nobrotson
Active member
On moving to Dublin from Leeds, I have been surprised by the attitude of the student caving club at UCD (my new club) regarding teaching SRT to novices. UCDCPC do not allow freshers who are new to SRT to learn using a simple, arguing that it is more dangerous than using a stop. This is a very contentious issue amongst student cavers (I know quite a few people who have very strong opinions on it), and I personally totally disagree with the policy of teaching SRT using a stop on the basis that it is safer. I have been teaching SRT to freshers for a number of years now, and I have never once seen somebody let go of the dead rope when using a simple. However, I have witnessed a 'clutch-and-plummet' incident on three separate occasions when training, which is impossible to perform with a simple.
I am not arguing for the abolition of stops from university caving as they are incredibly versatile and useful bits of kit. However, I do not feel that they are the correct device for teaching SRT to beginners, as they are a halfway house between a petzl ID, which is an extremely safe device in terms of anti-panic and redundancy mechanisms, and a simple where the users grip provides all the friction control (aside from a braking karabiner). This can give a false sense of security to new users, and also adds further complexity to the learning process. It can allow for the development of bad practices at an early stage, and the consequences of new users misunderstanding the device can be catastrophic (clutch and plummet) and impossible to influence as an instructor. You could have a 'bell ringer' ready to hold the dead rope in case of a fall at the bottom, but that is tricky because if they don't grab the rope tight in time then they could be hit by a free-falling person. There are doubtless other considerations that I have missed here.
What does the caving community overall think about this issue?
I am not arguing for the abolition of stops from university caving as they are incredibly versatile and useful bits of kit. However, I do not feel that they are the correct device for teaching SRT to beginners, as they are a halfway house between a petzl ID, which is an extremely safe device in terms of anti-panic and redundancy mechanisms, and a simple where the users grip provides all the friction control (aside from a braking karabiner). This can give a false sense of security to new users, and also adds further complexity to the learning process. It can allow for the development of bad practices at an early stage, and the consequences of new users misunderstanding the device can be catastrophic (clutch and plummet) and impossible to influence as an instructor. You could have a 'bell ringer' ready to hold the dead rope in case of a fall at the bottom, but that is tricky because if they don't grab the rope tight in time then they could be hit by a free-falling person. There are doubtless other considerations that I have missed here.
What does the caving community overall think about this issue?