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Thread: How to rappel from 300 feet

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    Content Provider Emeritus ratagonia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by hank moon View Post
    To comfortably do a long rappel, variable friction is needed. Less at the top, add more as you go down. You can simulate a long rap on a short one by (for example) suspending a water bladder on the end of the rope and letting it drain as you descend.

    To answer your question above, you generally want more friction at the bottom of a 300' (vs. a 100') rappel because longer raps take more time and so the brake hand(s) are more fatigued, nearing the end.
    Practice practice practice... but how do you practice the conditions of a 300' rappel?

    (this method required a 'ground person' in addition to the rappeller)

    Take your 300' rope and set up a rappel, of moderate length (say 60'). Then suspend the 'rope on the ground' (say, 240') in a bag on the end of the rope, so it is hanging off the ground and weighting the rope. Even BETTER, have half the remaining rope (120') in one bag and the other half in another (yes, I like to make things complicated), both suspended on the end of the rope.

    Phase 1: Rappeller start your rappel. Rappel smoothly the first 1/3 of the rappel (say 20')... the point here is to figure out the friction setting that will work well for the first segment of the rappel - and it might take several tries to figure it out. Perhaps rappelling to the ground until the correct setting is found. For my 190 lbs plus pack, a Pirana on one horn seems to work for a Canyonero 9.2 rope and the Canyon Fire 8.3mm rope.

    Phase 2: Rappeller starts rappel with optimal setting for starting the rappel, and raps 20'. Ground person then removes half the suspended weight, and the rappeller makes an adjustment to compensate for the reduced rope-weight. I go with clipping into a large carabiner on my left leg loop (I am right handed), so the rope then crosses my lap. With the rope this way, I can swivel my hips to control the friction - at first, I usually swivel right for less friction, but as it runs smoothly I work my way back to normal sitting position. - for the next third...

    Phase 3: For the last part of the rappel, all the 'suspended rope-weight' is dropped to the ground, and the rappeller makes an adjustment for the final part of the rappel. On my Pirana, I clip a thin carabiner into the big eye of the Pirana and clip the rope from the left leg loop into it, making a z-rig. This tends to be very smooth for the last bit.

    In the actual situation, the transition between phases will not be that uniform, of course. But it is good to have these two transitions, these two tools available AND, it is important to practice MAKING THE MOVES under combat conditions, as they are not as easy as it sounds.

    Is this deliberate and methodical? You bet. Kinda OCD? Yessir! Have I actually done this as a training... well... over the course of many years, all these actions and many others were executed by my friends and I - and this is a distillation of the parts of that extended process that actually worked. So if you want to be well-prepared for this event - try to do something somewhat related to what I suggest.

    Or you can just wing it...

    Tom

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