Ortovox has created a wonderfull playlist about crevasse travel in cooperation with the German mountain guide Organisation, maybe check that out, imo these systems make much more sense and are also way cleaner

We have another video for tying into the middle of a rope - both videos are over ten years old though and were particular to our context of a climbing club. State of the art best practice varies over time and circumstance.

1)I said "uphill" but really I should have said "forward". Scenario: The leader signals for a break, steps a few feet off the boot track, anchors in with his ice axe, sits on his pack, and safely begins to take care of his business during that break, while you safely manage the slack you introduce in the system as you close your distance with him to start your break, using your harness prussik ahead of your coiling rope as you approach. With all climbers behind you doing like-wise, the team can safely assemble together, with multiple anchors and minimal slack between them. When the break is over, you can pay that line back out as he stands up and starts climbing in the same manner. Imagine the scenario where a team is similarly closely grouped on a break in a no-fall zone, and has done nothing to securely manage slack between them, just anchored themselves with an ice axe and tones of unmanged slack: When a climber falls - everyone on the rope could easy follow one by one "pop, pop, pop" off the mountain as all of that slack gets taken up with immense force... 2)If a middle climber has the need to prussik, in this scenario he'll always only need to untie then re-tie either his foot prussik or his harness prussik depending on "which was is up". 3)You can see the harness prussik in action to steady a fallen climber in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYirZJ-ko9FjqNE 4)You can create a z-pulley with just the 3-5 person rope you're using and the gear shown. Always a good idea to have another spare 2-3 person rope in the pack on your end positions, though.

+calholli I was going to say the same thing, leg/fist blocker above chest blocker

Kool idea, but with your stairmaster way you woukd be lifting all the weight with only one leg all off balenced n shit.... would suck , espeacially with pack n gear rigged to your back after a tramatic incident... i may be wrong tho

Prussiks can’t pass each other, so you would be committing all the work to just one leg.

Actually, the idea is that you put the prusiks on the rope before you head out on the glacier.

i know I'm pretty off topic but do anyone know of a good site to stream newly released movies online ?

@Miles Parker Flixportal xD

i think it was a sealskinz socks.

Cut off the tags - The idea is based on mom's old bread bag sock idea we used as kids in the snow. Just add a thin wicking layer between you and the bag and you're in business. Commercial versions of this are called "Vapor Barrier Lined Socks" (VBL socks) and they're available (if you look) from a few manufacturers. Or from your local grocery store: sectionhiker.com/vapor-barrier-socks-using-reynolds-oven-bags/

Personally, my favorite is locking biner into an alpine butterfly knot. Stronger, simpler, prettier. But as a rope lead with less experienced climbers, I also like to know that I'm more slightly more likely to notice that guy untying himself unexpectedly than if all he had to do was unclip a biner... Sad to say, but I know a guy who first found out he'd lost his friend when he belatedly noticed that he was dragging a slack line in a white out on Liberty Cap several years ago...

Usually rescue prusiks are 8mm and then personal ones are 7mm, however I just use 8 for everything it makes it easier. Also when using prusiks on a single rope you want to use a 3 wrap prusik and on two ropes you only need 2 wraps. I hope this helps :D

Black Diamond "Alpine Bod"