Correction to previous post

I was just reminded by a friend of mine that I missed an important note near the end of the last post on self-belays, autoblocks, and prusik knots.

Hopefully anyone who reads this blog, and who is an actual canyoneer, is able to determine for themselves proper canyoneering methods as each situation calls for it (meaning I'm hopefully preaching to the choir with many of these informational posts).

I discussed using a self-belay in a rappel with a strong water flow and pretty much called it out as being evil. As said above and in the final paragraph, canyoneers should be trained enough to determine for themselves whether or not to use an autoblock - based on conditions on rappel, taking into account their own skill levels, and judging the greatest risk (water vs. falling). There are other factors that go into heavy wet rappels also such as releasable anchors, which also may shape how one goes about the rappel.

For the record: When I did the Seven Teacups, it must have been my 5th canyon ever, so I was not incredibly experienced, nor do I now claim to be an expert in all things canyoneering (thus the warning on the sidebar). In this blog I'm sharing what has worked for me, the people I descend canyons with, and practices I believe to be safe by concept and through experience, and I will try to continue giving examples of when things I mention are safe and unsafe.

Point of this post: Every rappel has its own situation and one cannot determine how they will descend each simply because of a canyon rating. A canyon could have terribly powerful waterflow, yet most of the rappels may avoid the waterfalls off to the side, while each rap also has different amounts of water going down it. In the case of short rappels with strong flow and pools at the bottom, it is probably advisable to not use an autoblock and just keep both hands on the brake line. In the case of something like Falls Creek... heavy waterflow or not, I would personally never be caught descending a 400 foot drop without an autoblock on. On the rare chance something did happen, carry a knife and cut the sucker off (the autoblock, not the rope!) or get yourself lowered from the top.