"Oh, Shit..."

How to get by without the gear in the 2011 Gear Guide

Dropped, forgotten, or mysteriously vanished gear can ruin a climbing day. Worst case, it can be life-threatening. But with a little know-how, you can recover from bone-headed mistakes and keep climbing—and also impress friends with your savvy.

Trail Rope

If you trash your trail rope during a multipitch climb, you can still make double-rope-length rappels to get off. Feed the undamaged lead line through the anchor point, and attach it to the damaged line with a bulky knot that can’t pull through the rap rings. (This method is sometimes called the Reepschnur.) Don’t use it with an anchor that has webbing or carabiners at the rap point; the smaller the rap rings, the better. Next, rig a back-up by tying an overhand or figure-eight on a bight on the damaged line, near the knot, and clipping the loop to the lead line [see illustration]. With the knot jammed against the rap point, you can rappel single-strand on the undamaged lead line, then pull the damaged trail line to retrieve your good cord. This method can also be used to temporarily anchor one strand of a double-rope rappel so you can rap with a Grigri or other single-rope belay device.

Quickdraws

If you run out of quickdraws, you may be able to substitute a chock. The cable loop on many wired nuts can be pulled away from the nut, exposing the end of the loop; clip a biner into each end of the wire for an instant quickdraw. (If the cable is soldered or glued at the nut, this method won’t work.) For a back-up long runner, carry a gear sling rated to full strength.

Belay Device

If you drop your belay or rappel device, use the Munter hitch. You can belay or rappel with this simple knot, using only the rope and a locking carabiner. A large, pear-shaped biner allows more room for the knot to move and “flip” freely so it can engage or release braking power, but any locker will work. You can even use two non-lockers with the gates opposed and reversed. Tying the Munter is simple—see figure 1—but make sure the knot you tie looks exactly like figure 2. Check that you’ve done it correctly by pulling the rope back and forth —the knot should “flip” as you change direction.