An necessary a part of manhood has all the time been about having the competence to be efficient on this planet — having the breadth of expertise, the savoir-faire, to deal with any state of affairs you end up in. With that in thoughts, every Sunday we’ll be republishing one of many illustrated guides from our archives, so you may hone your manly know-how week by week.
An etrier, additionally known as an aider, is a French time period for a brief rope ladder, the place every rung is just a loop of rope or different materials, created by tying repeating knots. Mountaineers have used etriers for hundreds of years as a result of they’re light-weight, compact, simple to customise, and exceptionally robust. In the present day, they’re usually made out of tubular webbing as a result of it is likely one of the strongest, lightest, and most versatile supplies climbers and survivalists carry.
Tubular webbing is much like the flat nylon webbing used to make the compression straps in your backpack, however with one key distinction: tubular webbing is, as you may anticipate, webbing that’s woven right into a tube (despite the fact that it lies flat, it’s certainly a tube). This provides it further power and extra resistance to ripping when it rubs in opposition to rocks and different sharp surfaces.
To create a ladder, you’ll want a considerable quantity of webbing. The final rule of thumb is to estimate the peak of your impediment after which collect twice as a lot webbing. So, in case you’re scaling a constructing to achieve a balcony 30 ft up, you’ll want 60 ft of webbing. You’ll additionally desire a robust machine to connect the ladder on the prime; metal rebar hooks or extra-large carabiners are only a couple choices. As soon as your ladder is full, use a protracted pole to information your hook onto a safe attachment level, or sling it like a grappling hook till it finds a strong maintain.
When you’ve bought your ladder carried out, you may reinforce the loops with items of break up PVC, paracord, and even duct tape.
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