Vertical caving terminology and methods > SRT basic terms
When you need to end up somewhere significantly away from vertically below where the rope is hanging from. If there is nothing that can be reached to hold on to, and pull yourself sideways, this is achieved by swinging backwards and forwards until you can reach whatever it was that you needed. This is normally done by pushing off a wall to start a swing. However if there is no wall to push off, it can be achieved by swinging the legs in the same way as with a swing, perhaps starting earlier when there is a wall nearby to push off. It is important to watch out for rub points above while penduluming. Ideally, the rigger is the only person who needs to perform any significant pendulum, as they should then attach the down rope to an anchor, so that subsequent cavers can descend to an appropriate point, and just pull on the pendulum loop of the down rope to pull themselves to the desired point. However, there may be some cases where it is still needed, such as a very gentle swing to land on a ledge, or to reach a deviation during a descent. Prusiking from that point will result in the same swing, so most cavers should pull on the down rope to gently swing to a vertical position. However, the derigger might not be able to avoid it, and will need to swing their legs in the opposite direction to slowly decrease the pendulum effect. Alternatively, the derigger may be able to temporarily thread the down rope through an anchor, slowly pay it out until they are hanging vertically, then pull the rope back out of the anchor. In cases where the down rope is not attached to anything below a deviation, and there is nothing to thread the down rope through, all except the derigger can hold onto the rope below the deviation, and slowly pay it out, to minimise any pendulum after prusiking past the deviation.
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