Order of the Marginal Anchors

Maybe the bolt did pass through the cord loop at the time it was used, but the cord flipped off afterward? Regardless, thanks for custodianeering!

The name "Water Knot" is conventional for USA climbers and canyoneers when made in webbing. When made in cord, the more proper name would be "Overhand Bend". It is a fine bend, nothing wrong with it.

Tom

A couple of old prusiks thrown on thick handlines that have been placed there for a long time now...

Disregard the poorly dressed clove hitch...

With the normal anchor location out of commission and no webbing, Olivia got creative while fixing the rope to the only stationary object in the area. Successfully extracting us from Glaucoma.

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Knot chock. 280’ rappel.

Tied webbing in a Frost knot to aid in removal/inspection and to add a little bulk to the knot.

3 bags stacked in a v-slot.

Bags were tested by 5 rappellers without failure.

Last (lightest) man rapped without pack.

Bags retrieved in top-to bottom sequence.

Very elegant!

That's some manky stuff. I'm glad I didn't have to rappel 200+ feet on that thing.

Forgot to take pic of trifecta of knot blocks in wild cat yesterday

What a beauty.

What is going on with that stone knot and the extra bight of rope coming out of it?

So what’s happening there is I’ve passed a bIght of rope through the rappel point of the anchor, this bight being at about the half way point on the rope with both ends capable of reaching the ground, then tied the stone knot with 4 strands instead of 2. Then using one side of the outgoing rope as the toggle strand. Just one way to skin the cat! By explaining this I’m not recommending this technique per se, as I am no authority to necessarily trust.

A clear explanation NS. Have you used this technique multiple times?

We know that the upward overhand stone knot (single) EXPLODES when the stick is pulled out. I have somewhat of a concern that the double version would consistently explode, as there is more going on. Also, pulling a bight of rope from around the anchoring object requires a cleaner anchoring object than pulling a single strand.

In my role as Captain Obvious...

Tom

All great points.I have used this exact technique probably more than a dozen times,so far it’s been favorable in the “right” place. Admittedly it has a limited scope of situations where it is advantageous over some other way. as I find I have used it almost exclusively while alone and only carrying one rope.Both of which are undeniably not a good idea, not to mention somewhat foolhardy.

The top photo needs to be turned clockwise 90 degrees. The last shot really isn't that marginal but it sure is cool!

Niiiice. Don't try this in sandstone...

Rapped off an anchor I'd never used before this week and thought it was worth sharing. It was even more scary because I didn't get a chance to test it properly, but having used a similar anchor (hanging sandtrap) many times, I felt confident enough to choose it over the much more dangerous alternative of attempting a downclimb I was unlikely to complete successfully.

You may have heard of stacked potshots before, which can be useful in places where a sandtrap is likely to get stuck. This anchor was similar to that, except the potshots were hanging from the lip of a pothole, before the rap went down a relatively tight but non-obstructed groove. It was possible a sandtrap could have been pulled down the groove, but I felt it was much more likely to get caught than potshots.

So I connected the rap rope to the top of two completely full and open potshots 6 inches below the overhanging lip of a 5 foot pothole. I connected a pull rope sequentially to the bottom of each, with a loop of slack in between. I then rapped off the potshots, keeping the rope tight so they wouldn't go any further into the pothole. They were then pulled as planned, coming down the groove completely empty without incident.

I thought it was an interesting variation on stacked potshots.

Other alternatives were a sandtrap (probably would have come through) or leaving webbing on a buried deadman in the pothole. But stacked potshots would not have worked either in the groove (pointed downhill steeply and so would have poured out) or in the pothole itself (I don't think we would have been able to pull it, but who knows, maybe we could have--could have been tested, but would have grooved the rock up badly even if we could.)

I've thought about doing that before, but was too scared. Doesn't look like a water pocket would have been a good option there given the lip geometry and maybe you couldn't have emptied the pothole anyway as it appears to be a Class C canyon.