Top roping through figure 8

Firestone wrote: Here you go

Interesting, never read that before. Graphic demonstration of how cross-loading can produce failure at bodyweight.

The 3rd instance was while on belay...more or less. Since it said the belayer was "sunbathing".
And the locking carabiners never came unscrewed. The force blew a notch through the locking sleeve.

Carabiner spelled with a K? Invaild. :)

But that article is interesting. Thank you.

Lee Durbetaki wrote:From the description of the accident, it doesn't sound as though there was any belaying going on.

My thoughts exactly

You can spell it with a K, but as long as we're looking at the article, isn't a "figure of eight" a knot and the hardware an "eight ring"?

Also, in fig 1 & 2 the "failure" is caused by the locker being used upside down, nose to the rear.

Fig three and four the "belayer" is causing the failure by pulling back on the rope and bunching things up.

We used eights as primary belay/rappel devices for years without incident BITD, it's important to note that doing "dumb stuff" with any device can cause failures.

Proper rope and equipment handling is key. JB

You have to cross the rope before putting it through the big eye on the figure 8 in order for it to work for belaying. This video shows it.

youtube.com/watch?v=UIikT_j…

Stich wrote:You have to cross the rope before putting it through the big eye on the figure 8 in order for it to work for belaying.

Hmm. I don't use an 8 for belaying, but plenty of old and EU folks do and have somehow managed to belay successfully for about sixty years without crossing the rope. It would seem a case of adding friction for folks who either don't know, don't want to or are simply unprepared to brake across their hip in a fall.

The idea of using an 8 as a belay device but then crossing the rope so you can stop a fall with your hand in space as opposed to broken over your hip seems more than a bit contrived and somewhat stupid from a keep it simple standpoint.

It's not like we kept the instructions for these stupid things. I now own three of them that a friend got rid of. I used them in caving, where they still do well for multiple, short descents.

When crossed like this, it appears the device creates a Munter type hitch in the configuration. The 8 might make that feed better. I doubt I will ever discover if I like this or not.

It looks like there are several photos on this other figure 8 thread that show the various modes of use on page 2.