Chak K while there's a danger of getting hurt by a flying carabiner for sure, why don't you ask a metallurgist or materials scientist that you know about that microfracture thing. As a materials guy myself, I'm sure they'll tell you that while there are many breaking modes for metal, invisible fracture lines are not one.
@@oustit Quick answer: probably absolutely fine but not quite as safe as clipping your prussic to the belay loop and extending your belay device with a sling. Long answer: I used to clip my prussic to my leg loop, as it's obviously way more convenient and quicker than extending your belay device with a sling. But I am a climbing instructor, and another instructor advised me not to do it as the leg loops are not rated in the same way as the belay loop - which is obviously true. As an instructor I should be setting the best example, and therefore I feel I have a duty to do everything as safe as possible; if it means taking a few more seconds to clip a sling to my belay device then to me it's worth doing. (obviously making sure the sling keeps my belay device within reach!) In all honesty though I think the likelyhood of something going wrong with the prussic on your leg loop is very unlikely. But I just think in climbing it's always better to try be safer just incase the 'shit hits the fan'.
@@lucacycles8623 Thank you for your reply. I normally use my leg loop for the prussic.. but to be bomb proof i might start using an extention sling. What length sling do you use?
Want to make sure it’s clear that this video shows the device IMPROPERLY threaded at 2:49. I own one and when threaded properly it is much cleaner and not tangled like shown in the video. While threading (not well) he missed at least one loop and probably more. Not good at all. Please remove and reshoot with proper demo.
Cool device! Another great solution for descending the full 60m is to use a 60m length of small line such as Zing-It. Thread your climbing line through the anchor point and tie an alpine butterfly or other suitable stopper knot. Attach the small line to the stopper knot, and rappel down. When you reach the bottom, simply pull the small line to retrieve the system. Throwline and a small bag is very lightweight and compact for storage until needed.
I just notice this and was scrolling down to make sure it had been highlighted. This channel is good, but it could be great if all the examples of poor and bad practice were eradicated.
Omg that giant locker came flying down at your head. Imagine the danger of that bailing from a multi pitch climb. I’d tie a figure 8 follow through instead.
So, Matt. We’re abseiling off a big route. Night falls. Need to up the speed. Out comes the Escaper. We ab out over the crux pitch, still several to go. Both land on a bomber ledge. Safe. Pull 20 times. Then another 30. Getting cold. Who’s jugging back up to free the ropes?.... Awesome vids btw. Keep up the good work!
That’s a bad situation. But you are (hopefully) at another anchor and can then (also hopefully) place gear or clip bolts between you and the stuck escaper. You can then rope solo and re-climb the route or jug the rope protecting as you go. Of course then you’d have to find the friction preventing the escaper from functioning and try to fix it (maybe Re-routing the abseil?). It’s a complicated problem that requires a complicated solution as could be the case with a regular two rope abseil that gets stuck in a crack high on a multi-pitch route. The solution may be to identify high friction abseils that could causes this problem and instead do half length rappels leaving gear if necessary. Still a cool piece of gear in the right application!
This is the exact reason this will never end up in my kit. Its potential to fail, whether jamming in its intended action or jamming with that mess on the end when it falls, is too big of a risk relative to other simpler systems.
I am referring to a single rope rappel with a tag line retrieval, like here ruclips.net/video/90F5-4WO1No/видео.html. This is heavier, but doesn't suffer any other issues that the Escaper might, plus it leaves you with a full second functional line (personally would take a 7mm dynamic cord instead of a static tag). Although I have not personally tested the Escaper, others have reported that it requires a sharp pull and then un-weighting to function. This becomes an issue on slabby climbs or other non-optimal situations which induce rope friction, and could therefore make it difficult or impossible to work the release action. Additionally, the Escaper is likely compromised somewhat on wet and icy ropes, which is not an issue with the tag line system. Like Lee said... Who's going back up the line when it doesn't come undone....
What if... you will abseil through easier terrain, series of 10 or more ledges and on each one you'll stand and take the weight off the rope... ? Will it behave like releasing and pulling the rope to escape it? I think that in case of emergency it is still better to use the "pull cord" technique to abseil on full length of a single rope.
Isn’t it just easier to carry a small locker and a 3-4mm pull cord? That way you could abseil on the full length without worrying about it coming loose. Guessing the added weight won’t be much more than this system and a pull cord is a lot more flexible and can be used for more.
You dont even need 3-4mm. Grab some emmakites UHMWPE kiteline, 1.2mm is like 600lb mbs, more than plenty to pull down your rap line, weighs nothing and coils up to the size of an apple.
WARNING!!! This video contains lots of rappelling technique mistakes and safety issues. It's a recipe for a deadly accident. Always use a helmet (saw the falling carabiner??), wear proper shoes, attach the ATC descender extended when using a Machard or prusik knot, get a an adjustable safety lanyard like the Petzl Connect Adjust. Always have the rope attached to your harness when removing the main figure 8 knot in case it slips from your hands and ends up on the ground, leaving you with no rope. Do not jump while rappelling. Also It's not wise to have your carabiner falling to the ground from such altitudes; metal equipment falling from more than 8 meters should be discarded. I can go on... PLEASE EPIC TV TAKE THIS PARTICULAR VIDEO OUT OF AIR as someone can replicate the content with catastrophic consequences. Sorry for my english as it's not my native language.Greetings from Ecuador and keep more climbing videos coming. You guys are one of my favorite channels.
I agree on most points, however, it is not necessarily bad for the carabiner to be falling that far, although it will hurt if it hits you. And why do you say no jumping while rappeling? I'm guessing just because of increased rope wear?
@@raphaelbeinhauer9242 Beside increased rope wear and increased rappel device wear due to higher temperature and friction... JUMPING (taking bigger leaps) while rappelling SHOCK LOADS the top anchor(s). When you are slow descending the anchor(s) are loaded only with your weight (and the equipment, of course). The bigger the leaps, the more it feels for the anchor like a fall. Nobody can exactly predict how sturdy an anchor is, for uncountable reasons... Finally, the rope itself could offer a surprise, especially if old, damaged or at risk to be cut over an sharp enough edge. The more somebody depends on single pieces of equipment (non redundant systems), the more cautious someone should be.
raphael beinhauer I might add, the falling carabiner may be affected hitting any hard surface. This means micro cracks in its internal structure, also meaning reduced strength when you'll depend on it. Would you trust your life - knowingly - on such piece of equipment, considering that internal affected structure IS NOT visible to the eye? When damage to that piece of metal is so high that your eyes can see it, its sturdiness becomes next to nothing. For proper usage, one really needs that biner to comply to the factory values (over 2 kDan). If after hitting a rock, in fall, that value reduces to half, possible without any exterior signs of damage, the biner will be "just fine" only if you don't fall in it. I think tying the rope directly to the escaper with a safety knot is a better idea... God bless you.
I agree, there are some mistakes in this video that have already been mentioned. Some of them are ''minor'', but there is a major one. You can not have your prusic under your atc below the device without the device being extended. If this guy let go of the rope in the video, his prusic would unlock the atc and he would slide down the rope. I`ve literally tested this, with a friend fireman belaying me, and stopped falling 3 meters off the ground. Normally people do either atc below the prusic with no extension, Or atc above the prussic, with atc being extended. Also Beal recommends attaching the rope to the Escaper by a knot in their video. Not by a carabiner, for obvious reasons.
I love the idea, but honestly I would never use it the way it is designed right now. It feels way too scary and I would say that's how 99% of people will feel :D
I agree completely. To me, the main issue with the design is that it has no independent unlocking mechanism. While abseiling, I have in the past completely unweighted the rope halfway down to work on a stuck stopper. I would be scared to continue the abseil with that system afterwards...
Yep... Another worry is - what the actuall feck do you do if it jams? You don't know how jammed it is and you've got no rope left to climb or descend on. Do you trust that it's jammed enough to like, sort of, toprope solo your way back up? Eugh not for me thanks.
Why would you need a helmet. It's not like you used something heavy and hard that you knew was going to come down on your head like... Say.... A carabineer...... Oh wait...
Ok I’ve been out of the climbing scene for a bit but one criticism I have to this device in addition to some of the points already made is it seems to me when the rope comes free there is a lot of “jewelry” (if it’s connected with a knot or carabiner makes no difference) that greatly increases your chances of getting the rope stuck on its way back to you.
Several things I feel you should mention when using this device is you should make sure that you are tied into at least 2 anchor points especially if they look like the ones you were hanging on. Also when rappelling/abseiling make sure you are as smooth as possible, seems that if you are a jerky rappeller (someone that makes the rope bounce) you are going to cause this device to undo itself while you are hanging. One more thing you should mention to tie a knot at the bottom of your rope so you don't slide off the end.
The bungee on the escaper needs to come to a full release to allow slippage. The bungee goes to full length at about 20 pounds. As long as you keep 20 pounds on it while bouncing around its not going to unravel.
They used to have a device like this many years ago, forget the name. Do not unweight the rope during the rappel. Either way you end up on the ground. Double ropes sorts this problem out.
That elastic bit seems vital to the system: its what unwinds the chinese finger (rope) trap. My experience with elastic bits of rope is that they have a short lifespan. That said, the tension this would be able to apply to the rope should be quite sound... but it would be harder to undo the older it is as a result of the elastic part: its also the reason for a full unweighting requirement (it needs full shrinkage between tugs for rapid release).
Thank you for the demonstration! In an emergency, i think I would rather leave a couple of carabiners in the route. Abseiling with the escaper seems very slow and if conditions get worse, I would like to be off the wall fast... Round carabiners for abseiling are very cheap aswell and they take little space on your gear.
We had these devices when I was a kid made of fine wooden strips made in China . It was a toy you stuck your finger and if you pulled hard you couldn't get your finger out. Now I use one made of fine wire mesh. It's made to pull Electrical cables and wiring etc through pipes in construction and we have heavy duty large one for pulling big cables. First we pass a long thin sturdy wire snake through the pipe like a plumbers snake. The end of the wire snake has the same thing as your rope thing except made of wire instead of rope. We insert the cable into this mesh sleeve and coat it with a slippery paste and pull it through the pipes
Sorry, but the prusik is sensless, because it can reach the rappel device and then it wont work, you have to extend the the rappel device from the belay loop like 30 cm, so that the prusik can´t reach it. it won´t stop the abseil if you let go the rope. sorry for my english. the rest is very interesting. thx
I would just prefer to use a traditional blocking with a lighter retrieval rope (6 mill). Less fiddling as you say. But I’m in the canyoneering/rappelling side of things.
Everything about this video is convenience over safety. The device itself, the carabiner flying down to the climber and the lack of a helmet. As climbing becomes more popular we are seeing more accidents and this video will just contribute to those stats.
lets hope the viewers are already climbers and dont use this as a demo video...similar to S McClures indoor belaying video lots of small errors which can cost lives
Agree he should tie directly into the Escaper with a figure 8, but not because if microfractures. That myth has been long dispelled. I just wouldn't want the carabiner knocking me in the head when it fell. #microfracture_myth ruclips.net/video/L8MFUsgvJ1c/видео.htmlsi=fmyrYh2IzomDfS3U
another terrible life threatening video from climbing daily. funny thing is they got alot of criticism in their videos because of so many errors but never bring up these points in any of their shows after which i would consider good safe practise
What's life threatening about the video?? You seem concerned enough to criticise but not enough to inform viewers the risks they might be unknowingly taking by watching it.
aspuzling - the falling carabiner after the rope is detached. Also, the backup brake he tied for the rope would easily have touched the ATC if he lost control, rendering it useless and sending him falling to the ground below. Last, the Klemheist is upside-down.
@@fragletemmer wow man, I would never fucking climb with you. You're right in many ways that climbing isn't golf, like in that it's actually fun, actually exercise, actually interesting, and is actually a good way to enjoy nature instead of turning nature into useless lawns. You're also right that climbing is dangerous. But you're so fucking wrong overall, because climbing shouldn't be pointlessly and avoidably dangerous. There are so many avoidable dangers in this video that it's ridiculous. And there are so many cavalier assholes in the climbing community who don't take safety as a serious responsibility. That really matters, because when they do something stupid and get injured in a way that could have been avoided, they make the rest of us look bad to people like land managers, who might decide that they don't want to allow climbing on the land they manage anymore. No man is an island; your personal safety practices have consequences that extend beyond yourself. Taking safety seriously is an action with good consequences for yourself, your partners, and the whole climbing community, because your actions ripple outward and can create access issues for all of us. Plus, you owe it to the first responders who effect rescues and retrieve bodies to not be one of those rescuees or bodies if you can at all avoid it. They have their work cut out for them already, and it's an extremely taxing kind of work. I do also think that efficiency is an important aspect of safety, so don't take this all to mean that more is better, like you should always top rope on a minimum of two single ropes or something. You have to strike a balance between efficiency. But my main point is that calling someone a fear monger and telling him to shut up for pointing out real problems in this video makes you one of the cavalier assholes who makes our community look bad, even if it's only in a small way.
Extend that belay/rappel device so your prusik can engage if you need it. I guessing you just forgot to extend it but I think it would be a good idea address the issue in the comments, like you did for the carabiner.
is it safe in case of 'not so smooth' rappel? sometimes, while rappelling down a leap of rock, there's a little jerky loading to the anchor. Will the escaper disengage the prusik friction in that case?
In the event of an emergency I wouldn't mind leaving a tied rope on the face of a wall. No rope is worth the cost of human life. Especially not in the hands of a questionable tension lock system.
The Escaper's awesome - wouldn't choose it for every descent, but when you have 40m to the next belay point but only brought one 60m rope... it's fantastic. I do agree with the closing comments in the video - it can take a while to come free esp. when the rope's over a high-friction edge, but if you keep at it it'll eventually release. Kind of a feature, not a bug.
That prussik close to the atc was a lot scarier than the beal escaper to be honest. If the prussik slides up to the mouth of the atc it won't brake properly.
Working at a climbing store in the 1970's, we would waste hours ruminating about this exact conundrum - the climbing version of escape rooms. None of us dared try our devices or tricks in the real world, but saved the concepts as hypothetical last desperate options in our Death is inevitable-why not try? Bag of Tricks. We knew of firsthand close calls (having the rappel rope fall onto your head as your feet touched the ground), and fatalities where bad anchor decisions had led to failures with standard rappels. A half-dozen alarms should go off at 5:00 when in spite of his trepidations, he sets out anyway, sans helmet, shoes?, when a separate backup belay from the camera person is available. Honestly, he and we don't even know if he set it up properly, whether it really does work at all, what the shortcomings or inadvertent weaknesses might be, from rope diameter to repeated loading and unloading the main line on the way down, wet rope, etc. No one should test any new gear without a proven backup - just plain common sense, particularly when gravity is known to ignore requests. His prussik backup is an ironically useless addition, where most will just rely on training to not let go with the braking hand, and it adds nothing should the tested gear fail. French climbers must trust fixed anchors a lot, but adding a carabiner at the end of a chain means you trust every link to hold, but not to run the rope directly through the last one as is the norm? Rappelling may or may not be the most psychologically scary practice, but it is about the most statistically deadly rope routine, because too few take adequate precautions when they are readily available - like here, demoing for a video.
I have one and use it all the time. It's more likely to not release when u want it to, than release when you're abbing. The only problem I have found is on slabby gorund it can get stuck after it has released when it's falling to the ground. Brilliant bit of kit. Saves the weight, complexity and expense of a second rope. And make sure you use one before you shoot my comments down in anger and moral indignation!
Matt: If you're going to position Climbing Daily as an educational resource on safety issues, you might want to try harder to set a good example. There are many beginner climbers watching your every move!
There is a very important problem. The carabiner could breake when you take the rope out, when it crash to the ground or to the rocks... if it doesn't breake it could have some internal problems and then break when you have a fall..
Should have use a atc extension because as soon as your prussik touch the atc, it's worth nothing. Good exemple you show, no helmet on! And you have a carabiner flying down and again no HELMET!!!
In my short climbing experience I cannot remember pitches that are long enough for this device and without any weird terrain in the middle that is just sitting there and waiting to catch falling rope and make it stuck. One day I had to help my friend to climb back and rescue rope after 50+ meters long abseil. Luckily it was last pitch and everyone was on the ground already. So yeah... 30m abseil is more than enough for me.
There are better, less sketchy, and faster ways of doing a long single strand rap. Doing a reepschnur with a separate pull cord is my preferred method.
Thanks Matt for this video. What a brave heart. Interesting how the prusik changed it's color ;-) Do you have any information if this is usable with a wet rope?
Great demonstration of the system but you should always tie in to it due to the fact a karabiner going on your head is bad and the karabiner could generate micro fractures due to the fall impact. Also the abseil setup you use isn't best practice and as you make "instructional" videos you should always demonstrate it. Best practice would be to extend your belay plate using a sling, attach either a classic or French prusik on the rope and clip it to your leg or belay loop. The prusik you used in the video is a Klemheist, this does not release under load aka bad for abseiling. Also the extension means that the prusik won't fail when it comes into contact with the belay plate like it could potentially do with your setup. Apart from these that as a viewer and someone who works as a SPA holder I believe you should use best practices. The video was great to see an actual demonstration and someone's view on using it.
Ben Juneau maybe there isn't substantial evidence for it on modern carabiniers but still if you were dropping it 60m constantly for the use of this would you want to trust it?
Mark Edwards I don't think that it unweights the system enough to slip. You have to unweight it fully how i understod it. So this should not be a danger. Otherwise they wouldn't bring it to the Market
It would be less weight on the system, marginally. Assuming you weight 60-70kg though, as long as even some 12% of your body weight remains on the rope, it's not unweighted, and even if you managed to take almost all your weight off the rope, you would have to do it some 10 times before it became a danger, in which case you'd be asking for trouble..
What is the chance that the escaper with the carabiner or a knot will get stuck in a crack or a flake while pulling it down? Pretty high in my opinion.
In my opinion there could be the danger that the system releases the rope if you abseil down on a route with lots of ledges (i.e. on long alpine routes). Typically you stand up on the ledges and then weight the rope again. Does anyone has tested this yet?
Why use a carabiner to attache the rope to the Escaper? This means it has to fall down and possibly get damaged, or hurt someone. Seems like it makes more sense to tie the rope directly to the Escaper.
1. You started to abseil with the black marking already inside the no-go zone (it has to be below the last yellow arrow marking) 2. You did not test pull the system 3. You did not tie the stop knots at the both ends of the rope 4. You used a carabiner to hook to the "escaper" instead of just using a rope knot, meaning you just trew a metal rock on your own head along with the rope 5. The way you hooked and placed your "prusik" is very dangerous and it can easily slip into the atc, therefore losing all stopping power and send you to heaven (use the "swiss" method in future, it's the best) I see a lot of very dangerous mistakes in this video.
There is high possibility to damage the rope over sharp edges of rocks while you tugging the Escaper out. If there is not vertical of overhanging terrain.
If I understand it correctly, then I would not suggest using a carabiner to attach to the system, because when you then pull the rope to the ground the carabiner will hit the wall and ground pretty bad, rope can take the fall, carabiner should, but i would suggest avoiding it.
Great idea!! Thanks for sharing In my opinion i would use a knot directly to the "Escaper" system instead of a carabiner. Although the friction of both fibers eventually produces deterioration, it will be visible thus you can ponderate the danger. While a fracture in rhe carabiner not always is easy to see.
You want to unload the rope completely, i.e. let go of the rope. It worked as it was a short descent but on a long dynamic rope you want let it go and spring up.
Interesting system however I would be scared psychologically to use that despite it works and only with a steel mailon. Still a bit dangerous. Another alternative might be to use an arborist throw line tied to alpine butterfly and retrieve the rope using the throw line after the rapelling by pulling the the alpine butterfly down very safely and slowly with full control. No problem to use extra alluminium carabiner as well as the rope retrieval is fully controlled by throw line on one end and the rope on the other. I'm using this method during tree climbing. 100 meters of the throw line is pretty light weight and compact but negative is it can get tangled easily if not stored in throw line bag or on coil.
i think this is actually really dangerous: the rope could get stuck in a gap and that friction could take most of you body weight, then only leaving less than 10kg to the beal escaper. that would occur if the rope is on full tension in a slight angle and when you get further down the tension cannot spread evenly anymore, leaving less and less on the part between gap and ancor. correct me if im wrong, if not dont advertise it and just go prepared
Actually two traps, which when repeatedly tugged & (fully) unloaded, inch their way down the 'free' end of the three foot anchor line. The imagery of the working modes of the device were not very clear nor informative, and probably reflect the thoughtlessness also shown in the unsafe aspects of this "safety device" video.
I really have difficulty imagining a situation where this is the best solution. But then I mostly do regular sport climbing. There are some people who like to have and lug every type of gear imaginable up a mountain. But I would guess that even they would only use this as the very last resort.
I agree about a lot of people taking too much stuff on long climbs, but this thing is a lot lighter and less bulky than bringing another rope which you'd otherwise need for the long rappels.
Good point about the carabiner used in the system. It was just to demonstrate and keep the system simple. Thanks for your comments.
EpicTV Climbing Daily also should be gravity fed (not sure if someone else has mentioned that already)
It’s not simple if it’s incorrect!
People can get killed by a flying carabiner or the biner snapping afterwards due to micro fracture. Please correct it, don't leave it as it is.
Chak K while there's a danger of getting hurt by a flying carabiner for sure, why don't you ask a metallurgist or materials scientist that you know about that microfracture thing.
As a materials guy myself, I'm sure they'll tell you that while there are many breaking modes for metal, invisible fracture lines are not one.
imh3r3now1 maybe not but I'm not sure I'd be willing to bet my life on it nonetheless
"I like this carabiner, enough to drop it 30m off a cliff"
"Well it worked I'm on the ground". Surly if it hadn't worked.... you'd still, you know...
4:33 Blindly un-clips personal anchor before weighting other strand. A couple of less than optimal habits throughout the rigging/rappel section.
Liam Myers Yeah, I'm dumb and even I spotted that one!
Good to point out. Def one of the critical saftey habits..
Or the useless third hand
It’s crazy. I’ve seen pros teaching and doing this regularly. Also he didn’t extend the belay which is another outdated and unsafe technique.
@@HywelOwen im dumber, same for me pal.
That Prussic is way too long or the belay device is way too close, the prussic would be held open by the belay device if you let go...
Yeah in that example the prusic is useless
AND .. he has a grigri-type device attached to his harness lol
i know this was a year ago... but whats your opinion on clipping the prussic to your leg loop?
@@oustit
Quick answer:
probably absolutely fine but not quite as safe as clipping your prussic to the belay loop and extending your belay device with a sling.
Long answer:
I used to clip my prussic to my leg loop, as it's obviously way more convenient and quicker than extending your belay device with a sling. But I am a climbing instructor, and another instructor advised me not to do it as the leg loops are not rated in the same way as the belay loop - which is obviously true.
As an instructor I should be setting the best example, and therefore I feel I have a duty to do everything as safe as possible; if it means taking a few more seconds to clip a sling to my belay device then to me it's worth doing. (obviously making sure the sling keeps my belay device within reach!)
In all honesty though I think the likelyhood of something going wrong with the prussic on your leg loop is very unlikely. But I just think in climbing it's always better to try be safer just incase the 'shit hits the fan'.
@@lucacycles8623 Thank you for your reply. I normally use my leg loop for the prussic.. but to be bomb proof i might start using an extention sling. What length sling do you use?
I think we've all been there when we're tugging for ages and nothing is happening..
This is what I came for.
Aaron Wilson so eventually the tugging worked for you, eh?
such a dead feeling... that growing realization, "....um....yeah....it's.... stuck...."
See a doctor.
If your erection last longer than 4 hours consult a physician
Want to make sure it’s clear that this video shows the device IMPROPERLY threaded at 2:49. I own one and when threaded properly it is much cleaner and not tangled like shown in the video. While threading (not well) he missed at least one loop and probably more. Not good at all. Please remove and reshoot with proper demo.
i think a better solution is not to use one of these.
Fact is he used the escaper not correctly threaded...
Cool device! Another great solution for descending the full 60m is to use a 60m length of small line such as Zing-It. Thread your climbing line through the anchor point and tie an alpine butterfly or other suitable stopper knot. Attach the small line to the stopper knot, and rappel down. When you reach the bottom, simply pull the small line to retrieve the system. Throwline and a small bag is very lightweight and compact for storage until needed.
The Beal escaper is not installed correctly, see 2:59. Please refer to the manual and don't follow this demonstration.
Agreed. He doesn’t thread the bottom section correctly. Sketchy!
I just notice this and was scrolling down to make sure it had been highlighted. This channel is good, but it could be great if all the examples of poor and bad practice were eradicated.
Omg that giant locker came flying down at your head. Imagine the danger of that bailing from a multi pitch climb. I’d tie a figure 8 follow through instead.
So, Matt. We’re abseiling off a big route. Night falls. Need to up the speed. Out comes the Escaper. We ab out over the crux pitch, still several to go. Both land on a bomber ledge. Safe. Pull 20 times. Then another 30. Getting cold. Who’s jugging back up to free the ropes?.... Awesome vids btw. Keep up the good work!
That’s a bad situation. But you are (hopefully) at another anchor and can then (also hopefully) place gear or clip bolts between you and the stuck escaper. You can then rope solo and re-climb the route or jug the rope protecting as you go. Of course then you’d have to find the friction preventing the escaper from functioning and try to fix it (maybe Re-routing the abseil?).
It’s a complicated problem that requires a complicated solution as could be the case with a regular two rope abseil that gets stuck in a crack high on a multi-pitch route. The solution may be to identify high friction abseils that could causes this problem and instead do half length rappels leaving gear if necessary. Still a cool piece of gear in the right application!
This is the exact reason this will never end up in my kit. Its potential to fail, whether jamming in its intended action or jamming with that mess on the end when it falls, is too big of a risk relative to other simpler systems.
@Ian what other systems?
I am referring to a single rope rappel with a tag line retrieval, like here ruclips.net/video/90F5-4WO1No/видео.html. This is heavier, but doesn't suffer any other issues that the Escaper might, plus it leaves you with a full second functional line (personally would take a 7mm dynamic cord instead of a static tag).
Although I have not personally tested the Escaper, others have reported that it requires a sharp pull and then un-weighting to function. This becomes an issue on slabby climbs or other non-optimal situations which induce rope friction, and could therefore make it difficult or impossible to work the release action. Additionally, the Escaper is likely compromised somewhat on wet and icy ropes, which is not an issue with the tag line system. Like Lee said... Who's going back up the line when it doesn't come undone....
jodelboy a pull down line/ tag line
No thanks! I'd rather carry 60m of cordelette to use as a tagline!
I wonder whether rain would affect the tightness of the escaper. Any feedback on that?
What if... you will abseil through easier terrain, series of 10 or more ledges and on each one you'll stand and take the weight off the rope... ?
Will it behave like releasing and pulling the rope to escape it?
I think that in case of emergency it is still better to use the "pull cord" technique to abseil on full length of a single rope.
🧐
Isn’t it just easier to carry a small locker and a 3-4mm pull cord? That way you could abseil on the full length without worrying about it coming loose. Guessing the added weight won’t be much more than this system and a pull cord is a lot more flexible and can be used for more.
any video on this ?
You dont even need 3-4mm. Grab some emmakites UHMWPE kiteline, 1.2mm is like 600lb mbs, more than plenty to pull down your rap line, weighs nothing and coils up to the size of an apple.
@@jenseng7353there are videos. Search for something along the lines of "rappel tag line".
He did so many risk things, or wrong things by my book it's cringy... redundancy is so important, everyone please have backups and take ur time
In winter i use a frozen marsbar, It works great and you get to eat it afterwards. ;)
WARNING!!! This video contains lots of rappelling technique mistakes and safety issues. It's a recipe for a deadly accident. Always use a helmet (saw the falling carabiner??), wear proper shoes, attach the ATC descender extended when using a Machard or prusik knot, get a an adjustable safety lanyard like the Petzl Connect Adjust. Always have the rope attached to your harness when removing the main figure 8 knot in case it slips from your hands and ends up on the ground, leaving you with no rope. Do not jump while rappelling. Also It's not wise to have your carabiner falling to the ground from such altitudes; metal equipment falling from more than 8 meters should be discarded. I can go on... PLEASE EPIC TV TAKE THIS PARTICULAR VIDEO OUT OF AIR as someone can replicate the content with catastrophic consequences. Sorry for my english as it's not my native language.Greetings from Ecuador and keep more climbing videos coming. You guys are one of my favorite channels.
I agree on most points, however, it is not necessarily bad for the carabiner to be falling that far, although it will hurt if it hits you. And why do you say no jumping while rappeling? I'm guessing just because of increased rope wear?
this guy thinks hes the climbing police
@@raphaelbeinhauer9242
Beside increased rope wear and increased rappel device wear due to higher temperature and friction... JUMPING (taking bigger leaps) while rappelling SHOCK LOADS the top anchor(s). When you are slow descending the anchor(s) are loaded only with your weight (and the equipment, of course). The bigger the leaps, the more it feels for the anchor like a fall. Nobody can exactly predict how sturdy an anchor is, for uncountable reasons... Finally, the rope itself could offer a surprise, especially if old, damaged or at risk to be cut over an sharp enough edge. The more somebody depends on single pieces of equipment (non redundant systems), the more cautious someone should be.
raphael beinhauer
I might add, the falling carabiner may be affected hitting any hard surface. This means micro cracks in its internal structure, also meaning reduced strength when you'll depend on it. Would you trust your life - knowingly - on such piece of equipment, considering that internal affected structure IS NOT visible to the eye? When damage to that piece of metal is so high that your eyes can see it, its sturdiness becomes next to nothing. For proper usage, one really needs that biner to comply to the factory values (over 2 kDan). If after hitting a rock, in fall, that value reduces to half, possible without any exterior signs of damage, the biner will be "just fine" only if you don't fall in it.
I think tying the rope directly to the escaper with a safety knot is a better idea... God bless you.
this beal thing is not safe
So are we just going to forget about the first cameraman left behind on the mountainside with no rope to climb down with?
I agree, there are some mistakes in this video that have already been mentioned. Some of them are ''minor'', but there is a major one. You can not have your prusic under your atc below the device without the device being extended. If this guy let go of the rope in the video, his prusic would unlock the atc and he would slide down the rope. I`ve literally tested this, with a friend fireman belaying me, and stopped falling 3 meters off the ground. Normally people do either atc below the prusic with no extension, Or atc above the prussic, with atc being extended. Also Beal recommends attaching the rope to the Escaper by a knot in their video. Not by a carabiner, for obvious reasons.
I am dead and its because of the beal escaper.
What's it like down there?
I love the idea, but honestly I would never use it the way it is designed right now. It feels way too scary and I would say that's how 99% of people will feel :D
I agree completely. To me, the main issue with the design is that it has no independent unlocking mechanism. While abseiling, I have in the past completely unweighted the rope halfway down to work on a stuck stopper. I would be scared to continue the abseil with that system afterwards...
Yep... Another worry is - what the actuall feck do you do if it jams? You don't know how jammed it is and you've got no rope left to climb or descend on. Do you trust that it's jammed enough to like, sort of, toprope solo your way back up? Eugh not for me thanks.
no helmet, no atc extender, no stopper knot, just flying carabiners. bomber!
Artyom Skryagin he’s basically got his AMGA cert at this point 😂..
Hopefully nothing knocks a rock loose on him
Artyom Skryagin no shoes either
Losen up. The rope is on the ground. Why should he use a knot?
Why would you need a helmet. It's not like you used something heavy and hard that you knew was going to come down on your head like... Say.... A carabineer...... Oh wait...
It extends far to long below the anchor, so you can't weight the belay device to test it before unhooking your personal tether
Ok I’ve been out of the climbing scene for a bit but one criticism I have to this device in addition to some of the points already made is it seems to me when the rope comes free there is a lot of “jewelry” (if it’s connected with a knot or carabiner makes no difference) that greatly increases your chances of getting the rope stuck on its way back to you.
Several things I feel you should mention when using this device is you should make sure that you are tied into at least 2 anchor points especially if they look like the ones you were hanging on. Also when rappelling/abseiling make sure you are as smooth as possible, seems that if you are a jerky rappeller (someone that makes the rope bounce) you are going to cause this device to undo itself while you are hanging. One more thing you should mention to tie a knot at the bottom of your rope so you don't slide off the end.
The bungee on the escaper needs to come to a full release to allow slippage. The bungee goes to full length at about 20 pounds. As long as you keep 20 pounds on it while bouncing around its not going to unravel.
They used to have a device like this many years ago, forget the name. Do not unweight the rope during the rappel. Either way you end up on the ground. Double ropes sorts this problem out.
Anybody else notice how poor his prusik setup was?
No helmet?
Not testing your installation before engaging in the abseil?
So sad to see so many instructional videos ignoring basic safety measures :(
helmet???
And with wrong prusik setup
That elastic bit seems vital to the system: its what unwinds the chinese finger (rope) trap. My experience with elastic bits of rope is that they have a short lifespan. That said, the tension this would be able to apply to the rope should be quite sound... but it would be harder to undo the older it is as a result of the elastic part: its also the reason for a full unweighting requirement (it needs full shrinkage between tugs for rapid release).
That part looks to be user serviceable, by virtue of the it having a (unfinished?) knot.
Yes, brilliant. I've always wondered how to use the whole length of the rope while abseiling down the cliff.
You should double up m8
Thank you for the demonstration!
In an emergency, i think I would rather leave a couple of carabiners in the route. Abseiling with the escaper seems very slow and if conditions get worse, I would like to be off the wall fast... Round carabiners for abseiling are very cheap aswell and they take little space on your gear.
I know, but I think it is still faster to abseil 30m and than 30m again, than building up the escaper and pulling on the rope 20 times to get it loose
You could build another anchor half way down if you really need to abseil that massive wall. I'm sure it would be faster
We had these devices when I was a kid made of fine wooden strips made in China . It was a toy you stuck your finger and if you pulled hard you couldn't get your finger out. Now I use one made of fine wire mesh. It's made to pull Electrical cables and wiring etc through pipes in construction and we have heavy duty large one for pulling big cables. First we pass a long thin sturdy wire snake through the pipe like a plumbers snake. The end of the wire snake has the same thing as your rope thing except made of wire instead of rope. We insert the cable into this mesh sleeve and coat it with a slippery paste and pull it through the pipes
Muy buena explicación , gracias
Sorry, but the prusik is sensless, because it can reach the rappel device and then it wont work, you have to extend the the rappel device from the belay loop like 30 cm, so that the prusik can´t reach it. it won´t stop the abseil if you let go the rope. sorry for my english. the rest is very interesting. thx
I'll just set up a few more abseils thanks
I would just prefer to use a traditional blocking with a lighter retrieval rope (6 mill). Less fiddling as you say. But I’m in the canyoneering/rappelling side of things.
Nope nope nope nope nope ...
If I want a full-length rappel I'll just drag another rope up.
Pass I don’t think I would ever use that thing unless I absolutely had to. I’d rather pull up 200 feet of another rope than trust that for 200 feet.
Janky-assed Scary Device Of Fear is scary!
@@SgtSnausages 😂😂😂
I'm cozy in my bed with white knuckles! Very nervy, but looks awesome!
Everything about this video is convenience over safety. The device itself, the carabiner flying down to the climber and the lack of a helmet. As climbing becomes more popular we are seeing more accidents and this video will just contribute to those stats.
Nice tool! Thanks for presenting it!
Your 'Bomber' non redundant anchor?
Since both bolts are connected with a chain, and when absailing you are unlikely to be shock loading anything, I think this is fine.
Thats why i am climbing always double ropes. Same Abseil Length. The Best Way for Alpine anyway.
lets hope the viewers are already climbers and dont use this as a demo video...similar to S McClures indoor belaying video lots of small errors which can cost lives
Usually, when I tug on it for a while, it releases. You just don't want to tug too hard. It's important to also tug softly.
You should attach your rope to the Beal Escaper with an figure eight, as a carabiner can get #microfractures due to the fall.
Agree he should tie directly into the Escaper with a figure 8, but not because if microfractures. That myth has been long dispelled. I just wouldn't want the carabiner knocking me in the head when it fell. #microfracture_myth
ruclips.net/video/L8MFUsgvJ1c/видео.htmlsi=fmyrYh2IzomDfS3U
another terrible life threatening video from climbing daily. funny thing is they got alot of criticism in their videos because of so many errors but never bring up these points in any of their shows after which i would consider good safe practise
aaah shut it ya fearmonger, it's safe enough. rock climbing isn't golf
What's life threatening about the video?? You seem concerned enough to criticise but not enough to inform viewers the risks they might be unknowingly taking by watching it.
aspuzling - the falling carabiner after the rope is detached. Also, the backup brake he tied for the rope would easily have touched the ATC if he lost control, rendering it useless and sending him falling to the ground below. Last, the Klemheist is upside-down.
Very well spotted about the upside down Klemheist. What a hilariously bad video.
@@fragletemmer wow man, I would never fucking climb with you. You're right in many ways that climbing isn't golf, like in that it's actually fun, actually exercise, actually interesting, and is actually a good way to enjoy nature instead of turning nature into useless lawns. You're also right that climbing is dangerous. But you're so fucking wrong overall, because climbing shouldn't be pointlessly and avoidably dangerous. There are so many avoidable dangers in this video that it's ridiculous. And there are so many cavalier assholes in the climbing community who don't take safety as a serious responsibility. That really matters, because when they do something stupid and get injured in a way that could have been avoided, they make the rest of us look bad to people like land managers, who might decide that they don't want to allow climbing on the land they manage anymore. No man is an island; your personal safety practices have consequences that extend beyond yourself. Taking safety seriously is an action with good consequences for yourself, your partners, and the whole climbing community, because your actions ripple outward and can create access issues for all of us. Plus, you owe it to the first responders who effect rescues and retrieve bodies to not be one of those rescuees or bodies if you can at all avoid it. They have their work cut out for them already, and it's an extremely taxing kind of work. I do also think that efficiency is an important aspect of safety, so don't take this all to mean that more is better, like you should always top rope on a minimum of two single ropes or something. You have to strike a balance between efficiency. But my main point is that calling someone a fear monger and telling him to shut up for pointing out real problems in this video makes you one of the cavalier assholes who makes our community look bad, even if it's only in a small way.
Extend that belay/rappel device so your prusik can engage if you need it. I guessing you just forgot to extend it but I think it would be a good idea address the issue in the comments, like you did for the carabiner.
is it safe in case of 'not so smooth' rappel? sometimes, while rappelling down a leap of rock, there's a little jerky loading to the anchor. Will the escaper disengage the prusik friction in that case?
I bet if you abseil on this, your speed of descent will be so slow, it WILL NOT jerk. I would still rather not use it anyway.
what is the operational temperature on this? and what if you have to abseil through heaps of platforms and have to walk side way on them?
In the event of an emergency I wouldn't mind leaving a tied rope on the face of a wall. No rope is worth the cost of human life. Especially not in the hands of a questionable tension lock system.
The Escaper's awesome - wouldn't choose it for every descent, but when you have 40m to the next belay point but only brought one 60m rope... it's fantastic. I do agree with the closing comments in the video - it can take a while to come free esp. when the rope's over a high-friction edge, but if you keep at it it'll eventually release. Kind of a feature, not a bug.
That prussik close to the atc was a lot scarier than the beal escaper to be honest. If the prussik slides up to the mouth of the atc it won't brake properly.
+1 💯
Working at a climbing store in the 1970's, we would waste hours ruminating about this exact conundrum - the climbing version of escape rooms. None of us dared try our devices or tricks in the real world, but saved the concepts as hypothetical last desperate options in our Death is inevitable-why not try? Bag of Tricks. We knew of firsthand close calls (having the rappel rope fall onto your head as your feet touched the ground), and fatalities where bad anchor decisions had led to failures with standard rappels. A half-dozen alarms should go off at 5:00 when in spite of his trepidations, he sets out anyway, sans helmet, shoes?, when a separate backup belay from the camera person is available. Honestly, he and we don't even know if he set it up properly, whether it really does work at all, what the shortcomings or inadvertent weaknesses might be, from rope diameter to repeated loading and unloading the main line on the way down, wet rope, etc. No one should test any new gear without a proven backup - just plain common sense, particularly when gravity is known to ignore requests. His prussik backup is an ironically useless addition, where most will just rely on training to not let go with the braking hand, and it adds nothing should the tested gear fail. French climbers must trust fixed anchors a lot, but adding a carabiner at the end of a chain means you trust every link to hold, but not to run the rope directly through the last one as is the norm? Rappelling may or may not be the most psychologically scary practice, but it is about the most statistically deadly rope routine, because too few take adequate precautions when they are readily available - like here, demoing for a video.
Brilliant idea from beal, but sure you won't play during the rappel down. You go straight and don't relieve tension the whole time.
I have one and use it all the time. It's more likely to not release when u want it to, than release when you're abbing. The only problem I have found is on slabby gorund it can get stuck after it has released when it's falling to the ground. Brilliant bit of kit. Saves the weight, complexity and expense of a second rope. And make sure you use one before you shoot my comments down in anger and moral indignation!
Matt: If you're going to position Climbing Daily as an educational resource on safety issues, you might want to try harder to set a good example. There are many beginner climbers watching your every move!
This!
There is a very important problem. The carabiner could breake when you take the rope out, when it crash to the ground or to the rocks... if it doesn't breake it could have some internal problems and then break when you have a fall..
Should have use a atc extension because as soon as your prussik touch the atc, it's worth nothing. Good exemple you show, no helmet on! And you have a carabiner flying down and again no HELMET!!!
Helmets are a personal choice...
Helmets are a personal choice...
remijio303
Stitches in the head aren't optional 🐱
Not my problem climbing is for is for your own experience
and barefoot of course :D
How about the wet rope? Will it work on snow or in the rain?
I really like the editing where mat is having problems finding stuff on his harness or the can't get it out of the bag funny funny
Does that friction knot work without extending belay ?
in the case of an emergency i would rather just leave my rope behind and get a new one, instead of using this deathtrap.
How many ropes you take for a multipitch rute?!?
Don't be so ignorant, have you actually used one?
Yeah just read the manual and use it properly, it most certainly isn't a 'deathtrap'.
Yikes. That looks terrifying watching it unravel. I would have a hard time trusting that.
Cool gadget and definitly the next birthday present for outdoor-climbing friends! :D
In my short climbing experience I cannot remember pitches that are long enough for this device and without any weird terrain in the middle that is just sitting there and waiting to catch falling rope and make it stuck.
One day I had to help my friend to climb back and rescue rope after 50+ meters long abseil.
Luckily it was last pitch and everyone was on the ground already.
So yeah... 30m abseil is more than enough for me.
wow interesting..I don't think i would use it on a cliff but definitely would be useful on steep terrain where a failure isn't life threatening.
There are better, less sketchy, and faster ways of doing a long single strand rap. Doing a reepschnur with a separate pull cord is my preferred method.
Thanks Matt for this video. What a brave heart. Interesting how the prusik changed it's color ;-)
Do you have any information if this is usable with a wet rope?
hahahaha nice catch on the different prusiks :)
lumi ha
Yes it can be used with a wet rope.
Great demonstration of the system but you should always tie in to it due to the fact a karabiner going on your head is bad and the karabiner could generate micro fractures due to the fall impact.
Also the abseil setup you use isn't best practice and as you make "instructional" videos you should always demonstrate it. Best practice would be to extend your belay plate using a sling, attach either a classic or French prusik on the rope and clip it to your leg or belay loop. The prusik you used in the video is a Klemheist, this does not release under load aka bad for abseiling. Also the extension means that the prusik won't fail when it comes into contact with the belay plate like it could potentially do with your setup.
Apart from these that as a viewer and someone who works as a SPA holder I believe you should use best practices. The video was great to see an actual demonstration and someone's view on using it.
just wanted to write the same thing :) thanks for saving my time :D
Micro fractures.... No
Smack someone in the head, yes.
Ben Juneau maybe there isn't substantial evidence for it on modern carabiniers but still if you were dropping it 60m constantly for the use of this would you want to trust it?
Omega pacific also still makes and sells link cams soooo......
ClimberTom and klemheist is upside down!!
Say I've climbed a 60m pitch and abseil down, would stopping to unclip and retreive my pro slightly unweight this system?
Mark Edwards I don't think that it unweights the system enough to slip. You have to unweight it fully how i understod it. So this should not be a danger. Otherwise they wouldn't bring it to the Market
you are also probably not going to be worried about grabbing pro if you're using this (EMERGENCY bail out device)
Rehan Basson: Even in an emergency you still have to unclip to abseil past your protection?
if it's clipped for an overhang or pendulum it will still be weighted, if it's neither then you dont need the rope clipped into anything else
It would be less weight on the system, marginally. Assuming you weight 60-70kg though, as long as even some 12% of your body weight remains on the rope, it's not unweighted, and even if you managed to take almost all your weight off the rope, you would have to do it some 10 times before it became a danger, in which case you'd be asking for trouble..
What is the chance that the escaper with the carabiner or a knot will get stuck in a crack or a flake while pulling it down? Pretty high in my opinion.
Andreas M That was my first thougt too - having a knot in the end of the rope is a bad thing. You got the point... 😉
What about wet or frosted ropes?
Just watching you load it, Matt, gives me the heebie jeebies! Cool device but I’m not that trusting.
In my opinion there could be the danger that the system releases the rope if you abseil down on a route with lots of ledges (i.e. on long alpine routes). Typically you stand up on the ledges and then weight the rope again. Does anyone has tested this yet?
Why use a carabiner to attache the rope to the Escaper? This means it has to fall down and possibly get damaged, or hurt someone. Seems like it makes more sense to tie the rope directly to the Escaper.
liked the new system.. can it will be used for doing a 2 rope fast escape like system?
I'm curious if it would work in a v thread. I don't see why not but the device relay on friction to stay put so maybe adding ice would be foolish...
So when does the climbing start
Presumably you wouldn’t use a rope much longer than 60m as the weight of the rope would cause it to jam up?
Angus Anderson Beal say 80m max and 7kgs
1. You started to abseil with the black marking already inside the no-go zone (it has to be below the last yellow arrow marking)
2. You did not test pull the system
3. You did not tie the stop knots at the both ends of the rope
4. You used a carabiner to hook to the "escaper" instead of just using a rope knot, meaning you just trew a metal rock on your own head along with the rope
5. The way you hooked and placed your "prusik" is very dangerous and it can easily slip into the atc, therefore losing all stopping power and send you to heaven (use the "swiss" method in future, it's the best)
I see a lot of very dangerous mistakes in this video.
There is high possibility to damage the rope over sharp edges of rocks while you tugging the Escaper out. If there is not vertical of overhanging terrain.
If I understand it correctly, then I would not suggest using a carabiner to attach to the system, because when you then pull the rope to the ground the carabiner will hit the wall and ground pretty bad, rope can take the fall, carabiner should, but i would suggest avoiding it.
Great idea!! Thanks for sharing
In my opinion i would use a knot directly to the "Escaper" system instead of a carabiner. Although the friction of both fibers eventually produces deterioration, it will be visible thus you can ponderate the danger. While a fracture in rhe carabiner not always is easy to see.
Hello Matt what about jumpy rappels, I saw you going down really slow, will il work on static rope ?
You need to whip your rope between each pull to ensure the weightlessness and mobility of the escaper during retrieval
tugging on the rope 20 times over a sharp edge over and over again!! flying carabiner already mentioned!!
You want to unload the rope completely, i.e. let go of the rope. It worked as it was a short descent but on a long dynamic rope you want let it go and spring up.
Can you do a video on If being hit in the head with a carabiner from 60m without a helmet hurts?
Why using a Carabener if u can tie your rope direktly in with a knot. The Carabener includes the risk to stick somewhere, or am I wrong
lol then your carabiner falling 30m to the ground. Rock! #microfractures
mrLertoc
* 60m as you use the whole length ;P
Micro fractures is a myth brother. Although it will most likely be unusable after doing that to much.
did someone not tell him...
There’s no such thing as micro fractures.
Liam Myers
Even if they are. A carabiner from 60m never felt too pleased when hitting your head....
I wanted to say that too.
What if you try to make waves with the rope, by swinging it up. Would make it unravel faster?
I'd like to know what this system is like when itself and the rope is wet, icy or both! Would you trust it?
massirati1
Umm no difference.
Using a prussik without extending the belay device is a very bad idea!
I've been doing this for years. I Take a short prusik and attched it to the leg loop. I can stop during rappeling and go on.
Is an abseil just a British rappel?
Interesting system however I would be scared psychologically to use that despite it works and only with a steel mailon. Still a bit dangerous. Another alternative might be to use an arborist throw line tied to alpine butterfly and retrieve the rope using the throw line after the rapelling by pulling the the alpine butterfly down very safely and slowly with full control. No problem to use extra alluminium carabiner as well as the rope retrieval is fully controlled by throw line on one end and the rope on the other. I'm using this method during tree climbing. 100 meters of the throw line is pretty light weight and compact but negative is it can get tangled easily if not stored in throw line bag or on coil.
i think this is actually really dangerous: the rope could get stuck in a gap and that friction could take most of you body weight, then only leaving less than 10kg to the beal escaper. that would occur if the rope is on full tension in a slight angle and when you get further down the tension cannot spread evenly anymore, leaving less and less on the part between gap and ancor. correct me if im wrong, if not dont advertise it and just go prepared
Like a chinese finger trap
Actually two traps, which when repeatedly tugged & (fully) unloaded, inch their way down the 'free' end of the three foot anchor line. The imagery of the working modes of the device were not very clear nor informative, and probably reflect the thoughtlessness also shown in the unsafe aspects of this "safety device" video.
If you’re using a prussik, extend the belay device from the belay loop. It’ll jam up otherwise
I really have difficulty imagining a situation where this is the best solution. But then I mostly do regular sport climbing. There are some people who like to have and lug every type of gear imaginable up a mountain. But I would guess that even they would only use this as the very last resort.
I agree about a lot of people taking too much stuff on long climbs, but this thing is a lot lighter and less bulky than bringing another rope which you'd otherwise need for the long rappels.