Fast rope

Vertical caving terminology and methods > SRT basic terms

Fast rope

View image
This thin rope will be extremely fast, and will require a braking carabiner.

A rope that does not create much friction when used with a descender, so you slide down it a lot more quickly than you might want to. Often prevents a Stop from auto locking fully. This happens with thin ropes, with new ropes that are still full of fabric conditioning treatments that were used to construct the rope, with ropes made from the wrong materials for use with SRT such as Dyneema, and with dry ropes. It can also happen with ropes that are liberally coated with mud. It can be mitigated by pre-shrinking a new rope before use, by intentionally wetting the rope during use, and by using a braking carabiner to provide extra friction. It can also be mitigated by using a descender that allows the friction to be altered dynamically, such as a rack. Even so, there are some ropes that will always be fast, particularly thin ropes. The best solution is not to buy those ropes, since a fast rope is a hazard that can cause cavers to lose control, resulting in an uncontrolled descent.


|

This page is not intended to be viewed this way, please load the . This version exists only to make it easier for search engines to understand the contents.