Descenders

[Dep]

Geoff wrote:

Now panic occurs and the left hand clutches the lever in - lets assume this is an inevitable reflex with most people - you have now in effect only turned the Stop into a Simple, nothing more ! The brain of course attempts to control speed with the right hand, but because less attention has been placed on this SOLE aspect of speed control, I surmise the user is not so well prepared. Perhaps no glove, perhaps no braking crab, perhaps no feeling of just how much effort needs to be expended <quickly> before exponentially energy gets out of control .....

Spot on, it is this idea that the red handle controls the braking that is wrong. As you rightly point out some people are shown to use this as a brake when it is in fact a clutch (bad choice of title I know but that is clutch as in the clutch of a car, not clutch as in plummet and die.)

ALL braking should be done with the right hand against the braking krab - if this is done correctly you can squeeze the handle as tight as you lijke in panic - as long as you also pull the right hand rope up against the krab in panic too!