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Rappel device testing with oplux

Aaronpaul14 said:
I heard several have tried using it with autoblock/French prusik hitch. I couldn’t get it to bite that way but seems better with klemheist.
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Gotcha. I think Sterling is referring to standard and French prusik on their site but that could be confirmed. What rappel device and carabiners do you use?

Sent from up in a tree
 
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trainhardlivefree said:
Grivel Mono
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Wondering if it's our difference in weight or the biners we use that make the French prusik not work for you. You using rounded biners or one with T shaped ridges? And anyone know if there's a technical name for the biners with the edges?

Sent from up in a tree
 
Great info. I'm totally new to saddle hunting and one sticking, and I've probably only tested this a dozen times or so. Bear that in mind.

I use the Grivel Mono Master with Oplux 8mm, Mad Rock HMS carabiner (rounded).I tried it with a Black Diamond positron that have the more I-frame shape. I thought I got better friction with the round one. And, the I-frame one seemed to want to get all cock-eyed on me. Not that it wasn't functional, but I just didn't like it. I got all of that from DanO. I initially got the orange 6.0mm Sterling accessory cord (maybe from Amazon, I can't remember), but also tried the 6.8 hollowblock. The 6.0 held me much better than the 6.8 when tied as a French prusik. I've not tried other friction hitches. No problem hanging hands free to remove the stick. I weigh around 250 if all I'm wearing is a smile.
 
GTel said:
Wondering if it's our difference in weight or the biners we use that make the French prusik not work for you. You using rounded biners or one with T shaped ridges? And anyone know if there's a technical name for the biners with the edges?

Sent from up in a tree
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I'm running Mad Rock Super Tech biners, an I-frame style
 
GTel said:
Wondering if it's our difference in weight or the biners we use that make the French prusik not work for you. You using rounded biners or one with T shaped ridges? And anyone know if there's a technical name for the biners with the edges?

Sent from up in a tree
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It could be number of wraps around the rope.
 
Gtel, again thanks for posting all of this. Got my Phantom today so I tried out the rappelling (1st at ground level and then from 5'). It worked out well. Based upon your testing and recommendations I went with the Grivel Mono, with the Grivel Twingate biner. Used a 35 cm beal jammy for the french prusik. This grabbed very well on the Oplux rope. If I let go, I stopped very quickly and it didn't creep at all when sitting there..

Now I want to play around with 1 sticking. Raining too much outside tonight to mess with that tonight.
 
Quit raining so I went out for a quick sit in the Phantom and tried out the 1 sticking. It went pretty well all in all. Definitely need to practice some, but it works pretty well and I like the idea of dropping 3 sticks.. Had 1 too many wraps on the beal jammy though as it was really hard to get it to rappel down.
 
cspot said:
Gtel, again thanks for posting all of this. Got my Phantom today so I tried out the rappelling (1st at ground level and then from 5'). It worked out well. Based upon your testing and recommendations I went with the Grivel Mono, with the Grivel Twingate biner. Used a 35 cm beal jammy for the french prusik. This grabbed very well on the Oplux rope. If I let go, I stopped very quickly and it didn't creep at all when sitting there..

Now I want to play around with 1 sticking. Raining too much outside tonight to mess with that tonight.
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Awesome, glad it works for you! How many wraps did you end up being successful with? I use 5 wraps on the hollow block so wondering what worked best with the beal jammy. And I really started liking the twin gate biner. It's super simple to attach/detach one handed in the dark once you get the motion down. Thanks for the update!


Sent from up in a tree
 
GTel said:
Awesome, glad it works for you! How many wraps did you end up being successful with? I use 5 wraps on the hollow block so wondering what worked best with the beal jammy. And I really started liking the twin gate biner. It's super simple to attach/detach one handed in the dark once you get the motion down. Thanks for the update!


Sent from up in a tree
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Don't hold me to it but I think I used 4 wraps with the Beal Jammy. 5 was too many.
 
Black diamond belays are 20% off on moosejaw.com right now.

I bought the ATC belay. I figure for $14 it's worth it to tinker. I also like that it has no moving parts. I already have surplus oplux and some extra TRC laying around so should be all set to give rappelling a go.

Question: Why is the madrock safeguard so popular when there seem to be plenty of non-mechanical belays that function just as well, are less bulky, lighter, and are a fraction of the cost? Not nocking the madrock or anything, just curious.
 
d_rek said:
Black diamond belays are 20% off on moosejaw.com right now.

I bought the ATC belay. I figure for $14 it's worth it to tinker. I also like that it has no moving parts. I already have surplus oplux and some extra TRC laying around so should be all set to give rappelling a go.

Question: Why is the madrock safeguard so popular when there seem to be plenty of non-mechanical belays that function just as well, are less bulky, lighter, and are a fraction of the cost? Not nocking the madrock or anything, just curious.
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If you use the same rope to rappel as is your tether, the safeguard functions as both the ascender (ropeman) AND belay device - and you don't have to remove/switch it on your rope.

If you plan on using a separate tether from rappel rope, it's not a big deal. If you're looking to streamline ropes & devices, a safeguard makes sense.
 
JBDaddy said:
If you use the same rope to rappel as is your tether, the safeguard functions as both the ascender (ropeman) AND belay device - and you don't have to remove/switch it on your rope.

If you plan on using a separate tether from rappel rope, it's not a big deal. If you're looking to streamline ropes & devices, a safeguard makes sense.
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Ah, ok. I stopped using a ropeman because I switched to oplux + TRC and am running a distel hitch instead. My plan was to run the distel hitch as a backup above the belay so I could use the rope as my tether. I guess i'll figure out soon enough if it's too tedious to keep sliding up the distel hitch as I ascend, or if I should just pack in a tether.
 
d_rek said:
Ah, ok. I stopped using a ropeman because I switched to oplux + TRC and am running a distel hitch instead. My plan was to run the distel hitch as a backup above the belay so I could use the rope as my tether. I guess i'll figure out soon enough if it's too tedious to keep sliding up the distel hitch as I ascend, or if I should just pack in a tether.
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You can get the Safeguard right now from campsave for about $60, which is a pretty good sale if that interest you at all.
 
Squirrels said:
As a group we do one thing excepitionaly well, HELP EACH OTHER SPEND MONEY!!
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It's bad enough with all the little trinkets and such that Dano has but heaven help you if you mange to procure a thread injector and start the ramp up for this foolery of building stuff. Got up last saturday morning and told the wife I was heading to the outdoor textiles supply to pick up a set of blueprints that were around $15. Unfortunately, they had a couple of particular textiles I had been watching for in stock and on sale. A couple of big head bens later I had to call She Who Must Be Obeyed before she happened to look in the treasury to discover my gross underestimation of the cost of my supplies. In my defense, everything was 30% off :grinning:
 
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