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+Re: 8mm accessory cord and rapping?

Discussion in 'Archives - Yahoo Canyons Group' started by Faerthen Felix, Aug 5, 2009.

  1. Hi, "Anyone have experience rapping accessory cords? I do understand that the manufacturers do not recommend this...but anyone have some experience they wouldn't mind sharing?"

    When I was ski patrolling we used accessory cord as our self-evac lines so we could rap off stuck chairlifts. I did that a bunch of times on 7mm cord with no problems. This was typical behavior at the time--maybe still is--& I never heard of anyone having an accident. Some of the 'trollers would use even thinner cord, but that seemed pretty dicey to me for some reason. I think wear & tear would be a bigger issue than strength with using small diameter cord in canyons. It's also pretty hard to climb back up it with a prussik, although there are some unbelievably strong small diameter cords for sailing that I've used as prussiks on smaller lines.

    I also currently use 5.5mm dyneema as my ski-mountaineering cord. It's incredibly strong [5500 lbs breaking strength, I think], static, light & compact. We even did a completely free-hanging 25m rap through a drippy waterfall with skis on our backs last spring when we became cliffed out in the Alps.

    FF

  2. Accessory cord can be quite strong however, it is not recommended for use as a primary rappelling rope. It's just not designed for this application. You will find it does not wear well and will prove unsatisfactory over time.

    For a patroller who mostly just carries the stuff and will only use it once to escape a chair lift it is probably ok. But I think you will be disappointed using it as a canyon rope.

    If the reason is compact size and light weight, there is a point at which general safety becomes a concern. A better choice would be a modern 8mm canyon rope which is pretty light and designed for this use.

    Charly

    --- In Yahoo Canyons Group, Faerthen Felix <faerthen@...> wrote:
    Hi, > "Anyone have experience rapping accessory cords? I do understand that the > manufacturers do not recommend this...but anyone have some experience they > wouldn't mind sharing?"
    When I was ski patrolling we used accessory cord as our self-evac lines so > we could rap off stuck chairlifts. I did that a bunch of times on 7mm cord > with no problems. This was typical behavior at the time--maybe still is--& I > never heard of anyone having an accident. Some of the 'trollers would use > even thinner cord, but that seemed pretty dicey to me for some reason. I > think wear & tear would be a bigger issue than strength with using small > diameter cord in canyons. It's also pretty hard to climb back up it with a > prussik, although there are some unbelievably strong small diameter cords > for sailing that I've used as prussiks on smaller lines.
    I also currently use 5.5mm dyneema as my ski-mountaineering cord. It's > incredibly strong [5500 lbs breaking strength, I think], static, light & > compact. We even did a completely free-hanging 25m rap through a drippy > waterfall with skis on our backs last spring when we became cliffed out in > the Alps.
    FF
    > >
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