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Figure eight descender rigged in “canyon A “rescue eight.”
mode.”
down and not out to the side, creating a straighter on each side to prevent this from happening. The
angle in the rope. rescue eight is the standard rappel device for many
The figure eight descender is also prone to search and rescue personnel.
jamming by the rope girth-hitching itself over the A major safety consideration to be aware of
top of the device. This is a rare occurrence, but can when using the figure eight descender is that the
happen if the brake hand is held too high. As with standard stopper knot typically used to prevent rap-
all rappelling problems, you’ll need basic self-rescue pelling off the end of the rope will not jam in a fig-
skills (see Prusiking in chapter 9) to get yourself ure eight descender, and it’s difficult, if you’re using
out of this type of jam. A “rescue eight” is the term a single rope, to tie any knot bulky enough to jam
used to describe a figure eight descender with ears in the device.
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