My newbie question thread

[Woodwork]

Rather than start a new thread with every dumb question I have, I figured I'd start one thread and put them all into the same thread as I go along, so it won't pollute the forum (and so you all can ignore the thread if you want)...

Here's a question about "dipping lines" or "dipping loops":

I'm still messing with my roof job (had to take care of some other business during the summer), and since I have multiple roof planes and valleys, etc., I have multiple overhead ropes going over the ridges, so I can switch from one rope to another as I work.

When I change from one rope to another, I never want to be "off rope" if possible when up high, so I've been doing something with my prusik loops that I learned from boating: "Dipping" the loop when I clip a new prusik loop into my climbing harness carabiner...like this:

(Smart boaters do this when they tie up to a bollard where another boat is already tied – that way, the first guy who tied up to the bollard can release his boat without taking the second guy's line off first...and possibly forgetting to put it back on.)

That way, I can clip in the second prusik loop before detaching from the first prusik loop...and never be off rope.

Is this something that tree climbers (or rock climbers) do, as well, to prevent being off rope when at height?

 

[climbstihl]

I don't know if other climbers do it, but I do.

 

[Jan_]

Good idea, but I'd never open a loaded Life support carabiner in the first place, I have a lanyard for a reason. I would also advise you to not do that. I could see myself using this for other things though, thanks for sharing this!

 

[Woodwork]

Good idea, but I'd never open a loaded Life support carabiner in the first place...

Thanks Climbstihl and Jan. Just to clarify, my prusik loop isn't loaded when I switch from one prusik loop to another...I switch when standing on scaffolding, and could be off-rope if I wanted, but just prefer to stay clipped-in whenever up there...I mean, I get it that it could be bad if I fell while the gate was open, but not as bad as if I fell while there were no prusik loop inside the biner!

Should I maybe add another life-support biner to my harness (just using a bare-bones diaper-style rock climbing harness), so that there's always one prusik loop attached to a closed biner?

 

[theatertech87]

Thanks Climbstihl and Jan. Just to clarify, my prusik loop isn't loaded when I switch from one prusik loop to another...I switch when standing on scaffolding, and could be off-rope if I wanted, but just prefer to stay clipped-in whenever up there...I mean, I get it that it could be bad if I fell while the gate was open, but not as bad as if I fell while there were no prusik loop inside the biner!

Should I maybe add another life-support biner to my harness (just using a bare-bones diaper-style rock climbing harness), so that there's always one prusik loop attached to a closed biner?

Yes yes you should, 100% tie in all the time. Plus you can use both at the same time

 

[Woodwork]

Yes yes you should, 100% tie in all the time. Plus you can use both at the same time

Thanks, Theatertech87. That's what I'll do.

 

[Woodwork]

Feels much more secure with two biners, don't know why I was so dense not to think of it myself, thanks guys.

Next question: Carabiner Lubrication?

I noticed one of my autolock biners sometimes gets sticky where it will kinda sorta lock, but not completely. Googled how to lubricate carabiners and found people saying oil is no good (attracts dirt/grit) and some people recommended graphite. But I'm leery of graphite because on the galvanic series, it's more noble/cathodic than almost anything, including copper. So if it gets wet for any length of time, that graphite will "eat" aluminum, copper, pretty much any metal, including gold. (I've seen boats where a mere pencil line on a SS or Monel propshaft will create a groove and stress riser and, with any vibration, eventually crack all the way through the shaft, leaving the wheel in Davy Jones's locker. Wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it...)

So what are you guys lubricating your biner gates with, if anything? Maybe teflon spray? I've got some hexagonal boron nitride powder ("white graphite"), maybe that's the ticket...

 

[Jan_]

I have had sucess with putting WD40 into my old carabiners and then oiling them, it works well now. Be sure to let the WD40 dry for a couple of hours, maybe even rinse it out. Then put the oil, wipe of the excess and be sure to not have any on the outside. If dirt and grime start building up again just do the thing all over again.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

I use liquid Teflon for biners.

 

[craneguy1]

Powdered graphite. Tube'o lube.

 

[Woodwork]

Thanks, guys.

 

[southsoundtree]

Should I maybe add another life-support biner to my harness (just using a bare-bones diaper-style rock climbing harness), so that there's always one prusik loop attached to a closed biner?

You should buy a tree climbing harness. Would you try to frame a house by driving nails with the side of a hammer? It will work. Sometimes, the side of the hammer is the only way it will fit in tight spaces...like 0.00001% of the time, it will be the best option, the rest of the time, a hinderance.


I started with a rock-harness on my first couple trees, back in the day...maybe for a back-country climb with lots of rope-walking and perches, where the harness is back-up, not positioning.

 

[Woodwork]

You should buy a tree climbing harness.

I have one, a Buckingham Traverse I bought 10-15 years ago.

It's a little bulky and overkill for roofing a house, IMHO. (My OP on this thread related to work practices while re-roofing my house.) I just want something to prevent me from falling off a 12-pitch roof, and a small amount of work-positioning (for example, leaning back against the harness so that my feet and legs are more perpendicular to the roof pitch while I put on shingles or put roof cement under the shingles on a gable-end rake edge), but not something to hang from, at least in this case. But thanks, just the same. For tree climbing, I agree and use the Buckingham.