Three rope safety notes
A lot has been written by others more experienced and knowledgeable than I am on rope safety. I would like to address just a couple of important points that bear repeating:
1. No class can teach the “proper placement” of TK wraps or kannukis on a person’s body. It CAN teach placements that are probably less or more likely to cause injury, based (at best) on some unscientific average. It CAN teach how to work with your partner to try and determine the best wrap placement for a given individual. But the specific placements taught in classes are just starting points. Every body is different. Some bodies should not be tied in TK at all (note: this is not a moral failing, it’s just how some folks are built).
2. Injuries from TKs even when NOT in suspension are more common than one might think. Or at least more common than I was aware before I thought to ask the question. What I learned from this small sampling has made me completely re-think the risks associated with tying TKs.
3. Cutting a bottom down out of suspension is rarely the safest choice for reasons that should be obvious. If a rope bottom needs come down quickly from suspension, generally the safest thing to do (in my experience) is for the top to support them with their body, unclip from the hard point, and lower them to the ground.
Ask a DM or an onlooker for help if you can (THERE IS NO SHAME IN THIS). Then the ropes can be cut off or removed as the situation dictates. To be clear, I’m guilty of lowering my partner out of the air by the usual way of undoing suspension lines when I should have lifted and unclipped. I put my ego before safety, and the result was damaged trust. It’s never worth it.
