I didn’t know getting hair stuck in a rappel device was something that could happen to climbers until just now, but it’s suddenly one of my greatest fears.
Believe it or not it’s actually decently common to see people get loose hair or clothing stuck in a rappel device. An incident like this can be resolved in a few manners. The most obvious would likely be just straight up cutting off the hair, but a majority of people would probably like to attempt a few other things before hand.
In one case recorded by the American Alpine Club, a novice rappeller got her hair stuck in the device and a member of the Phoenix Fire Department’s Technical Rescue Team was able to rappel down to her, attach her to his equipment, and cut her line to free her hair. In another incident, a victim’s climber partner was able to put a prusik above her device and attached a sling, allowing the woman to stand in the sling and release the hair from the device.
Of course keeping hair out of a rappel device in the first place is much better than having to handle the issue once it happens. Climbers should keep longer hair up and away from any devices, and clothing should be kept tucked in and tight. Using a rappel extension can help as well by keeping the device further from both hair and clothing.
