The "Oh Sh*t kit"
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Having a few basic tools required to ascend a rope, set up a mechanical advantage haul system, or cut a rope / webbing is a great starting point for just about any sort of rescue scenario.
There are many items you could put in a kit like this. A frugal start is a couple of prusik loops and spare carabiners. But, having some dedicated gear offers greater efficiency and more options. Combine this rescue gear with a couple of 60 or 120 cm slings, or a cordelette, and you can do all kinds of rescue trickery!
For alpine climbing, here's what I usually carry:
Petzl Nano Traxion progress capture pulley
Petzl Tibloc rope grab
Sterling friction hitch (Hollowblock, or shown here, 6 mm autoblock cord)
Tiny hardware store cheapo lockblade knife, with tape wrapped around it to prevent it from opening accidentally, and a short clip-in loop attached. If you want a better knife, check out the Trango Piranha or the Petzl Spatha
All conveniently racked on an oval locker
The knife is used to remove sun-bleached ancient crusty webbing from rap anchors (hopefully replaced with new material by you), to cut a cordelette for rap anchor material, and if needed, to cut away something under tension in some sort of awful rescue rescue scenario where it might be your least-worst option. (See the classic Joe Simpson book “Touching the Void” for an epic story about this very thing.)
Here's the kit, all racked up on an oval. Nice, compact, and versatile.
