When I made my remarks about self-lining, it certainly wasn't with the intention of re-opening the 'The silly old argument re SRT and Ladders', but I was genuinely surprised to see self-lining in use in the film. I must have misread the situation. I guess I was thinking that if every member of a party had to be kitted up with harness and chest-jammer, then they might as well go the whole hog, dispense with the ladder and use SRT.
But as mikem pointed out, it makes sense for one person only to be kitted out appropriately for self-lining and then for her/him to life-line the other members of the party.
And I don't think that this is a question of age vs youth; I'll be 80 next birthday (if I survive that long) and simply wouldn't think of using ladders on a caving trip, having done loads of laddering and loads of SRT in the past. For instance we recently went for a bimble round Kingsdale Master Cave to see what it was like in mild flood conditions and it never entered our heads (two of us, average age 71 years) to use a ladder on the one short Valley Entrance pitch.
But as mikem pointed out, it makes sense for one person only to be kitted out appropriately for self-lining and then for her/him to life-line the other members of the party.
And I don't think that this is a question of age vs youth; I'll be 80 next birthday (if I survive that long) and simply wouldn't think of using ladders on a caving trip, having done loads of laddering and loads of SRT in the past. For instance we recently went for a bimble round Kingsdale Master Cave to see what it was like in mild flood conditions and it never entered our heads (two of us, average age 71 years) to use a ladder on the one short Valley Entrance pitch.
