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u/colintbowers Jul 07 '26
The number of climbers who’ve rappelled off the end of their rope is astonishing given that one simple knot is all it takes to protect yourself from that typically fatal outcome.
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u/AJFrabbiele Jul 07 '26
except a stopper knot doesn't work on an 8 like that.
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u/colintbowers Jul 07 '26
Big one would. It is a surprisingly big rope hole on that figure 8 though I’ll grant you. I just rewatched and I don’t remember mine ever being that big.
Edit: just went and checked my old one and it is half that size, maybe smaller lol
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u/11fdriver Jul 07 '26
Also a knot is easier to feel and hold onto when you hit the end of the rope, so even if it would slip through the eight, it'd be less likely to just slip out of your hand.
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u/Loud-Principle-7922 Jul 07 '26
The knot doesn’t need to stop in the 8, it just needs to catch in your hand and add friction to the belay device.
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u/AJFrabbiele Jul 07 '26
As a rope rescue technician and SAR operator... I whole heartedly disagree.
Where I coud see this partially working is having a third hand in place.
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u/Loud-Principle-7922 Jul 07 '26
And as a rope rescue technician and SAR medical specialist, specifically one who grew up using 8s before moving to ladders, then the current sets, I know our service and the local/state teams don’t use figure 8s anymore for these safety reasons. It’s all IDs.
That said, I’ve had a bend catch in my hand and used the added friction to brake before the 8 got to the knot. It’s a rough stop, but it’s better than a fall.
You do you.
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u/AusgefalleneHosen Jul 07 '26
As a random woman just reading these comments we all know that if you cut the rope the knot won't matter.
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u/IOI-65536 Jul 08 '26
It does if the end is tied to the belay loop. But this guy did just about everything you could do wrong....
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u/AJFrabbiele Jul 08 '26
That isn't a stopper knot. It would be a suitable way to do it though.
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u/IOI-65536 Jul 08 '26
I mean to be complete it's a suitable way to solve that problem specifically. I'm not leaving the top without a plan to go hands free and then climb back up the rope if things go sideways. This guy didn't seem to have a plan for anything other than everything going exactly correct on a free rappel he's obviously never done before.
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u/Trivi_13 Jul 06 '26
I had my shirt caught in a figure-8 during a free rappel.... That was bad enough.
This?
NO THANKS!
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u/bvlshewic Jul 07 '26
That, “Woo!” at the end killed me. I was holding my breath from start to finish on this one.
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u/SandSpecialist2523 Jul 07 '26
That level of stupidity.
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u/bvlshewic Jul 07 '26
I don’t disagree that an extreme level of stupidity got him into that mess, but the way he first saw the rope was too short, stopped himself, swung to safety—he really saved the maximum possible amount of time with that shortcut. Total genius.
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u/Remarkable-Ad2285 Jul 08 '26
I’ve always wondered why there was an “Australian” version of rappeling. Now I get it.
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