Hi all. If you have to frequent tall buildings, have any of you concidered adding something like this to your kit...

Micro Rappel

I know I wouldn't like using it, being only a 5mm rope, but it seems like something that might 'save the day.'

You should read this thread
http://www.equipped.org/ubbthreads/showf...o=&vc=1 Many ideas about rappelling, parachuting, and other novel methods for escaping a highrise.

Ed

Oops! I should have checked a little further! I did search ETS on 'micro rappel' gear before I posted and nothing came up so I added the post.

No big deal.

Ed

Their website even shows a 3mm configuration. That's the "I'm dead anyway, so I have nothing to lose" option.

I suspect the idea is to use high tech cord like:

3mm New England Tech Cord

Rated at 3000lbs. Oh course I agree - it seems like this would still be best used only in case there is nothing better.

BTW, I didn't see anyplace to buy these critters online. You have a source?

Thanks,

-john

Just knowing how to do a munter-hitch is enough for most situations. Works well with a single-rope rapels and ok with double rope but you need to keep the biners slightly separated so the knots don't rub together. Munter-hitch will damage a rope after frequent use.

OK, so what's a munter-hitch, how is it tied, what characteristics are needed in the rope, how thin a rope will it work with, How stiff? How sliperry? how dynamic? Pictures and links if possible.

For example, would it work with slippery spectra cord? Woud it work with really stiff, static, thin, kevlar cord? Are these regular biners involved or is it possible to size them according to the cord?

I would not use the Muenter hitch if you are not already familiar with it. It is easy to make a mistake with the Muenter hitch and wind up with no friction - just a 'biner clipped onto the rope to direct your plumet down... If you climb, by all means, learn it. I used it almost exclusively for a long time - but I was not paying for the ropes and nowadays we have much better gear readily available and hopefully don't need to get caught out without a friction brake of some sort. I have at least a figure 8 and a tube on me at all times. Tubes are cheap and easy to use; a big 8 or a recue 8 is even better. The tube is probably the easiest to figure out and it is relatively small. A stitch plate is even smaller, but I'm not crazy about using a stitch plate for a rappel.

See page 2 of this page. This hitch is really hard on the rope - it runs on itself (study the picture). IIRC, spectra has a lower temp rating than nylon - fuses together at a lower temp and melts at a lower temp, so I don't think I would use it in spectra if I had a choice.

If the rope is large enough to rappel on, it is large enough for a Muenter hitch. But since it is very hard on the rope, a small diameter rope is going to have little or no margin of safety if you heat the 'biner up and then stop or even pause. My opinion is that only climers should consider using the Muenter hitch, although I believe it is favored by arborists.

I practice with it once or twice every outing to make sure I remember it well. I won't let students use it unless they are top roped.

My 2 cents.

Tom

One good thing about the muenter hitch in my eyes is that if the user is well practiced in the use of this it can come in very handy. With basically a rope, a carabiner, and some form of harness (could even be made from a piece of the rope if need be) one could as a last resort rescue themself if stuck on lets say the third floor of a building, or to give another person thier repelling equipment to get down from such a location, or even something as simple as going down a hill if too steep to walk down and there is nothing to grab on the way down. It can be a very usefull thing to learn, however carries much more risk. It could probibly even be used to send gear down if you have a (really) good belay person the bottom. <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />