Racking cordage: 'Do the Twist'

Racking cordage: do the twist

There are a few different ways to rack long slings and cordless so they are compact, tidy, and deploy quickly when you need them.
(Good rule in climbing: avoid having anything hanging below your knees where it can trip you up.)

Here’s my preferred method. Fast, simple, no need for cutesy macramé projects. This works for slings or cords of any length, from 60 cm slings all the way up to a long cordelette.

My cordelette here is about 16 feet of Sterling Powercord. I love it: lightweight, low bulk, 6 mm, and rated about 20 kN, 3 times stronger than regular 6 mm cord.

Open the cordelette to a full circle.
Make a half twist with one hand, and bring the cord together to double it.
Repeat, and bring the cord together again. You should now have a loop with four strands.
Now, twist the loops a few times in opposite directions. When you bring your hands together, the loops should do a cool sort of double helix and twist themselves together. If you did it right, this will make a nice compact package that clips nicely to your harness.

To deploy, simply take out the twist, give it a shake, and it should open up to the full loop.

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