Being a rock climber with multiple big walls, a kayaker with numerous class 5 descents and the ability to execute Swift water rescues, and skiing in places where no rescue is coming for you; it is not the number of backups you have or the variety of knots you can tie, or a phone, that will keep you safe.
Your safety is dependent on your ability to execute your system no matter how tired you are in the dark. If you can't tie the 3 or 4 knots you need for saddle hunting perfectly every time with your eyes closed maybe you shouldn't be up there. Your system of ascent and descent needs to follow the same repetitions every time even when an oddity is thrown at you.
Simplicity is safety! The fewer things you have to do the more likely you are to execute them perfectly every time.
I like backups, but they are not redundancies just to throw more equipment in the system. I tie an Alpine butterfly and hook it to my tether carabiner. My tether prussik becomes my autoblock for the rappel then the butterfly gets unhooked and untied.
I haven't developed a menomoic for saddle hunting yet. I had a great one for kayaking every time I got in my boat I would say helmet, spray skirt, PFD. I would physically check to make sure my helmet was fastened my spray skirt was sealed on the cockpit and my PFD was snug. One day I decided to run my local River solo because it was pumping and I couldn't find anybody to go with me. Instead of putting in at the normal location I did the mile-and-a-half hike so I could run just the class 5. I put on my gear did the hike to the river and jumped in paddled the three miles of Rapids and eddied out right above the class six,unrunable, mess. As I eddie'd out I did a hip flick to steady my boat and watched my helmet go flying into the river. I had never checked my gear. I did multiple things out of the ordinary. That was an expensive lesson never repeated.
Your safety is dependent on your ability to execute your system no matter how tired you are in the dark. If you can't tie the 3 or 4 knots you need for saddle hunting perfectly every time with your eyes closed maybe you shouldn't be up there. Your system of ascent and descent needs to follow the same repetitions every time even when an oddity is thrown at you.
Simplicity is safety! The fewer things you have to do the more likely you are to execute them perfectly every time.
I like backups, but they are not redundancies just to throw more equipment in the system. I tie an Alpine butterfly and hook it to my tether carabiner. My tether prussik becomes my autoblock for the rappel then the butterfly gets unhooked and untied.
I haven't developed a menomoic for saddle hunting yet. I had a great one for kayaking every time I got in my boat I would say helmet, spray skirt, PFD. I would physically check to make sure my helmet was fastened my spray skirt was sealed on the cockpit and my PFD was snug. One day I decided to run my local River solo because it was pumping and I couldn't find anybody to go with me. Instead of putting in at the normal location I did the mile-and-a-half hike so I could run just the class 5. I put on my gear did the hike to the river and jumped in paddled the three miles of Rapids and eddied out right above the class six,unrunable, mess. As I eddie'd out I did a hip flick to steady my boat and watched my helmet go flying into the river. I had never checked my gear. I did multiple things out of the ordinary. That was an expensive lesson never repeated.
