This article is an in-depth look at caving footloops used as part of an SRT kit for progression up a rope. There are variations in how these are constructed and the materials used, ranging from professionally manufactured dedicated footloops to self-tied rope assemblies. This page will cover the main variations in footloops commonly seen in UK single rope technique setups for caving and mine exploration. I’ll discuss the broad choices we are faced with for each element, and cite sources or link to other websites for more information where needed. There is an accompanying video showing how to put together the two main footloop arrangements. Where I have a personal preference for a method or style of equipment, I will state it as such and explain why. There are all sorts of reasons why a reader may choose to deviate from what I show here, but that is for the experienced user to decide based on their preferences and intended uses. The article is aimed both at readers who are setting up their first SRT kit for use, and experienced cavers seeking a deeper understanding of the equipment and techniques used in SRT. I hope you find this article useful and educational.

Definition of terms used throughout this article
Footloop = the section of rope, cord or webbing that is attached to the hand ascender or carabiner, and is used at the stirrup to step up in.
Safety Link = an additional section of rope used to connect the footloop to the harness to prevent it from being dropped and to act as an additional connection point between the rope and the harness during SRT ascents. AKA Safety Cord.
Cowstail = a lanyard, or pair of lanyards, usually made from dynamic rope that are an integral part of the SRT kit. There is another deep-dive article that I have written about those that can be read here.
Hand Ascender = the upper rope grab used in the SRT kit that is used as the attachment point for a footloop when ascending a rope. Examples include the Petzl Ascension or CT Simple+.
Chest Ascender = the rope grab fitted directly to the harness central maillon that is the lower ascender used during SRT rope ascents. Examples include the Petzl Croll or CT Chest Ascender Plus.
Fall Factor / FF = the total distance of a fall divided by the amount of rope that you fall onto. A 1m drop onto a 1m cowstail would be a FF1. This is a measure of severity of impact, and we never want to go above FF1 in caving, and ideally try to stay much lower.

What We Use Footloops For In SRT

The footloop has a duel function for SRT. It is quite simply a portable stirrup that we can use as a step whenever we climb a rope or have no ledge available on the rock where we want one.

Footloops for Progression

To ascend a rope in SRT, we alternate our body weight between 2 different ascenders fixed onto the pitch rope. The footloop connects to the upper hand ascender as a stirrup for us to step up in so that we can slide our chest ascender further up the rope. Having a correctly proportioned footloop for one’s legs and step length is essential for efficient SRT progression, but in its simplest form it is just a step for our foot/feet to push up on during rope ascents.

Footloops as a Point of Aid

The footloop also acts as a convenient or sometimes necessary point of aid during certain SRT manoeuvres other than just ascending a rope. Where no ledge exists on a hanging rebelay or exposed traverse, we can clip the footloop into the rigging and use it as a step to unweight our cowstails, or to allow us to remove the chest ascender and pass it over a knot. You are never lacking a foothold as long as you have your SRT kit on with its footloop available.

Styles of Footloop Assemblies

There are different styles of footloops used in caving, and you may have an initial preference for one over the other. Fundamentally they both do the same job as a step for us to use, but there are important differences to understand before making a choice as to which setup you will use. Many cavers in the UK create their own bespoke SRT footloop from suitable rope and knots, but there are some who use professionally manufactured footloops combined with a rope safety link. I’ll go thought lots of the different options for footloop assemblies in this article, but first, we need to talk about safety links.

Safety Links

The safety link (sometimes called the ‘safety cord’) is the name given to the section of rope used to connect the hand ascender to the harness. There are a few ways this safety link can be constructed, but it is always necessary to connect the hand ascender to the SRT harness with some form of safety link during use. If your footloop and hand ascender are not attached to you in some way then that exposes us to certain risks:

• It will be possible to drop or loose the footloop and hand ascender, and potentially get yourself stuck at the bottom of a rope, or worse, stuck mid-pitch if you drop it during an ascent. If like every human out there, you’ve ever dropped anything by accident ever, then this is something to take seriously.
• Should your chest ascender accidentally detach during upwards climbing on a rope, without a safety link you will have no connection to the rope apart from your hands gripping the hand ascender and your foot in the footloop! If you sit back down into your harness without realising this has happened then you will fall. This is a very rare occurrence, but it can happen if the catch on the ascender is snagged on something in just the right way.
• For some SRT manoeuvres, we will need to detach and reattach our ascenders during a climb or descent. If you need to remove and reposition your chest ascender, then the safety link to the hand ascender is an essential backup point of contact with the rope during this process. If you are not yet familiar with SRT knot passes or rebelays, then you’ll understand this risk more when you progress to these manoeuvres during your training.

There are 3 general ways of setting up a safety link for an SRT kit hand ascender and footloop…

Use of the long cowstail

This method is common in parts of Europe and well known SRT technical guides like the ‘Alpine Caving Techniques’ book generally assume this is the system cavers use. It is however, not a common sight in the UK, with cavers often preferring one of the other 2 methods. Perhaps this is down to the fact that we do not have the very deep SRT caves that some parts of Europe do, and the saving of every possible gram on the equipment we carry is less important to us than considerations like longevity of kit and user friendliness. There is nothing wrong with the European approach if that is your preference though.

This method is used by cavers who have a stand alone webbing, cord, or rope footloop. Any SRT kit will have at least one long cowstail. This cowstail should be clipped to the lower hole of the hand ascender while it is in use. Many hand ascenders have double sized lower holes, or have dual holes at the bottom for this purpose. So long as the length of the cowstail is sufficient to allow a full step to be taken, this is a suitable way of maintaining a safety link between the ascender and the harness. The hand ascender and footloop are stored on the harness gear loop when not in use, and then the cowstail can be clipped into the ascender before removing it from the harness to place on the rope. Discipline and correct procedure is needed for this technique to ensure the safety link is in use whenever there is a risk of dropping the hand ascender, or if the chest ascender is deliberately or accidentally removed from the rope during a manoeuvre. This is a very lightweight and low-bulk setup compared to the other 2 options.

Rope safety links and webbing/cord footloops

The use of a separate section of rope to form the safety link is far more common in the UK than the European long cowstail method. Having an extra section of rope attached to the harness for this job ensures that both your cowstails are always free for use during SRT manoeuvres.

This method is used by cavers who have a stand alone webbing, cord, or rope footloop. A section of rope 1.50m-2.0m long is used to form a simple lanyard. The loop knot at one end of the safety link is attached to the harness central connection point on (the D ring), and the other end of the safety cord is usually connected to the hand ascender’s lower hole with a locking carabiner. Being able to remove the hand ascender from the safety link where necessary has advantages, but in use during most SRT, the carabiner remains attached to the hand ascender at all times. Because this type of safety link is dedicated to the hand ascender, it never needs to be disconnected and thus is always present to protect us from a disconnect of the chest ascender, or dropping the hand ascender and footloop during use. Having the extra section of rope on an SRT kit does add some bulk verses the use of the long cowstail, but many, including myself, would argue the benefits outweigh this minor drawback.

Consideration should be given to the type and thickness of the rope used in the safety link, and I will cover this in more detail further down the article.

All-in-one footloop and safety links

By far the most common setup seen in UK caving. An all-in-one footloop and safety cord is the cheapest and perhaps most robust option for the footloop assembly. That’s probably why it’s so common!

A single section of rope is used to create both the safety link to the harness, and the footloop for the hand ascender. Between 3m and 4m of rope is needed depending on the caver. A loop knot at one end connects to the SRT harnesses central ‘D’, a second loop part-way along the rope connects to the hand ascender via a locking carabiner, and a final large loop in the other end of the rope creates the foot loop. The assembly remains attached to its components at all times, preventing dropped kit and protecting against an accidental disconnect of the chest ascender. This is the most bulky of the 3 options, however with a careful choice of rope you can still create a relatively compact setup.

As with the separate rope safety link discussed above, consideration should be given to the type and thickness of the rope used in the safety link, and I will go into this shortly.

Stand-Alone Footloops

Stand alone footloops are used with a separate safety link or the long cowstail. There are many variations available from different manufacturers, or you can tie your own using rope or cordage if you prefer.

Etriers

Etriers are usually made of stitched webbing and consist of 3, 4 or 5 individual loops sewn into a long chain. These are rarely seen in caving SRT and are not really ideal of use in environments full of snag hazards. The large number of loops give plenty of options for different step heights in certain situations, but the distance between the individual steps is quite large and it is not always possible to fine tune the length to suit your legs for efficient SRT ascending. The additional loops also create lots of places where the etrier can snag on other SRT components or the environment around you. Etriers certainly have a place for specialist applications like aid climbing and bolt climbing, but as an every day footloop they are expensive and likely to be more of an annoyance than a help. Unless you already have an etrier that you need to use before you can afford something more suitable for SRT, then this option is best discounted in favour of one of the others. Etriers can be found online for £40+ at the time of writing. I’d save your money and spend it elsewhere on your SRT kit to be honest.

Etriers are a point of aid and are not PPE items to be used as slings or connections to hang from without a suitable secure backup. They must be used with a safety link or long cowstail.

Manufactured Webbing or Cord Footloops

Many options exist for these from brands such as Petzl, Lyon, Edelrid, CT, Singing Rock and just about everyone else. There are some adjustable rope footloops, but the majority are made of strong but lightweight cord or webbing. Use of a webbing or cord footloop reduces the weight and bulk of an SRT kit when worn or carried in a tackle bag. Cavers in the UK are being seen more and more with this type of footloop, probably for that reason. They have a quick adjustment in length thanks to a buckle arrangement within the main leg of the footloop, and some come with an armoured, or reenforced covering on the area where your foot is in contact with the loop strap. There are dyneema cord options available for anyone who really needs a setup that they can fit in their pocket. The pros of the lightweight design and easy adjustment do make these a good option to consider, however you are still looking at around £20 for one of these footloops. One downside is that you will find that once you have adjusted the footloop to suit you, you may never need to use the buckle again, and that just remains in place as a point of wear to the fabric. Also, despite some reinforcement in certain areas, the lighter materials do abrade more swiftly than rope does when you are caving in dirty places, so consider the likely environmental attrition on your kit that might be produced by the area you regularly cave in before committing to this type of footloop. For a light weight less-bulk SRT setup, these are a good option for the price.

Webbing or cord footloops are a point of aid and are not PPE items to be used as slings or connections to hang from without suitable secure backups. They must be used with a safety link or long cowstail.

Tied Rope Footloops

By far the simplest and cheapest option when it comes to a footloop. Take a piece of low-stretch (aka semi-static) rope, tie a knot in one end with a short loop to clip it to the hand ascender, and a large loop in the other end for one or both feet, and that’s it. The upside of this is that rope is very cheap compared to the stitched webbing or cord alternatives, and the footloop is totally customisable to your exact preference for length and size of foot loop. They are bulkier and heavier than the manufactured alternatives, but make up for that by being the toughest option and will survive longer than the lighter textile options for average cavers. A suitable length of rope for making your own footloop should come in at under £10 from any of the usual caving retailers. As ever, they must be used with a safety link or long cowstail backup attached to the harness.

A walkthrough and accompanying video of how to tie and adjust a rope safety link for use with a separate footloop can be seen further down the page.

No doubt other self-made footloop options will be encountered or enter into your mind from time to time. Things like old rock climbing slings, or super light knotted dyneema cord footloops have all be seen (and used) by me on various SRT kits over the years, but there is generally a good reason that you don’t see certain setups very often. The experienced caver will know which, if any, alternative homemade option could be suitable for them, but that is beyond the scope of this article.

Combined Rope Footloop and Safety Link

This is the most common and configurable way of creating a footloop assembly for SRT caving in the UK. A suitable length of rope is used to connect the harness and the hand ascender, as well as forming the footloop. The downside of using this method over a separate webbing or cord footloop and safety link is that there will be more bulk on the harness, but the benefits outweigh this downside for most people. Rope to tie the whole assembly should cost less than £15, and it is infinitely adjustable to the individual step length and body dimensions of any caver. As well as being cheaper by comparison, rope will generally last longer than webbing or dyneema cord footloops too. The choice to use smaller diameter rope can help to keep the bulk down if you want to go that route.

A walkthrough video of how to tie and adjust different styles of footloop and safety cord can be seen further down the page.

What Type of Rope to Use

The choice of rope to use will depend on your specific preference of footloop assembly. There are some different considerations for separate safety links and footloops than there are for combined footloop assemblies.

The stirrup part of our footloop, hanging from the hand ascender, is our step. We want our step to be as solid as possible. It wants to ideally be made of a material with very little or no stretch. We want all our muscular effort from stepping up to go into gaining height, and not stretching the cord or rope we are pushing against. Standard caving low-stretch rope (EN1891) or a static accessory cord (EN564) would be appropriate for use here, unless you have access to some specialist expensive ultra-static stuff. Once the knots have settled tight, the footloop will only stretch a tiny amount under your weight with each step that you take, making almost no impact on the efficiency of your upwards progress.

The safety link part of a footloop assembly, connecting the hand ascender to our harness, could in some situations need to catch us after a small drop. At the highest point of a step, the safety link could be exposed to a Fall Factor 1 in theory if we sat back but were not stopped by our chest ascender for some reason. It would therefore be logical to use a dynamic rope (EN892) for this part of the assembly, something with some shock absorbing capability. If you consider the safety link as an additional long cowstail, and indeed there are times when you might wish to use it as exactly that, then the use of dynamic climbing rope is the best option. We usually have no reason to hang directly from the safety link, so we might as well use a dynamic link with knots that will also absorb some of the energy of a short fall.

Combined footloop and safety link assemblies act as both as a stirrup and a cowstail. Unfortunately as discussed above, those 2 roles have different requirements and suit different types of rope. In use as a foot loop we want the static properties, but in a short fall we ideally want the dynamic properties. Making the whole assembly from dynamic rope gives us the greatest shock absorbing potential, but each step we take will stretch the rope footloop and result in a slightly smaller height gain each time. For small ascents this is not likely to be a big issue, but for the longer pitches or regular SRT caver, this will be inefficient and likely more tiring. Dynamic rope must stretch at least 10% under an 80kg load, so your 120cm footloop might be stretching 12cm every single time you step in it. Constructing the combined assembly from low stretch rope means we get efficient energy transfer when we step up, but lose the shock absorbency if we ever fell on the safety link. The question is, do we need this shock absorbency and is the force of that potential small fall unsafe for us to take? Spoiler alert – No, it is not a significant force and the use of low stretch rope implies some small amount of stretch and elongation in dynamic events to act as a shock absorber. How do I back that statement up? Time to get into the long grass on forces….

Science Time

How much force could we generate during a fall onto a safety link in normal SRT use?
Is that amount of force safe for the human body or the hand ascender to be exposed to?
This section will answer those questions and allow you to make and informed choice about the type of rope to use in your combined footloop assembly.

Ascenders

Petzl state that “A dynamic overload can damage the safety rope” in the user instructions for their current models of Basic and Ascension rope clamps. Older models were accompanied with warnings that forces in excess of 4kN could damage the rope.
Climbing Technology state in the user instructions for their range of ascenders that with the smallest diameter of compatible rope, a force of 4.2kN or above will damage the rope.
CAMP state “The resistance of the clamps on the ropes of the specified diameters and types is at least 4kN and can be reduced with worn/damaged ropes.” in their user instructions.

The 4kN+ figure is one that crops up repeatedly and practical testing by myself has confirmed that static forces applied through a toothed ascender below 4kN will not cut a rope. A huge caveat to that statement is that it was limited testing on a small range of ascenders and ropes in as-new condition. Worn and abraded ropes may rupture at lower forces than 4kN, and ropes can perform differently in a dynamic event. We can certainly conclude that any force coming close to 4kN would be something to avoid, so we really need to know that we could not generate anything near to that figure if we ever dropped onto an ascender connected to our safety link.

Humans

In the UK, forces on the human body during the arrest of fall in a full body harness must not exceed 6kN. This is stipulated in various industry standards for Fall Arrest equipment and codes of practice for work at height. This assumes the use of a full body harness with sternal or dorsal attachment points designed to orientate the body in an upright position, and that is not the case with a caving harness. Keeping as far under this 6kN figure as possible will certainly be the goal, and I have always ensured systems that I use for work or play are never able to transmit a force to the user of above 6kN.

Ropes

EN1891 Low Stretch rope comes in 2 categories, Type A and Type B ropes.
Type A must have a minimum breaking strength of 22kN. Type B must have an MBS of 18kN.
A rope will lose strength with knots tied in it, varying in amount depending on the specific knot used. If we take an overestimate of this reduction and assume 50% strength loss due to any knots, we still have an MBS of 11kN and 9kN respectively.
Low stretch rope must stretch less than 5% under a static load of 150kg.
Both Type A and B ropes must have a peak impact force of under 6kN for a FF0.3 drop. A 100kg test mass is used for Type A, and an 80kg mass is used for Type B. A FF0.3 is the equivalent to a drop of 30cm onto 1m of rope.

EN892 Dynamic rope is also split into different categories, Single, Half and Twin ropes. For the use as as safety link we are only going to consider the Single Rope category of dynamic ropes. More information on the types of dynamic rope can be see in my cowstail article.
There are no published MBS figures for dynamic ropes from manufacturers. The ropes are given ratings for peak impact force in a dynamic drop, and their static elongation under load. Peak impact force with an 80kg mass in a FF1.77 situation cannot exceed 12kN, but this is far beyond the severity of drop it will be exposed to in caving use when used correctly. Static elongation must be below 10% with an 80kg load.

EN564/UIAA102 Accessory cords have minimum strengths for the various cord diameters. These are low stretch cords, not dynamic.
8mm = 12.8kN, 7mm = 9.8kN, 6mm = 7.2kN, 5mm = 5kN.
Petzl Segment 8mm rope conforms to the EN564 standard, and has a listed MBS of 16kN. Its a rigging cord, but is also shown as compatible with various Petzl ascenders and descenders for advance use in lightweight caving. Most 8mm accessory cords, and anything smaller than 8mm that I can find online, are only sold as accessory cords and not intended for use a life supporting element, no matter how experienced the user is. The Petzl Segment with a 50% strength reduction for knots comes in at 8kN. A basic EN564 8mm cord, only 6.4kN.

Although it is hard to make direct comparisons between the different types of rope and cord, MBS and the dynamic properties of a rope are both going to be important factors in choosing a rope once we know what force we may generate in a drop onto a safety link.

Forces

Drop tests on rope cowstails conducted in June 2006 by the FFS give the following results for a Fall Factor 1 test drop with an 80kg steel mass. The cowstails were all measured between the lengths of 49cm and 65cm, so right in the range that a safety link might be for an average caver.
Cowstails tied with a Figure of Eight on the Bight at both ends: With Beal 9mm low stretch rope, the average of 4 FF1 drops was 7.33kN. In various dynamic ropes, the average of 18 tests in the same situation was 5.83kN.
Cowstails tied with an Overhand on the Bight at both ends: With Beal 9mm low stretch rope, the average of 4 FF1 drops was 8.2kN. In various dynamic ropes, the average of 18 tests in the same situation was 6.35kN.

All of their test results for our FF1 worst case drop on a safety link would exceed the 4kN limit for the safe use of an ascender, after which it could damage or cut the SRT rope.
All of their test results except for the dynamic rope with figure 8s at both ends, exceed the 6kN industrial limit for forces on the human body.
None of their results would break a Low Stretch EN1891 rope, or a dynamic EN892 rope. Any of the EN564 cords below 7mm were at risk of breaking from those forces.

Bearing in mind the peak force on all of the FFS test drops exceeded 4kN, how is it that more people have not cut their rope when they drop back onto their safety link? It’s not a common thing to happen of course, but it must happen sometimes. If it really was possible to cut an SRT rope by falling back on your safety link then we’d surely have reports of those incidents. Well, there are some important differences between their testing setup and the real world situation that we are looking at.

We would be under a Fall Factor 1 situation for the safety link in almost all cases. The only way you will get near to a true FF1 is if you dropped without any resistance from the highest point in your step, letting go of everything and without your foot in the footloop to support you. In reality, you only fall back part of the length of the safety link, or at a reduced speed because you are under some control. Think about it, you have stepped up in your footloop and either removed your chest ascender or had it accidentally pop off. You sit back as you would normally, but then realise the chest jammer is not on the rope, probably when you are around half way down the length of the safety cord. If you dropped from there, it’s more like a FF0.5, and even then, you are still carrying some of your weight through your footloop and arms holding the hand ascender. The FFS tests are also using a steel mass which is dropped onto a steel anchor. If we were to drop onto a safety link then we have a connection to the SRT rope via the hand ascender, and the SRT rope will also stretch when the force is applied, dissipating some energy. The human body also behaves very differently to a steel test mass as it will deform and the harness will tighten around the waist, reducing the impact force from a fall by dissipating some of the energy around the body. The actual forces generated in a drop onto a a safety link are going to be smaller than the vertical drops in the FFS tests or what working the peak force out using maths would show. Unfortunately, I don’t think that just saying “it’ll probably be fine” is evidence enough to justify the use of a particular rope in a safety link, so some real world test data is needed to back this up.

The only way to know exactly how much peak force is generated is to do some drop testing in this exact scenario, so I did exactly that. I have a 6m ‘pitch’ bolted onto the back of my house, and a Rock Exotica Enforcer load cell.
95kg caver. 60cm safety link (Beal 8.5mm Spelenium Unicore low stretch rope with tight knots). 4m of 11mm Type A low stretch SRT rope above the hand ascender.

I did a few rounds of tests, taking more and more violent drops onto the low stretch safety link each time (as I got braver!). I varied the length of the safety link between 58cm and 70cm after tightening under body weight. The film is the final test which happened to show the highest force that I managed to produce in all the tests that day. The peak force that I generated was 2.54kN, enough for me to question my sanity, but not enough to damage me or the SRT rope. My footloop knots took forever for me to untie again though!

Obviously, this is just one set of unscientific tests, but I’m confident that any real world drop onto the safety link as a result of a chest jammer coming off the SRT rope, or missing when trying to connect a chest jammer back on during a manoeuvre, would be far less forceful than the drops I deliberately put my spine through in the garden tests.

The MBS of any low stretch Type A rope would have given me a safety factor of around 4.3 times the peak force seen in my back garden test, and the very small diameter type B rope I used had a safety factor of around 3.5 times the peak force.

We don’t get an MBS figure for dynamic ropes. The near-FF1 bouncing I did is well within the safety margin of what a single rope has to be tested against to comply with the EN standard. There is however no doubt that a dynamic rope would have stretched more in those drops and resulted a smaller peak force. Exactly how much force when compared to the low stretch rope would need another round of tests to show.

The tightening of the knots when I dropped or hung on the safety link in the test (and in cowstail testing done elsewhere) is the main factor when it comes to shock absorbing in short lengths of rope like this. Starting with hand tightened knots, I finished with ones that took over an hour of effort to untie. The tightening of the knots on the first and maybe second drops dissipates some energy, and so I want to reiterate the guidance for knotted cowstails – Periodically loosen and retie your knots on all cowstails and safety links. Set them hand tight again after, so they don’t come loose in use. Once they become tight as rocks, you’ll have lost the largest shock absorbent element of your rope links.

So, What Type of Rope to Use?

Footloop

Assuming that you’re tying the footloop section from a piece of rope and not using a manufactured webbing or cord one, this part can be made of a low stretch rope or cord. This has to support your body weight plus a bit of extra force generated when you press down it, so realistically anything that has an MBS above twice your weight will do as a stirrup. Larger Type A ropes will be bulkier but last longer, and smaller Type B ropes or accessory cords will be lighter and more compact, but have a potentially reduced lifespan due to abrasion of the thinner sheaths. Longevity verses weight/bulk, the choice is yours on that one. My recommendation for a cheap starting option to buy for your first setup is to go with 9mm Type B rope, or an 8mm cord.

For cavers of average height, you’ll need to buy 3m of your preferred rope or cord for a stand-alone footloop. You might need a bit less depending on your choice of knots, but it comes in 1m increments from retailers. If you are above average in height, or like a very large footloop to accommodate 2 feet, or both, then 4m of rope/cord may be necessary.

Safety Link

For separate safety links, we could use either a low stretch rope or dynamic rope. There are however no advantages for using a low stretch rope here. It is safe to use a Type A or B rope when you look at the force generated in the testing that I did, however you’d not make your main cowstails from low stretch rope, so it makes far more sense to use a dynamic single rope for this section. The extra benefit of dynamic rope here is that you do then have an additional ‘proper’ long cowstail as part of your SRT kit. You can buy 9mm dynamic ‘single’ ropes by the metre from many online caving retailers, or opt for a 10mm one for a bit more abrasion resistance. If you are dead set on using low stretch rope, then Type A or B are both strong enough, as are some of the 8mm lightweight ‘caving ropes’ (actually classed as cords) from Petzl or Cordes Courant, but stay away from budget accessory cords and smaller diameters. My recommendation is to go for a 9mm to 10mm dynamic rope for your first setup.

You’ll need buy 2m of your chosen rope for tying a safety link, but you’ll probably only need around 1.5m-2m depending on the knots that you use and how tall you are.

Footloop & Safety Link Combo

For a combined safety link and footloop combo, we ideally want both a dynamic element for one part and a low stretch element for the other. Unfortunately we can’t have that, so have to choose one or the other. If you go for dynamic rope then you have the softest catch for the very rare time you might slip back onto the safety link, but will also waste up to 10cm of step due to the stretch in the rope that occurs every single time you take a step up when ascending a rope. Because ascending is a core part of SRT, the downside of losing so much efficiency on every trip far outweighs the upside of a softer catch you might never have to actually take. The use of a Low Stretch rope for the combo gives the best overall performance on balance. Having a footloop that stretches very little is more efficient, and as discussed above, the safety link would be well within the MBS of a Type A or B low stretch rope if we ever did slip back onto it in normal use. Keep your knots from binding up super tight by retying them periodically, as Low Stretch rope has very little stretch (obviously), but the forces generated in this scenario when the combo is used correctly are below anything we need to be worried about. Type A ropes will be thicker and hence last longer and possible more comfortable to step in than thinner ropes, but they are bulkier. Type B ropes are less bulky and probably a good place to start when assembling your first SRT kit. A 9mm Type B low stretch rope is a good choice to start off with when assembling your first kit. If you really value light and small gear, then good quality 8mm cord like the Petzl Segment or the Cordes Courant 8mm are marketed as lightweight caving ropes (although they technically can’t be sold as ‘rope’ as they don’t meet EN1891). Remember, the smaller diameters wear faster in dirty caving, so there is a trade off on longevity verses thicker ropes.

You’ll need to source around 3.5 meters of your chosen rope for a standard footloop and safety link combo. It is usually sold in full meter increments, so a 4m section of rope will usually need to purchased (or 7m and then when cut in half you have a spare!).

A quick note on lengths

The above lengths are a rough guide and based on average body dimensions for average adults (me!). If you have a longer section of any rope, you can tie up the footloop/safety link/combo as a test run, and then wrap a bit of tape around the rope where you would cut it. Don’t cut it though! Untie all your knots and then measure from the end of the rope to your bit of tape to get the length you need for when you go shopping for the exact rope you want.

Knots

There are dozens of permutations of knots that can be used to tie the elements of a footloop assembly safely. I’ll stick with the common ones and give a brief list of pros and cons for each option. Many websites and videos can be found online showing how to tie the various knots that I’m going to mention, including my own here!

Safety link

The safety link needs a loop knot at either end to connect it to the SRT harness central D and the hand ascender.

• Figure of Eight on the Bight
  The most common choice here. Easy to tie and adjust, strong and stable. Uses the most rope of all the choices, so handy for using up rope when you have bought too much. Average shock absorbency due to having lots of rope in the knot to tighten up. Bulkiest of the 3 options, but still quite compact if using smaller diameter cords. A solid choice.
• Overhand on the Bight
  A common compact choice. Easy to tie and adjust. Less strong than the Fig 8, but still safe enough. Slightly less secure, but conversely if hung on a lot it is prone to tightening up so much it can’t be adjusted with ease. Uses less rope than the Fig 8, so good if you have a longer step height and need a bit more length in the safety cord than Fig 8s give you. Comparatively poor shock absorber against the other options, but within safe ranges for this use if we don’t let the knot sinch rock hard tight.
• Poachers or Scaffold knot (aka Barrel Knots)
  Less common. Constricting loop knot that holds the connector in place. Bit harder to tie and adjust, especially after loading. Very secure, but won’t rotate on the carabiner, which means it’ll be a pain on the harness central D ring if connected directly, and could interfere with convenient racking of the hand ascender on gear loops. Good shock absorber, the best of the 3. If planning on using this knot, do so at the hand ascender end only, just like a cowstail.

Footloop

The footloop needs a small loop at one end to connect to the hand ascender, and a large loop for the feet at the other end.

Top attachment to the hand ascender:

• Figure of Eight on the Bight
• Overhand on the Bight
  Either choice of knot will be suitable for the top attachment to the hand ascender. The overhand uses less rope to tie if you need more rope, the figure 8 uses up more rope. Both are strong enough and stable enough for the job, but the fig 8 is easier to untie when you periodically check your kit over or clean it.

Loop for the feet:

• Figure of Eight on the Bight
  Stable and strong. Easier to adjust than the Overhand when first setting up an SRT kit and tweaking lengths.
• Overhand on the Bight
  Stable and strong enough. Harder to adjust after repeated loading. Most compact option.
• Bowline (+ Stopper Knot)
  Needs checking to ensure it remains tight when not in use in some stiffer ropes. Easy to untie and adjust, even after repeated and heavy loading. Needs a Stopper Knot or Yosemite finish to secure it, so slightly bulkier than the other options. The big advantage for the bowline is that the loop is formed from strands than come out of different parts of the knot. This naturally holds the loop partially open, meaning it is often possible to get your foot in without needing to use your hands. The Fig 8 and Overhand both have loops that tend to sit flat and need opening to get a foot in.
• Bowline on the Bight or, Double Figure of Eight on the Bight
  Both of these knots produce 2 loops. For anyone who lacks lower body strength, or needs to use both legs regularly for SRT, the use of a twin loop knot gives and more comfortable place for both feet verses using a single loop. This is one of those options that most cavers won’t benefit from, as the extra bulk and snag issues outweigh the benefits, but if you need both legs then these are good options to look at. You will need a longer rope to tie 2 loops. If you struggle with mobility or fitness but still wish to learn SRT, I recommend a session with a CIC caving instructor to get some bespoke input in how to make your setup more personally efficient and keep the sport as accessible to you as possible.

Safety link and footloop combo middle knot

The other sections of the combo setup have the same considerations as the above sections discuss. The choice of centre knot does have some other considerations for this setup. I’ll not reiterate the general points of each knot listed above, but give the specific relevant info for this location on the assembly.

• Figure of Eight on the Bight
  A good choice with descent shock absorbency for the safety link side and ease of adjustment for the footloop side. Main downside is the bulk compared to the Overhand, which won’t easily run through a carabiner if the footloop is being used as a mechanical advantage system or counterbalance in some specialist applications. It can also capsize or undo if not tightly tied in these same scenarios.
• Overhand on the Bight
  Possibly the better choice. Stable in both directions when alternately loaded. Compact but harder to adjust after repeated loading. When used in the advanced counterbalance and mechanical advantage situations mentioned above, it’ll slide through a carabiner more easily and remains stable.
• Bowline on the Bight
  More of an advanced option this one. Bulky but easy to adjust and untie after loading. For an SRT instructor, this offers the option of completely removing the knot for some rescue uses. Not really a consideration for beginners, but I wanted to mention it anyway and it appears in some pictures on this page.
• Alpine Butterfly
  Not the best choice, but here for completeness. The Alpine is stable in 2 or 3 orientations, but because we are never loading both the footloop and safety link sections of the assembly at the same time, it is not a benefit to use this mid-rope loop knot. It is relatively easy to adjust and untie after repeated loading, but the strands exit at 180 degrees from each other, meaning the knot will continually rock on the carabiner as the load shifts to each side of it. That’ll probably get annoying in front of your face, but perhaps could also lead to premature sheath wear in the loop. Not necessarily an unsafe option for this location, but any of the above 3 suggestions would be better choices.

Connections

The last factor in the creation of a footloop assembly is the choice of how we connect it to the harness and hand ascender. This is a choice between loop knots, carabiners or maillons, and each connection point has different things to consider.

Connecting the Safety Link to the Harness

Use a loop knot. That’s about it really! Okay, I can elaborate.

Working on the principal that the fewer links in any chain of equipment the safer that chain is, then we do not really need a separate carabiner or maillon to link the safety cord to our harness. The end knot of the safety cord will be a loop knot, usually a figure of eight on the bight, and that goes directly onto the top of the central ‘D’ ring maillon or carabiner of the SRT harness. There are some who prefer to use a locking carabiner or small oval maillon, usually for reasons of being able to strip bits of their kit off more easily in tight sections of cave, but this comes with a downside. There would be another connector to keep having to check was done up. Screwgates tend to unscrew quite often here, as the safety link is constantly wobbling around and rubbing up against the body or cave walls. Triple action auto-locking carabiners guard against this issue, but they are expensive. If you want to go down this connector route though, the use of a 7mm long oval maillon is recommended over a carabiner. The maillon is a smaller footprint on the harness D maillon, and requires far more turns to unscrew it accidentally. For the majority of cavers that might need to take off their whole SRT kit in tight squeezes, or to carry it in a bag when there are long gaps between pitches, then just having the safety link attached directly to the central D with a suitable knot will be the best option. It will also save the cost of another maillon or carabiner. If you value being able to remove the safety link without opening the harness central D, then use a 7mm PPE maillon.

Most right-side dominant cavers will position this on the far right end of the D, as you look down on it. Left side dominant cavers can do this on the other side if they prefer, which makes sense if you use your left leg more than the right leg.

Safety links should attach to the top curved part of the D, not to the lower, straight side where the locking gate is connected. The upper curved part is the only area these connectors are designed to be loaded and we don’t want to risk our attachments jamming on the D carabiner’s gate or opening it during use!

Connection to the Hand Ascender

Another connection point in the assembly is where things attach to the hand ascender. There are variations on this depending on what style of footloop you use, but the most important thing is that there is a secure connection from the safety link to the ascender.

For either the combination footloop & safety links, or separate safety link, a locking carabiner is the best option. Screwgates are the most common, and so long as you continually monitor it to make sure that it stays done up, it is a secure connection that also allows you to use the same carabiner for storing the assembly on a gear loop when not in use on the pitch. If you a have a little extra in your budget, then an auto-locking 2 or 3 action carabiner can also be a good choice here. They are not at risk of vibrating open like a screwgate, and they are a bit quicker for installing and removing the assembly from your storage gear loops, but it’s very much a personal preference thing. Any locking carabiner used at this point does also allow you to use the safety link as an additional long cowstail if you ever needed to. It’s not a regular thing, but I can recall several times where it has been handy to have a 3rd cowstail or 2 long ones in the past. Having a carabiner here also helps during certain SRT rescues, which is something that the beginner does not necessarily need to consider, but is an import thing for instructors like myself to factor in to our SRT kit configurations. The use of a maillon is not recommended here. Yes, it is smaller and more secure, but unless you want to spend 30 seconds unscrewing it whenever you want to put the assembly on your gear loop, you’d have to carry an extra carabiner for that anyway. Maillons also don’t allow you to reconfigure the footloop into a mechanical advantage or counterbalance system when needed. That’s some pretty advanced stuff we’re touching on here and I’m not going to go into more detail in this article, but it is worth me highlighting the downsides of maillons verses a carabiner in case that was something you were considering using. I personally like to use an oval triple-action carabiner for this connection, but an oval screwgate is perfectly adequate. Ovals allow easy rotation of components when switching between storage and use, and also separate footloop and safety link setups can both connect to the same carabiner on the hand ascender if desired, reducing the risk of hang-ups/cross loading on the gate or nose if using a D shaped carabiner.

If you use a separate footloop and safety cord, you will also need to connect your footloop into the hand ascender somewhere. The safety link connects to hole on the hand ascender with a carabiner as discussed above, but you have 2 options for the footloop.

1. Your footloop connects to the same carabiner that your safety link is attached to the hand ascender with.
The upside of this is that you have fewer connectors, but the downside is that the footloop could be dropped anytime you open that carabiner (i.e. when moving it from your harness gear loop on mid-rope change of direction manoeuvres). With care and attention to this drop risk, this is a perfectly appropriate option for the footloop attachment and one that many cavers use. This is the recommended option.

2. You connect your footloop to the hand ascender with its own connector.
The footloop can connect to the hand ascender with its own connector, separate to the safety link attachment. The use of another carabiner here is fine, but can get bulky and not every hand ascender will have room for a second carabiner. The use of a small oval maillon is common. A 7mm long oval PPE rated maillon will be a good compact option. Even a little 4-5mm maillon is several times stronger than your weight, so this footloop connection could be much smaller than a full sized PPE connector if you want it to be. The use of a maillon instead of a carabiner for the rope or webbing footloop is fine, we don’t need to open it or take this off from the hand ascender when it is in use, so the maillon does not have any disadvantages over a carabiner, and will be smaller and cheaper. The downside of attaching the footloop with it’s own connector is that if you ever use the footloop as a stirrup on exposed traverses, the hand jammer will be loaded a bit funny because the safety link pulls in one direction and the footloop in the other.

For any connection to the hand ascender, it is important that we only use the lower hole of the ascender to connect in our equipment. Some hand ascenders have 2 lower holes and some have 1 larger one, allowing 2 connections to be made for those cavers who use separate footloops and safety links on their own connectors. Some ascenders however, only have a single lower hole. If that’s the case then both footloop and safety link will need to connect to this hole with a single carabiner (option 1 above). For users of combined footloop & safety link combos, they only need to put one carabiner into the hand ascender anyway, so any style of hand ascender will accommodate this. Many hand ascenders also have an upper hole, above the cam. This should not be used to connect a safety link or footloop to. The upper hole is used to further secure the ascender onto a rope when doing ascents on tight diagonal lines, or steep tyroleans. The ascender cannot be removed from the SRT rope with a carabiner clipped into this upper hole, so if we used this for the safety cord connection, every time we needed to take off the hand ascender we would need to disconnect it from the safety link, putting it regularly at risk of being dropped and lost. This could be very serious if it leaves you stranded on the SRT rope.

Assembling Your Footloop

Tying a Safety Link and Footloop Combination

In the first section of the video I cover the creation of an all-in-one safety link and footloop combo using low stretch rope.

The video will show the process for creating this setup using the components listed below.
For the combo I will use a 4m length of 9mm low stretch rope (see above discussion on suitable ropes and lengths).
In the harness end I will use a Figure of Eight on the Bight, for the centre knot I will use an Overhand on the Bight, and for the foot loop I will use Bowline.

Tying Separate Safety Link and Footloop Assemblies

In the second section of the video I cover the creation of a separate safety link using dynamic rope and, if you’re not using a manufactured webbing or cord one, the tying of a low stretch rope footloop.

The video will show the process for creating this setup using the components listed below.
For the safety link, I will use a 1.7m length of 9.1mm dynamic single rope (see above discussion on suitable ropes and lengths).
In each end of the safety link I will use Figure of Eights on the Bight for the loops.
For the foot loop, I will use a 3m length of 9mm low stretch rope (see above discussion on suitable ropes and lengths).
In the foot loop I will use an Overhand on the Bight for the hand ascender, and a Bowline for the foot loop.

Adjusting Lengths for Efficiency

This is also briefly covered in the video above, but I thought this was useful to put it in the article separately for easy reference without the need to watch the footage again. In this section I will cover how to adjust the lengths of your various components for maximum efficiency and ease of use. The lengths of each section relative to your body are the same whether you opt for a combined footloop or a separate footloop and safety link.

If you tie the sections as advised in the video or below, you’ll be able to get moving on the rope. Do however expect to need to make some adjustments for a while. Knots tighten up and the footloop or safety link will get longer. Fine tuning will need to be done. It usually take me a couple of trips to get a newly made footloop exactly how I like it. Even if you tied it exactly like the old one, there is still going to be some stretch and settling in the knots on new rope. The more well-adjusted to you that your SRT kit is, the more efficient it becomes, and the easier some of the more advanced manoeuvres or rescues can be. Early on in your SRT it might not seem like it makes a huge difference, but trust me, if you get into it you will want your kit as fine tuned to you as possible in time.

Safety link

The safety link should allow you take a full step up in your footloop without it going tight and stopping you raising your leg as far as you want. The ideal length is one where there is no restriction in step height, but very little slack left when your foot reaches the high point of your step. You want to be able to still reach the hand ascender if you were hanging on the safety link, and also to be able to lift your foot up enough to get it back into the footloop. The safety link normally ends up very similar in length to a long cowstail on the SRT kit.

Footloop

The foot loop should be large enough to accommodate both feet when you need it to, even if you prefer the use of one foot or a foot ascender on the other leg. Sometime you will need to use both legs, or swap, so the space to do that in the foot loop is needed.
The overall length of the setup should be checked with your foot in the foot loop on the ground. The top knot, where the hand ascender attaches, should be tied approximately level with your chest ascender at first, so your hand ascender sits around 10cm above the chest ascender on its carabiner. When you fully stand up, you don’t want the hand ascender hitting the top of the chest ascender. If the footloop length is too short, this will happen on every step and you waste effort with each step up as the ascenders crunch together. We also risk disengaging the cam on the chest ascender if we press on the top of it with anything, which is one of the scenarios where a safety link will save you falling if it ever happens. This length adjustment will need fine tuning hanging on an SRT rope as well. The position of your chest ascender will rise up slightly when you are hanging in the harness, so the footloop might need to be lengthened a bit. A too-short footloop is really inefficient and possibly dangerous, so go on the side of having it a bit too long at first.

Conclusion

Well done if you made it down to here. This might be the most text anyone has ever written on footloops for SRT!

There are dozens of variations in how to do this that will be safe and efficient, and I never wish to come over as if I’m telling people that there is only one correct way to do something when that is not the case. The article covers the common variations and choices in detail, with a few more advanced considerations thrown in where relevant. The how-to assemble video is more prescriptive and is aimed at people with less experience who are putting their first kits together, so it was necessary to keep it simple and not throw lots and lots of confusing variations up on screen. If you’ve arrived at this article to create your first setup then of course you have lots of information to browse if you want, but it was important to me that you get a clear demonstration of a common way of assembling the footloop using a set of safe techniques and equipment. Come back when you are more confident and try some of the other options if you like. If you came here as an experienced SRT’er, then I still hope you found something useful here and the article expanded your knowledge. Often it is not the how we do something that people like to know, it is the why, and that is the reason I have spent the time creating this page.

As always, I recommend that new equipment and techniques should be carefully practiced with in controlled environments and/or under the supervision of someone able to help you out or stop you making dangerous mistakes while you are learning. Experienced cavers in clubs or caving instructors like myself can be a very valuable resource to use when you learn, and can help you on your journey to independence, and hopefully save you making some mistakes on the way. If you are interested in some technical instruction from myself or Beth, then please get in touch via the contact page or via the main website www.peakinstruction.com.

Thanks for reading.