Ultra Minimalist Rope Rescue Rigging: Using Only Prusiks & Carabiners

[@Caseylessard228]

Great video! From a small department without a large budget this information is golden. Thanks brother!

[@Propeller_Head]

Glad to help, thanks

[@naifsaeed6517]

I like your skill sets and abilities to overcome some of the common challenges with rope rescue operations. Keep em coming brother 👍🏻👍🏻

[@Propeller_Head]

I appreciate that, thanks!

[@brainycheddar]

While I agree that a technical rescue team should bring the right tools for the job, this setup is the perfect for self-rescue within the scope of recreational climbing.

[@giovalbarracin1]

hi, i realy love when people have the hability to do that, especially becacuse not every time we have special equipment, great technic. i have a little recomendation: when use the super mounter hitch is very important to check the rope never cross over the gate of carabiner, many years befor i had a trouble when the rope go out off the caraviner. is clear, this time i was using a single mounter hitch, and is more difficult that ocure with super mounter, but is is beter take care.

[@Propeller_Head]

You are right, definitely something to consider

[@frankrogier9346]

Great video! Regardless of financial ability to "get stuff" the basic understanding of how systems work should always be taught. It's like that scene in Top Gun where they talk about being reliant on missiles because Dog Fighting skills were lost. K.I.S.S. Keep it simply safely. Stay safe brothers.

[@awesometopics1988]

Wow I see how difficult this is to remember even when u train everyday, so for me this is just overwhelming..but im sapping up a ton of excellent, important information..thanks for ur service all of u ..

[@Propeller_Head]

Sure, any time!

[@sparetime859]

That was one of my main question I know the best way is with the best available technology that being said not everyone has that and I was wondering about the using older style of rigging and if it was still a option to do it like that I know NFPA has changed some things since i last learned how to do this stuff 20 years ago planning on retaking my training at some point to get up to speed you’re videos are very informative appreciate your work

[@Propeller_Head]

Thanks. In terms of what you can & can’t do as far as NFPA goes, it’s all open to interpretation & all those decisions are at the discretion of the AHJ. NFPA 1983 sets equipment performance requirements for manufacturers if they want to label their equipment to those NFPA standards. And fire departments can choose to procure/use NFPA labeled gear or not to. We use a mix of various gear, some not tested or labeled to meet any standard at all & others meeting any one or combination of ANSI/ASSP, NFPA, ASTM, or other CE performance specifications. As far as techniques go, NFPA does not provide any standards on how to skin the cat. The 1006 & 1670 standards are just a series of job performance requirements that state what an individual & an organization should be able to do safely at a given level of skill/expertise/capability. This is a misconception & grossly misunderstood by rescue professionals both within the fire service & elsewhere, especially among mountain rescue teams… The ASTM standards for rope rescuers are almost identical to the NFPA 1006 standards.

[@btyler1988]

Great stuff!

[@Propeller_Head]

Thanks!

[@glennreynolds962]

When gear fails or is not available it is good to know how to improvise or do without

[@perryfire3006]

Rollclips, tiblocs, and prusiks. Mirrored 3:1"s for the win. Minimal, inexpensive, and Ultra-light. I know you were trying to make a point that we shouldn't ignore modern tech but a "7:1" with all carabiners? Come on man. 😀 I'm kidding but in all seriousness not every dept. can afford a couple Clutches for each truck. Best to know old school techniques too that work well, not trying to use carabiners as pulleys.

[@Propeller_Head]

Yep... After doing the friction loss math, a 7:1 carabiner stack gives you about a 1.98:1 PMA, while a 3:1 yields about 1.75 PMA. A 3:1cd gives you disadvantage at about 0.9:1 PMA....... I guess you could go complex & rig a Double Mariners 7:1, giving you 2.88:1. Bottom line is if you're going to use carabiners, any more than 3x biners then you aren't gaining much advantage at all.

[@perryfire3006]

@@Propeller_Head I would argue none of those configurations are worth it. You would be better off finding any pulley, grab a snatch block off a tow truck haha, and create a change of direction at the anchor. Then grab all of those cops and by-standers standing around and create a large haul team. Counterbalance for the win if possible. I know the math says otherwise but you are basically doing a one to one at best when you use those configurations you demonstrated. Might as well make it simple and easier to operate.

[@gantz4u]

@@perryfire3006 Alright...I got a story. One time Im up in the mountains of colorado and a car flies past me on a winding road up this mountain at high speed. Next thing I know hes air born and doing barrel rolls. I pull the car over like wtf after his car disappeared off the edge in the dark. I look down and the car is in the middle of a white water ice water river upside down and I hear screaming. theres a man thats mounted the upside down cars. undercarriage and hes riding it down stream. Car slams into a rock and jams to a stop. I look in the back seat and its too far away. But It looks like a woman is floating around with her head submerged. At this point theres cars stopped on this 2 lane with flashers on so everyone is joining from traffic to wtf at this. I turn to anyone in this crowd and ask does any1 have a rope? they all look at me like I just landed off the moon. Nobody has rope. Im left standing there studying what is in this back seat. The more I look the more I determine that its just clothes. We wait 2 hrs standing there for a special rescue to show up and they use every doo dad to shoot a football gun line across the river to guide a raft back and forth across the river and a securing line to keep the raft from going down stream. They send rescue on the raft while every able body in the crowd forms 2 teams. 1 on the anchor rope and the other to give slack for the shore to shore line. They pull out on the football gun line get next to the car then the shore to shore line pins the boat to the side of the car while they grab our dude and shore to shore pulls the boat back in with our dude aboard. I have no idea what he was thinking the 2 hours we just stared at him as he seemed Korean or something so even more unsure of what is happening here. But you could tell he was thinking about making the swim and my voice was angled and loud enough to communicate he needed to stay put and he responded in understanding..First thing I ask is was he alone??..He was. Point is I now carry 200 ft of rope and a single carabiner on me anytime im off on an adventure and like to know anything I can do with it. because thats what I got and willing to carry. Turns out you can do alot with a swedish seat a prussik and a single carabiner. 200ft of rope is absolute minimalism and better than nothing. Ive white watered using my feet as a rudder steering rivers empty handed but not in ice cold water and wanted the safety line to make sure I didnt immediately choke and stiff up in the water as much as there was no point in trying to get out there and get whoever was in the back seats airway out of water without a safety line. To anchor me to the shore and free my hands. Just a bad idea. No one had rope. and the crowd was less about that life.

[@perryfire3006]

@@gantz4u Interesting story but my point was that there are massive losses of efficiency using a carabiner as a pulley due to the friction involved. When he was creating the 7:1 by adding more and more carabiners I was just shaking my head because at some point the friction will overcome any mechanical advantage. I'm surprised he was able to achieve a weak two to one to be honest. Good for you in being prepared but highly consider a few more carabiners and at least two pulleys. Makes a huge difference.

[@gantz4u]

@@perryfire3006 ehh, How often is 200 ft of rope actually going to come into play? Ask 200 ppl if they have 200 ft of rope. No one has it. Thats like an Individual first aid kit. It would be alot better to bring an ambulance and the ambulance is rushing them to a hospital..Where they star flite them to a specialty hospital. The special rescue was pretty much a ambulance fully geared with all kinds of doo dads for special rescue situations. Youre planning a hike to the bottom of the grand canyon I doubt alot of people bring much gear. In fact theres a whole sector that does ultra lite. Im actually more geared up with the rope than 99% PLUS the carabiner. Now argue against tampons as bullet dressings. Some times. Some places. the Only block youre getting is the 1 you carve out of drift wood. Circa the sailor (2021). Your question is why be poor? Why not become highly specialized in a single skill and put $1600 into magic friction devices? Because no one is expecting some guy to start doing barrel rolls when they set out that day. I was trying to get buffet. On my merry way. Buffet closed long before I got there hanging out with this dude for 5 hrs. I was actually just in the store. that was founded to offer the unobtainable gear to climbers so they can have things. It looked like a bunch of expensive stuff you dont need and just would be nice to have so bought nothing and left. Also the stuff they had looked better and cheaper getting it online. mans been climbing things long before the gear shop opened up. a rope and a carabiner isnt even free solo. can we call it poor people gear? Because I found this one carabiner on the ground. NEXT STORY: I hear screaming and my gf. is down a ravine in flood water. About to get sucked under into submerged brush. underneath a downed tree hanging on. No gear. I just said woomp. And jumped down there. Faster Cheaper more efficient prioritized over my knee caps. Theres this guy standing there wondering what to do. I magically materialize behind him like an angel(cuz jumping off banks). and say grab my arm. reach out there and grab her. We form a human rope and get her out. she was like "I wasnt even in trouble" pff not from my view you werent. thanked that guy profusely. I owe that guy. What a bro.