Folks, Getting something caught in your rack such as hair, tissue, clothes, etc should not be a major emergency. Escaping from this problem using your safety ascender should be well practiced and relatively routine. Otherwise, a simple mistake with an easy solution can result in that cascading effect of mounting problems that can result in a less than desirable outcome.
I one time got my hair caught in my rack in Fantastic Pit in Ellisons, Georgia (no, it is not the reason I'm bald in front). I was about 400 feet off the floor and the last one down. It was not a big deal. I used my safety ascender and clipped in to the rope, pulled some slack through may rack. Pulled out the hair, changed back over to rappel using a girth hitch on the rope, and headed back on rappel. What if I had pulled out a knife and accidently cut the rope. I and the rope would have fallen 400 feet and would probably have broken an ankle or something. In addition, we would have had to wait a couple of days to be rescued. That would have been even more embarrassing LOL. Andy is right, having an ascending system ready to go is a good practice. Geary From: Andy Gluesenkamp [mailto:andrew_gluesenk...@yahoo.com] Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 2:23 PM To: Cavers Texas; Mixon Bill Subject: Re: [Texascavers] dumb list I dunno, Bill. I once caught a bandana in my rack about 1/3 of the way down Golondrinas. Death was so close, I could smell his aftershave. Andy ps 48-52 are on the second page. Andrew G. Gluesenkamp, Ph.D. 700 Billie Brooks Drive Driftwood, Texas 78619 (512) 799-1095 a...@gluesenkamp.com --- On Tue, 5/25/10, Mixon Bill <bmixon...@austin.rr.com> wrote: From: Mixon Bill <bmixon...@austin.rr.com> Subject: [Texascavers] dumb list To: "Cavers Texas" <texascavers@texascavers.com> List-Post: texascavers@texascavers.com Date: Tuesday, May 25, 2010, 2:08 PM That's a pretty silly list of 52 ways to die in a cave. Getting hair caught in a rack isn't likely to be fatal. Ditto for a lot of the others. Then of course the list actually only goes up to 47.... -- Mixon
