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August 27, 2011

Rope Puzzle - Rajeev is trapped !!!


Rajeev is trapped atop a building 200m high. He has with him a rope
150m long. There is a hook at the top where he stands. Looking
down, he notices that midway between him and the ground,at a
height of 100m, there is a ledge with another hook. In his pocket
lies a Swiss knife.

How might he be able to come down using the rope, the two hooks
and the Swiss knife?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

They should have named him MacGyver.

Mr. Weaver said...

he should use a slip knot at the first hook and slide down to the ledge and undo the knot by pulling on it. Then repeat to reach the bottom.

SIMPLE! or just call MACGUYVER.

suman24 said...

1)Ties a knot in first hook @ 50m from one end of rope to reach the ledge 100m below.
2)He ties anodr knot with other end to second hook and climbs up the rope tied on both ends.
3)Reaching the top, he opens the knot and den ties agn anodr knot using other end. thus he ties 150m rope in 100m .
4)He slides down 50m and den cuts the rope with knife.Thus he falls down with 100m rope reaching ground.

dogtag114 said...

This may be a stretch, but here is a solution with no knife.

1. Tie a knot at top and slide down to ledge at 100m.
2. Take the other end of the rope and tie it to the hook.
3. Climb back to the top and untie the rope.
4. Pull the extra rope until it is tight and tie it around your waist.
5. Run like hell to the side, jump and try to pull in some slack as you fall.
6. As you fall, after a bit of a snap, you'll swing just over the ground. Perhaps a bit shaken, but not dead.

Igor Santos said...

Tie a noose at the end of the rope, dangle it down to the halfway hook and tighten it up. Hold the rope just short of the 100m mark (fold rope in 3, etc) and take a running jump to keep tension on the rope.
Once swinging stops, climb down.

Anonymous said...

fold the knife up and put it into your pocket
tie one end of the rope around your waist creating a Marine seat or swiss seat,
pass the rope over the hook.
pick up the rope just on the other side of the hook wrap that rope around your body slowly weight the rope using you body trunk as a belay-rappell device.
cusss at how much it hurts
slide down to the 100 foot ledge
unwrap the rope from your body pull the rope down and repeat once on the ground
coil the rope because its EZ to carry that way and use it as a barter peice to get a lift into town.
once in town find a watering hole trade your swiss army knife for a beer peole will buy you more beers upon hearing the story

dogtag114 said...

Can we have a confirmed answer? None of these 'lower yourself' by looping over the hook work because you would need 200m of rope to get to the first ledge.

Anonymous said...

Cut off a 50m length - tie a small loop in one end, tie the other end to the hook. Take your remaining 100m of rope and pass half of it through the small loop. Use this to lower yourself to the 100m ledge (you need to climb down a doubled up piece of rope for the last 50m - go steady or you die.
When you reach the 100m ledge, pull one end of the 100m length through the small loop. You now have a 100m length of rope and 100m left to climb down.

Rajeev Kornengattil said...

cut off a 100m length keep the rest on his pocket- tie one end of 100m length rope on top hook and then jump to the next hook tie the next end over there. Climb 50m length, take the knife cut the first 50m length.
and jumb down using the rest 50m length. Now take the 50m length from pocket and tie with the rop end.
Land safely down the ground......,

By Rajeev K Guptha

Mcguinnen said...

Cut 43 meters from rope and allow 1 meter for knot tying. Tie to top hook then make a loop on other side of 43 meters to make an artificial "rope hook", your practical length is now only 42 meters. Put aside.

Using other 107 meter piece thread one end through "rope hook" loop then tie around your waist allowing 1 meter for this. You should now have 106 meters practical length left. Let 106 meter piece dangle over ledge from your waist as you climb down 42m piece.

At the end of the 42 meter piece, commence lowering yourself down the "rope hook" using the pre-rigged 106m piece as a double rope and using your body weight as a counter balance. Note this will only take you 95 meters down because you have doubled the 106m piece, now the practical length is half that - 53 meters

53 meters plus 42 meters from the "rope hook" is 95m. Now you are suspended 5 meters from the second ledge.

Let go of the lose end of the 106 meter piece. The tension and friction of the 106 meter piece against the "rope hook" will slow your 5 meter free-fall somewhat.

Once on the second ledge, untie 106 meter piece from waist now it is 107 meters again, tie to hook.

Pull rest of 107 meters out of rope hook and let fall to the ground, taking note not to be struck by it as it falls past you.

Climb down to the ground.

live said...

its better that he takes the stairs

renjith alexander said...

Cut the rope into 2 pieces 100m, and 50m. Tie the 50m piece to the hook. Tie a noose on the other end, and tie one end of the 100m rope to his body. Pass the other end of the 100m rope through the noose of the 50m rope.
Climb down through the 50m rope, and when the end is reached, lower himself using the 100m rope, by slowly releasing the end of the rope which is coming through the noose. so he will reach the second hook, and then get the 100m rope out through the noose, and use it to climb down.

Anonymous said...

There are many answers to this question:

Messy answer: He jumps. (It doesn't say he has to survive.)

Tarzan answer: He ties the rope off at the top, climbs down and loops it through the 100m high hook, and climbs back up to the 150m mark. He had smartly made a knot at this mark in advance, and cuts the rope just above the knot, swinging down to the ground as the knot catches in the hook. He has very strong hands, and he was able to push off on the rope before he cut it to get some horizontal momentum. :)

Survival answer: Okay, okay - you want him to live. Cut the rope into a 50m and 100m piece. Tie a loop at the end of the 50m rope, connect it to the hook, and climb down.

Now run the 100m piece of rope through the loop, and rappel (one side tied to me, the other side held, or hold both sides) to descend the next 50m.

Then pull the 100m rope through the loop above and tie it to the lower hook, climbing the rest of the way down.