Any Climbers on Here?

[Wendelspanswick]

Working on the new roof of the barn, eaves are about 6m off the ground and the pitch is 33° so just steep enough to make it difficult not to slip, especially when the box profile sheets are damp.
Because there is a steep bank along the back its difficult to erect scaffolding so I am working off a roof ladder on the previously erected sheet, this is ok but I can't work on the eaves edge to put the fixings in.
I have a sit harness and climbing ropes that I am using as a safety harness at the moment but I want to support myself stood on the eaves using the harness, I can tie a Prussic as a safety backup but I am wondering if the is a knot I can use on a krab to lock myself to the rope a bit like a lockable belay, I could then use this to get to the eaves, lock it off and have the Prussic as a backup.
I know I can use a device like a Petzl Grigri but don't want to spend £45 on something that will get used for 2 days and then never used again.

 

[Sean]

Autoblock with crab? this shows your options you can also do the autoblock with the back of a crab in the knot so the crab acts as a handle, load the lanyard though not the crab.

 

[doubleboost]

Look up "Italian hitch"
Friction knot that is easy to lock off

 

[Arclikeharrypotter]

http://www.animatedknots.com/muntermule/#ScrollPoint

Or you could just tie off a regular belay plate if you have. Prusik are very effective, but gri gri is certainly handy.

 

[Sean]

Dont like grigris something thats been invented to sell product if its complicated it will get used wrong. I like sticht plates and figure 8s.....but im old
https://www.thebmc.co.uk/gri-gri-unmasking-the-myths

Italian hitch has to be locked off or held, you can work hands free with a prussik or any of the locking hitches you just have to have faith in it and keep it loaded.

Simplest would be to tie a seriese of overhand loops in a static line and clip in. Its not like your dangling off the rope and so you run the risk of any device releasing while its not in tension.

 

[mike os]

Just use prussik , simple, reliable and not that hard to adjust. There are various other knots you could use but not worth the effort for what you want

 

[RonA]

Autoblock with crab? this shows your options you can also do the autoblock with the back of a crab in the knot so the crab acts as a handle, load the lanyard though not the crab.

Haven't rock climbed since I was ar college but it was in a time before all these modern ironmongery & the the then only modern appliance was the Pierre Alain descender for abseiling or rappel depending on your linguistic preference. Never went over any cravaces personally but the then accepted method of extracting yourself was a pair of crevace loops. These were just two approx leg length loops of thinnish clinbig rope that you wrapped round your main climbing rope

Working on the new roof of the barn, eaves are about 6m off the ground and the pitch is 33° so just steep enough to make it difficult not to slip, especially when the box profile sheets are damp.
Because there is a steep bank along the back its difficult to erect scaffolding so I am working off a roof ladder on the previously erected sheet, this is ok but I can't work on the eaves edge to put the fixings in.
I have a sit harness and climbing ropes that I am using as a safety harness at the moment but I want to support myself stood on the eaves using the harness, I can tie a Prussic as a safety backup but I am wondering if the is a knot I can use on a krab to lock myself to the rope a bit like a lockable belay, I could then use this to get to the eaves, lock it off and have the Prussic as a backup.
I know I can use a device like a Petzl Grigri but don't want to spend £45 on something that will get used for 2 days and then never used again.

RonA

 

[8ob]

Just use prussik , simple, reliable and not that hard to adjust. There are various other knots you could use but not worth the effort for what you want

It's quite funny to see all the nippers straight out of college with their harness cluttered with all the latest gadgets, as the years roll on they go back to basics. You could almost judge a climbers experience by just looking at what's hanging off their belt. Anyway before I got side tracked I was going to say be mindful of rope and sharp edges, it might pay to throw an old bit of carpet over the ridge to avoid damaging the rope.

Bob

 

[Sean]

was at Ratho teaching the kids, Honestly youd think id pulled a babys head out the rucksack when i was using a 8 for a belay device, just wait till i get the hawser laid hemp out and body belay with Dachstein mitts lol

as for crevasse recovery - yup couple of prussiks however the only time i really got stuck it was because the front points of my crampon got stuck in my other thigh!

 

[Pond frog]

Prussik loop as shown by RonA is all you need, when I worked in tree surgery this is what everyone used cheap and foolproof . You might want to consider securing some of youre tools to a strop as well.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

was at Ratho teaching the kids, Honestly youd think id pulled a babys head out the rucksack when i was using a 8 for a belay device, just wait till i get the hawser laid hemp out and body belay with Dachstein mitts lol

as for crevasse recovery - yup couple of prussiks however the only time i really got stuck it was because the front points of my crampon got stuck in my other thigh!

Had the same experience. Was told figure 8 is completely unsuitable, I pointed out it was around far longer than anything else save the body belay, and that whilst everyone had Belay plates jammed up I had been doing fine

 

[Justme]

clove hitch is quick & easy plus you can move it.

 

[mike os]

It's quite funny to see all the nippers straight out of college with their harness cluttered with all the latest gadgets, as the years roll on they go back to basics. You could almost judge a climbers experience by just looking at what's hanging off their belt. Anyway before I got side tracked I was going to say be mindful of rope and sharp edges, it might pay to throw an old bit of carpet over the ridge to avoid damaging the rope.

Bob

Some of the toys are nice for easy positioning, but not necessary. ... and it's all more weight to drag round. Preferred a klemheist for climbing but there is a risk if you tie it wrong

 

[Wendelspanswick]

Thanks to all for the advice, I tested out the different methods today and in the end settled on 2 Prussic knots (couldn't convince myself to just use 1) and it worked fine.
It did take a while to learn to trust it, but by the end I was leaning off the eaves drill in one hand and fixings in the other.
Got about 30% of the roof done but back to work tomorrow so the rest will have to wait for the weekend.

 

[Brad93]

I'm a rope access tech. Get yourself a Shunt, bout £40. Or a duck.
I use a petzl asap but that's for professional use and £200.

 

[sparkysy]

^^^^^ I've used shunts and stops and gri's in the past very usefull tools, but I still prefer a prusik they are perfect for so many uses and a length of cord is much lighter than any mechanical device and less prone to failure imho!
Sy

 

[Brad93]

If you're doing rope access commercially neither a Prussik nor a shunt is acceptable anymore believe it or not. Under both IRATA and SPRAT regulations which most firms (not tree surgery) follow for insurance / health & safety purposes

 

[Wedg1e]

I'm a rope access tech.

In NDT, or do you paint the Forth Bridge?

 

[Sean]

^^^^^ I've used shunts and stops and gri's in the past very usefull tools, but I still prefer a prusik they are perfect for so many uses and a length of cord is much lighter than any mechanical device and less prone to failure imho!
Sy

I'm a rope access tech. Get yourself a Shunt, bout £40. Or a duck.
I use a petzl asap but that's for professional use and £200.

Yup used a shunt when i was a climbing instructor, we'd set up a static line alongside the route a student was going to lead. Shunt on my harness along with a cowstail and id prussik up alongside the student so you could advise on gear placement etc. If it got sketchy you'd clip the student to the cowstail and keep a tight 'top rope' till they were safe. As always you had to have a method of escaping from the system and a failsafe method of bailing out. The static line was on an italian hitch ( as per Doubleboosts post) or fig8 tied off with half hitch A pull on the safe side and you could lower the mess back to ground.Even if the student took a fall as it was a top rope the fall factor never got above 1 and was well within the limit of the shunt.

OP didnt want to spend £40 and as he's still posting guess hes got the hang of prussiks now

 

[Brad93]

In NDT, or do you paint the Forth Bridge?

Neither, took it up with the idea of going offshore plating & welding, however I've been too busy here and I'm not sure I'd want to/or be able to hack 3 weeks on, one week off of 12 hour days.

In london, our eastern european friends will work for peanuts, so I no longer do any rope access stuff. Not to mention the fact that all the EE building managers put the jobs into their EE mates.