Backing up rappells: Who does it?

So do you back up your reppell? If not why? I ask becuase, I have never ever seen any one use a klemheist, prusik or any other kind of backup on a rappell unless they were instructing newbies.

Please make this about the question not about what back up is superior to another. I don't care if you like the percell prusik rig or not.

About a year ago, I bought one of these

sterlingrope.com/c/climbing…

<-- This

and as long I am using an ATC (or any non-locking decent device, cause its not rare for me to use a gri-gri) I use this and love it.

but if your looking for reasons why people don't, I don't know if your going to find many answers, other than they just don't bother with it (I'm not judging, I've done many rappels with out one).

I back mine up with an autoblock almost 100% of the time. Only takes seconds, but could save my life.

I've heard people suggest it could be a substitute for good rappelling technique which I think is nonsense.

If I have a medical issue (heart attack?), small rockfall, bee swarm or something that causes me to be distracted or temporarily unconscious and my brake hand comes off the rope, I might live through the rappel with a backup.

Me.

If not first down I ask for a firemans

It depends. If I'm ever in doubt as to the quality of the rock/ice (where a chunk might come off at me), or if I think I'll want to stop for any reason along the way down, I'll rig an autoblock. Otherwise, if it's a straightforward rappel, I won't. I probably should back up more than I do.

Im terrified to rap without one. I mean, if you let go of the rope, thats it right? Its nice to be able to go hands free in case of stuck rope, loss of consciousness, or some other emergency. Plus, if you rig the autoblock/prussik/kleimheist first, and then pull some slack up, it makes it wonders easier to set up the actual rappel device, as well as shows you that the backup itself is indeed working.

I have not been practicing this. Though I recently tried it out and liked the safety aspect. Letting that rope get away from you is what leads to death. Seems the majority of accidents are from belayer errors/ communication, or from rappelling errors. An auto block seems like it should be a standard practice in rappelling.

Do you only belay with a grigri?

You should ... Because a medical condition, rockfall or a rabid bear biting you would mean their deaths ...

/s

Prussiks, autoblocks, kleimheists are fine if you know that its no susbstitute for good technique ... And you use em in "just in case" scenarios

However if you are using them because of a lack of proper rappel technique or because you atent confident enough to rap down without one

Then i also submit you have no business belaying or lowering someone on an ATC

;)

Sometimes I do sometimes I don't. Probably should all the time.

I'm somewhat curious as to the context of everyone's answers. For those who say they use an autoblock 100% of the time, does that really include raps after cleaning a 50 ft single-pitch sport climb? For me the answer is 'no' because the amount of time/work I have to put into it just doesn't seem practical (by the time I have it tied I would already be on the ground with my shoes off).

There will always be people who say that the penalty for failure is too high not to, but I use it more situationally (long raps or when I might need to stop along the way) and in the end it's personal preference. Different climbers are comfortable with different levels of risk. If I'm teaching someone new how to rappel, I never let them go down without a backup.

Danger-Russ Gordon wrote:About a year ago, I bought one of these

[Referring to Sterling Hollowblock]

Question: I bought a couple of those too (one in each length) and for me, they absolutely don't work on a single line - even with 5 wraps on a 10.1 rope the autoblock just slips right through (works fine with 2 ropes). Do you have that experience with yours?

I don't always back up my rappel, but when I do, I do it 100% of the time.

Colonel Mustard wrote:I don't always back up my rappel, but when I do, I do it 100% of the time.

Do your autoblocks smell like Sex Panther cologne?

Brian W. wrote: Do your autoblocks smell like Sex Panther cologne?

Sex Panther Cologne, the only auto block I use 100% of the time I use it.

Brian W. wrote:I'm somewhat curious as to the context of everyone's answers. For those who say they use an autoblock 100% of the time, does that really include raps after cleaning a 50 ft single-pitch sport climb? For me the answer is 'no' because the amount of time/work I have to put into it just doesn't seem practical (by the time I have it tied I would already be on the ground with my shoes off).

If it's a single-pitch climb, it may take one minute to take it off my harness and put it on the rope. If it's already hanging from my harness on a multi-pitch route/rappel, it takes about ten seconds to put the three wraps on the rope and clip it to the carabiner. The time factor is insignificant for me, since it's so quick.

Nobody expects to have serious problems when rappelling, and you can probably go through your entire climbing career without needing an autoblock. I emphasize "probably."

There is a convenience factor in using an autoblock, too. As mentioned above, it holds the weight of the rope while threading the rope through your rappel device (ATC, etc.) It is also very helpful when dealing with tangles in the rope below you, with hands off the rope.

Different people accept different risk levels. As long as they are aware of the hazards, then the individual gets to make the call.

FrankPS wrote:As long as they are aware of the hazards...

+1
Key point I left out.

I back mine up every time with a hollow block. I started doing it mostly because I don't carry gloves and it keeps my hand from burning up. Now it's almost instinct to do so.

I use one 95% of the time. Autoblock (never use prussik knot, too fiddly) usually 3 wraps with 6mm cord around my 9.5mm rope. The only time I don't is on really straight forward rappels that are vertical, with no roofs or overhangs to negotiate, no gear to clean, and nothing indicating that the rope could get tangled or somehow stuck. In pretty much every other scenario, I backup my rappel (or have a fireman's belay from below).

Used to use one every so often, now I never use one. Outside of long or winter alpine routes I'm using a GriGri exclusively for climbing. The only time I still use an ATC or tube type device is canyoneering which can feature flowing water and/or technical raps where I want a free hand and nothing that could get me stuck halfway down a waterfall.

I'll be an outlier here... I never back up my rappels unless I'm rappelling into the unknown. If I need to go hands free, a quick wrap of the rope around the leg does the trick. For those worried about being knocked unconscious while rappelling... umm... I dunno... Seems ridiculous. I feel you're way more likely to knock your belayer unconscious by dislodging a rock while climbing, and does anyone back up their belayer?

On a single pitch sport climb I usually always have someone give me a fire belay instead of an autoblock, every other time it just feels well well worth my time to wrap a quick autoblock. Especially with the convenience of going hands free whenever.

I normally don't but I do more lately since I bought an Edilrid (sp?) Mega Jul belay device. It autoblocks automatically so you don't have to deal with prusiks, much like a Gri-Gri would for a single line. It does not feel smoothly at all though, making for slow, jerky rappels.