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Abseiling off slings? 12-Nov-2006 At 4:46:42 PM Andrew_M

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Chug, don't stress about abseiling off slings. It has been the standard way of setting up abseil anchors for decades in many (most?) places. Jeez, here in the blue mountains you could easily do hundreds (or thousands) of abseils a year off slings in one canyoning season alone. It's interesting that there are even people who are querying it...does everybody just do sports routes with loweroffs or something??

It's really only a weighted rope moving over a sling that is likely to cause problems. Of course, as others have said, NEVER top rope directly off a sling. Always go through a biner (well two for redundancy). If you are abseiling on two ropes of very different diameter with some devices there can be differential slippage and running of the rope through the slings, or maybe if you did something crazy like attach a backup prusik to a single strand but this is not normal usage. Old weathered slings can also be an issue, as can slings that have had ropes repeatedly pulled through them... if in doubt cut the old slings out and replace.

And backing up a rope? It's not commonly done. Bomber Pro makes some good points. The main thing is to set up the ropes so that they don't run over sharp edges, and pad any sharp bits. Still if you are worried there are a few things you can do particularly if you will be abseiling with people who aren't proficient and may therefore abseil in a jerky manner (bad if there is any edge).

A 'simple' way is to have the doubled rope running through the anchor sling(s), but just below the anchor, tie an alpine butterfly in each strand, then clip a biner between the two loops of the butterflies. Better yet is to tie two separate figure eights in the rope and clip each into the anchor. Abseil on both strands in both situations.

Disclaimer: Don't solely base important climbing decisions on what some random nut says on the internet. Read a good ropework book...better yet hire a guide to show you.