i meant thats what i say as i peel not that is what i want done as i peel.

...it would seem to me that by saying take instead of falling I am risking a stiff catch rather than busted ankles

And?

Jay

I tend to just use "take." I've heard other people, friends included, using "tension" but I never liked it. And i'd never heard the term "up rope" before this thread.

Good idea to change the meanings of what are essentially universally recognized climbing commands. We need to abolish standardization, since the meaning of all words is relative anyway. What possible negative consequences could there be if "take" means "take up some of the slack" to you, but "put me on tension" to your belayer? Go for it, I say.

Jay

Yeah, I also dislike flamers in the inturdnetz who don't bother to read the second half of my post before quoting the entire thing and implying I'm an idiot. I'm aware that there will be some people who do this, so I stick to ignoring them most of the time

for me ....

Take is when i'm on the sharp end and peeling off

When I am on the sharp end and about to fall I am a hell of a lot more inclined to say slack.

Yeah, I also dislike flamers in the inturdnetz who don't bother to read the second half of my post before quoting the entire thing and implying I'm an idiot...

One syllable terms include "slack" "rope" and "rock". Things are either falling down, or the belayer is paying rope out.

That is almost signature worthy.

If you honestly need more slack when you are about to fall, then your belayers are incompetent.

Jay

My point was, I would rather have a reasonable amount of extra slack in the system then a tight rope pulling me down. No, I don’t need to call slack. Yes my [competent] belayers do have a proper amount of slack in the system at all times. I don’t need to call shit when I fall, I just fall (as it should be).

All the folks saying "I perfer this" or "I never heard of that"......you don't get to decided what standardized terms in use for over 50 years mean. Read some books. Learn some history.

I read your whole post.

Jay

I hate "take".

The way I learned it, two syllables should be used for "up" and one syllable for "down" For example, "up rope", "tension", "watch me" and "falling" are all two syllables and the belayer is taking in rope. If the belayer misunderstood the request, but got the syllables correct, relatively little harm is done. One syllable terms include "slack" "rope" and "rock". Things are either falling down, or the belayer is paying rope out. Since "take" could sound like "slack", the climber could end up with more rope when they wanted less. That is why we say "rock" whether what is coming down is a rock or a piton.

So then you just decidedly ignored the second half because you wanted to augment your ego by making someone else look ridiculous. I'm glad I could be of service.

and fewer use 'take' to mean 'up rope'.

thanks

The technically correct answer is that take means, "I want to fully rest on the rope." Tension and up rope are interchangeable. They both mean, "Make it tighter than it currently is."

Maybe I'm the nOOb making up my own commands but "slack" is what I call to my belayer when I get short-roped on lead.

So then you just decidedly ignored the second half because you wanted to augment your ego by making someone else look ridiculous. I'm glad I could be of service.

The disclaimer in the 2nd half of your post did not offset the bad advice you presented in the first part of your post. Enter JT512 - he will dispell bad beginner advice with the ruthless efficiency of an executioner.

Quoting your disclaimer would have contributed nothing toward negating your bad advice, though it may have made you feel better about yourself.

DMT