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Topic Date User

How strong are prusiks? 19-Jun-2016 At 1:50:32 PM kieranl

Message

On 19/06/2016 ajfclark wrote:
>On 18/06/2016 rightarmbad wrote:
>>What's more important is how hit and miss their ability to hold is.
>
>And yet the tandem prusik belay is one of the preferred belay methods
>in rescue.

Because they slip at around 9Kn (8mm cord), well below their breaking strain. This little video shows a prussik slipping before catching a load during some testin in the Blueys a few years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDTxFS33_TI

This was catching a 280kg load after a highline was failed. The black tape shows where the prussik was set before the catch. There's also a nice puff of smoke as the prussik sheath melts.

I'd prefer to use a mechanical belay system but the prussiks do work and are very light. A downside is that you probably have to cut the rope after a fall to get the prussik off.