Akestor
Well-Known Member
Can you recall how the individual turned upside down and slipped out of he chair? did he fainted??
Going up the mast (solo) and what to expect at the top...
- Thread starter stevie69p
- Start date
Can you recall how the individual turned upside down and slipped out of he chair? did he fainted??
Graham_Wright
Well-Known Member
What do you think of this?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Outdoor-...195076?hash=item2cf2b03484:g:QgwAAOSwfzVdhHNb
Akestor
Well-Known Member
Looks good but i dont know if its made for hanging continously. Maybe it will feel uncomfortable around the legs from the body weight, after lets say 15' up the mast. Feedback for someone who use this appreciated.
Poey50
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't trust my life to anything that didn't meet the UIAA standard for climbing harnesses. I didn't see any kind of certification associated with that harness.
penberth3
Well-Known Member
Suspiciously cheap.
Graham_Wright
Well-Known Member
This one is more expensive;-
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Outdoor-...hash=item2f369f1817:m:m8EdmjyO0vHdDYyVVham--w
jimi
Well-Known Member
SV Kittiwake
Well-Known Member
Poey gives good advice on gear. Like him, if I was to climb the mast solo I'd get a mechanical backup rather than use a prussic, not only safer but much easier to slide up, and therefore reduce the likelihood of a shock load. Black Diamond make good climbing harnesses, and Petzl make good ascenders - two handheld ascenders and a petzl shunt on your chest / belay loop as a backup would be a good combo. At the moment I climb the mast using a wild country rope man with a sling to stand up in and then as I stand up the petzl shunt slides up. But that's with a second person as safety backup on a winch.
rszemeti
Well-Known Member
That's unusual, even my dinghy manages to find room in the mast for the halyards ...
jimi
Well-Known Member
Almost exactly what I use. Shunt on harness /chest and footloop on ascendeur. I use a stich plate on the backup rope.. which also helps with the descent.
Poey50
Well-Known Member
I think the most transferable systems for mast ascending come from caving rather than rock climbing. Cavers have been developing safe single rope techniques (SRT) for years and the static ropes and the absence of dynamic falls make this directly suitable for mast climbing. I caved for years using SRT in the Yorkshire Dales with some bigger trips to the Picos in Northern Spain in an (unsuccessful) search for a world depth record and to the Vercors including the awesome 300 metre single open shaft of the Scialet Pot 2. Only a single rope of around 10mm diameter is used, often wet and sometimes muddy. It's not going to work on halyard diameters greater than 11mm.
So I do know about this kit. The frog technique is not difficult to use and the equipment is reasonably priced (especially in comparison to some truly horrible looking specialist yachty systems) but it must be certified equipment hence my specific recommendations. Yachties are fortunate that it is easy to set up a back-up line either for another person to operate or another static line to which is attached another ascender, or a prusik knot or a device like a figure of 8 to lower off with. For anyone interested you can practice with two ropes from a tree and go no higher than four feet off the ground. Several hours doing this and you can master it if you are careful and have some sense. Ascending is very easy - changing over to descending is the thing to master before going high (get help from a climbing centre if this is not clear) and I often simply reverse down with the ascenders rather than properly switch to descending. A good tip is to attach the bottom of the rope you are ascending to some thick shock cord to keep it under tension as you climb so it slides easily through the chest croll.
There is an outline here - but don't get lost in the detail of crossing knots etc - there is none of that on a mast. You don't need the cowstails.
https://technology.darkfrontier.us/Vertical/Frog/
So I do know about this kit. The frog technique is not difficult to use and the equipment is reasonably priced (especially in comparison to some truly horrible looking specialist yachty systems) but it must be certified equipment hence my specific recommendations. Yachties are fortunate that it is easy to set up a back-up line either for another person to operate or another static line to which is attached another ascender, or a prusik knot or a device like a figure of 8 to lower off with. For anyone interested you can practice with two ropes from a tree and go no higher than four feet off the ground. Several hours doing this and you can master it if you are careful and have some sense. Ascending is very easy - changing over to descending is the thing to master before going high (get help from a climbing centre if this is not clear) and I often simply reverse down with the ascenders rather than properly switch to descending. A good tip is to attach the bottom of the rope you are ascending to some thick shock cord to keep it under tension as you climb so it slides easily through the chest croll.
There is an outline here - but don't get lost in the detail of crossing knots etc - there is none of that on a mast. You don't need the cowstails.
https://technology.darkfrontier.us/Vertical/Frog/
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Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
I could have gone a few inches higher but did not want to hit my head on the wind vane. One just has to select a decent chair
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Graham_Wright
Well-Known Member
I bought the full body version and tried it yesterday. I must say it looks very well made but the leg straps are narrower than the pictures imply. I swapped back to the bosuns chair for yesterdays evolution.
Trying it on a beam at home, suggested that I would lean uncomfortably backwards but on the mast it was ok.
Needles to say, it came with no certification or instructions.
richardabeattie
Well-Known Member
Nobody seems to have mentioned a webbing mast ladder running up the luff groove.
Graham_Wright
Well-Known Member
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rogerthebodger
Well-Known Member
I used to had one but found it not easy to climb. I went and fitted folding steps to my mast now I use the steps sitting in a chair tailed by SWMBO at the bottom of the mast.
NormanS
Well-Known Member
That's what we do.
Seajet
...
Top Tip;
don't have a row, and especially don't sign over power of attorney just before going up
don't have a row, and especially don't sign over power of attorney just before going up
Wansworth
Well-Known Member
Splash the cash and lower the mast
Seajet
...
There's a lot to be said for that especially with a new to the OP boat, so all the fittings and bits can be inspected and if necessary replaced at leisure - I would go this way even if I wasn't worried by heights !
