Top Rope Solo Devices

After using every solo toprope device on the market i have settled on two devices that make solo toproping more safe and more convenient.

Top rope solo devices.

For the top device i use a rescucender. Rope soloing is highly dangerous and demands a great deal of experience and good judgment and in many ways is more dangerous than free soloing due to an increased reliance on systems. Others climb with two different devices clipped into two separate ropes. Using a static rope is most convenient but a dynamic will work as well.

In keeping with the improvised character of self rescue we will assume that you don t have a rope solo device with you. Some climbers hang a second rope alongside the first and clip into bights pre tied in the backup rope in case the primary rope or belay device fails. First it s nice that the rope clamp has smooth grooves like a gri gri and not sharp teeth like a traxion. Solo top rope self belay advice some progress capture pulleys and ascenders can be rigged to travel along a fixed line providing a self belay for a solo top rope climbing experience.

I am considering getting a silent partner so to have a device that i could use for rappel and top rope climbing though it s mostly used for roped lead so not have the need to switch the setup between going up. I love this device for two reasons. Connect both devices onto the rope and into your belay loop as shown above. Attach your solo belay device to the rope weight the rope end with a light pack or extra gear to help it feed and clip two locking carabiners through your belay loop.

Fix your 9 2 10 4mm rope off a solid top anchor. Next rappel your main line to the ground. This blog is not meant as instructional text and is simply a description of how i rope solo. Now fix your back up rope to the anchor and drop it down.

Solo top roping is a great way to get a lot of laps in and have a positive training day when you can t find a partner or are just looking for some solitude. Petzl has not developed a device for this activity but certain ascenders may be used for it by experts. Solo toproping techniques vary mainly in their back up methods. Devices exist which are specifically designed for rope soloing such as the silent partner.

Hey your post inspired me a lot and today i climbed for the first time on top rope solo. Leave it slack so it won t dislodge rocks as you climb. It s also easy to. Assisted braking belay devices such as the grigri work to some extent but are fairly unreliable for rope soloing and must be backed up with the technique described here anyway.

In climbing or mountaineering the rope team offers the highest level of safety. Rappel the pitch on a single strand placing a few pieces of directional gear if needed. Nevertheless fixed rope solo climbing is an option that many climbers have taken experimenting with a variety of technical solutions.