Abseiling off a cliff in full scuba diving gear! Never thought id find myself here!

[TMHeimer]

Nice video. I assume you hauled your tanks, etc. up by rope.
Yeah, I'll definitely be trying that next week...…..

 

[Zef]

It has been a while since I've done it, but shouldn't the harness biners be the other way? "Screw down so you don't screw up."

The only issue I see with the biners are that the gates should be opposed...with locking biners there is a tendency for the locking mechanisms to rub on each other which can result in them unscrewing.

Years ago before locking biners were popular one would use two oval or d-shape biners inverted and opposed for abseiling and belaying. It has been common practice to replace that setup with 1 locking carabiner...sometimes folks will use 2 for abseiling and belaying and when establishing a top rope anchor without realizing the gates matching up can be problematic.

In all my years climbing I have never heard the adage "screw down so you don't screw up." I guess it makes sense but I have used various locking carabiners over the years with some that lock by the barrel screwing towards the bottom and blocking the gate hinge, as well as the more common where the barrel screws towards the top to prevent it from opening. Years ago the adage was that before climbing/abseiling you wanted to double check that locking carabiners indeed had their gates locked closed, and we always did a buddy check, where knots, harnesses were checked to ensure they were done up correctly. Ain't nothing like doing a "Lynn Hill" when you lean back on the rope and find that your harness buckle was not properly double backed.

-Z

 

[JohnnyC]

I mean, if we're really going to nitpick they should have two independent ropes with two independent anchors, their belay devices should have some sort of panic function like an I'D or a Rig, and they should have a secondary fall arrestor with an appropriately sized absorber like an ASAP with an Absorbica on either a dorsal or sternal d-ring, meaning a full body harness. They should also have an ascender with a foot loop and a cows tail so that they can rescue an incapacitated buddy. All of their connectors should be auto-locking and ANSI rated, preferably with 3600lb gates. They should have full PPE. They should have a knife on their harness to cutaway.

I could go on, but this is about doing something fun, not going all OSHA on them.

 

[Zef]

I mean, if we're really going to nitpick they should have two independent ropes with two independent anchors, their belay devices should have some sort of panic function like an I'D or a Rig, and they should have a secondary fall arrestor with an appropriately sized absorber like an ASAP with an Absorbica on either a dorsal or sternal d-ring, meaning a full body harness. They should also have an ascender with a foot loop and a cows tail so that they can rescue an incapacitated buddy. All of their connectors should be auto-locking and ANSI rated, preferably with 3600lb gates. They should have full PPE. They should have a knife on their harness to cutaway.

I could go on, but this is about doing something fun, not going all OSHA on them.

I disagree and you are blowing this way out of proportion with your hyperbolic rant. For one, they are not in the US from what I can tell by the accents in the video and the location listed on the OP's profile page so OSHA standards don't apply...they also don't apply to autonomous individuals and groups engaging in a recreation activity. There are however, just like in diving, some generally accepted safety measures that folks engaging in climbing and abseiling should employ to avert the possibility of serious injury or death. Descending on a line with a heavy load on one's back is a practice considered best to avoid if possible throughout the mountaineering and rock climbing community worldwide. Based on the OP's statements in the video they had never abseiled before....the safety suggestion was just something they should think about/consider should they ever be in that situation again. And I agree with the suggestion by @Scared Silly, that it would have been better (more safe) for them to have lowered their equipment before descending. It is only fun if you and/or your companions avoid injury or death. Once things go toes up the fun tends to screech to a halt...with a little bit of knowledge and exercise of prudent judgment and technique it is possible to avoid problems that would lead to the fun stopping.

-Z

 

[JohnnyC]

I disagree and you are blowing this way out of proportion with your hyperbolic rant. For one, they are not in the US from what I can tell by the accents in the video and the location listed on the OP's profile page so OSHA standards don't apply...they also don't apply to autonomous individuals and groups engaging in a recreation activity. There are however, just like in diving, some generally accepted safety measures that folks engaging in climbing and abseiling should employ to avert the possibility of serious injury or death. Descending on a line with a heavy load on one's back is a practice considered best to avoid if possible throughout the mountaineering and rock climbing community worldwide. Based on the OP's statements in the video they had never abseiled before....the safety suggestion was just something they should think about/consider should they ever be in that situation again. And I agree with the suggestion by @Scared Silly, that it would have been better (more safe) for them to have lowered their equipment before descending. It is only fun if you and/or your companions avoid injury or death. Once things go toes up the fun tends to screech to a halt...with a little bit of knowledge and exercise of prudent judgment and technique it is possible to avoid problems that would lead to the fun stopping.

-Z

You completely missed the point of my post but that's ok.

I wholeheartedly agree with everything that you said.

 

[Zef]

You completely missed the point of my post but that's ok.

I wholeheartedly agree with everything that you said.

my apologies if I misinterpreted the intent of your post.

-Z

 

[EastEndDiver]

Were they displaying their Abseiling flag while descending were they using split ins and did they have snorkels attached to their masks.....that's whats really important.

 

[Zef]

Since they are from Australia shouldn't they have abseiled facing forward down the cliff face?

-Z

 

[Photo Girl]

One of the most spectacular dives in Bonaire is called "Rappel", named after the divers who discovered it because they had to rappel down the cliff in full scuba gear to get into the water. Now it is a boat dive.

 

[Neilwood]

I think, as others have, that it would have been a lot easier to lower the gear and then abseil down without the gear.

Abseiling with all your gear on, to me anyway, is making more difficult than it needs to be for a number of reasons :
1) your weight distribution for abseiling will be horrible with all that weight on your back
2) Wetsuits don't seem the best thing to abseil in
3) Chance of damaging your diving gear