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Sand Bags

Description

To use a sand bag (potshot) for pothole escape:

1. Fill the bag with sand, anywhere from 1/4 full to 3/4 full, depending on how much weight you can throw.
2. Attach a rope to the handles of the bag, either with a carabiner or with a figure 8 follow through knot.
3. Throw the bag over the lip.
4. Repeat with additional potshots as necessary.
5. Ascend the rope(s), either by batmanning or ascending. 

Note that a single potshot often won't hold the entire weight of a person. You will likely need to throw more than one potshot or you'll need to use a combination of climbing, partner assisting, and ascending.

Tips: 

• If you can throw the potshot over a lip, it will hold a lot more weight than if it's flat on a table. You want the bag to catch on something rather than sliding back down.
• It's usually easier to throw the potshot from the up-canyon edge of the pothole rather than from the bottom of the pothole.
• Most people can throw the potshot strongest by trying a knot a couple feet away from the bag, holding the knot, and swinging the bag between their legs.
• To add a few extra feet to your throw, you can have one person stack the rope and throw the stack ahead of the potshot to reduce drag from the potshot having to mobilize the rope.

If you need a lot of sand bags to support your weight, you can chain several potshots on a single rope. You have to do it strategically so that if you throw your second potshot short, you can still pull it back and try again.

1. Start with a rope that is more than 3 times as long as the throw distance.
2. Attach one end of the rope to your first potshot.
3. Throw the first potshot.
4. Attach the second potshot to a bight of rope approximately 2/3 of the rope length from the potshot using a carabiner. The rope must be able to slide freely through the carabiner. 
5. Have a partner secure the end of the rope and the point 1/3 of the rope length from the potshot.
6. Throw the second potshot.
7. If the potshot doesn't go far enough, you can retrieve it by pulling both strands.
8. If the potshot is good, you can pull the end of the rope to remove the bight and choke the two potshots together.
9. Repeat with 3rd and subsequent potshot as necessary.

Advantages

Potshots are relatively light and don't add a lot of weight to your pack if you also use them to store a water anchor or sand trap or short rope.

Disadvantages

Potshots are a slow way to escape potholes and can leave rope grooves in the sandstone. In general, we like to send a climber or two into the pothole first to see if they can climb out or partner assist out. Only if they can't make it will we pull out the sand bags and throw them. You also need to be aware that every sand bag needs a rope or at least half a rope for it to be useful, so if you don't have enough ropes, sand bags aren't very useful.

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