How to Create a Makeshift Belay Device Using an Ordinary 'Biner

One of the most important tasks when rock climbing or mountaineering is belaying your partner as she climbs a section of your route where she might fall. When making a belay device, all you need is a place to put your piece of protection and a normal carabiner.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Five carabiners (one for belay and four for protection)
• Two pieces of protection

1. Find a place along the route that will allow you to brace yourself to hold the weight of your partner and his gear. Your position and ability to brace yourself for holding weight is the first line of defense for your partner. The next one is the protection you place and its ability to hold you should you lose your hold.

2. Find at least one but preferably two places to place protection. Make sure your two pieces of protection are in opposition to each other so that no matter which way you lose your hold or footing, the protection will hold you. Attach runners to the protection to reach your bracing point. Then position yourself and clip into the runners.

3. Clip one carabiner into your harness. Orient the gate such that it points up and the opening is toward your body. This will serve to minimize the chance that the rope will slip off the 'biner.

4. Communicate with your partner to make sure she is in a secure position and that you are going disconnecting from the rope by calling, "Off belay." You're connected to the protection that you placed so there is little hazard of you falling.

5. Take the rope and make a loop in the middle. Take the rope end attached to your partner and bend the rope end attached to you back at a 180-degree angle. Pass the loop through the 'biner, and take the other end through the end of the loop after it has passed through the 'biner.

6. Reattach yourself to the rope and test the operation of the belay. Move the rope so that it is in a line, and pull on the end attached to your partner. The rope should move freely through the 'biner and knot. Move the braking hand and rope up so that it is close to the load-bearing rope, and make sure that the 'biner and knot hold the load without slipping.

7. Tell your partner, "Belay on," so that he knows you have tied into the rope again and are ready to belay him. Yell down to him, "Climb on," so that he knows it is safe to start climbing up the route again. You have him braced and are ready if he loses his footing or falls.

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