About the Course

Search and Rescue (SAR) professionals wear many hats during their careers. Logistics and protocol gobble up much of your training time while ground pounding and search grids often consume the lion's share of SAR professional. However, the “technical rope rescue” side of things is always the elephant in the room; less than 10% of any given team can truly wrap their head around all that goes into this stuff.

Our goal here at Rigging Lab Academy is to minimize the time allotment for learning critical technical concepts and set you on a path to higher learning and a solid knowledge base. 


Search and Rescue Mini-Course - Rigging Lab Academy

What You'll Learn

The Seach and Rescue Mini-Course was specifically designed with the search and rescue professional in mind. You may be asking yourself, "What about litter handling?" Don't worry... We've included material on that as well!

  • Look into the world of artificial high directionals in the backcountry

  • Critical components for rigging light and fast systems

  • When and where to bolt

  • The use of cams for anchors when the choice for anchors are limited

  • Limiting tension within systems

  • Spanning huge gaps without the need for highlines.

Learn from Some of the Best in the Industry

Learn more about the expert instructors

  • Rigging Lab Academy: Multiple Instructors

    Making the world safer, together

    Rigging Lab Academy: Multiple Instructors

    This course is brought to you through the efforts of multiple Rigging Lab Academy Instructors. These instructors have hand-selected material from their full-featured courses — all of which are exclusively available here at Rigging Lab Academy — and contributed them to a specific section or unit of this course. By blending the teachings of various instructors, Rigging Lab Academy members will gain exposure to different areas of expertise, course materials, and teaching methodologies.

Course Curriculum

  • 1
    Unit 1: Welcome
    • 1.1 Welcome
    • 1.2 Knots, Bends & Hitches: The Basics for Rope Rescue, Work Access & SAR Systems
    • 1.3 Video Tutorial: Knots, Bends & Hitches: The Basics for Rope Rescue, Work Access & SAR Systems
  • 2
    Unit 2: Conversations In Rigging: Mirrored Skate Block Systems
    • 2.1 Mirrored Skate Block System Overview
    • 2.2 Video Tutorial: Mirrored Skate Block System Overview
  • 3
    Unit 3: Gin Poles with Tom Wood & Vertical Rescue Solutions
    • 3.1 Gin Pole Usage Overview
    • 3.2 Video Tutorial: Gin Pole Usage
  • 4
    Unit 4: Traditional & Removable Bolt Placement with Martin Barnett & Trask Bradbury: Drilling with Legacy Bolts
    • 4.1 Drilling with Legacy Bolts
    • 4.2 Video Tutorial: Drilling with Legacy Bolts
  • 5
    Unit 5: Managing Friction and Edge Safety
    • 5.1 Quiz: Managing Friction: Anchor Considerations in Rope Rigging Systems
    • 5.2 Video Tutorial: Fundamentals of Edge Work
    • 5.3 Video Tutorial: Managing Friction: Anchor Considerations in Rope Rigging Systems
    • 5.4 Video Tutorial: Edge Safety in Search and Rescue - Travel Restraint
    • 5.5 Video Tutorial: Edge Safety in Search and Rescue - Work Positioning in SAR
  • 6
    Unit 6: Advanced Rigging Physics 1: Vectors & Mechanical Advantage
    • 6.1 The T-Method, Part 1
    • 6.2 Video Tutorial: The T-Method, Part 1
  • 7
    Unit 7: Advanced Rigging Physics 2: Equipment
    • 7.1 Limiting Tension, Part 1
    • 7.2 Video Tutorial: Limiting Tension, Part 1
  • 8
    Unit 8: Rigging Physics II with Pat Rhodes: Understanding Resultants
    • 8.1 Quiz: Understanding Resultants: A Case Study
    • 8.2 Video Tutorial: Understanding Resultants
  • 9
    Unit 9: Basic Litter Handling: Class 3 Litter Handling
    • 9.1 Quiz: Class 3 Litter Handling
    • 9.2 Video Tutorial: Class 3 Litter Handling
  • 10
    Unit 10: Horizontal Rigging 3: Major Taglines / 2 Rope Offsets
    • 10.1 Quiz: Dynamic Directionals
    • 10.2 Video Tutorial: Dynamic Directionals
  • 11
    Unit 11: Smooth & Simple Rigging: Anchoring
    • 11.1 Cam Placement: Direction of Pull
    • 11.2 Video Tutorial: Cam Placement: Direction of Pull
  • 12
    Unit 12: Wrap Up
    • 12.1 Wrap Up
    • 12.2 Gear Buying Guide

Added Perks

Additional features Rigging Lab Academy Members are enjoying

  • Certificate of Completion

    Download your personalized Certificate of Completion after completing the course.

  • 100% Self-Paced

    Go through the course material as fast or as slow as you'd like.

  • Private Discussion Board

    Ask questions, meet other students, and even chat with the course instructor.

What Students Are Saying

  • Great Mini-Course

    Jose Donardo Zerrudo

    It requires persons who perform rigging or operate hoisting equipment to be trained to ensure that the personnel are competent to perform the operation... ...

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    It requires persons who perform rigging or operate hoisting equipment to be trained to ensure that the personnel are competent to perform the operation... Safety should be the first priority when performing lifting operations. An understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the equipment will support this. The safety policy “lf It‘s Not Safe, Don‘t Do It” is important not only for your safety, but the safety of your coworkers. Thank you Rigging Lab Academy for this Mini-Course...

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  • Simple & entertaining!

    Luis E. Gonzalez F.

    It's a good course that teaches topics of interest for those of us who work in SAR activities in a simple and entertaining way. It would be interesting if th...

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    It's a good course that teaches topics of interest for those of us who work in SAR activities in a simple and entertaining way. It would be interesting if they could figure out how Spanish-speaking people could have this course in their language. Thanks! - Luis E Gonzalez

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  • Very worthwhile to take!!

    Steve McCaughey Steve McCaughey

    Anyone who is affiliated with a search and rescue or a technical rescue team should review this mini course. Just the right amount of information to jog awa...

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    Anyone who is affiliated with a search and rescue or a technical rescue team should review this mini course. Just the right amount of information to jog away the cobwebs for those who do not use this equipment all the time. Very worthwhile to take!!

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  • A good course!

    sonny leveillee

    This course is good for the basics and a good refresher for technicians.

    This course is good for the basics and a good refresher for technicians.

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  • Great information.

    Patrick Walston

    Informative, up to date text with easy to use web pages, too. Good stuff.

    Informative, up to date text with easy to use web pages, too. Good stuff.

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  • Very good!

    Daniel Estebainha

    Very interesting course! It inspired me to carry out more training with the Rigging Lab Academy !!

    Very interesting course! It inspired me to carry out more training with the Rigging Lab Academy !!

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  • Bravo!

    Dixon Linch

    This mini-course has great didactic content! It's a shame that it is not available in Spanish so we can share it with our co-workers here in Peru.

    This mini-course has great didactic content! It's a shame that it is not available in Spanish so we can share it with our co-workers here in Peru.

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  • The Search and Rescue Mini-Course was great

    Mauricio Guzmán

    Dynamic, simple, and concrete! I hope you create more courses in Spanish, or learn English quickly. Congratulations on this project -- it's excellent!

    Dynamic, simple, and concrete! I hope you create more courses in Spanish, or learn English quickly. Congratulations on this project -- it's excellent!

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  • Precious knowledge

    Предраг Николић

    Thanks! For us so far away and unable to participate, this comes as a precious gift. Keep up the good work! Greetings from Serbia!

    Thanks! For us so far away and unable to participate, this comes as a precious gift. Keep up the good work! Greetings from Serbia!

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  • A great course that gives you more tools to put in your k...

    William Conley

    The SAR Mini-Course is a great course that gives you more tools to put in your knowledge toolbox. In the world of rescue, you can have all the hardware that ...

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    The SAR Mini-Course is a great course that gives you more tools to put in your knowledge toolbox. In the world of rescue, you can have all the hardware that money can buy but without the knowledge, it is useless. A Tech needs many different tools in his knowledge toolbox because every rescue is different. This course gives you some of those special tools you need. Keep up the good work and stay safe!

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  • This was a great review!

    keith trojanowski

    This was a great review of the many aspects and techniques that in compass rope rescue. Definitely worth the time. Thank you.

    This was a great review of the many aspects and techniques that in compass rope rescue. Definitely worth the time. Thank you.

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  • Wide Range of Materials

    John Lindstrom

    This mini-course covered a very wide range of topics. They did not always flow from one to the next. In particular, the sections on anchoring could have been...

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    This mini-course covered a very wide range of topics. They did not always flow from one to the next. In particular, the sections on anchoring could have been grouped together to serve as the basis for the subsequent sections.

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