How to rappel with NOT enough rope

How would you tie two very different diameters of ropes together???
👉 Learn and SHOP at www.hownot2.co...
👉 Best EMAILS on Earth: www.hownot2.co...
👉 SUPPORT US and get gear discounts hownot2.com/su...
👉 10% off ROCKY TALKIE by clicking www.hownot2.co...

[@HowNOT2]

World's Best Saturday Email Newsletter - www.hownot2.com/sign-up Get your gear at hownot2.store/

[@watermelonman122]

3:59 , word to the wise for anyone that plans on bringing dyneema pullcord, if at all possible never ever ever throw a bundle of dyneema pullcord down the rappel. That stuff is infamous for turning into the worst knotted, tangled, gordian knot you've ever seen. On our first outing when it was still a fairly new concept, I tossed it down and it did just that. I spent 30min on rappel trying to untangle it to no avail. Keep it with you, or what us canyoneers have found works best, get a small pullcord bag to keep it in. A small chalk bucket, or anything with an opening that can be cinched shut, works very well.

[@spiercevaughn]

I use it on a very regular basis for throwline for treework and understand what you mean. It takes intuition, patience and finesse. Just hope it wasn’t pulled tight while in a big mess of a knot lol. I keep mine stored in a pop up throw cube and it stores well like that and rarely tangles

[@TehBloodyWanka]

figure 8 the dyneema (similar to how you would store 550). Makes tossing it down clean and tangle free.

[@woodyw9470]

@@TehBloodyWanka Daisychain

[@paulm3969]

This video makes me realize how good life is. What a great feeling it is to be up in the mountains.

[@steelonius]

For the middle of ropes you can thread a piece of heavy duty sewing machine thread. I just went over and under a few strands in the sheath in a spiral pattern with a normal sewing needle. Pick any color you like! It takes a little time to install but it lasted me a full season of climbing and then some. Also if you're paying attention you'll feel it too, which can be nice in low light settings.

[@ipodviewer]

Arborist trick coming in: Two different size ropes tied together, use your smaller rope( blue in video) to tie a clove hitch at least 8 in up your bigger rope (Black in video). With the remaining 8in of black tie half hitches with blue rope along every 2 in till you run off the tail. This keeps the rope in line with out bends and moves in the direction of the pull. It greatly lowers your chance of getting caught as its widest point is only slight thicker then the diameter of the black rope. I doesnt get caught in trees and is we have really reefed on it with any issues. I would love to know if there is slippage and if the cord is weaker then the knot. (testing opportunity wink wink) Also thanks for making great content as always and showing faults when they happen its makes the rest of us average humans feel like we still have an idea what we are doing even when we make mistakes.

[@harlanstockman5703]

I always have a spliced eyelet in one end of the dyneema, and use a 3/16 (0.7 oz) quicklink only if needed. I have also just included the dyneema all the way in a bfk. My pull tests occasionally had the dyneema break at 1100 lbs, if it crosses itself. Amsteel can get stuck in small cracks, so i spool the amsteel out of a small bag attached to my chest. Best oprion is to put the spliced eyelet over the rope in the middle of th bfk, where the bfk gets its bulk from the main rope (say two triple overhands).

[@For--nop]

Im curious what kind of strenght you lose when splicing an eyelet into amsteel

[@harlanstockman5703]

@@For--nop none, if done correctly. The quoted strength of amsteel is for breaking between two class 2 bury eye splices.

[@harlanstockman5703]

Knot blocks are tricky if you are using an established quicklink-- sometimes people leave huge links. I always have an extra 3/16" link to put on the webbing if the existing link is huge -- pass the rope through both links. Also try ways to use a biner block even with a tag line.

[@Hypknos]

We use this same concept in arborist settings for retrievable canopy anchors. In some cases using throwline (very thin dynema) or another climbing line for retrieval

[@kylen4900]

Uncoiling the amsteel on rappel is always the crux. I find using a light plastic "line winder" used for spooling kiteboarding lines works perfectly. I also put a fixed eye in the end of my amsteel that I can just run the climbing rope through for a quick bowline.

[@CheapFlashyLoris]

Hey, we were the folks who said hi at the lake on our way up to do the other ridge! Sounds like the South Ridge parties had more fun; we ended up bailing halfway through the second pitch. If our cordellete is still up there, you're welcome to keep it 😅

[@Blck0Knght]

The Zeppelin bend is supposed to be a good non-jamming knot for joining slippery ropes. I'd be fascinated to see it pull tested.

[@spiercevaughn]

Id like to see that too. I love the zeppelin bend- although doubt it would be useful in ropes with suck extreme size differences. I think it’s more for scenarios with a 9mm and a 13mm kind of size differences, not 2.3mm and 10mm I think- but I’m curious!

[@j.a.schlatterer926]

How about the reever bend? Does it also work on differently sized ropes?

[@IweinFuld]

zeppelin is awesome, but it's very easy to shake loose, especially with slippery stuff and size diffs

[@PeregrineBF]

I sent him a bunch of knots 2 years ago, including Zeppelin bends. Video title is "Break Testing Knots - Zeppelin & Figure 8 & Alpine Butterfly & Reever & Bowline & Double Fisherman". I don't think it'd work well for Dyneema, and it would be even worse for a diameter difference this big. You really want to swap how you think about knots when it gets this big, you're no longer joining two ropes but rather joining one rope to pull on a larger diameter object, so a good hitch works better than a bend.

[@TheScottaboy]

For my pull line I use a 5mm accessory cord, so it bites a lot more than the Dyneema, but I've had good success with a flat overhand to join the two, then clove hitching the rappel rope onto the spine of a large carabiner. The flat overhand only gets loaded when you're pulling the rope, not when you're rappelling (the load is taken by the clove hitch on the carabiner).

[@paulgreenwood652]

Two concerns for using this in the mountains. One is that the carabiner in the knot will make it out more likely to get snagged on something (tree root, crack in the rocks or flake sticking out, etc.)pulling it down. The second is that a thin string is much more likely to tangle (and this happens in the video): he mentions flaking it in a bag and I imagine that would help. If you (or anyone) have used this technique regularly, I'd be interested to hear how you avoid these two problems. Thanks!

[@BudgetAdventure]

rope bag for the pull cord solves the 2nd problem. You are correct about the carabiner being a potential snag risk, though. One way to mitigate is to step back from the base of the cliff when pulling so you minimize the carabiner from rubbing against the cliff face. In canyoneering, I never use a knot block, but use a carabiner block secured with a constrictor hitch. Many/most use a clove hitch, but they have been known to slip and the constrictor doesn't. I use a 6mm non-dyneema accessory cord and have never had problems.

[@paulgreenwood652]

Many thanks. I'll be interested to try the karabiner with a constrictor hitch!

[@rudwick2]

A friend sewed some dental floss through the middle of a dark rope to mark the middle. Worked pretty well

[@BurchellAtTheWharf]

1:18 Hey Ryan, wanna mark black rope? Paint on whiteout fer ink pen&paper mistakes I use it on my ropes as a fisherman to mark out five fathom intervals on my ropes, it's water proof, and works atreat

[@Sicnus]

Hope you are better Ryan. Gave me a big ass scare with that one video about your health :( Thanks for the post!

[@jetseverschuren]

If you're already planning to do this with dyneema, why not just splice an eye beforehand?

[@mirandahotspring4019]

You can mark the middle of a black rope with some white thread stitched through it. The rigging system you used is a variation of cord technique rigging that has been used in cave exploration since at least the 1980s. It was used to leave a thin cord at each pitch so a single rope could be used to explore the whole cave. The usual way was to sew a cord into one end of the rope (half a metre or so long) to tie the cord to. At the other end a double fisherman's stopper knot was tied and it was usually rigged through a stitch plate at the anchor. That way the rope could be recovered at the bottom of each abseil and a doubled cord left in its place. This allowed the rope to be replaced from the bottom on the way back to exit the cave.

[@harlanstockman5703]

I have tried that, it worked for years... then one day as my bud was ascending with camp solo2s, an ascender got stuck in the thread, and it took her 5 minutes to free it. Probably a bizarre situation.

[@mirandahotspring4019]

@@harlanstockman5703 OK, at least one European manufacturer I know of (but can't remember which one) marks their ropes like that, but tying them in a way that the ends of the threads are exposed like about 5 - 6mm so they can be easily seen but there are no loops to catch on anything.

[@mirandahotspring4019]

@@harlanstockman5703 Just checked, years ago I wrote the vertical rope training manual for IAGA and included some photos of rope markings, some manufacturers, particularly of canyoning ropes, change the colour of the rope at the halfway mark, but Metolius Monster Marker uses bright pink and orange threads woven into the rope to mark the centre. There was bit of discussion about centre markings when there was an accident where someone rigged their rope doubled through the anchor and started abseiling down. Unfortunately there had been some damage to the rope and to fix it someone had seen it was only a few metres from the end so jut cut it off and shortened the rope. You can guess what happened when the person abseiled from the double rope onto the single longer end...

[@harlanstockman5703]

@@mirandahotspring4019 i just saw a youtube video on the method that just leaves frayed ends exposed. Clever idea, you could even feel them in the dark. Thanks.

[@toreskog]

Not for cyclical loading but I'm using timberhitch and back it up towards the end with a halfhitch, like you do while pulling a log. I just have the climbing rope as the log and usually a throw line to pull with. This works for cambium savers in trees. If I want to use top rope but don't want to leave a rope outside in the UV between sessions, use some bricklayers twine and just pull that with the climbing rope and then the next time I can use the twine to pull up the climbing rope (obviously only on your own private walls/trees and not somewhere out in nature).

[@KarltheKrazyone]

another good one is a nail knot, were I am it's commonly used with 2.5mm braided "VB" cord (polyester Venetian blind cord), it's got a core so it sits round unlike 2mm accessory cord, and it holds well. It's great if you need to pull through small pullies or shear reduction devices, since you can tie right up to the end. with thicker ropes you can melt a hole through and add a pull loop of thin cord as well. Timber hitch and a row of half hitches works great, but the nail knot doesn't rely on constant tension.

[@toreskog]

Nail knot looks pretty, will try it out@@KarltheKrazyone

[@SquareYourFace]

I did nearly the same thing, using 2mm paracord to extend a 50m to 60m, enabling 30m, single-strand rappels. In the mountaineering community, people always seem to bring a second rope or a much thicker tagline. I didn't understand why, and half expected to run into some issue, but I didn't. I also ended up connecting them with interlocking figure 8s, which worked fine. It's worth noting that the blocking knot at the anchor can be separated from the knot connecting the two ropes.

[@spiercevaughn]

I use dyneema throw lines for pulling climbing ropes into trees. I use a clove hitch a foot or two away from the end of the rope, and then follow it with a few half hitches with one or two at the very tip to keep it from snagging on branches. A clove hitch with dyneema (2-3mm) holds well on climbing rope and I have locked off the tail of the clove hitch with a bight over handed around the standing part to keep it from loosening if cyclically loaded at times. For this scenario, my go to would have been the clove hitch, locked off with a slipped over hand around the standing part, and double overhand stopper knot in the climbing rope. The slipped tie off makes it much easier to get undone too 😁

[@dylanwiltz1184]

take a single strand of a bright sheath from an old rope and sew it into your rope at the middle point. a single strand will be enough to stick out visually but will not bind your friction devices. I use this trick while splicing rope to make my markers.

[@rfulop]

I recommend rappelling through both strands of the blocked single-strand rappel. That way you get all the kinks out of the rope as you go down

[@francois-xavierdessureault8039]

but then you need twice as much rope as the length of the rappel, which is the entire issue this technique aims to avoid

[@txmountainman45]

For any future testing videos, I'd love to see how a Simple Simon Under (and maybe double) bend would perform here. My understanding is that it is a more secure option for mixed diameter ropes than the sheet bend.

[@milskidato6574]

A pile hitch has worked great for me. I back it up with a couple of halfs but it works just fine for putting line in a tree,

[@PeregrineBF]

I'd tie a friction hitch with extra wraps (probably an icicle hitch with 8 or 9 wraps) using the small rope, gripping the large rope. Then probably secure the large rope around the small using a double overhand, like half of the double fisherman's bend you had, that'd keep the end from flapping around in the breeze. It'd certainly be interesting to see icicle hitches with different numbers of wraps pull tested.

[@cliffclof]

Thought icicle first, too. But it is meant to tighten around a rigid body.

[@danieleckert3508]

To pull a rope with a thin string you could tie multiple clove hitches with the string around the rope - first one maybe 30 cm / 1ft from the end, one at half that, and one close to the end of the rope. That way you can pull the rope without having to tie a knot in it, so it's less likely to get stuck. Multiple knots to avoid slipping I use this technique when climbing trees - you throw a weight attached to a string over a branch, then pull your rope over the branch using the string, and then use the rope to ascend that tree.

[@alexstarr1589]

I was thinking of that too. Pretty common in tree climbing when setting your climbing rope with a throw line.

[@Mark6E]

A single clove hitch with a permanently tied overhand stopper on the end of your cord is more than adequate and is what I use for tree work, never had it slip on 10mm+ ropes. I use clove for the ring on my throw bags and also works well for joining my throw cord to 4mm cord monkey fist knots, which I use for throwing when in the tree.

[@ColtonBlumhagen]

I watch these videos and I have no desire to rock climb. My palms are sweaty watching them and I'm not even afraid of heights.

[@heathvanaken7954]

Try two clove hitches with the dyneema 4” apart like arborists use with a throw line. Or a clove hitch and half hitch. Works for trees.

[@elliottaustin-chirgwin8067]

I second this as an arborist. This will give you the lowest profile to avoid getting those big knots stuck. I pull ropes through tight branch unions all the time. Use a clove or two about 8 inches down the rope and then a simple series of half hitches to the end. Also tie a simple double fisherman in the end of the dyneema so that it won't be able to slip through the clove.

[@alejandrohuerta988]

Yup, clove hitch onto your climbing line, with about a foot of tail, is the way I learned from professionals.

[@RoastedSquid119]

Pile-half-half-clove hitch it is, super good enough

[@pmv5322]

I use a girth hitch with 3 or 4 half hitches up to the end of the rope works every time

[@mountainmandoug]

An essentially similar method of rappelling with short ropes has been in use by alpinists for years, except it is done without the specialized pull-cord. Instead you connect a bunch of your slings and cordalettes together on the pull side of the rope. I think the tool to import from canyoneering would be the stone-hitch knot block. I am debating about messing with a toggle in the mountains also. As far as tying your tiny dyneema string to your large rope, I think there are several options. I would be interested to see how bad a zepplin bend would be, and also a flemish bend. Possibly a flemish bend with the tail of the skinny string backed up with a double overhand. Others have commented about splicing the dyneema, and I think a spliced loop in the dyneema and then tie your rope through with a figure-8 like you did would be a decent option.

[@mountainmandoug]

Oh, and there is a simpler and safer way to set rope length in this context. Just lower the first person. The whole deal of having them rappel, and then lowering them, is something canyoneers do because the want to rappel off the end of the rope. Climbers don't want to rappel of the end, so you can just tie the first person in, lower until they are at the right spot, rig a knot block or reapschnear, rappel down until you find the other end of the rope, and then tie stuff onto the end until you have enough.

[@leveller4]

Why do canyoneers want to rappel off the ends of their rope?

[@mountainmandoug]

@leveller4 sometimes they end the rappel in flowing water, where being attached to a rope could pull them under. They also want to avoid have rope in moving water that someone could get tangled up in.

[@leveller4]

@@mountainmandoug so basically they already know that the rope is long enough?

[@mountainmandoug]

@leveller4 yes, it's actually that there ropes are longer than they want them to be.

[@christophercraig3907]

half gibbs offset bend, but I also haven't done it with a dyneema pull cord so watching your EDK fail I'm not sure if a half gibbs would have pulled out or not. I also might have used an actual Gibbs there because the pull cord is so small the knot might be too small to block with a half gibbs. (If whatever you look it up on doesn't say, the dyneema would be the double wrapped cord in a half gibbs)

[@ShortGuysBetaWorks]

I've used a half Gibbs with a Petzl Pur Line which is HMPE, but admittedly thicker (6mm). The half Gibbs worked fine and is still small enough to not add a lot of additional risk to getting the rope stuck on the pull.

[@andreas_swissry]

I think to remember that I have learned to use the Fisherman-knot whenever joining two ropes of different diameter/material. But I think that was more ment for rappelling on a single and half rope. Maybe connecting a 5 or 6mm prusik sling to a climbing rope. But definitely not something so thin. So it was interesting to have different knots tested! Thanks Ryan and blessings from Iraq

[@paulgreenwood652]

The Fisherman has a turn of rope going right around the standing part of the rope, so it's very likely to get caught on any edge when being pulled down. A big advantage of an overhead bend or fig-8 bend for joining the two ropes (even when they're the same size) is that one side of the bend is flat and so it can slide over edges without getting caught.

[@chrisbeus911]

From 20 yrs of canyoneering experience it’s EDK all the way. I’ve only seen a couple comments that stated EDK, but I’m not sure they’re explaining it properly? Apologies if they did and I’m missing it. His overhand needed to be duplicated in reverse, joins different diameters wonderfully for those pull ropes. And also, wouldn’t waste time with the belay up top, just join the ropes and boogie down Love the content man! Big fan 😊

[@tonyjewell478]

I often carry a 50 foot length of 4mm cord for just this reason. (I mostly rappel in canyons these days.) Sometimes the beta is wrong or anchors get moved. It weighs about 6oz and has come in handy!

[@minecraftbers]

I have started using the Reever Knot for most of non permanent joining now a days. So maybe give that one a go! It would be interesting how it reacts with such widely different diameter!

[@z1522]

Used such a Reepschnur on the free rappel off the Grand Teton, in 1974. But, I had 6mm perlon, and would use it today over any Dyneema, as it knotted fine, the more important factor by far in this usage. I ran my single 11mm rope thru an SMC ring, then thru the rap ring anchor, then tied it to my ring; the 6mm then tied to my ring, so the ring and knot guaranteed no way it could pull through. I rapped, feeding out my 6mm, and at the bottom, pulled it. The ring slid down the rope fine, bringing the 11mm end with it, perhaps smoother than clipping a full carabiner would have done.

[@WildernessExcursions]

Maybe try connecting the two ropes with just a single figure 8? Also as a canyoner, I would have simply used a carabiner block at the anchor using a clove hitch or stone knot.

[@Matrix7041]

You can mark a black ropes middle with a silver or gold sharpie maybe

[@MooshYT]

Hi HowNot2 if you want to mark your black rope, you can but Silver metallic sharpies etc. Perfect for blacks!!! Hope this helps👍😀

[@carlosmedeiros1677]

I always thread a flavorless dental floss in the mid of the rope. Any colour rope. Pass through any safety/belay/rappel device and is highly visible. In my 42 years climbing it sure helped me on a couple of tired rappels that could cause trouble otherwise. Oh BTW I love the Beal Escaper. Safe (scary but safe) believe me and lighter than a pull rope. Does not work in situations where a pull rope may marginally work (lots of drag) but it is rare.

[@jrpefx]

Hello you can add more wraps on the sheet bend for the thinner rope, 3-4-5-6 or more. Keep up the great stuff.

[@kraftzion]

I think the fishermens would work, just put more wraps on the dyneema. I am a fisherman, we use that knot for tying mono leaders to braid(dyneema) with more wraps of course. We also use back to back uni knots(with more wraps). 4 or 5 wraps aught to do it. I would like to see fishermens vs uni knot. The uniknot is easier to tie. Especially when you get out to 5 wraps or more.

[@anotheryoutuber_]

same feels here, braid is some slippery stuff!

[@brandonproffitt21]

I just spliced an eye to a fiddlestick on 7/64” amsteel and it works wonderfully, and if you need force a munter to the belay loop is quite effective. Also I can second using a bag, just flake it in a produce bag and roll and tie it.

[@mattmarsh573]

Silver sharpie on black rope 👍

[@aksela6912]

I'd try a "racking bend". Basically form a bight in the thick rope, insert the thin rope at the bottom and weave upwards in figures of eight as much as necessary. Finish with a half hitch or two.

[@norbertboros4400]

I've been following you guys for a while and it's really awesome what you're doing with all the testing. I also recommend your channel for my students who are keen to look deeper into things. I like you always play safe and giving good example. Like in this video, always check your rig before unclipping your tether. I have just one question now: any reason for not using a third hand during rappel?

[@josephprice5872]

Shh, he distracted you with something else to judge them by at the start, nevermind the lack of third hand! (Also, it's acknowledged if not fully excused at 9:40)

[@noahbalmer]

It's pretty easy to splice an eye into small amsteel, and for me that's always worked better than a knot.. For tiny stuff like that I have a piece of coat hanger wire on which I sanded the ends round. Tape the end of the wire to the end of the amsteel, use it as a fid to bury a long tail for a simple eye splice. Not a bad idea to put some stitches through it so it can't move around when unloaded. To attach it to a rope, just tie the rope through the spliced eye with whatever loop knot you like, e.g. fig8.

[@Mordwand]

Suppose we are doing this in an overhang. After we get down safely, when we were retrieving the rope, I guess the locking carabiner we used above would at some point have to do a big fall along with our rope. My questions are, 1 - How do you avoid carabiner falling onto you if you were in a tight spot? 2 - Having achieved part 1, should the carabiner be trusted after that big fall onto rocks?

[@johngo6283]

It’s actually not a problem. The carabiner arrives in your hand pretty much the moment the rope falls from above

[@dgiroday1]

I wasn't familiar with the thin dyneema cord. Keep the videos coming! Greetings from Canada!

[@benlim6368]

For the same reasons we use a flat overhand to join ropes, it’s nice to use an overhand on a bight when rigging a reepschnur. For joining ropes of dissimilar diameter I like the Gibbs bend or half gibbs. Although I’ve never tied ropes so wildly different in diameter.

[@guryflow]

Awesome video! and i need your help! I have a 30 mts 9.5 triple homologated and a 30 mts 7.5 mm impermeab6rope. The idea is to carry both on crest climbing using the 9.5 mm as a secure and when we have to rapel 30 mts use both of the ropes, with the 7.5 mm not like a recovery but actually rappel from both. It would be awesome if you test this with a double fisherman and a double eight (this one a use a lot). I prefer in this way because is less like that the rope or the carabiner get jammed in rocks. Love tour channel, hope you are recovering, lots of love for you all ppl working there

[@guryflow]

ps. This plant 2 question. is the knot strong enough? can we rapel with a reverso using 2 different sized ropes?

[@sachinw483]

The 6 9 knot is my favorite for tying two ropes together

[@randydewees7338]

I used some thick bright red thread on my 70 meter static line - I just used a needle and did a few loops and cut them, now there are threads sticking out that are easy enough to see.

[@dereinzigwahreRichi]

St work I'm regularely marking black fabric with white edding. Once it's dryed it has got quite good visibility and stays on the fabric.

[@gregorymock]

I used to work at a place where you would take a leap of faith at the end of a high ropes course. At the end of the day so that we didn't have any dynamic ropes hanging up in the sun we would pull them through the pulley with a 'mouse line's we would attach the mouse line with a clove hitch on the end of the rope with a few half hitches above it. I guess to make it work for this system you could just tie a stopper at the quick links and then your clove and half hitches after that.

[@buckmanriver]

Great job with the new store!

[@mrwildman2607]

Could you do a slack test video on sliding x with limiter knots. When using a cordelette it would make for a extended version of the quad anchor.

[@MLWAM]

I use double or tripple clove hitch knots for treeclimbing when connecting two different ropes :)

[@RogerBays]

How about testing the following: Tie a permanent loop in the dyneema that the dyneema coil can pass through. And for that permanent knot ... tie an overhand then a finger width away tie another overhand knot then a further finger width away tie a third overhand knot. And of course test with 1, 2, and 3 knots to give a graph of strength increase. And if 3 no good try 4. Please note I am suggesting separate overhand knots, each independent in their own right rather than like a double overhand tied as one knot by wrapping round twice. That could work too, but hard to inspect! Hope helps.

[@lizardkeeper100]

I think I would try the double sheet bend and then use the tail of the dyneme to tie two half hitches. In my head it seems strong enough and low profile.

[@JimmySendsSometimes]

I've seen others use a Flemish Bend for joining ropes of different diameters

[@JayCWhiteCloud]

Not sure you were being rhetorical and funny or actually asking about how some of us mark the middle of a rope...I'm old school in many regards (climbing since 1968) but the way I have always marked middle and 1/4s of ropes is with fine nylon colored thread weave stitched at those points in the rope with contrasting bright color thread...Thanks again for your great content...!!!...P.S. if you don't have a bag for a fine line..." angle wing" it or use a nit coil method...

[@skitidet4302]

I was thinking of making interlocking loops by doing a barrel knot in each end of the rope. I see you did the same thing with a double 8. Which is better for the rope? I'm guessing the double 8.

[@KL-wb8cx]

I use oral b glide dental floss to mark my midpoint on dark ropes. I've heard of people passing floss through their rope, but I just wrap mine a bunch of times, and pass the ends under a few of the loops and pull them tight. It works great to see the midpoint, is cheap to replace, and doesn't hang up on better devices.

[@Cruser1068]

I started reading that and thought you were going to say you use Dental floss as your pull rope :)

[@michaelh8854]

noob question but why do you need the extender quick draw thingy attached to her ATC

[@benjaminbordson7502]

Dig it. I do similar to retrieve rope end from trees but have it flaked in a bag and a pre spliced tight eye to clip. Or for throwlines attach it with a clove, girth, or constrictor a few feet up and follow with a couple half hitches to the end of the tail. Arb stuff

[@benjaminbordson7502]

Oh also, for pulling the thin line. A good technique is to tie a munter on the biner so you can easily capture progress. If it slips you can twist the carabiner 1-3 times.

[@christopherblake3190]

Hey I do that with the sling and belay loop! everyone always looks but it doesn't rub through and i dont leave it cinched down all the time so, im chillin!

[@paulmitchell5349]

I rescued some noobs in the English Lake District. They were stuck on a ledge and had no idea how to rappel. I had a 60 meter rope. A 50 meter and it would have been way harder. So consider that something unexpected will happen, because it DOES too often.

[@stefanomorandi7150]

maybe zeppelin bend or figure eight bend with backup fisherman on smaller rope? if i remember right, petzl recommend a figure eight bend on their single rope rappel web infopages. of course, the figure8 of the smaller rope can be clipped directly to thee backup carabiner if one is present

[@blueman9]

I was always taught when you do a sheet bend your smaller rope should not be less than 50% of the size of the larger one.

[@hanelyp1]

I'm an old boy scout who's never heard that rule. How's that work when using the sheet bend for the original purpose, tying a line to the corner of a sheet (sail)? Or is this a rule devised for use with newer, slippery, line materials?

[@blueman9]

@hanelyp1 I think the knot works differently based on the material. Honestly, I've never used a sheet bend on an actual sheet(sail), but my guess is that the way the material folds it grabs the rope better, because of more contact area. But that is solely a guess. With modern rope I have noticed through trial and error that when the rope is ~50% smaller than the bigger rope it tends to slip through under tension. Especially with Dyneema, like in the video. That's some slippery stuff.

[@BlokeOnAMotorbike]

I always use either a common whip or a West Country whip.

[@mikelaw5922]

If your pull cord is small enough, you could try a loop-to-loop connection like fishermen do. Curious on its strength at least.

[@AndreaValsecchiX]

I've always used figure 8 on a bight on both ends and a locking carabiner in between

[@clevelandexplorer2221]

Good point about dyneema: I wasn't thinking about falls on it-not like it would replace my ropes. That's 80kg object at just under 800n. I thought Id share that :s

[@mikeroth9709]

What about the carabiner? After it has fallen 65 meters and banged against the rock, do you discard it? Do you carry a spare "banger" biner just for this purpose? I thought a biner dropped from that kind of height would have some risk of microfractures.

[@Kolkritan]

What about the Gibbs Offset Bend? Down fig 154 (also seen on Andy Kirkpatricks web page but KZbin doesn't allow links in comments anymore...)

[@akokada973]

5:30 is it ok to use soft equipment directly on bolt like that?

[@novadea1643]

I'd be interested in knowing if just passing the thin line back through the loop and locking it off around itself with a double thumb knot (one side of double fisherman's) would be good enough. It'd probably still slip under heavy loads with such a small and slippery cord but should stop cyclic loading being an issue.

[@nithazra]

Thanks for the fascinating content -as always. In regards to how to mark the middle of a black rope; I've seen suggestions that you could sow a marker at the mid-point only through the sheath and would love to see that break-tested!

[@balazsjakabffy2556]

I know nothing about climbing gear but can't you put some colored tape on it?

[@1981stonemonkey]

4:24 To tie two ropes of differing diameters together, I have always used two double fisherman's knots. One each, on one end of each rope, gripping the other rope end. When done correctly, you pull both ropes and the knots slide together and "jam" against each other. Still, 9 vs 2.5mm diameter is a huge difference - I'd have to test it before I trust it. 9:02 I don't trust it.

[@chrishardy6471]

How long is a new virtually unused rope good for? I say as long as it’s stored properly and it’s not dried out it’s cool. Any other opinions?

[@siprus]

You can add extra friction loops in fisherman's knot. At least when it comes to fishing you usually have it with multiple friction loops, not sure why you wouldn't apply the same principle here.

[@andrewstoll4548]

Does the rest of that equipment stay up there??

[@clemytube]

did you rappel down without doing screwing your biner gate? (see 3:36) is this because you see this as unecessary? I only ask because at the start you also didn't do the gate on your biner at the start of the video either. I think if I was climbing with you, I'd insist you do up the gates on your biners. It takes a fraction of a second and offers a huge confidence that you could never accidentally escape the system.

[@Peppymoke]

You can use a Yucatan-, Albright- or Alberto- Knot for this.

[@KK-up3pq]

What about a stacked fisherman’s? That one is less likely to get stuck.

[@ViktorNilsson-v3e]

Double sheet bend but then tying the loose end to the long part would have prevented the slippage perhaps? I would spontaneously not have tried sheet bends because of the very large difference in diameter. I would have done two bowlines, and had them get stuck on their way down? Fisherman's was my second thought.

[@HaraldHofer]

Weave in some white wool strings in the middle for some centimeters. It will wear of, but not very fast.

[@kadmow]

A slipping Dyneema knot (double sheetbend, with a clove hitch on the tail - will only slip under "lotsaload" - for a non-life-critical line ) - which doesn't reach ultimate strength, absorbs a lot of energy in the process, this can be a good feature, especially as it is unlikely for a human to sustainably exert more than 0.1-0.2kN under static conditions (allowing for highly loaded giants here....

[@tomp5050]

What happens to your carabiner? It is falling the whole way down, so it's broken, or did i miss something?

[@DesertRat332]

If those two ladies in the movie "Fall" had done this they could have got down safely from that tower. (lol) 😆

[@DerAndroid478]

obvious ones id like to see would be flemish bend and zeppelin bend, racking bend might be interesting as well.

[@yCherkashin]

5:00 I'd hitch the small rope around an end bend in the big rope, just four consecutive loops to form a friction hitch, and put the small rope through the bend in the fat one first. Like a seaman. EDIT: in tree work I do this sort of thing all the time, use a short rope and retrieve it after rapelling.

[@roxane1237]

A friend of mine rappels with one rope and uses a device to retrieve the rope, looks like a nest of ropes or something. You put the end of your rappel rope in it like a sheath or something. And when you pull several times just like you did at 4:35 then the device comes off and you can retrieve the rope. I don't know how the device is called though or maybe it was homemade with dasy chains. I don't know.

[@ArtML]

Why not just attach pull cord to the binner at the top? Just to extend the pull cord a bit?

[@Tacchi3]

are you planning to ship outside of US in the future?

[@Fabianwew]

Is there a reason you lowered her in the beginning and didn't just set up the thick and thin strands together for a full 60 meter rappel at the anchor?

[@codyroberts4010]

Not really related to the video, but is it true that knots reduce your rope strength by like 40%. Just curious because I've heard that before can't remember where tho...

[@stooczu9359]

How about butterfly knot and overhand. You should also consider how likly knot is to get stuck in a crack.

[@elias16894]

clove hitch it to the blocking carabiner?

[@cutt7837]

I guess i would have tried a double taught line hitch in the blue line around the black rope. I wonder if that would slip like the fishermans knot 🤔