Me, Myself & I Part 5
The next part of Me, Myself & I has not aged well, as all the dedicated solo devices have now been discontinued, and being ten years old,, it makes no mention of devices people may use now, such as the Wild Country Revo, and newer versions of the GriGri. The third edition will cover these devices, as well as the only dedicated device on the market, the El Mudo, but what’s here is simply a reflection of the early days of rope solo.
Solo Tools
The fundamental idea behind all rope soloing techniques is to belay yourself instead of being belayed by a partner. To catch a fall, you utilise either a piece of hardware (a device) or a technique (such as a knot). It's important to understand as many of these methods as possible to be flexible and adapt to different situations, as the situation may require you to switch from one to the other. I have chosen to leave out several historical systems used on solo ascents (for example, Charles Cole used an ascender attached to a rope running through his belay device), focusing instead on the core tools, which I have split into knots and mechanical.
KNOTS
If you are new to rope soloing, then you should start here, as the use of knots is how climbers soloed routes in the past, and the drawbacks of slowness and inability to pay out remotely mean their use will force you to understand the limits soloing brings. They are also the simplest and safest system for self-belay, and as a foundation skill, you may need to call on them when complex systems fail.
Clove hitch
By far the best, safest and most foolproof self-belay method for rope soloing on big walls, where the climbing will be predominantly aid. The reason for its effectiveness is that you are always tied into the rope with a knot, and even when loosened, it will still catch you in a fall.
You should already know how to tie a Clove hitch, so the next important part is connecting yourself to the knot. It would be best to connect the knot via krabs to your belay loop so that the krabs have flexibility and reduce twisting or cross-loading. The knot works best on an asymmetrical-shaped krab, so an oval or HMS would work best. This style of krab, by its nature, is weaker than a D-shaped krab, so this must be considered. I often use this method on a single HMS when roped soloing during short fixing on speed climbs, but for extended soloing, over days or longer, you need to eliminate the slim chance of breaking your krab in fall (this has happened). To attain greater security, you can double up your connector krabs, say two ovals or two HMS krabs (gates opposed), or employ a steel maillon (a kind of shackle that tends to be more secure than a krab). With either method, it's also recommended to safeguard the locker(s) from spinning around to eliminate cross-loading. Several good krabs on the market feature a system designed to stop cross-loading that can work well (such as the Black Diamond GridLock or Rock Exotica Pirate WireEye Auto-Lock); a large krab is also a little easier to handle when using the Clove hitch. One krab that may appear to be a winner (but which I find never works well) is the design that features a locking flap (DMM Belay Master); the locker often pops open or is lost altogether (I would never trust a single HMS using this system alone).