Double Strand Choke - Redundant
Some years ago, during a canyoneering rendezvous, when our group reached a single point anchor around a wedged log at floor level, the single loop of webbing needed to be replaced. The team member that volunteered to replace it, cut it, and started to pull what it looked like way too much new webbing for a single loop. When the replacement was finished, now in place of a single loop, we had a Wrap 2 Pull 3 (W3P2) anchor.
When I asked why a W3P2 choice, something close to this conversation took place:
- Why a W3P2?
- It's my go-to anchor
- But it used double the amount of webbing?
- Because it’s redundant and has double the load rating
- It’s a smooth log, do you see anything that will cut the webbing? And do you think that wedged log will stand 8000 lbs? We are backing it up via sequencing, and doing soft-stats on it…
Learning vs. Knowing vs. Understanding
With the many ways to rig single point anchors with webbing, it is no wonder that canyoneering beginners may feel compelled to just pick one choice and stick with it for everything. And that is OK.
The Itch to Teach = Broken Telephone?
But as time passes by, some once beginners feel compelled to pass their acquired ‘wisdom’. Which in this case sounds something like:
"In my decades of canyoneering, the W3P2 anchor has never failed and is the best because is redundant and double rated"
This is another pattern that contributes to the Broken Instruction Telephone: A practice that never got scrutinized or understood and gets passed around as instruction.
Quick Guide
Here is a quick basic guide of choices to rig webbing around one point anchors. This table is meant to help beginners (or ‘experienced’) canyoneers move from a go-to rigging because “is the one that sounds the safest” to make more sound and objective choices.
There are more options than the ones listed on this table. But this list is the basis, and a good start for understanding options. Once you understand “webbing anchoring craft”, you can start rigging anchors according to the needs of the situation, and not based to your rigging limitations, or unchecked beliefs like Redumbancy