Notes from the Internet #1 - Left Handed Racks By Wm Shrewsbury, NSS #22677 (Chattanooga, TN) Have you ever heard of someone making a rappel rack for left handed people? So that the short end of the rack is on the left, and the rope comes off the left side, to be guided by the left hand? Can you change a regular rack around that way, without any danger? I (the editor) just happen to rappel left handed. Here are a couple of ways to accomodate our South Pole styles. The normal setup:     The rope runs over the top of the first bar:     To achieve this, just remove all but one bar from your rack. Turn your rack over (open leg to the left) and slide the last bar down the open leg. Immediately turn it over once it clears and put it back on. Leave it on the short leg. Now, simply add the other bars, turning them opposite to each other as you add them, using the bar left on the rack as a starting guide. When all your bars are on, move each one to the long leg of the rack, put your locknut back on the rack, and have fun! The abnormal setup:     The rope runs under the top of the first bar:     I prefer this, since it keeps my rack away from the wall and out from under the rope on lips. Since backing over a lip is usually the toughest part, this also removes a bar (it doesn't touch the top bar) as I back up, but immediately and automatically adds it after I get over the lip. I also have a little better control with the # of bars the rope touches since this removes about 1/2 bar while rappelling (direction of rope after it leaves bottom bar). This also has the advantage that if I hand my rack to someone else, it is already setup to rappel right handed.   Return to the Top of the Page Return to the NH #43 Contents Page Copyright © 2000 Vertical Section of the NSS, Inc. - All Rights Reserved.