Rappelling, by Bob Gaines (A Falcon Guide)

[townsend]

This book was published in the latter part of 2013 in the Falcon Guide series. The subtitle is Rope Descending and Ascending Skills for Climbing, Caving, Canyoneering and Rigging, and the book consists of 172 pages. The older treatment of this topic (also a Falcon Guide) was Craig Luebben's How to Rappel! (2000, 71pp). (RIP: Luebben died from a climbing accident on 8/9/2009).

Nine chapters cover the following topics: Equipment, Rappel Anchors, Knots, Rappelling Methods and Devices, Rappelling Safely, Rappelling Methods for Climbing, Single Rope Rappel Devices for Fixed Lines, Canyoneering Techniques, and Rope Ascending Techniques respectively.

This book is well written and beautifully illustrated, it was a pleasure to read. The photos of anchors, knots, rappel devices. rigging, etc are among the best I have seen: almost always close-up, full color photos that clearly illustrate the technique or equipment under discussion.

While we may quibble with various details, the one most obvious error is on p. 82, regarding the discussion of "stopper knot", where the text states "It is essentially half of a double fishermen's knot tied on one strand of rope," but the photograph shows clearly half of a triple fishermen's knot. I mentioned this discrepancy to the author in an e-mail, and he willingly acknowledged that this was an error that slipped through the proofreading. It should, at any rate, not detract from the overall solid presentation and discussion of an important topic.

Of course, the author is a well-known rock climber who is Director of Vertical Adventures Rock Climbing School (Joshua Tree National Park). Accordingly, the discussion of Canyoneering Techniques (Chapter 8) is short (pp. 147-53). Gaines is well aware of the summary nature of this chapter, stating that "many sophisticated rappelling techniques have been developed specifically for canyoneering, including advanced rope retrieval methods" (p. 147). There are nice color photos of the Petzl Pirana and Sterling ATS in various friction settings.

N.B. I have never met Bob Gaines personally (and have only e-mailed him once in my life--mentioned above). I do not work in the publishing industry, much less for the publisher Globe Pequot Press. I do live in Texas and enjoy canyoneering in the southwestern U.S. and learning from others on canyoneering forums.

[Taylor]

Cool. Thanks for letting us know about this.

[BlakeC]

sweet, I have the former book "How to Rappel" mentioned and it was a bit disappointing in regards to canyoneering... Thanks for the update!!

[townsend]

sweet, I have the former book "How to Rappel" mentioned and it was a bit disappointing in regards to canyoneering... Thanks for the update!!

Welcome. Seriously, the black and white photos of Luebben's book left me scratching my head sometimes - - - things just weren't that clear. The close-up, full color photos in Gaines book are a huge improvement. Also, the paper stock of Gaines book is (what I call?) semi-gloss, a much nicer paper stock than the Luebben book.