|
Tip/Trick/Gimmick: A better Load Releasable Hitch (LRH)?
Source (give credit where credit is due): Rope Rescue in 2008 - Bay Area Search & Rescue - San Francisco, CA
Rigging for Rescue - British Columbia, Canada
Contributed by: Marty Comiskey (
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
)
(include e-mail address so membership can contact you for more detail)
Best useful for: Top rope Trad x Mountaineering x
Sport Ice Other (list) Rescue scenarios
Description (limit to 200 words): There are many ways to build a Load Releasable Hitch (LRH). Probably, the two methods most familar to and utilized by climbers are the Munter/Mule and the Mariner's knot.
The professional rescue community has concerns that go beyond most climber's needs (and they certainly have more gear than we carry), but they advocate using a LRH that might prove handy for climbers in certain situations.
Rigging for Rescue tested 31 variations of 11 different Load Releasable Hitches, and the one they recommend is the Radium Load Releasable Hitch. Basically, it still utilizes a Munter/Mule combo put incorporates either a 2:1 or 3:1 pulley system into the LRH. This could prove useful if you were releasing a heavy load and you wanted to have more control while lowing (the mechanical advantage built into the pulley system means less force applied by you in lowering).
The diagram shows a 3:1 Radium set up. A 2:1 would utilize the Knot on the rope clipped into the top biner rather than the lower biner. (the first two diagrams are the more important - the last four diagrams basically show tying off the knot for "hands off" security).
|