Author Topic: Climbing Gear - just getting started (Read 4535 times)

TexasRedNeck · « **on:** June 01, 2015, 10:26:08 AM »

Well, I decided that I needed to learn to ascend and rappel. For personal enjoyment and for climbing and felling trees, antenna towers, etc.

So I ordered a harness, ascenders, ropes, and stuff today. I will share my learning experiences here. I hope that its not updated from a hospital bed, or worse, but it will be what it will be.

Stay tuned.

BobbyB · « **Reply #1 on:** June 01, 2015, 10:57:09 AM »

Quote from: TexasRedNeck on June 01, 2015, 10:26:08 AM

Well, I decided that I needed to learn to ascend and rappel. For personal enjoyment and for climbing and felling trees, antenna towers, etc.

So I ordered a harness, ascenders, ropes, and stuff today. I will share my learning experiences here. I hope that its not updated from a hospital bed, or worse, but it will be what it will be.

Stay tuned.

Spend the time getting the knots down, and I mean really LEARN them. Spend a little bit extra time getting the harness adjusted. Keep your ropes clean,visually and physically check the entire length of rope, store them properly and maintain them so they don't fail when you really don't want them to.

If you can have a climbing buddy.

TexasRedNeck · « **Reply #2 on:** June 01, 2015, 11:01:30 AM »

1/2 inch 10,500lb test static rope

Here is the gear so far. I plan to learn very close to the ground before heading up.

Any suggestions or tips are appreciated.

TexasRedNeck · « **Reply #3 on:** June 01, 2015, 11:02:28 AM »

Thanks Bobby. My wife will be my ground crew and 911 alert system...

I won't climb with no one else around

The craziest thing I heard was that people have rappelled of the end of their rope by not knowing if the rope was all the way to the ground...

Flyin6 · « **Reply #4 on:** June 01, 2015, 11:29:16 AM »

As a teen I was a technical rock climber. Could lead 5.8 several pitch climbs and follow a decent 5.10
Caveat: I am certainly no expert, only a novice and there have been a lot of years since I was crawling up a multi-pitch wall.

Back then we used 11mm ropes. Later I climbed in Europe, summer technical rock stuff again using 11mm and then some 9mm double line

Still later I was supporting a mountain team in one of the Special Forces groups and they were using and gave me a bunch of the 11mm.

The rest of the Army uses some crappy braided green nylon stuff. The real climbers, both SF and Seals all use the braided, purlon, ropes. Back then we used the braided stuff to deliver rucks and things like that via a high hover, then cut the ropes and leave. Having said that the Army's Air Assault school uses the crappy three strand green nylon junk. But it worked and I was once dangling from it about 1,500 feet above the ground, hanging below a Huey who's pilot was flying us around Ft. Bragg.
I have fallen on it, and my brother took a screamer of a lead fall in the swangunks one day that I held, all on that 11mm
Climbing rope has stretch, a bunch of it, used to be as much as something like 60%!

Caving rope on the other hand, which looks like climbing rope has little to no stretch. In caving you don't want to fall very far, I guess.

If I was just going to rappel and ascent using the ascenders like you showed, I'd stick with caving type rope

BobbyB · « **Reply #5 on:** June 01, 2015, 11:40:46 AM »

Quote from: TexasRedNeck on June 01, 2015, 11:02:28 AM

Thanks Bobby. My wife will be my ground crew and 911 alert system...

I won't climb with no one else around

The craziest thing I heard was that people have rappelled of the end of their rope by not knowing if the rope was all the way to the ground...

People do dumb things on ropes. If you have people in your area that already climb, see if you can get with them and learn the ropes (pun not intended). Prepare your legs for a workout, use them not your arms. I wish there was places around here I could get back into it.

I have to find my notebooks of info on climbing and etc I have somewhere. I don't wanna give out bad advice.

TexasRedNeck · « **Reply #6 on:** June 01, 2015, 12:01:02 PM »

Thanks guys, Don, I did get static rope, no stretch. I believe 12mm. Nice rope and not cheap by any means.

Bobby, the setup I'm working with is a 2:1 so I should be ok. I may get a foot strap and tie a prusik to help on longer climbs. I won't be off the ground very far at first.

I also need to get my rope manual out and re-learn some knots and rope termination.

BobbyB · « **Reply #7 on:** June 01, 2015, 01:56:22 PM »

Quote from: TexasRedNeck on June 01, 2015, 12:01:02 PM

Bobby, the setup I'm working with is a 2:1 so I should be ok. I may get a foot strap and tie a prusik to help on longer climbs. I won't be off the ground very far at first.

I also need to get my rope manual out and re-learn some knots and rope termination.

I meant it as, most people when they start climbing use their arms more to hoist themselves up the face of the obstacle. That leads to fatigued arms, they don't think about using their legs, which have larger muscles and won't tire as easily once you get them used to climbing and bracing yourself.

TexasRedNeck · « **Reply #8 on:** June 01, 2015, 02:01:50 PM »

Ah. Roger. Understood. I will work on figuring out a foot strap to add to the ascender.

Atkinsmatt · « **Reply #9 on:** June 01, 2015, 03:16:26 PM »

https://fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-97-61.pdf

This is a link the army mountaineering manual. Some good chapters there for another reference. Like Bobby said use your legs. An instructor I had once at Sapper school told us arms are for balance and legs are for climbing. Good footgear is important. The harder the sole=less traction on the climb.

TexasRedNeck · « **Reply #10 on:** June 01, 2015, 03:27:04 PM »

Thanks Matt. First few orders of business are:

Cleaning and inspecting a steep pitched metal roof
Cell phone booster antenna at the top of a 60 ft pine ( i get zero cell service but its only because of the thick woods)
HAM antenna
Some tree take downs next to the shop

If I survive those then I will look for some rappelling locations.
Eye bolts through the top of two trees from which to hang my girls swing. They want a really big swing with a long arc

Bob Smith · « **Reply #11 on:** June 01, 2015, 11:59:04 PM »

When you start on the trees, be sure and have a climbing strap with wire rope in the center it. Chain saws like to cut into rope or straps no matter where, or how hard to get to.

Atkinsmatt · « **Reply #12 on:** June 02, 2015, 02:47:56 PM »

Might also want to get a rescue 8 instead of the regular figure 8. The wings on it allow you to take a wrap and work hands free or provide additional braking with a heavy load. Like doing a buddy/casualty repel for instance.

TexasRedNeck · « **Reply #13 on:** June 02, 2015, 04:16:03 PM »

Thanks Matt. I ordered one after I ordered the regular 8. I like the safety factor of the rope not being able to slide up and make a hitch not, effective stranding you on the rope.

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BobbyB · « **Reply #14 on:** June 02, 2015, 05:13:04 PM »

Quote from: Atkinsmatt on June 02, 2015, 02:47:56 PM

Might also want to get a rescue 8 instead of the regular figure 8. The wings on it allow you to take a wrap and work hands free or provide additional braking with a heavy load. Like doing a buddy/casualty repel for instance.

Yea those make it A LOT easier... slack..tension.....slack...slack...slack.... TENSION!!!

Atkinsmatt · « **Reply #15 on:** June 02, 2015, 06:41:00 PM »

The all caps part is exactly how it happens.

JR · « **Reply #16 on:** June 05, 2015, 05:20:57 PM »

I need to update my stuff. Most is older and so much has improved. Just scored 210ft of 10mm but I need a new harness and ascenders. Maybe a rescue 8 too, mine is standard.

TexasRedNeck · « **Reply #17 on:** June 05, 2015, 06:46:38 PM »

Can't wait to get home. Bunch of boxes got delivered this week. I'll get to try it out next weekend.

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husker77c · « **Reply #18 on:** July 17, 2015, 02:05:04 PM »

http://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-8th-Edition/dp/1594851387

That book helped me a bunch back when we used to rappel off of anything we could find. Which being in NE wasn't much. We ended up hanging off of grain elevators and the occasional "steep" cliff by a river.

That book has all the knots you need and has some really great stuff on glacier travel, mountain climbing etc. Not all applicable to your situation but good reading and valuable knowledge for mountain traveling.

Make sure you protect your rope from abrasion and cutting. That's a bad lesson to learn the hard way. Ask me how I know.

TexasRedNeck · « **Reply #19 on:** July 18, 2015, 08:49:25 PM »

Well a bit of an update. I needed to get on the 12/12 pitch metal roof of my weekend place to clean out the valleys from leaves and debris. Over the peak and tied off to a tree (rope around the tree with a figure 8 on a bight and a carabiner to the climbing rope. Tried one way with a single rope technique and an ascender and second carabiner to give me some 2:1 leverage to pull myself up. Not bad. The second time I tried the 2 rope method with the petzel zig zag and I really liked the way the zig zag allowed easy descent as I moved around.

I need to get another rope so I can use the double rope technique up in the tree. Throw the bag over the tree limb and hoist up a single rope with a pulley attached that has the climbing rope already run through it so I have low friction for the double rope technique and if I get in trouble the ground crew can lower me down by the rope with the pulley via a belay system.