Vertical caving terminology and methods > SRT basic terms
A rebelay where the knot is not connected to the wall at all, because of the low quality of the rock at the point where it is needed. Instead, it is connected to the end of a tether, sling, cable or wire trace that hangs from higher above. Any tether could have a lot of rope rub protection if needed to avoid being damaged by the rock, without having to worry about cavers needing to get past it. This results in a hanging rebelay that swings around as you move, making it feel much more exposed. The up rope can also end up twisting around the tether, which can make this challenging to negotiate. As a result, floating rebelays are very rarely used. However, they might be used in cases where the hang is extremely tall, and the weight of the rope might make it very difficult to get past a rub point at the pitch head. In this case, a floating rebelay is a better replacement for a tail. Alternatively, a floating rebelay may be used in the case where a hang has an unavoidable rub point against a section of low quality rock, and it would be nice to have a rebelay underneath it to avoid the bounce from below causing the rope to constantly rub against the rub point. If there is good quality rock above the rub point, but nothing at the rub point or below it, and the pitch is too wide to use something better, such as a deviation, then a floating rebelay can be used, with the anchor connected to the good rock above, and the rebelay floating below the rub point.
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