A silicon-cast device that aids in securing rope ends by ensuring a figure-eight knot is tied for use in gym and rock climbing

Between the years of 1953 and 2005, there were 253 fatalities from rappel failure/error. Some of these deaths may have been prevented if a stopper knot was tied at the end of the rope. Current climbing habits do not reinforce the tying of a stopper knot. More people are learning to climb in the gym and do not know risk reducing habits when beginning to climb outside, such as tying a stopper knot. The Hedgehog is a silicon device that reinforces the risk reducing habit of tying a stopper knot by a combination of form and color. A specially designed form aids in correct knot tying and the color signals the climber their attention is needed. When the Hedgehog was given to climbers in a climbing gym and had a success rate of 70%. Climbers without the Hedgehog had a success rate of only 8%. Success was defined as having a stopper knot in the rope when the climber began to ascend the route.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Treadway, Shane M

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Alex Slocum.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45297

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/45297