Lifeline

A recoiling belay for rock fishermen.

Overview: With tackle box, fishing rod and Life-line in hand I head out across the beach to the rocks down the end. The surf is up, the rocks are hazardous and I am alone. I step into the harness, attach my Lifeline to a tree trunk nearby and begin to fish. As I walk towards the edge with rod in hand, the tape comes off the ground and my Lifeline tensions. The base begins to spiral out tape behind me. Dam! I tripped and stager forwards. The jerk locks the base unit and I am saved from going off the edge and into the waves below. A little shaken I get up and head back to my tackle box for a beer to calm the nerves.

Description: The belay unit is tied off to a sound anchor (e.g. roped around a large standing rock or clipped onto a well secured climbing nut or hex) Within the belay is a 15 meter spiral of narrow climbers tape fitted with a recoil device much like the arrangement found in a car seat belt system. Attached to the end of the narrow tape is a 3 meter length of wider (hand hold friendly) tape. This is clipped onto a basic climbing harness at the back with a locking carabiner. The belay will spiral out tape when it is gently pulled and it locks in position with a light tug.

This self belay has only reached the drawing stage; prototypes, trials and market analysis has yet to be undertaken. It is a relatively an easy thing to build, however I've pretty much left it on the shelf gathering dust. Shame on me!