The FiddleStick - An Advanced Anchor Tool for Canyoneering - Tech Tips

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The FiddleStick – An Advanced Anchor Tool forCanyoneering

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The FiddleStick

is an advanced canyoneering anchor tool. It is a new approach to retrievable anchoring, openingup a wider range of possible anchors, and making it possible to descend more canyons whileleaving nothing behind (aka “ghosting”). As an ADVANCED anchor tool, it requires skill, practiceand understanding to use safely. Even when used properly, it has the possibility of failing,resulting in severe injury or death, or being stranded in a canyon with your ropes hopelesslystuck.

The FiddleStick retrievable anchor system has some great benefits:

- Rope grooves are virtually eliminated.- Anchors can be well back from the edge of the rappel.- Anchors can be around corners.- Uses little to no webbing.

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The FiddleStick

- Can easily and safely “ghost” in many circumstances.- Faster to rig than most any other anchor.- Lightweight.- Fun!

The “FiddleStick” is both a product and a concept. It iscertainly possible to make very reasonable FiddleSticks athome, but it is somewhat difficult to improvise them in thefield from commonly carried materials.

While it is possible to use the FiddleStick on traderoutecanyons, to not contribute to deeper rope grooves or makesome pulls easier, it really shines on first descents and inrarely-travelled backcountry canyons where it is ofsubstantial benefit to not leave junk behind.

Using the FiddleStick

The FiddleStick is based on the Stone knot. The Stone(Stein) knot can be used to secure both sides of a doubledrope so both can be rappelled on. The concept is the same when FiddleSticking, but one end ofthe rope is just a short tail, while the other (long) end is used to rappel on. A pull cord removesthe FiddleStick, and the Stone knot falls apart, leaving a short, clean end of the rope to be pulledout from around the anchor, and down the drop.

There are several versions of the Stone Knot, but the one we recommend for the FiddleStick isthe Upward Overhand Stone, which has the most consistent disintegration once the Stick ispulled. Learn more about tying and uses of the Stone knot at: CUSA Tech Tip: The Stone Knot

By replacing the carabiner in the Stone knot with a stick and leaving one strand short, you createa very slick retrievable anchor. Upon removing the stick, the knot falls apart, and only the shortend of the rope needs to pull from around the anchor.

The above description makes FiddleSticking seem pretty simple. Sometimes it is; sometimes it isnot. Here is a rundown on some of the many subtleties:

What Can be Used as an Anchor

The FiddleStick allows a wide range of objects to be used as anchors that previously would havebeen overlooked or not utilized because the length of webbing needed to use them would havebeen too much.

Important Aspects of Anchor Construction:

- Solid, really solid . Large trees, wedged logs, big wedged rocks, etc. Put a rope around it,pull real hard and make sure it doesn’t wiggle. I’ve seen large stout bushes move easily underload and big rocks budge unexpectedly – test your anchor.

- Snag factor . The tail end of the rope needs to run freely around the anchor all the way tothe drop. Also, the FiddleStick needs to fall cleanly. Look for branches, rocks, or other items thatcould snag either piece of hardware. Have the first person down test the pull to make sure it willwork.


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Upward Overhand Stone

- Pinch factor . V-shapedgrooves can and will snag yourrope, especially if they get achance to jam in the pinch whileweighted. If necessary, add ashort piece of webbing aroundthe anchor and run the ropethrough the webbing. Becauseyou are only pulling the shortend of the rope through thewebbing, a rapide is notnecessary. Leaving behind ashort piece of webbing is betterthan getting your rope stuck.

- Angle to knot. If theanchor is wide, such as a largelog or rock, and the stone knot isclose to it, the rope will convergeon the stone knot at a wideangle. This is potentiallydangerous. Use webbing aroundthe anchor in this case, or tie theStone knot further from theobject.

- Rig the FiddleStick inplain sight. While this is not arequirement, it is nice if theFiddleStick can be seen whilegetting on rappel, and evenbetter if it can be seen from thebottom of the drop. This allowsyou to keep an eye on it at alltimes.

- Rig the FiddleStick in“free space” (vs. againstwall). Rig so the FiddleStick isin free space. This prevents theStick getting stuck or knocked out by pushing against the wall. While often possible, sometimesthe Stick must be placed against the ground or a wall — make sure that the ground or wall willnot PUSH the FiddleStick either IN or OUT.

Setting up the rappel

- Rig webbing if necessary. In cases where the rope won’t pull freely around the anchor,the angles are bad, a cairn is required, etc., use a short loop of webbing around the anchor, andrun the rope through the webbing. Rapides are not required in most cases.

- Rope around anchor. Put the tail of the rope around the anchor (or through the webbing


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FiddleStick Pulling Free

if used). Leave several feet of ropepast the point where you will tie thestone knot.

- Tie Upward Overhand Stoneknot, insert carabiner, lock aroundone upper strand. I often also putthe FiddleStick in place at this point,though that is not necessary.

- Setup a backup. Tie an AlpineButterfly in the rappel strand and usea separate rope to link this back to abackup anchor or meat anchor.

Evaluate the stone knot/FiddleStickas folks rappel:

- Does it bang up against thewall?

- Does it twist or spin?

- Does it remain in free space (ifpossible)?

- Does the rope stay in placearound the anchor?

Send down most or all of the partybut the Last Person.

Last Person: Loosen the Stone Knotand insert the FiddleStick. Removethe Stone Knot carabiner.

Snug the knot up on theFiddleStick.

Deploy the pull cord. Securing thecord to your harness, toss the pullcord bag to the bottom. Have your partners manage the pull cord, so it is out of the way of thefinal rappeller. Using a carabiner, clip the pull-side cord or rope to the FiddleStick cord. Do NOTtie the pull cord to the FiddleStick’s cord as this will wear out the cord quickly. Evaluate if thesecurity of the FiddleStick against the weight of the pull cord is sufficient. If not, add somesecurity to the pull cord side by:

- Snagging the pull cord on a bush or stick, that can then be easily broken by a pull frombelow;

- Back from the edge, stack a rock or two atop the pull cord, to hold it until pulled frombelow. Be sure the stack is far enough back that the rock will not be knocked over the edge;

- As you go over the edge, trap a bight of the pull cord under the rappel rope. This only


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FiddleStuck!

works if tension will be maintained on the rappel line for the full length of the rappel.

It is very important when rappelling to not snag th e pull cord on the way down. If the pullcord needs to be carried down, have the second-to-last person carry it while they rappel. As lastperson, it is VERY DANGEROUS to rappel with the pul l cord deploying as you go. If itsnags as you descend, you might pull out the Stick.

On long rappels, it is VERY HELPFUL to use a lightweight pull cord that will put less weight onthe retrieval side.

Retrieving the FiddleStick and Rope

Once everyone is safely down and you are sure you do not want the rope for retreat or any otherreason you can pull the FiddleStick and rope.

Pull steadily and firmly without jerking until you feel FiddleStick “pop”. It may come out easily andit may take a tug. If the rope is really sandy and/or wet it will take more pulling. I prefer to pullsteadily and firmly but it might take a good tug. The FiddleStick will usually fly out of the knot.

- The FiddleStick might fly over and/or onto your heads. Wear helmets and be aware. Don’thit your friends in the face with a FiddleStick. They get mad.

- The FiddleStick could get stuck on something. Youchecked really carefully ahead of time, right? If it sticks aftercoming out of the knot DON’T PULL IT YET.

- If the FiddleStick doesn’t come out you are “jacked up”or “buggered” (technical terms).

Pull the rope. Pull steadily, don’t jerk.You don’t want to flip thetail into a tangle. The rope will often just fall out when theFiddleStick is removed. Otherwise, it shouldn’t take more forcethan pulling that short tail around the anchor.

- If the rope doesn’t come easily it may have caught in aconstriction or somehow gotten a hitch around itself (orsomething else); hogging on it will often just get it more stuck.Try flipping it all about and tugging gently from different anglesbefore pulling with great force. There’s always time for fullyhogging on it later (which works sometimes… or maybe it willmake it more stuck).

Problems with the FiddleStick:

The FiddleStick is pretty reliable, but there are a few situations you can encounter if not careful.

“FiddleStuck”

We achieved a state of complete FiddleStuck due to a choke on an intermediate level of a 200’rap. In this case, a small rock was just the right shape to first catch the knot of the FiddleStickpull cord and hopelessly snag it:

(Picture after rope is removed. FiddleStick fell nicely in this groove with its knot caught on smallrock.)


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A FiddleStuck Rope

Then, when we pulled the 200’ rope, it fell on the same rockand also caught (other picture).

Note that the rope is solidly wedged by the force of all of ushogging on it from below. This tangle was NOT safe to climbon; the rock was easily removed and could have beendislodged when jugging up over the edge. The canyon wasredone the next day for photos and rope retrieval. With 20/20hindsight, the problem was pretty obvious!)

Check carefully for anything that could snag the FiddleStick orrope and move, cover, or protect them as best as possible. TheFiddleStick often flies out of the knot and could catch on thingsoverhead or across from the anchor. Keep this in mind whenrigging and pulling the FiddleStick.

Care and feeding of your FiddleStick:

Imlay Canyon Gear FiddleSticks are made from Lexan, arobust plastic. Check the stick itself for cracks each time youuse it, and examine the cord for wear-spots and defects. If the retrieval cord is compromised, itmight break when you try to retrieve the Stick. Send the Stick in for a new cord, or replace ityourself.

The FiddleStick was developed as a group project over the course of two years. People whomade significant contributions to the effort include: Jenny West, Jonathan Zambella, LukeGalyan, Steve Fisk, Steve Ramras, Mark Rosen, Brendan Busch, Kody Prisbrey and Drue Kehlwho came up with the name. Thanks to all for helping make this possible.

In the gallery, some more photos that illustrate some of the points.

Enjoy, and be careful out there. Gravity is an unforgiving dance partner.

Tom Jones, Mt Carmel, March 2013


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About tjones

Tom is the progenitor of Tom's Utah Canyoneering Guide, Utah's premiercanyoneering information resource, and Imlay Canyon Gear, America's #1maker of canyoneering-specific gear. If he's not canyoneering, he's probablysnuggled up with a good book.Posted on Mar 12th, 2013 Anchor Techniques, Ghosting, Tom Jones

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Doug BagleyMay 15, 2013 at 3:00 pm · Log in to Reply

Love the fiddle stick! It’s such a relief to not be wearing out ropes and cuttingin grooves. I’m 200+ and the fiddle stick has held great and released withease. Keep the innovative solutions coming!!!!!

thanks!

Doug

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The FiddleStick - An Advanced Anchor Tool for Canyoneering - Tech Tips

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