What are the forces on the anchor when rappelling?

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Written By John Godino
 
 
 

I recently came across a nice video from the meticulous gear testers at Edelrid. (Have a look at their “Edelrid Knowledge Base” on YouTube, they have lots of goodies there.)

Check out the screen grab below from one of their videos.

Short version:

  • If you bounce around on the rope like some special forces cowboy, you can generate between 2 and 3 kN as a temporary peak load.

  • When you rappel smoothly, the load to the anchor is pretty much your body weight.

Takeaway: rappel smoothly without bouncing to minimize force on the anchor.

 
John Godino
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