What to do when your hair gets stuck while rapelling..

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DE24ezgpBsZ/?igsh=MXh3YzFoenR4b3JqYg==

/s 

I've seen way less scary horror films.

Holy shit i would have cut that a LOT closer to my head and not right over like all the rope…

M1 H1 wrote:

Holy shit i would have cut that a LOT closer to my head and not right over like all the rope…

I would have skipped filming it and used both hands to cut myself free.  But then, I'm old and not in "Generation Whatever."

Elementary

Would putting a prussik on the line above the grigri, attaching a sling to it then stepping on it to unweight the belay device not work??? Are we all just going straight to chopping our hair off?

Ally L wrote:

Would putting a prussik on the line above the grigri, attaching a sling to it then stepping on it to unweight the belay device not work??? Are we all just going straight to chopping our hair off?

Indubitably

This is up there for the Darwin Awards.  He's sawing away with a knife millimeters from his rope.  Insane!
As Ally Llama says, the goal is to unweight the device. If you can't get onto the rock to do this, then you step up in a sling attached the rap line above the device via a friction hitch, then back the rope out. It is simple, you get to keep your 'do, and as an extra bonus you'll still be alive afterwards.

In the seconding clinics I've been doing the last few years, I exhort the audience to always have a double-length sling with them when seconding. Use it mostly as a cleaning sling for gear, but when you get your hair stuck, or end up dangling away from the rock, you've got something that works as a foot loop.

rgold wrote:
In the seconding clinics I've been doing the last few years, I exhort the audience to always have a double-length sling with them when seconding. Use it mostly as a cleaning sling for gear, but when you get your hair stuck, or end up dangling away from the rock, you've got something that works as a foot loop.

Quoting this for emphasis. Carrying a double length sling as a follower comes in handy often enough that it's worth having one on you always. 

French Braid Your Own Hair

Making A Pony Tail 

A stitch in time saves 9, and all that. 

Ally L wrote:

Would putting a prussik on the line above the grigri, attaching a sling to it then stepping on it to unweight the belay device not work??? Are we all just going straight to chopping our hair off?

Nah, why else would you carry a knife? Though I will say these days knives are a bit prehistoric. I just preordered the new petzl solar powered hair trimmers for this purpose exactly. 

Orion Belt wrote:

French Braid Your Own Hair

Making A Pony Tail 

A stitch in time saves 9, and all that. 

My ponytail comes to chest level if hanging in front, and it can get caught in an extended rap device and has.  it is particularly vulnerable when I turn my head to look over my shoulder to see what's going on below.  So a ponytail is no guarantee that hair won't get caught. A bun, if you can make one that sits below your helmet, might work,

Better than any ornamental hair treatment is to get hair completely out of the way by stuffing it up inside a cap or tucking it into a shirt if it is long enough to stay there. Nowadays with the popularity of sun hoodies, a simple and effective action is to wear at least one piece with a hood and always put the hood up while rapping (of course, make sure your hair is inside the hood).

None of this will help folks with longish beards, unless you have a hood that draws closed over the face.

There being no foolproof sartorial or coiffure protocols, I think that having a double-length sling with you is still an essential precaution.

rgold wrote:

My ponytail comes to chest level if hanging in front, and it can get caught in an extended rap device and has.  it is particularly vulnerable when I turn my head to look over my shoulder to see what's going on below.  So a ponytail is no guarantee that hair won't get caught. A bun, if you can make one that sits below your helmet, might work,

Better than any ornamental hair treatment is to get hair completely out of the way by stuffing it up inside a cap or tucking it into a shirt if it is long enough to stay there. Nowadays with the popularity of sun hoodies, a simple and effective action is to wear at least one piece with a hood and always put the hood up while rapping (of course, make sure your hair is inside the hood).

None of this will help folks with longish beards, unless you have a hood that draws closed over the face.

There being no foolproof sartorial or coiffure protocols, I think that having a double-length sling with you is still an essential precaution.

Absolutely. I wanted to be tongue in cheek because I've seen so many people with hair to the wind and braids are very learnable skills. And I just know someone will say they can't possibly learn, so voila the ponytail. I normally do a double french braid combined at the base and put into a small bun. My condolences to those with beards. 

I agree with you. I keep a double length sling +crab / prussik +locker / atc+locker on me for virtually all climbing/belaying, just in case.

rgold wrote:

None of this will help folks with longish beards, unless you have a hood that draws closed over the face.

Then there's getting your beard icicles frozen to the pillar you're climbing on lead.  That's a fun one.

I used to braid my beard for belaying and rapping, back when I kept it long. Looks dumb af but not as dumb as having my face sucked into an ATC. 

Hopefully the /s registered as the sarcasm intended in my original post. 

As mentioned already, the 'saw-blindly-with-a-knife,' method is not the preferred way to get out of this scenario.  Prussik, autoblock, micro-trax, etc above the device with a sling to unweight is the way to go. 

Now, a question: I don't regularly use a gri-gri, and almost never to rappel. What is going on with the handle stuck up in the open position, is that normal? 

I have caught my beard in a rappel set up, it only take once.

Dude literally used the rope as a cutting board, that was way worse than I expected   

Decades ago I got my (then) long hair caught in a fig-8 rap device while rapping an overhanging cliff. I was young and poor, and ignorant. I was also alone and had no knife on me. Oh and I owned about 6 biners total. So there I was, hair in the device, slowing spinning in space. What did I do?

A person can break hairs 2 or 3 at a time. It took me a while. I also didn't know about the "leg wrap" method of letting go of the brake hand. So I just held on and slowly, ever so slowly, broke my hair out of that predicament. 

It was a lesson I never forgot. I never got my hair caught again, mainly because after a stint in the military I never sported long hair again haha!

cue "dumb way to die" song.... but hey those gram likes tho!

I once had my belayer get her hair caught in an ATC while lowering me. Thankfully I was able to clip into a nearby bolt while she sorted it out.

That's why I decided to be bald.