Weird Twangy Sound During Descent

DiscGo

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Feb 23, 2012
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I went Canyoneering this last weekend in Pine Creek. I was doing the 90 foot rappel at the of the canyon, and the webbing looked brand new. I was the first in my group to go, and I anchored and then began rappelling. I had rappelled about 10 feet and then I began hearing a horrible "twangy" sound. It sounded like the rope was snapping, (or like piano string being cut). The sound freaked me out, and so I rappelled down much faster than usual in fear of straight falling from 80 feet in the air.

I made it down safely, and so did the rest of my group. My friends said that the sound was coming from the webbing, but they couldn't explain why it was making that sound as it moved around. When they descended they had the same sound reoccur for them.

Have any of you ever had an experience anything like this? Or know anything about why we would have been hearing a twangy, string snapping sound as we rappelled?
 
It was terrifying!!! I had been recording with my GoPro, but the battery died just before the final rappel.
 
As long as it wasn't twangy.........SNAP........ you're OK.. ;) I have had Hang glider cords vibrate under stress and movement of parts making a strange noise before
 
I've heard similar noises many times while loading anchors or devices. It always reminds me of the forces we are subjecting our gear to. A couple of key points to remember: most of our load bearing gear is at a minimum 10 to 20 times stronger than necessary. For example, a single strand of webbing (typically used as anchor material) is rated approximately 10k in strength. 1k equals 225 lbs or about the weight of one average adult plus gear. The point being our gear is really safe and strong. If used properly. That's the second key point. Avoid putting dynamic forces on load bearing gear by rapping smooth and fast but in control. No bouncing or falling. And always inspect everything and watch each other. Use safe practices on every rap in every canyon, every time.
 
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