Rappelling with a Silent Partner alone can be a little nerve-wracking. Although you're safe in the sense that the Silent Partner will lock up and catch you if you let go, you'll immediately notice several things that are less than ideal. First, the rope runs over itself a lot and looks like it might be in for a lot of wear and tear. Second, you need a LOT of hand pressure to control your rappel. Third, there's no backup.

In playing around with ways to fix these problems, I soon realized that my usual Bachman above wasn't going to do the job. Neither was the brake hand autoblock.

I ended up extending my usual rappel device (R) off a halved 2 foot sling (S) tied into the double carabiners (B) used to fasten the Silent Partner to my harness (H). This setup in effect converts the Silent Partner into a brake hand assist for rappelling off the primary rappel device. It also reduces the chewing up of my brand new rope (new ropes work best with the Silent Partner). Notice that the sling is intentionally attached to the double biners to prevent the rope from rubbing against the sling.

WARNING: CLIMBING IS INHERENTLY DANGEROUS. THE OPINIONS AND DESIGNS PRESENTED HERE ARE MY OWN AND DO NOT CONSTITUTE A RECOMMENDATION OF OR ENDORSEMENT FOR ANY PARTICULAR OR GENERAL USE. IF YOU CHOOSE TO USE ANY DEVICE OR PROCEDURE PRESENTED HERE, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK.