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Rappel fail - need advice

cockyrooster2013

cockyrooster2013

Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2019
Messages
85
For those that rappel, I had an issue retrieving my rope after last night’s hunt and it turned into a debacle. Looking for some tips so this doesn’t happen again.

I was hunting back in a swamp up a crazy tree I climbed with my Wild Edge steps. At dark I rappel down and pull the steps as I go. When I get down and pull on the retrieval cord, the rope would not budge. Tried pulling on it from different angles, wrapping the cord around me and sitting to put my weight into it. It just would not release. Thankfully I had my SRT gear in my backpack so I climbed back up, tethered into the tree and repositioned the rope at a lower level on the trunk and rappelled back down. Then retrieved the rope no problem back on the ground. I can’t figure out what the problem was and wondering if this is a common issue? It was a rough bark tree, does that make a difference? This is about the 10th time I’ve rappelled and up until this point had no issues.

To add insult to injury, after fooling around at the tree for 45 min I got turned around in the swamp on my way out, and ended up sinking into some deep muck. Got back to the truck late, pissed off sweaty and filthy. But I still can’t wait to get back out there haha. Just don’t want to lose any of my nice ropes.


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Where did you have it hooked? I have the best luck away from the delta link. Between the figure 8 and the stopper knot. To me the idea is pull the rope through your link. Not the link down the rope.
 
Post a pic of how you're attaching it to the tree, please.

Without knowing how you were set up, I'd ask a few questions. 1) do you attach with a quick link of any type? 2) do you attach your pull down cord on the rope to the side of the scaffold hitch?

doing it that way allows you to pull it down and out.

Also, what type of cord is your pull down cord?
 
Oh. And if your in multiple branches and you have to pull your rope all the way thru, remember to take your stopper knot out if you have one in there. Or there is a chance the tree will grab it.
 
I wrap a small amsteel prussic right behind the knot and I attatch to my amsteel pull line and pull and it comes down on first try every time Wrap a loop behind the knot and if you have a stopper knot make sure you move it. I have a rubber washer on mine and it pulls easily thru
 

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i am very new to rappelling, but have had success freeing astuck rope if i pull the pull cord away from the tree instead of down. one time i was pulling with the pull cord with my right while whipping the rappel rope up and down with my left and that broke it free.
 
Not sure it would help on this situation. I too am new to rappelling. I switched over to dynaglide as my pull down. Next instead of the rubber washer, I wrap a nite ize tie on my delta link and then wrap the rappel rope with the end of the night ize as I climb the tree. Then when I rappel I wrap the night ize on the Delta link. I also loosen my girth hitch and then reset it before I rappel. That way I it has dug into the bark or anything I get a fresh start. I got rid of the rubber washer after the first time I used it. It holds the rope in place a little to good. I hook into the rope behind the scaffolding knot with a carabineer and essentially pull the rope though the Delta link as opposed to pulling the Delta link down the tree.
 
I've had my rope snag a few times where no amount of pulling would bring it down. It's tough when it happens at night and you can't see how it's hung up. In each case the rope had slid down to a limb and the quick link was jammed. I've been able to get them down by backing up a lot to change the angle or whip the climbing rope to unwedge it.

I wish I was a headlight on a north-bound train
 
And make sure you remove the nite ize tie or washer before you descend. Those little suckers can give you fits. I too find it helpful to walk away from the tree to change the direction of pull if hung.
 
Hey all, thanks for the suggestions so far. I normally use a figure 8 knot at the end of my rappel rope but in this case was using a quick link. My pull down cord is 7/64” amsteel with a fixed loop at each end. This serves as my bow pull up rope as well. I had girth hitched the amsteel around the delta link before lowering my bow.


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MattMan81 said:
Where did you have it hooked? I have the best luck away from the delta link. Between the figure 8 and the stopper knot. To me the idea is pull the rope through your link. Not the link down the rope.
Click to expand...

This may have been the issue here, in combination with the angle I was pulling the rope in relation to where it was hooked on the tree


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cockyrooster2013 said:
This may have been the issue here, in combination with the angle I was pulling the rope in relation to where it was hooked on the tree


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Click to expand...

Attach the pull rope to the rappel line and not the link. This way you can pull the rope through the link and create slack on the line. I tied a bowline around the rappel rope. This way it can move freely if need be. Worse case scenario I can pull the rappel line back through the link. If your pull line is tight on the rope, you’ll find you’re working even harder against friction. The pull rope needs to be able to slide freely on the rappel line.

When you attach the pull line to the link you’re pulling against the friction of the rope around the tree. That’s a no-win on some trees, as you learned last night.

This is how mine looks when it’s time to come down
64707cb3dc9955468278dff026347d90.jpg



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Last edited:
ShooterMike said:
Attach the pull rope to the rappel line and not the link. This way you can pull the rope through the link and create slack on the line. I tied a bowline around the rappel rope. This way it can move freely if need be. Worse case scenario I can pull the rappel line back through the link.

When you attach the pull line to the link you’re pulling against the friction of the rope around the tree. That’s a no-win on some trees, as you learned last night.

This is how mine looks when it’s time to come down
64707cb3dc9955468278dff026347d90.jpg



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Click to expand...

this is the easiest way to get the rope down but, for those unaware, it is more likely to get your link stuck if you’re set up on a tight crotch.
 
Whats a good washer for maxim camo elite rope?


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pesqimon said:
this is the easiest way to get the rope down but, for those unaware, it is more likely to get your link stuck if you’re set up on a tight crotch.
Click to expand...

This might be a dumb question but could you attach two retrieval lines, one to the rappel line as Mike suggested and then another to the quick link, in case you need to manipulate both ends of the rope?


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cockyrooster2013 said:
This might be a dumb question but could you attach two retrieval lines, one to the rappel line as Mike suggested and then another to the quick link, in case you need to manipulate both ends of the rope?


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Click to expand...
You could, just that it's probably not necessary. You can tie it like Mike suggests most of the time, but the day you findyourself hanging from a crotch just remember to tie it on the link side and it will probably be fine. If you are climbing up like the OP or 1 sticking, you probably won't be in a crotch. You end up in a crotch, typically, if you throw your rope up for SRT.
 
I climb w/ WE steps as well and have started repelling this year.. I think i've stacked all the dumb things you can do to repell into a few sits this season... forgetting to hook up the pull down line, forgetting to undo the gear tie, pulling from the quick link, pulling the side of the rope away from the quicklink which resulted in me pulling the quicklink into a crotch and getting it stuck... might not be vital, but having an accessory carabiner attach your pulldown rope sure does help.. reduces the friction between the pull down and the repel line so it's easier to pull through. I have also made a mental note to always clip just behind the scaffold knot on the repel line and to turn the link on the tree to an area where I can A) have a clean repel B) REACH my WE steps (ended up to far away from the trunk one time.. bet that woulda been funny to watch). C) in a direction where I can walk back from the tree to pull the repel line down as pulling the line out seems to help it release....

.. keep working your system.. you'll dial her in... keep in mind.. i've had all the issues above and I only sat 4 times so far this year... HAHA
 
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