Page 133 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

cut on angle

Figure 4-16H. Grab the core where it emerges from be sure to stand far enough back that you can’t
the cover. Pull it out and cut it off right where you hammer yourself in the knee, or have the splice
grabbed it. Then cut the resulting tail on a big angle. slide up the handle and slam into your hand.

1. With the loop knot anchored, start at the knot 2. Hold the cover side of the Crossover, apply
and milk the cover toward the eye. Stop when tension, and while keeping the tension on,
you get within a foot or so of the cover tail that’s smooth the core firmly away from the Crossover.
inside the core. As the standing part of the core This will make the core tight and smooth, so it
slides into the cover, it wants to drag the core end won’t bunch up in front of the advancing cover.
into the rope with it. When this happens, the eye
cover gets bunched up. To fix this pull back on 3. By keeping tension on the core while you run
the cover side of the eye, or put a hammer into the cover home, you remove any slack from the
the eye and snap the rope sharply against the core, so it won’t bunch up and make a plug,
belay. This will yank the core tail back out and preventing the Crossover from going into the
smooth the eye. Repeat this maneuver any time cover. You also reduce the core’s diameter, so the
the cover gets bunched up, as soon as you see it cover can swallow it more easily.
happening. If you wait to do this until the splice With many ropes, you can maintain tension
is mostly home, you will have an extremely hard with one hand and milk the slack toward you
time budging things. Note that, when snapping with the other. With tougher ropes, get a friend
with the hammer that it is very important that to pull on the eye, to make the core even smaller,
the handle is always angled away from you. Also while you milk the slack toward the eye. For

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