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Figure of eight descenders
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The figure of eight descender is the cheapest
around, and so is fairly popular. Unfortunately it is also very dangerous in a
canyon where the bottom of the rope is not hanging free. The problem is the way
the rope twists around the descender: it twists the rope badly and you end up
with a bundle of kinks and tangles. If you get one of these jammed in your
descender while you are half way down you are in big trouble. It is equally
possible to run into the problem at the bottom, when you take your weight off
the rope. Just as you do so, the twists tangle around the descender and you find
you can't get enough slack to disconnect from the rope. If you are floating in
the water under a waterfall when this happens, you can be in trouble again.
One way of handling this is to always carry
several prussik loops in your pocket or on the back of your harness (out of the
way!), and to know how to use them. They can let you can take your weight off
the descender while you sort out the mess. You need to have practiced using
prussik loops beforehand of course.
This problem is so severe that many clubs do not
permit the use of figure of eight descenders on club trips. They prefer the use
of "in-line" descenders, where the rope is not twist around. The
various "
or " are strongly recommended instead, like the one to the
right.
