Meat anchor
"Meat anchor" is the name of the technique where a person acts as a rappel anchor by attaching themselves to the rope and then bracing against some sturdy feature.
Technique
Ideally, a meat anchor would place himself behind rocks that prevent him from sliding forward when the rope is weighted. The rope would also be positioned to touch as much rock as possible, and be redirected by rock as much as possible -- this maximizes friction and reduces the amount of weight the meat anchor needs to hold.
When another person starts rappelling using a meat anchor, he should be as gentle as he possibly can. This often involves sitting down onto one's side in order to start rather than starting from a stand, as well as avoiding any sudden decelerations or bouncing while on rappel.
Uses
If one member of the group is a skilled downclimber, he can act as a meat anchor for everyone else to rappel a questionable drop and then downclimb it himself. This saves the time and gear of constructing a new and possibly difficult anchor, as well as the danger of forcing everyone in the group to downclimb.
If there is a marginal anchor, a meat anchor can act as a backup anchor for everyone in the group except that last person.
