Thanks Dave. Excited to see this new and improved video. I loved the last one and was sad when it was taken down. However, I felt it was a great gesture of respect for the injured climber that prompted you to take down the original version. I have been using my shunt with enough confidence, and awareness - the unfolding stories, while so unfortunate, have been good teaching moments. Thanks for all your contributions to the climbing community! I do wish everyone well, and stay safe!

In a world where beginning climbers are so often taught “the one true way” to do something (perhaps to limit liability on gyms and guides) it’s refreshing to see someone talk about the various ways that risks can be recognized and mitigated, and the process of thinking through the “whys”. Appreciate the video.

Dave, you are such a gem for making this video. As a former rope access professional it’s really awesome to see how thoroughly you walked your viewers through the rope abrasion hazard mitigation process. Exercises like this, walking through a thought process, helps others gain the appropriate tools to take appropriate risks and mitigate hazards.

Hi Dave, if it helps you sleep a little better, this video convinced me I'm not prepared to attempt top rope soloing yet and should get a couple more years of experience with normal belaying first. Thanks for the in-depth look at the concerns of doing it safely.

You are an amazing teacher Dave. Community is lucky to have you!

Hi Dave. Thank you for the film. Very thorough and well presented. I use a shunt for top rope solo climbing, and have been doing so for about 25 years. I do it a little differently to you, as I use two ropes. The shunt is designed for use with two ropes. The advantages I see are the ability to rig routes that wander around, or have traversing, by using directionals. I also put a separate anchor for each rope, meaning that two ropes would have to chop, or 6 to 8 pieces of gear would have to rip for the anchor to fail. I completely agree with your take on the Scorpion catch. A fundamental principle in climbing is that the gear must be used correctly. If you are allowing the shunt to invert, then you are not using it correctly. Another advantage of using two ropes is the scorpion catch is impossible, as when the device is inverted, one rope has done a turn around the leaver and is forcing it into the clamp position. Do you have an opinion on using two ropes? I am fortunate that my local crag has many routs that I am able to do this way with a 70m rope

Excellent video dave! Love these long form interesting videos because they are perfect to watch while training at home. Thank you for sharing!

Thanks for this awesome video Dave and thanks for all you do for the climbing community

Congratulations Dave for this great video! There is a lot of work into it and I now fully understand why you love the Shunt-only system. Not for me, I will use other systems with redundancy of the device. Your review of the LOV3 is right on even if other people might want to use the LOV3 for TRSing. This video is a gem as someone said. Thank you!!

As always Dave, very informative with the emphasis on being as safe as possible. Good video well done!

So psyched, I’ve always been wondering your process for rope soloing. Thank you so much for always sharing these knowledge bombs.

I absolutely loved this video. I have started some rope soloing and have found other instructions videos far to basic. This was incredibly detailed and informative. Many thanks for doing this.

Thanks for taking all the effort to do this video again. When I was looking for a rope system for finishing the metal roof on my house I came across your earlier video and learned a great deal. I put together a system that worked great and let me finish the job. Watched more of your videos out of intrigue (not a climber). This is a great refresher, and highlights more points. Since the first one, we did start doing some climbing (indoor bouldering) just before Covid came along and were really enjoying it. Haven't got back to it yet. Once again, thanks for the video(s) on the shunt, and all your others.

Such a beautiful spot! Thanks for the in-depth video.

Great video. I've used a shunt like this years ago and am just getting back into climbing after many years off. Good refresher for me before I do any top rope soloing again. Thank you.

So glad you made a new one. The last one got me in to self-belaying and headpointing for the first time. I've consequently seen a big change in terms of routes I will now have a go at with practice. Not sure I'll ever be comfortable with just the shunt, but this will make my approach much safer. Thanks!

Your videos are always an amazing resource

Excellent video Dave! Thank you for such a comprehensive and detailed video. When such an experienced climber takes the time to film such a well thought out video sharing a technique or system that they utilize it is truly a gift and something that we are all fortunate to have access to. I especially appreciated the video as a fan of the Petzl Shunt and it was enjoyable to get an insight into how it would used for TRS. I instantly took a liking to it while playing with one in the shop I worked at as a teenager. Because it was such a good mechanical approximation of a prusik it really made sense to me and is very versatile. The stand out abilities that it had were that it was compatible with two strands of rope and was useful for upward movement on the rope as well as being able to be a mechanical "third hand" type back up when descending which differentiated it greatly from all of the toothed or ridged cam type ascenders (Petzl Ascension, Petzl Croll, Wild Country Rope Man, etc.). Coincidentally I am a fan of 11mm (or at least 10.5mm) ropes which is part of the reason why I am comfortable with the Shunt. I wouldn't feel the same level of safety if I were trying to use it with a 9.5mm or thinner rope (and likely wouldn't use it then). Ive thought about employing it as a backup when jumaring fixed lines that dont allow for the tying of back up knots. There are two ways that I could do this, the first being to have he shunt attached below my bottom ascender (more intuitive, similar to how I back up with a Gri gri at times) or possibly above my leading ascender on the fixed line. The idea there would be to have the ascender do the work of advancing the shunt up the rope. Might be more trouble than its worth as it could introduce some slack in the Shunt's teather and consequently a shock load if the ascender(s) failed.

What a good guy taking the time and effort like this👏 And you gotta admit the balls per square inch to do whatever it takes like this to climb demand respect. I’m so glad I found this channel!

Great video as always. I took everything I learnt from your first one like rope protection, directing the rope etc to the rocks and am confident in my setup. I really like how this new video gives the clear message that this is still dangerous regardless of what device you use and that you should be aware of how it can fail (I am currently using a Trango Vergo which can get held open if the carabiner hooks over so I am using it with a small oval carabiner which is too small to hook over), and that you should be constantly checking everything is still ok.

Thanks for the in depth explanation and pointing out a lot of important parts to consider! Great video!

THANK YOU, for reposting. Bought the Petzl Shunt d/t your first video, then went onto KZfaq & it was taken down. Thanks again for Dave!

Hi Dave, great video and covered most of the important things to consider when TRSing!! Except for setting up the Top rope anchor at the top with a single rope?? Really want to get into TRS and think another year of training and skills before I attempt it!! Please Dave make a short video of building a single top rope anchor ❤️🙏👍

Thanks Dave for the informative and scenic video. Your camera work is masterful.Cheers from Canada

I totally agree with you on whatever system you use, first and foremost is to be extremely comfortable with it. Know the ins and outs, pros and cons enough that you can almost see where a f#*k up can go terribly wrong. You definitely make your system look easy and that comes with time/mileage on rock and when you are alone. Love it!!

you've got a love units used in the UK. just in a matter of 2-3 minutes of a video Dave will tell you that he may drop max 6 feet down, where in few couple of sentences he will say that if he would drop because the cam will fail, he would only drop few centimetres 😂 for me? I have no idea how much is 6 feet and I will use Google to convert it for me but I am finding it (always) quite amusing to use so many different units. I mean, there are more and more examples (fuel usage in gallons per mile, where beer would be in pints, and when you buy a can of wall paint, it would be a 2 litre can). of course I am leaving a thumbs up as it is a good video

Thanks Dave. 👍😎 Glad to see your new video on the shunt after removing the old one. This is very well explained about the risks etc and as with everything in climbing, it’s down to the individual to make their own decisions on what they feel comfortable using or doing. Personally I have been using the shunt a long time like yourself with a 10.5mm static. Only difference I do is I also have a gate lock for the mailon and a micro trax below the shunt as back up. 👍😎

Thanks Dave for another great and informative video.

Incredibly useful, well considered advice. Thanks.

Thanks for sharing. Your perspective and risk management with TRS is spot on and all devices have their quirks and limitations. Dave summarizes his perspective well at 43:39 (or so)

I learned a lot from the first video and think it comes to personal judgement. You can't take blame for what people do copying stuff and probably being not proficient and vigilant enough to do it. That said I'm leaning towards the roll and lock + microtrax combo, wich are super useful devices to have around for lots of situations. Thanks for putting out amazing content, again!

Such a legend! Really appreciate your content mate, thank you.

Great video and the explanation of different systems pros and cons and the emphasis of safety and rechecking the system. I use a very similar system with a petzl rescue shunt at the chest to avoid the shunt being caught in the legs joined to the belay loop with a runner and backed up with a wild country rope man 1 on the main harness. Little more cumbersome when transitioning to abseil. But never had issues and feel confident in the system. Thanks for making this system aware. Cheers

I've been using a camp goblin it's seems to be a good simple device. But it's great to pick up some tips on setting up the rig, they've been really good informative videos, which have made my top roping safer! 👍Thank you!

Brilliant video Dave! You’re absolutely correct that being proficient with your systems, rigging, weight transfers, and having the experience to improvise is the primary skill set for TRS I love all the Jabberwocky about devices - the key is to have a system which is simple that you can visually check as you launch into a set of moves The acceptance of risk is inherent in this activity. Ultimately the best advice I can think of regarding TRS is “Don’t do it”

Thanks, Dave as always for the great content. A suggestion for a future video would be to see your process for cleaning and working boulders on top rope. As a boulderer I've struggled to find a good resource that covers; - setting up various anchor types - cleaning and the ethics of cleaning (is a wire brush on granite ok but not ok on sandstone) - tips for working a fairly tall boulder on top rope - etc Thanks again!

fantastic work once again Dave!!! Much appreciated! I learned so much from your previous video on this, but this is obviously on yet another level of detail. Rope soloing is such a game of experience. Some errors you have to know about beforehand because they kill you, but there‘s also so many that can lead to all kinds of „inconveniences“ 😅 I can‘t count the amount of relatively minor blunders that left me with a stuck jumar (too close to the quickdraw), a stuck rope, a bent clipstick (left it extended and abseiled down onto it 😇) and major inconveniences that I so far managed to avoid (dropping your rope leaving you stranded on a single bolt) or dropping / forgetting key devices… having a cell phone with you (on the pitch) as well as having someone come check on you if you don‘t call in on a predetermined time are absolutely key for me. thanks again, also for your thoughts on the tazlov, my current device of choice! cheers bruno

What a wonderful video, thanks for making this! I've had these questions for so long and it's great to see how you setup your system. I use the shunt, but I also use a double rope and a rope man 2 as a back up. I also don't have 20 years of experience. I get what you're saying, that it's not for everyone and has a degree of risk. I think this makes a lot of sense given your expertise. See if you can get Ryan on Hownot2 to try and break a shunt with a stopper knot. I'd like to see what happens.

This was delightfully thorough

glad to have this asset back. thanks dave

Great video. I remember shunting what became The Walk of Life in N Devon with a dynamic rope, I took a couple of (slow) ground falls from about 40ft - it definitely made the day more "exciting" than necessary 🙂

Thanks for this. I remember bodging up a similar system in 1989 in Auckland, NZ. There’s a short cliff (2 cliffs bookended) in the grounds of a school with some quite hard stuff. I was there on my own for a year working and would run there with the stuff in my pack. I would put rocks in my bag - the critical issue for safety once I’d rehearsed my ‘method’ Ti full automatic in my hind brain plus conscious checks with every shift of the shunt, it was getting the right weight in the bag stabilising the rope that was the key step. The weight was slightly different, depending on the nature of the moves. To refine the technique, I used two ropes, one with a shunt and one with a simple rope prusik. Obviously this was tricky, but it was safe. It taught me the necessary ‘rules’ for the safe use of the shunt - climbing on my own and learning in safety (good for fitness and learning the lines too 😊).

Thanks Dave, great video. Well explained to cover all factors. Might help save some poor sod! Cheers.

Absolutely fantastic video

I always viewed a shunt as a mechanical prussik and not designed to hold a fall. Personally when top rope soloing, I use two ropes with a mini traxion on one rope and a micro traxion on the other. A traxion will hold up to around 4kn before damaging the rope. I also tie stopper knots below me at regular intervals. It is unlikely that both devices will fail, and the stopper knots will be a fail safe. I would never use a single device. I also use several kevlar lined rope protectors where the ropes run over edges. In addition to this I carry prussiks and a couple of belay devices as back ups so I don't get stranded if I can't climb or I drop something important.

You have such a relaxing voice. I fall asleep to your videos sometimes. You should do meditation voice overs.

Thanks Dave for a super video. I think I have the same Petzl rope protectors- they can be tucked into their own webbing loop to avoid carrying a band to hold them rolled up I’m not sure if it was mentioned, but the jumar used is a Black Diamond nForce (now superseded by Index) - I didn’t realise you could get trigger release on an ascender for down jugging, having just bought a Petzl Ascension not knowing better several years ago.

Just wanted to add that GG Main chamber is over 300 feet high/deep. Also I had some trees to cut and was trying to save having a belayer at the base of the tree. Thanks for the excellent tutorial on Shunts, especially the safety warnings about upside down. I can't get the SWL on Shunts, but believe from past info that it was 400kg. So no big drops onto them either hopefully. I wouldn't like to find out the hard way , cheers Joe

really on point and well explained!

Great video Dave, very informative, thanks. Couple of observations. Firstly, its a real shame you felt you had to re-do a video on this subject, but its great content. The times we live in!!! Secondly, clearly you’re ok with metal to metal through the eye of the shunt. I have heard that in some instances the eye has snapped in a fall (though I cannot find any evidence of that online to back up those claims). I tend to use a gri-gri when bolting or working moves, and when I have tried the shunt in the past, I have always larks-footed a small sling through and over the back of the eye to mitigate the metal to metal snapping scenario. Thoughts on that? Finally, a special mention to the humble Jumar. It only gets a couple of small mentions yet was on the rope for most of the video (also providing useful back up). I swear by these things, they are amazingly useful pieces of kit. Cheers Mike

Thanks Dave, very instructive. I have some old 11mm ropes which maybe fit for purpose.

Great video Dave. I live a couple of hours north of FW so if you’re ever stuck for a belayer, happy to assist. I’m self employed so can usually make week days. 😉

Another brilliant video Mr MacLeod !!! I've learned so much from watching you here and hearing your advice. So....I have a question for you.....could you use a camp giant on a chest harness instead of the petzl shunt for the same job ?

Quite simply “Thanks”… I like the fact that you stress, “This is what I do, and I am not recommending this practice”. Too much in this world are people not being held accountable for their own decisions, and being able to blame others. Cheers Dave. I’m off to purchase A Shunt, a 10 mm Maillon and an Ascender. I already have a “Big, Beefy, 11 mil Static rope and practice. 😊

Hi Dave, great video. I used a shunt back in the 80s for caving. Mainly as a self liner on wire ladders to re ascend pitches. I also used it as an abseil back up descending Gaping Gill main chamber with a 5 bar rappel rack. In this case I started off with 3 bars due to the weight of the rope. I was wary because a previous caver had died doing this. Basically he used only 3 bars but as the rope got lighter he lost control from about 80 feet to go. In my case I had the Shunt above the rack and used a small string on the little hole at the back of the Shunt. This way I could hold the cam off the rope with the tip of one finger, but if there was a rockfall or I lost friction on the rackI just let the loop slip and I stopped. This worked great and with about 100 feet to go I put the rack onto 5 bars and continued safely to the cave floor.

Thank you Dave for clearly explaining both the techniques involved but especially the risks. I have been using your method since the previous video. In my mostly vertical climbs I usually don't remove the Shunt to rappell , but instead connect the GriGri above it which works well for me, even without extension using a maillon for the Shunt and a medium sized carabiner for the GriGri. I love the smoothness and ease of use with the shunt but having watched you and others describe the possible pitfalls with the Shunt flipping I have been looking at switching to the Petzl Micrograb which looks like a similar mechanism, soft teeth and with no possibility of the rope coming out of the device, however with the hassle of having to thread the rope through the device. Not having seen anyone use that device for top rope solo I am wondering if anyone has used it or has any comments about it?

Hi Dave, great video! im curious about your thoughts on the Camp Goblin. it is my go-to for TRS. it is mostly steel and so a bit weighty but not too big. works great with a maillon and can be put on a weighted rope. i got it to replace my shunt 😅

Hi Dave. The Taz you are using is faulty. The plastic cleat should never stick. I had one like it and returned it to the company. Assumed it would become a recalled item? Great Video mate. Appreciated.

Long ago when I used to do a bit of roped soloing I decided the Shunt was the best device but at some stage somebody managed to talk me out of it. Too long ago to remember what that was about. I thought the absolute simplicity of the shunt was a key factor. It might have some disadvantages but as you show here it is ludicrously simple and with a sensible layout and a good discipline of visual checks not much can go wrong. I also remember talking about roped soloing with Alan Mullin who swore by his Wren Soloist. In fact he would rant for ages about it. I have never tried one.

Great video, watch out for that fray by your harness!

Much more enlightening video this time round indeed, well done. I finally got to understand why you like the Shunt so much, even if I'll stick with my redundance-central set-up. One thing you haven't touched on, at least I find it for myself, is the utter pleasure of climbing by yourself on a rock face with no human interaction. The mind changes, adapts to quietness and calm, tunes in to nature more than when with a partner. I started TRS to not have to find belayers for my projects, but now I do it just as much for how soothing it is.

Great video! One day I’d like to get into solo climbing, planning on using a backup tho 😂

Awesome Dave! I got a shunt after watching a video of yours a while back, where you went over top rope soloing. The project at the time, was that Mind Riot ? Looking forward to fine tuning my methods with this vid, thanks 🙏

Amazing Dave, thanks for re-uploading your system explanation. I've got a question: when I'm using my shunt, I find that when resuming climbing after a fall, the shunt appears to be "stuck" against the rope and requires a quick pinch of the lever to be able to carry on without it pulling the dead end up. I'm thinking it's my static rope to blame (10.5). I could also add more weight at the bottom, but that can be annoying. My question is whether you've seen this behaviour before and it's common, or whether I should look at getting a different rope and have a better look at the system?

Wicked, been waiting for this one, nice one Dave

Great video, thanks

Great video Dave - the reason the taz lov isnt catching easily when you're testing it is because you need to weight the rope at the bottom. I use my empty pack, anything to give a little tension.

Having a small mallion atached to a chest harness that acts as a rope guid high enough that it can not interfere with the Shant prevents both an inverted fall as wel as preventing a possible inverted Shant load that may cause the rioe to detach from the shunt. I then also pull up the shunt with an elastic bungy attached to the chest harness, hence its much more responsive to engage with very little slack in the rope as you progress your climbing upwards and it doesn't drop to a point where it can catch to leg loop that will cause the meganism to fail

This is Dave's system. It's dangerous. He's a brilliant mad man! Love him. Don't fall upside down, 1 rule. I'll take a taz or a trax or both

Great video. Any recommendation for static ropes?

Thank you Dave!

Thanks, (Dave). I will now open the Pod Bay Doors for you, (Dave)!

As I didn't see it in the comments, I thought I'd mention that the Taz Lov 3 did not replace the Taz Lov 2, both are currently being made. They are just different simultaneous versions, but with different levels of safety. On a different note, I enjoy rewatching this video every so often and comparing it to my own system to see if I understand things better, or have learned something new. Always something new to take away.

The shunt, a great way to self belay, people forget since the advent of the GRI GRI, ive experienced GRI GRI cutting the sheath in a big fall, and ive been climbing for 35 years

Always preferred the shunt for top roping, love the mallion idea, it's better than a crab for taking a 3 way load also. I normally put some thin cord through the shunt and around me over the shoulder to keep it close in and secure, stops it moving upsidedown and I also find it runs through the rope better. Out of curiosity is there a reason you use a clove hitch instead of an alpine or cavers butterfly on the re-belays? I normally use this or a bowline on a bight as it has a closed loop if I want to clip in and it's got better shock loading characteristics if a re-belay pulls.

I don’t have that sticking issue with the Lov3 - maybe it has been resolved in later iterations? Lov2 is also still available if you’d prefer it without the button push - although I really like the button push as I’ve been using the device on multipitch routes and have it as my only device so definitely don’t want to drop it! :P In terms of weight, it could end up not making much difference because you’ll still need to carry another belay device with you with a shunt to descend (unless you descend on shunt). I do think though that the weight is so negligible. I also have found personally that the Taz runs so much smoother than a shunt with less weight on the end of the static. Occasionally my shunt if I sat on it would get jammed on the rope a bit - just a bit of a pain when you pull back on and the device is locked into place and you have to feed rope through to unlock it. But bottom line, I have felt so much safer using a Taz. Been using it now for over a year and I’m so happy with it. Each to their own, the one exception I really do make is I’ll avoid using micro trax again after one failed on me when the spring broke… at least with a shunt and Taz it’s way more burlier than a micro trax.

Psyc’d to see this back. Wanted to check out the rebelay stuff. This one is long so I guess everything will be covered in full

My favorite 'Top Rope' device.... I use it with a short extender and also use a Prussic above the Shunt (Never Use Below).

Did you ever consider trying it with two ropes on a single Shunt? It seems like you would benefit from the redundancy of the two ropes with an added benefit of it twisting upside down being reduced, while not complicating the system.

Hey Dave, it's possible to run two ropes through a shunt. Have you tried it with two ropes, and do you think it would stabilise the device and prevent it flipping upsidedown?

Please see another method of self belaying with JuMar kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gruBnpuTz6jddY0.html Hope you like it.

When I top rope solo, I always take 2x 1.2m rope protectors. Im satisfied that they are long enough to tackle most edges and with a good margin in case it moves on the rope. And you can bump them up with you as you climb until you get to a suitable place to take it off. Ripping them off one handed in the middle of a climb is a bit hit and miss however. Id love to hear if somebody out there has perfected this. Also where can I get the clips that hold the rope protector? Or a simple/diy version where I can still remove it one handed.

Thanks

Fantastic and thorough video. I really appreciate it. Out of curiosity, how long is your static line? I'll purchase my 11mm static line by the foot and am wondering how long it should be before it gets cumbersome. Of course, it's route dependent but am wondering what people carry. Any suggestions? Thanks.

I use the Petzl rescuecender for tr soloing. Only real downside is it’s a little heavy. Feels safer than the shunt.

Realy nice thank you! By the way what Jacked ist that, does anyone know?

Cheers for the video, been using that system but with two ropes cos I have two ropes and they're skinnier, and all has been well for the last year. Just a small question - in those twenty years have you replaced that shunt much/at all or is it still going strong?

Could you tether the hand ascender to your harness as a backup fall arrest? Theoretically of course. I know you said you don’t like clutter around your belay loop.

I am using the shunt also since a while and i position the shunt up with a sling around my head. As a back up device I set an ascender down below the shunt with another carabiner. it works really easy and smooth.

hi, any chance you know what load does the shunt tolerate when it hits a stopper knot before its start deforming..? thanks for your channel

I've had the shunt catch under my shorts and drop me almost to the ground before I saw it!

If you feel a piece come loose, do you hike back up and rappel down to replace it?

Have you ever seen the “s tec enforcer” Single line only but has extra Safty factors.

The part where you realise that you are bleeding is kinda comedy 😅😊 much love and thanks from Switzerland 🇨🇭 cheers

Do you have a picture of the rope protector and how it’s cinched to the rope?

Did you make that rope protector? I use my backpack usually and cinch it to the rope but I'd like to know how you made that one or where you got it. So nice and compact!

What size of 'big beefy maillon' is good? 10mm, 12mm?

35:35 - this is how I worked my most recent project, it had a hard boulder problem crux so I needed to ascend and descend several times to try and link it.

ever use the s-tec Duck for this purpose? seems like the same type of device