which rope to pull

climbing has an article about pulling the rope when you rappel. here:

climbing.com/skills/learn-t…

they say that its best (if using two ropes, one being a static line) to feed the lead line through the anchor and pull the static line. that way, the thicker lead rope with knot has a chance to stick in the anchor if something went wrong.

this seems like a bad method to me. i always do the exact opposite. you pull the lead line, that way if the knot gets stuck at least you have some amount of lead line to start leading back up to the knot to get it unstuck.

is this what other people do too?

don't use static line.... ever.

but then again Climbing Mag is never wrong.

Right..I'd forget whatever Climbing says.

it doesn't matter which rope, i find a thicker (lead) line a bit easier to pull but also if your doing multiple rappels, you can alternate the pull rope.

feed the rope your pulling through the next anchor as you pull it (or have your partner do it)

I agree with John that its faster to alternate threads and easier to pull the thicker rope. But if you are using a typical slot device to rap with and have 2 strands of quite different diameters then the rap device is going to generate most of the friction with the thicker strand and tent to pull it down while letting the thinner strand run up IF you don't have something blocking creep at the anchor. The Climbing mag setup with the knot on the thin side serves to block that potential creep.

John will come back with "knot the ends" I know

Why ? hardly anyone does

i get what you guys are saying, but in a situation where you need one of your lines to be a static line (big wall), it only makes sense to pull the lead line.

Jake.... a static line?? yes-- makes for easy hauling, good for jugging up and rapping too.

But if you drop your bag... your gona die.

I don't go near walls any more but I have some very experienced friends who tell me... those are pipe.

My newb sweetheart and i are first ascenting. I have my trusty dynam 10.2 and smaller diameter static tag line (for the drill)(just in case its needed). I am sending my newb sweetheart down a 1 pitch full length rap that has death slope at the end. the ropes are the same length. Would you use the mag method or no?

depends

it is really rare (maybe never) that i would bring a static as my second rope on a multi-pitch route (ie non hauling wall route). a lot of times i will bring a really skinny dynamic 2nd rope for the raps. if there is even the slightest chance of a snag, i would always pull my lead line for the reason you mention - if you don't have a lead line you are royally f____.

if the rope pulls are obviously clean, then i will usually alternate ropes in the order that they naturally lay out.

In my mind...

Advantages to pulling the lead line:
- Gives you something to lead on if your rope gets stuck.
- Easier to pull if there is a lot of drag

Advantages to pulling the static line:
- you can rap on the lead line with a biner block.
- If you're sure your know won't go through the anchors, then you don't have to worry about friction differences when rapelling on ropes of different diameters.

I would generally switch sides for efficiency when doing multiple rappels, but circumstances may dictate a specific side.

John Wilder wrote:People still climb with two ropes? Weird.

I use a single 120m rope only.
It's a trend in Europe.

John Wilder wrote:People still climb with two ropes? Weird.