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You’ve read the series on learning How to Rappel. You have a good grasp of the fundamentals and are ready move beyond going up and down the same spot. This article is meant to supplement a few items that were beyond the scope of the original series.
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The air is thin at 14,000 feet. That’s a little over two and a half miles straight up. At that altitude, the oxygen available is only 61% of that which is available at sea level. Breathing and heart rates will be more strained, struggling to find oxygen. That’s why fitness is both paramount and completely irrelevant.
When it comes to altitude sickness (acute mountain sickness), it doesn’t always matter how physically fit you are. Being as in shape as possible is still important and if you don’t do what you can to prepare your muscles for the riggers of non-stop uphill hiking, you’re going to have quite an interesting time.
What Bryan and I have been focusing on are a mixture of physical fitness and gear choice. We plan on arriving to Colorado a few days early for the GORUCK Ascent to try and get a head start on the acclimatization process. In a best case scenario, we would need a good couple of weeks at altitude to truly acclimate but a few days certainly won’t hurt. Also, having quality lightweight gear will make the hiking less strenuous on our bodies. [Read More…]
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If you remember my previous post about the GORUCK Challenge I completed, it’s an evolution that takes strangers and individuals and transforms them into a team.
The GORUCK Ascent will be no different. While there are no bricks involved, this will be a 100+ hour challenge in it’s own right. Multiple 14,000 foot summits, mission planning, land navigation, survival and medical courses; this won’t be easy.
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Making a Fast Rope for Climbing has certainly been a fun project to undertake for our Knot of the Week!
Today we’ll be demonstrating the last steps in completing your rope, which are whipping and fusing the bitter end. Whipping and Fusing are traditionally methods to prevent a rope from unraveling and to stop fraying. We’re essentially using these techniques in the same way on our Fast Rope, to strengthen and protect the end.
The reason we chose to terminate the Fast Rope in this fashion is that in reading the Mil-Spec for Fast Rope construction, it distinctly mentions that “The free end shall be seared and whipped.” Seared is just another word for fused and fusing is actually the proper terminology. [Read More…]
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This week’s Knot of the Week features two different ways to tie a hasty webbing harness that can be used as a backup rappelling harness in case of an emergency.
Tied with 1″ Mil-Spec Tubular Webbing, these featured harnesses have a rating of 19 kN or 4,200 lbs. Tubular Webbing is commonly used in climbing and readily available in either Mil-Spec or Climb-Spec. You’ll find that these are very similar and maintain roughly the same 19 kN rating.
If you’re looking to source 1″ Tubular Webbing, here’s a great resource that aggregates pricing and availability from popular online retailers like REI, Amazon, Summit Hut and many more. [Read More…]
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The Knot of the Week picks back up today after a short hiatus due to our Camouflage Comparison.
This week we’ll be going over the the Alpine Coil and how it can be used to help keep your rope ready for imminent use.
If you’re climbing or working in an area where you know you could have to deploy a rope at a moments notice, an Alpine Coil is one of the best ways to carry a rope. [Read More…]
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There are thousands of mountaineering products available. Remember ‘light is right’ and only bring what you need.
If you have no training, get it so you can make good educated decisions.
Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines are deploying to mountainous regions every day. Few have proper mountaineering training or experience. This leads many to ask, “What gear do I need?” Fortunately the answers are simple. [Read More…]
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We return to our regularly scheduled Knot of the Week today with the Swiss Seat. The Swiss Seat is also often referred to as a rappel seat, as it’s purpose is to serve as an emergency rappelling harness.
Many survival and E&E kits contain a carabiner and a 12 ft. section of rope just for this purpose. Not to sound overly dramatic, but in an emergency, just these two items could mean the difference between life and death.
A Swiss Seat can also be used to transport an injured victim to safety if no rappelling harness is available to them. [Read More…]
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Today we offer a post to try to clear up some of the confusion surrounding carabiners, and what that kN thing means.
Carabiners come in many shapes and sizes and are purpose built for many different climbing applications.
We’ve highlighted the main variations of climbing carabiners as well as what we feel the positives and negatives are. [Read More…]
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Welcome to the final article of our “Learn How to Rappel” series.
If you’ve just joined us, please take the time to read our other two articles on rappelling equipment and setting up a rappel before continuing.
We left off with throwing the rope over the edge to finish our setup of the fixed rappel. [Read More…]
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