Reminder: This article discusses techniques for rappelling, which inherently involve significant risks. Improper use can lead to serious injury or death. Always ensure you are proficient in these techniques through professional instruction and rigorous practice before attempting them in a real-world climbing environment. The information provided herein is for educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional guidance.
Being an avid climber, I am always trying to perfect my kit. One piece of gear that I’ve never settled is the rappel extension. This article is meant to catalog the extensions I’ve trialed. I’m not going to try to discuss the merits or drawbacks of extending a rappel, nor will I provide an extensive list of options; alpinesavvy.com has a great article that goes into more detail.
Edelrid HMPE Cord
The first option I got when I decided to get a dedicated sling for rappel extensions is the Edelrid HMPE cord sling. It’s lightweight (60g), works as a sling, and doesn’t weld shut when tying knots. This can be used in a variety of ways, but my favorite is using the double bowline, as it’s so easy to untie and relatively easy to adjust if I need a bigger or shorter loop on my harness.
My favorite part of this rappel extension is that it can be used as a double-length sling when needed on route, meaning it’s not a dedicated piece of gear on your harness just for the one purpose of extending a rappel. The reasons I don’t like it are that the bowline can be tricky to inspect at times, and you are ring-loading the knot, which is not suitable for dynamic loads, but is acceptable in this application. See the Alpinesavvy article on double-loop bowlines. It has a built-in tether for securing yourself to an anchor, although I still always use a single-length sling as a backup tether. Additionally, it’s a bit hard to adjust, so sometimes I find myself without enough or too much slack at a ledge. This is currently my go-to rappel extension, as it’s easy to tie, easy to untie, and versatile.
Kong Slide
The second device I’ve tried out is the Kong Slide paired with a length of 9.1mm rope. This is a pretty neat device, as it allows you to use your own rope and is adjustable. The main selling point is that it’s a dynamic rope, and the device will slide, meaning reduced impact forces if one were to fall from above the anchor.
This is the only dedicated Personal Anchor System (PAS) I’ve used. I’m generally reluctant to carry gear that’s so single-use on a climb, especially when weight is a concern. If I have to choose between an extra cam and this PAS, I’d probably choose the extra cam nine times out of ten. The main selling points are the adjustability and dynamic nature of the rope. To be completely transparent, I bought a rope that was too short to go with this; I would rather have something about 6-7ft long instead of 5ft.
I attach the rope to my harness with a Yosemite bowline, but one could use a girth hitch or any other method to attach it. The purpose-built adjustable tethers use girth hitches and a sewn loop of rope or webbing at the end of the cord.
The Kong Slide shortens easily, but it requires two hands and lifting your weight off the tether to extend it. This is generally is okay, but it’s a pain at hanging belays if one needs to extend the tether to weight the rappel.
Is the adjustability worth the extra weight? I don’t think so, I could bring 3 double-length slings (34g each) instead of the slide (40g) and rope (5ft = 90g). It was fun to play with, but I don’t anticipate racking this very often.
Blue Ice Alpine Runner
The newest contender for rappel extensions is a 110cm Blue Ice Alpine Runner (41g). It’s a loop of Dyneema with an abrasion and UV-resistant sheath, fully rated to 22 kN end-to-end. This is quite handy for making anchors, creating a rappel extension and tether, or using it as a standard double-length sling.
I’ve spent the least time playing with this setup, but it feels like a winner. It’s only 7g heavier than a standard double-length sling and won’t weld knots shut. It’s not redundant, but you can clip the tether into the rappel device for another layer of safety. I like that it can be easily used as a sling or to build an anchor. You can tie in with the figure 8 as I have done in this picture, tie in with a bowline, or any number of other ways.
Closing Thoughts
This isn’t meant to sell you on a particular way of extending your rappels, but to encourage you to think about what systems work and don’t work well. Consider the pros and cons of a particular setup, and when you might choose one over the other. I’ll update this article as I try more ways to extend a rappel and have more thoughts.
Reminder: This article discusses techniques for rappelling, which inherently involve significant risks. Improper use can lead to serious injury or death. Always ensure you are proficient in these techniques through professional instruction and rigorous practice before attempting them in a real-world climbing environment. The information provided herein is for educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional guidance.