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[Tucker]

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[Reedus]

Sounds right to me. When I bought my Blue Water canyon rope, i didn't soak it it at all, but put it straight to use. They have some sort of wax on them when they are brand new tha makes them fast as hell. Kinda hard to control the descent until that wax wears off.

Reedus

[Scott Card]

I've never done that. What kind of rope? The only reason I can think of for doing that is to attempt to get the wax/lubricant the manufacture used in the weaving process off the rope so it is less slick on the initial few raps. Seems like you would need a little rope wash soap though. After rapping on a new rope a few times, and pulling it and letting it drop in to the dirt, the wax is gone anyway. Beats me :ne_nau:

[Tucker]

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[Scott Card]

Its an Edelweiss Canyon Rope 10mm. I did do it with a different rope I had and didn't really notice any difference in the feel of it after it dried.

I can't tell you what to use to get the waxy stuff off but it seems to me plain water won't do much. If speed is a concern, add friction or chuck your rope in the dirt. Some may gasp at this idea but holy cow, its going to get dirty in this business. I remember doing Englestead on two brand spankin' new 8mm ropes. I used my Piranha and simply added one friction point and was fine. Some used a figure 8 and we had to slow them down a bit with a fireman belay. After six of us went on the rope, it was considerably slower the next time we used it. It may have been from the rope falling into the water and then running through the sand as we bagged it but it was fine after that. Knowing how to add friction is the key. :nod:

[utidcapaco]

No wonder mine was so fast! It's also an Edelweiss 10mm Canyon rope.

So, what are some tricks to add friction? I remember on my first-ever big rap (from Mystery Canyon into the Zion Narrows), my guide put an extra wrap around my 8, or something like that, but I don't recall exactly what. Forgive the newbie question, but other than rapping double strand, what should one do? Any tips are welcome. Thanks!

:ne_nau:

[rockgremlin]

Try clipping your brake strand into a carabiner attached to the leg loop of your harness. If you need even more friction, do the above, and then run it through another carabiner attached to your belay loop. This configuration is called a "Z loop."

I hope that made sense.

[Scott Card]

No wonder mine was so fast! It's also an Edelweiss 10mm Canyon rope.

So, what are some tricks to add friction? I remember on my first-ever big rap (from Mystery Canyon into the Zion Narrows), my guide put an extra wrap around my 8, or something like that, but I don't recall exactly what. Forgive the newbie question, but other than rapping double strand, what should one do? Any tips are welcome. Thanks!

:ne_nau:

I am not the expert by any means although I have done this stuff for a little while now. I hope others with more experience and training will pipe up. Easiest way to add friction is to get a different device to add friction. In other words, ditch the figure 8 and purchase a Piranha or Black Diamond ATC-xp. Then read and follow the diagrams and test it in a safe environment. Better yet, go with folks that know what they are doing and be humble enough to ask questions and get some help. I love my Piranha for long single rope raps because there are several ways to add friction even mid rappel. I love the XP for double rope raps cause the narrow side is a ton of friction for long raps (even too much sometimes.) There are other tricks like the biner in the leg loop and others but I would suggest a new device and more importantly, some training. There is also no substitute for experience. Knowing how your body weight works with gravity versus the diameter of the rope and your rap device is key to sliding gently down the rope. How much friction for an 8 mm, 9 mm etc with a single strand vs. double, with an ATC vs. Piranha etc. on a 50 ft rap, 100 ft rap, 300 ft rap all comes with experience. And trust me, there is a thing as too much friction. I'll tell ya the BD-XP on the slow side with two 8mm ropes was too much friction on the last rap of Heaps for me. Single strand next time. Hope this helps a little.

[Scott Card]

Try clipping your brake strand into a carabiner attached to the leg loop of your harness. If you need even more friction, do the above, and then run it through another carabiner attached to your belay loop. This configuration is called a "Z loop."

I hope that made sense.

That Z loop rig is a good one and works pretty well but practice on short stuff first to get comfortable with it before you do it on a big rap.

[Tucker]

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[Iceaxe]

Word of warning: New ropes are often really fast to rappel on until they are broken in. Soaking in water does not cure/eliminate that factor.

Also the ropes feel, known as "hand" in the industry, will improve greatly after being used a few times. This is one of the cures of the rope industry in that a rope that feels good in the store does not make a great rope once broken in.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programing.

:popcorn: