How to Rappel With Rope Only (South African Method)

Description

A demonstration, including safety concerns, of the South African method of rappelling with no equipment except for a rope. To display the advantages and disadvantages of this method, I wore inadequate clothing and did it without any safety gear. When you rappel, always use proper gear and technique. The method used in this video is for emergency use only, when no other gear is available. In learning or practicing this technique, perform it under controlled circumstances, preferably on belay.

Visit http://rewildu.com/classes/ for unique educational opportunities in rewilding, wilderness skills, mindfulness, martial arts, primal fitness, homesteading, and more.

Tags: Kenton Whitman,ReWild University,Human Rewilding,personal rewilding,mindfulness,how to,bushcraft,survival,wilderness survival skills,how to survive in the woods,south african rappel,rappelling,Abseiling (Sport)

Video Transcription

you

today I'm going to demonstrate how to repel using only a rope there's a number of ways to do this and I'm going to show you my preferred method rappelling is fun and it's safe if you're using proper gear and technique including a helmet using only a rope is considered more of an emergency technique probably something that most people would never use I do use this technique when I'm adventuring it means I only have to carry a rope and because I prefer low gear or old-school techniques I prefer this method however it's not the safest thing in the world so there's some key points to remember to make this endeavor safer and I'll go over them one by one first is to perfect your technique I'm going to be going over a rather steep incline here but when you first practice this practice it other other shallow incline where you can get the feel of letting out the rope leaning back into it and know that you're secure and that you really know what you're doing when you go over that edge

number two is to use good rope not the stuff you buy at the hardware store your life is literally on the line so you're going to want to use climbing rope this is designed to hold much more than human weight and to withstand a fall as well so climbing rope essential if you're going to be rappelling one of the reasons this is not an everyday use technique is because climbing rope is expensive for most of us and we're going to be getting our rope in the dirt it's going to be going around a tree we're not treating it very well all those dirt particles get in between the weave and slowly degrade the rope you don't want to be using that over and over until your rope is getting weak or afraid again remember your life is depending on your rope then be sure to clear your route and what this means is that if you're not wearing a helmet you've gone over the cliff edge your rope coming down your rope knock something a rock say from the top of that clip cliff flip and it falls when it hits you it's going to hit with a large amount of impact it's going to be a quick way to end your adventuring days forever so as you're coming to the edge using your feet to clear away any rock or debris that you feel might be in danger of falling and as you're descending to be watching for other items that also could fall on your head clear those away with your feet before you come to them and your route will be clean to begin I'm going to uncoil my rope wrap it around the tree clearing debris right from the beginning and making sure that once my rope is around that tree that it moves smoothly if it catches up I'm going to be having a hard time retrieving my rope from the bottom for this repelling method it can be useful to mark your rope with a piece of tape at the halfway point that will aid you when you're unraveling and knowing when to start on the other end its will not be a knot video so I'm going to do a very simple knot these are my two ends I like to knot them just so that when I'm throwing this over the edge it stays together especially with this edge there's a lot of sticks and other stuff on the way grow on the way down and so a really good chance that one of my ropes will make it to the bottom the other one will end up halfway and get tangled up in some stuff this tends to keep them together more the disadvantage or risk of doing this is that if you throw it down and you have to pull it back up you can always get it hooked on a branch and give yourself a dip some difficulty so this is just the way I prefer to do it throwing this over the edge if you can see the bottom trying to mark the place where you're going to land it be sure that you don't get it caught up in any sticks or all the debris on the way down you want to recall that because you are looping the rope using two ends going down that you're cutting the length of your rope in half so you want to make sure that you have enough length to reach the bottom in this case have a very long climbing rope I have plenty for the entire descent but other than times when runs of mine have been caught partway down the cliff with not enough rope and that puts you into a sticky situation making sure that my rope has nice movement around the object that I've selected making sure that the object has no sharp edges that are going to cut the rope ensuring that I feel that this object is strong enough to hold my weight whether it's a tree a rock Boulder or other object I'm going to be demonstrating how to hook this up I'm lifting the rope up on the tree and I'm going to be doing it up slow just so that you can see how it's done the ropes are coming going underneath my armpits

I'm crossing that in back then I'm stepping over each rope here's a demonstration of that stepping over stepping over it stepping over it this is to get this rope come down get my groin

this Rover then is coming out to the side I'm going to wrap it once and hold it here this is how my weight is supported

on the incline and bringing this behind crossing it over I'm stepping over stepping over those two ropes come down behind my groin

going to rap once now is the time to get the feel what it feels like to be in this makeshift harness

by release with this I start to fall backwards when the advantages of this method of repelling is that I have one hand free I can hold here for a sense of security or my hand can be up if I've missed a piece of debris and it falls I at least have a chance of locking it to the side when you're practicing on an incline you want to let yourself lean back most people want to hunch forward and that makes it so that it's easy to feel like you're going to slip right out of this and you're going to be scrambling down the slope your life is depending on the rope so relax into it there is going to be a decent amount of friction on your back with these ropes are moving this is not a painless technique you want to make sure that you're wearing more than just a tank top because the ropeburn even at a very slow speed is intense not the right way to do it again an emergency technique so means it's going to be uncomfortable and you're dealing with some different associated risks and dangers it definitely holds you you could have relax into it on the way down again

really making sure I'm watching for anything that's going to fall I'm clearing that out of the way when I get to the bottom making sure I'm on secure ground before I release here's one of the great advantages of this technique now I can collect my Roe instead of leaving it up top I've made a very slow descent still it ate up my wrist a little bit and that's what that rope will do to your flesh even when it's moving so slowly because there's so much friction so it's not a just for fun activity there is another way that has a German name that I can't pronounce it's very fun to try to pronounce it I will spell it out right here that method is considered to be not as safe is this method I do sometimes use it because I feel that it gives a little bit less friction point on my body so it's more comfortable for me however there's more risk of falling out of the makeshift saddle so this is probably the safest way to rappel without a harness again like any new skill start in a non risky way you can even practice it on the flat find a place where you can do it at a light slope the first time that you do a full cliff make sure it's not very far because you're going to experience something very different with the friction and the intensity that brings so start small work your way up be safe happy adventure II