Use the "Alpine Handrail" for a better bivy
Credit for this tip: blog post from Andy Kirkpatrick, shared with permission.
If you're spending the night at an exposed ledge, you hopefully have some room to move around and also to organize your gear. You want to do both without any concerns of falling off or dropping anything.
One solution: the “alpine handrail”.
Build a second anchor off to one side of your ledge away from the main anchor. It's ideal if these anchors are bolts. If not, be sure the anchor can take a sideways pull.
Tie a B I G figure 8 on a bight with a loop that's big enough to reach both anchors. In the photo I'm using a cordelette. On a larger ledge, use your climbing rope. Or tie two cordelettes together; get creative.
Tie two additional knots, and clip those to each anchor. In the photo on the left we have a clove hitch, which makes it easier to tension in the top strand.
Now you've made a sort of two story handrail. Make the upper rail fairly tight and the bottom one looser.
Use the upper rail to clip yourself with a tether, and the bottom rail to clip all your gear. You can move along the top rail without having to unclip to move past anything (other than your partner).
Because you made a loop, if any anchor fails, everything won't slip off of one end of the rope.
But what about that horizontal rope strand on the top? Doesn't that make sort of an American Death Triangle (ADT) / vector pull, maybe putting a large load on the anchors?
Excellent question! Short answer is yes, it kind of does, but it should not be a concern if you're on a reasonably sized ledge. That top strand is only if you make a careless stumble, or to keep you stable when you're sleeping.
If you are at a full hanging belay, where you’re putting a real load on the anchor all the time, you want to have a more typical anchor with a distributed load, NOT like this.
Besides, the so-called “death triangle” is probably not as bad as you think. Here's a whole article on it.
Extra points for using your climbing glove as a secure spot to hold your well-earned canned beverage. =^)
