Yes, that’s good input, especially with a heavy backpack. The prusik should be so far away from the tube that especially when you go unconscious there is no way that it reaches the tube. Let me pin your comment so that this is clear to everyone. Thanks!

Thanks mate..🤔🤓🧐😘😊☺️

If you go unconscious this will matter little. Try hanging relaxed in a harness, your legs are not going up. Using the leg loop is simple, fast and convenient for everyday rapells. The extended version is nice for multiple, planned rapells. Either one is fine.

The best way and industry standard is to extend the rappel device like you did and attach your prusik to the belay loop... in the usa

right, it has to got in the belay loop period.

Hey Dylan, thanks a lot, I really appreciate it!

Thank you very much!

Low friction mode is of course always a possibility. I’m not a huge friend of tying the rope ends together because I feel the rope gets caught more often. But it of course depends on the climb - as long as there is some sort of knot at the end of the rope, everything is fine.

I find if I tie the ropes together the rope will twist and loop making a tangle, however if I use separate stopper knots the rope is free so the loops tangles fall out

Thanks for the comment. Could you maybe elaborate on what you mean by “load-bearing”? My understanding is that even ultralight harnesses are rated to the same standards as any other harness and that the weight saving has a lot to do with comfort and long-term durability. For example, the blue ice harnesses (you hardly get lighter than them - only 84g per harness) are still rated EN 12277 Type C, so they are fully functional climbing harnesses.

The load on the 'third hand' is actually pretty low - I use a hollowblock loop on mine, when holding me on the rope, it is hardly even tight, it just applies enough hand tension to the brake strand, nothing like your body weight..... saying that I have it secured to my belay loop with an extended ATC.

Hey Dale, that’s awesome! A friend of mine is Canyoning guide and he took me into sone canyons. I always found it more scary to jump from 10meters into what feels like a bath tub, than to rappel down. Very cool sport, glad that you find the video useful.

Thanks a lot, appreciate it!

@@TakeTheHighground looking forward to you’re future videos man!

Thank you Ricardo, much appreciate it!

Thank you very much, really appreciate it!

Hey Marko, you’re very welcome, super happy that you found it helpful!

Thanks for watching Stephen!

Thank you very much, I appreciate it!

Hey, thanks a lot!

Thank you for watching, I really appreciate it! Fabio

Thank you!

You’re very welcome!

Thanks a lot for watching!

Thanks!

Thank you!

Thank you very much Jeff, I really appreciate it!

Merci!

Hi Mihai, thanks a lot! It’s indeed an interesting question, in which regions are you climbing? In my experience (mostly in the European central alps and Dolomites) a direct transition and rappelling down the climb is not something that happens very often. For real alpine (or “trad”) stuff there is usually an easier descent because rappelling down the route would mean to leave a lot of gear behind. The same is true for actual big routes in the mountains (basically go up the north face and then walk off the normal way). For more civilized routes (e.g. bolts and bolted belays), there is often a dedicated line to rappel down. So you have 5 routes up, but the descent goes via a special rappelling route that is often steeper, has no traverses in it and is much quicker to get down than if you’d follow the climbing route. But rope management on bigger routes is a fantastic topic, I’ll definitely make a video on it.

@@TakeTheHighground I'm usually climbing in north-northeastern Switzerland (hello from Zurich btw 😉). So far I've only done one multi-pitch climb (super easy one in Erstfeld with a walk-off) so don't have much experience yet, but have an alpine climbing course in Alpstein Kreuzberge planned for later this year

Love it, I know the climb in Erstfeld! You will really enjoy Alpstein, Kreuzberge is a cool place to climb. I don’t remember all routes from the top of my head but I think most of them were also walk off. Great place, you really can look forward to that course!

Hey Tim, thanks for the comment. I assume you’re referring to the single strand rappelling where the rope stays in place. In fact the clove hitch is actually easier to untie after weighted because you can just slide it off the carabiner. You can always equalize bolts, but I’d say it’s like wearing a helmet while cooking dinner. It will increase safety to a certain degree, but by default it’s not necessary. Now I’m not saying you don’t need a backup, that’s given in all set-ups I show. Equalization is a specific technique, it has many applications and if you only pick one technisier, it might be a good one, but it’s not the end all be all when it comes to building belays.

Thanks a lot! I have the Megajul as well as the BD ATC Guide. Personally, I find the guide is more versatile, I didn't really like rappelling with the Megajul, and most of the people know how to use an ATC on Multipitch, so you can easily swap gear with your partner. The setup with a Megajul is more particular. But then, on the other hand, the Megajul is semi-auto when it comes to belaying a lead climber, and that can be an advantage. Currently, I use the ATC for anything out in the mountains and have replaced the Megajul with a GriGri for sport climbing. But that really comes down to personal preference.

@@TakeTheHighground thank you Sir 👍💯

Care to explain the “why” behind both statements?

Hi! Absolutely. Generally if you have a rappelling point set up in the mountains, it's likely (unless you're doing something super wild) a pre-made position. This could be two bolts, two bolts with a chain already in between them, a tree with slings, etc. I would use cord to back up this rapelling point. I'd e.g. connect the bolts if they are not connected yet (threading thre rope through both bolts is a bad idea), put another sling around the tree instead of trusting the ones already there, etc. When the snow melts in spring, I will go out and do a video about how to build a belay in details but I hope the above gives you a good indication what I meant. Fabio

Thanks a lot! I will do a complete belay/anchor video as soon as the snow in the mountains is gone.

Thank you, you’re very welcome!

Hi Liam, Edelrid‘s devices are generally well thought out and innovative. I haven’t rappelled with the Giga Jul yet. It appears that by making the device able to switch between auto-block and ordinary tube, Edelrid eliminated some of the Mega Jul‘s drawbacks, especially when it comes to rappelling.

Good question, so in the meantime I went through training for high angle rescue with the fire department and would likely say it’s split. In the video I use relatively thin rope in the area of 7 - 9 mm. This is mainly the case because I also use them for climbing and you don’t want to drag a 12mm rope behind you for that. If it is purely for rappelling, then I’d indeed go with something that is thicker (~12mm as you suggested) and static. While static means semi-static like a rescue rope instead of a climbing rope which is dynamic and has a lot of stretch to it.

Hey John, thanks for the comment! I recently did some additional research on backups, since I uploaded a video yesterday where I discuss the whole leg loop / belay loop thing that you can see often in the comments. In the literature I saw the autobloc more often than in the past, Petzl & Ortovox definitely recommend it, while the handbooks of the mountain guide federations and alpine clubs seem to be with the traditional prusik. I personally used the autobloc with a 30cm sling a few times and didn’t particularly like it, but that’s likely more because of the sling. I’ll definitely check it out with the cord.

@@TakeTheHighground in some unscientific research by hownot2highline, a prusik seems better than the autobloc knot. In his testing the autobloc slips easily while the prusik seems to do it's job fairly well and consistently.

Pieter, that’s interesting, thanks a lot!

Hey Nicole, thanks for watching. No problem, let me add this to the description (might need a bit to do this, but it will be there). Fabio

And done! 😁

It’s roughly 18-20cm.

@@TakeTheHighground Thank you, but is the whole loop only 7 inches? It looks like it’s 7 inches from your leg loop to the rope, but I was wondering what the length of the entire loop is. I think cordelette would be a better word for it. I appreciate your time and thanks in advance.

Hey Steffen, first of all thank you for the kind words. I’m not really afraid of armchair hornets, but I tend to only make tutorials when I have quite a bit of practical experience with something. I did a lot of self belaying on a fixed rope when I intensively trained sport climbing for the mountain guide exam (not finished yet). However I didn’t do a lot of alpine rope soloing, so I honestly don’t think that I have the proper expertise to make a video on it. BR Fabio

Jap, ist so,

If it is only for rappelling, then a static rope would be the way to go. However since I use most of my gear also for climbing and stuff, I usually have dynamic ropes.

Yes, absolutely, setup stays the same

@@TakeTheHighground Thank you. I wish one day I'll get to try them on the field

Thanks bro, will do! There is a whole LandNav playlist and there will be more videos on that topic. Of course the same for ropes, but I also plan some videos on how to make fire, etc. Thanks for subscribing, really appreciate it!

Rated for what force?

Hi, so if it breaks (above you) while you rappel, you’ll fall. The best thing to avoid this is not to have the rope run over sharp edges. The forces from rappelling are pretty low, so it’s unlikely that the rope will break without mechanical damage. If you can’t avoid an edge, at least avoid making a lot of lateral movements and stay as smooth as possible. If you’re at a belay and your rope is broken (e.g., because it got stuck and you had to cut it), you have to decide if you want to only continue with the long end and use the ordinary double-strand rappelling or if you need additional length and go for a technique where you rappel only on a single strand of rope.

Thanks. For the leg loop thing: check out the video explicitly discussing the issue with the prusik. Happy to have the discussion there. For equalization: this video isn't meant to illustrate building an anchor, it assumes that there already is one. I however assume that it is common knowledge that equalization isn't the only way to build an anchor, so I fail to understand the issue.

Figure eight works perfectly fine, it love it for rappelling! I just use the ATC because that’s what most people also use for climbing up. 👍

Hey, would you want to use a carabiner instead of the girth hitch on the belay loop?

Thanks! Indeed, we will never know enough, maybe it’s „all you need to know to get started without instantly killing yourself“ 😂

You should definitely let Petzl know, they are the manufacturer and they explain on their homepage how to rappel with a Grigri, and call it suitable for rappelling.

Rappeling is just belaying yourself.

Well said 😅

Good call, not even I take myself seriously

What's wrong with guns and coffee? 🇺🇸

That sounds like a personal problem.

BRCC are awesome.

​@crabbiboi5528 black rifle is a very anti 2nd ammendment company that's why

Thanks for watching and the kind words, I really appreciate it.