If you've been climbing long enough then that chances that you've had to abseil (or rappel) are quite high. Whether it's to back off a route because of worsening weather, rescue a stuck piece of gear, to gain access to the base of a sea-cliff or just to get back down to the base after finishing a route, like it or not abseiling is a pretty important skill to master. I guess you only get it wrong once, right?
I also love it when you take to any non-climbers who you (god forbid) might end up in a conversation with about climbing. After the initial "what's the highest mountain you've climbed? have you climbed everest? Have you seen that guy in TV that climbs buildings? then there generally an anocdote about climbing somewhere in thier childhood... and more often than not there is another story about how great abseiling is and asking you've done any. I see a lot of climbers faces drop when asked this. I remember abseiling as a kid and I've worked in outdoor ed so I know how safe all the set-ups are. It just annoys me that the masses normally don't get how bad abseiling can be.
Either way I thought I'd write something about it. This is mostly a regurgitation of information already out there, but some people won't know it and I've been using it for the past few years without any problems. I think the original idea was posted up here (on Andy Kirkpatricks site, when it was still psychovertical) but someone has produce this awesome image (originally from here):
I use this method to abseil pretty much all the time. A 120cm sling is larks footed between my belay and leg loops and then knotted with a simple overhand knot about half way along it's lenght. My belay device is clipped into the loop nearest to the harness and a screwgate is clipped into the end of, what is now pretty much, the cows-tail. My prussic is clipped to my belay loop (is use a french) and I'm ready to go.
This all may seem a bit much for just abseiling back to the floor off a route but I've found thast if you force yourself to set everything up the same way each time you abseil, regardless of the situation (wind, rain, sun, shine, tiredness, stress, lack of time), then when it is really bad your brain is already set up to do it properly. I find it helps me.
Two things that are really useful about this method of abseiling are that you've already got a cowtail to clip into any anchors on the way. When I've had to descent more than one pitch or arriving at a hanging belay when sea cliff climbing having something already attached and ready to clip in make life a load easier. I know popular opinion at the moment is to not use slings to attach yourself to a belay but as long you keep the sling tight and t your weight below the belay (therefore reducing any possibility of shockloading) it should be ok. See the DMM video here for more information. With all this in mind if you find yourself abseiling a lot then maybe purchasing a nice chunky 120 nylon sling would be a good idea (although I don't use one). The other useful thing is that I can see my abseil device and everything is in line. It's simply nice and neat.
I'll put up something about rigging abseiling and testing them soon.
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