This is nerve wracking for me to watch. Your calm demeanor and professional handling has amazed me sir bravo

I do rope access in Japan. You are the only channel that teach us right action of single rope technic. I'd love to see more advertisement. It worths a lot👍

@DerekBristol

Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much!

Thanks for posting this. My project caves here in Idaho now have rebelays. So many cavers in my region have practiced crossing them but have never actually used them underground. Your videos have been an excellent way for them to review prior to going underground.

@DerekBristol

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Jeff. Glad someone is finding the videos useful.

@geopietro

2 жыл бұрын

@@DerekBristol Derek, there's a lot of us who find your videos very instructional. Thank you!

Totally Right On, thank you Derek

Thank you

Thank you so much for creating these videos. Our family has recently got started with vertical caving and your various videos are the absolute best resource available anywhere, second only to personal instruction from experienced cavers (which we are incredibly fortunate to also have!).

Thank you for your videos. I recently went on my first trip in the Yorkshire dales and was able to get along just fine with the information you've provided

Awesome videos sir!

realy nice and informative video-s, you show same techniques most of us in europe use since i use breaking carabiner with stop desender, it stays on previous rope untill i thread in desender to next part of the rope....and since im too lazy to pull my self to the anchor to disconnect short cowtail, i just put hand asender above desender and stand in footloop, plus that way i get that aditional point connected to the system....ye its slower, but still, it works for me

Thank you. I am just beginning my journey in to world

Would you consider doing a video how to set up/rig rebelays? Why we do them, positioning etc?

Great videos as usually Derek. What would you say the inconvence is of using a locking carabiner in the short tail?

@DerekBristol

4 жыл бұрын

The primary use of a short cowstail is to clip rebelay anchors temporarily when crossing them. Locking and unlocking this biner is not necessary when doing these maneuvers because you always have multiple points of contact. Lockers are a little more expensive and a little heavier, but the biggest issue is that the auto-lockers will frustrate you getting them open and closed, and screw-locks sometimes don't stay unlocked, which is also frustrating.

Hi, I just wonder why You first move chest ascender instead of hand ascender? Moving first hand ascender will be a mistake?

@DerekBristol

Жыл бұрын

It’s not an absolute rule but it’s better to move the chest ascender most of the time. The rope above the rebelay is not tensioned and if you move the foot loop ascender first then it is possible to tension both ascenders simultaneously and get stuck. When you move the chest ascender first it moves the tension from below to above the rebelay anchor. The only exception would be if the rebelay loop is simply too short and the two ropes are not horizontally offset and there’s not much stretch in the rope.

This is a great video and like all your videos very helpful for someone like me learning SRT. But I'd like to see how to pass a rebelay when hanging away from the wall so you can't use the wall to balance. This is a typical scenario in the caves in my area (Yorkshire Dales, UK). i.e. more like the scenario in your deviation passing video.

@DerekBristol

5 жыл бұрын

Eventually I plan to make an updated version of this video that will include more difficult scenarios. Free-hanging rebelays (like you describe) are actually not that common in most areas, but not unheard of. The most difficult move is removing the cowstail when crossing on descent. You can stand in the loop the rope makes to stand up and remove the cowstail, or if it's the wrong length then you may need to use your footloop.

@GeorgeConey

5 жыл бұрын

@@DerekBristol That's great, thanks Derek. I'll be really interested to see the updated video. I've found your videos incredibly useful. Particularly this one which I watch as a reminder before every trip at the moment! So far most of the rebelays I've been exposed to have had some kind of ledge below them (no doubt rigged that way to make it easier) but I have been told this is not always the case.

Have you done a video of what to do when you have a rebelay that is large and puts the rope at a horizontal angle?

Maybe a stupid question, but what do you do with your upper foot loop ascender while rappelling? I don’t see it on your long cow’s tail when clipping into the loop.

I'm wondering about "use footloop to remove short cowstail" in step 4. I'm guessing that means attaching the ascender with footloops to the upper rope and then standing in them to unweight the short cowstail. Normally that ascender is also attached to the long cowstail, but in this case that's already clipped around the upper rope. Keeping the ascender tethered (usually via long cowstail) seems critical, and I also saw the comment about never wanting to take a fall on an ascender.

@DerekBristol

3 жыл бұрын

There are personal differences for how cavers use their long cowstail, footloop ascender and footloop. I have carabiners on both the footloop and long cowstail. The following is for crossing a rebelay on descent (generally considered the harder way to cross a rebelay).... whether you have a footloop permanently attached to the footloop ascender, or just on a carabiner, it can be clipped to the rope below the knot (if using the ascender) or directly into the anchor (if using a carabiner) and then you can step in the footloop in order to unweight and remove the short cowstail. Most cavers prefer to step into the loop of rope or a dedicated footloop that is part of the rebelay, but these require it be rigged in a way that makes this possible.

@gmancolo

3 жыл бұрын

@@DerekBristol Thanks. Below or into the anchor should work as well. I was also concerned about the ascender being untethered (usually to the long cowstail, but which is now around the upper rope), in case of accidental dropping.

@DerekBristol

3 жыл бұрын

@@gmancolo A good concern. I sometimes unclip my footloop ascender from the cowstail, but there is a risk of dropping it. I've done this once, but fortunately it landed on a ledge by my feet rather than down the fissure. Some cavers use a 3rd dedicated tether with the footloop ascender and attach it with a maillon. That way they still have both cowstails available for crossing rebelays or crossing anchors on traverses.

what is the reason for using the small carabine on the station ?

@DerekBristol

5 жыл бұрын

It's common practice to use a 7-8 mm maillon rapide (aka quick link or screw link) to connect the rope to the bolt hanger. Most bolt hangers aren't designed for direct connection to a rope and most carabiners are aluminum so they don't weather well under cave conditions. Carabiners may be used for temporary rigging, but stainless steel MRs are the preferred hardware for fixed rigging.

@barispapila

5 жыл бұрын

@@DerekBristol thanks for the response in turkey we use symetrical carabiners all the times

Looks like you removed your hand ascender so you would have two cows tails?

@DerekBristol

6 жыл бұрын

Yes. I keep my footloop (hand) ascender attached to my footloop around my shoulder/neck so that I have both cows-tails free during descent. When I was younger I kept the ascender on the long cowstail and would attach the ascender below the rebelay knot as a safety backup. While it is a bad idea to shock load the long cowstail under any circumstance, shock loading it when it's attached to the rope via an ascender is probably more likely to result in catastrophic failure, so I now eliminate the ascender and clip directly into the loop in the rope. I believe clipping to the loop is better than clipping to the anchor because the rope can provide some additional stretch and impact absorption, even though the fall distance may be greater. Of course you should always carefully check your descender before committing to it so that these backup safety measures never need to be tested.

Oh God the view in front of your face is so nauseating, especially with how little you move your head. So creepy