New Hitch for the Hitch Hiker X and other things.

[Richard Mumford-yoyoman]

Timestamps posted to make scanning a long video much easier.

 

[Richard Mumford-yoyoman]

 

[Cereal_Killer]

Maybe I'm just thick skulled compared to someone who's been doing this as long and looking at it as in-depth as Richard and thus can't wrap my head around the new idea but I fail to see how ANY creep is desirable in your HH hitch. It took me a long time to really dial in how I tie my hitch to eliminate creep but still tend easily so it seems a little strange to me to see a video put out by someone like yourself stating creep is a good thing. I know it scared the living shit out of me when my HH would suddenly creep (even very slowly) when working on my method. Glad those days are over!

No offense intended here, and I'm definitely not opposed to trying new things but no way am I gonna try this.

Idk, maybe it's just me but I want my life support device to hold steadfast when I release it... Not trying to argue as I couldn't shake a stick at Richard's knowledge / skill but since no one else posted I thought I'd just speak up and state my [possibly flawed] opinion. My biggest fear wasn't ever falling cause of creep (I assume there's still enough friction, even when tied loosely, to keep you from actually descending to fast and hitting the ground with enough energy to do real damage), my biggest fear induced by creep in the HH was that I'd get flipped upside down with the HH bottomed out on my foot ascender or SAKA and be royally fucked.

 

[Richard Mumford-yoyoman]

I understand what you're saying and to say it's desirable wasn't really my intent, it's just that I know I'm at about the right spot in the tension of my hitch when it just holds. Not too tight, and not too loose.
And I haven't tried it, but I'll bet you with that new hitch, I can take those two wraps at the top and give them a little twist and tighten it up where the creep stops.

 

[Richard Mumford-yoyoman]

You probably already know this but I often say, I may not know the question but the answer is probably a prusik. So have one available, and while you're standing on your ascenders, throw that above your hitch until you can fix it.

 

[Richard Mumford-yoyoman]

And if you don't have one of those, make a Blake's hitch with your lanyard and throw that up above you until you can get your hitch fixed.

 

[Richard Mumford-yoyoman]

And if you don't have one of those with you, you shouldn't be climbing the tree, so take advantage of that nice little automatic descent you'll have and go get your lanyard and fix your hitch.

Note, whenever I say you, it's a very general term that applies to all of us.

 

[rope-a-dope]

Just tried this out on my HH2, it works really well! Calamine and 9.2 epicord. I tied it much looser than i have to tie the plain wraps, but it gripped very reliably. Way to go yoyo

 

[Brocky]

Innovation is a good name for your hitch, because it describes the thought process of how a hitch has to work well with the Hitch Hikers. Your hitch will probably maintain its configuration while in use, but I didn't like the top wrap being able to be twisted far enough around to form another wrap on top and loose one on the bottom. It doesn't seem to work as well like this. I came up with few other hitches to try out.

After testing, four stood out as performing better,

Some testing and adjusting narrowed it down to two that seem to be about the same, always grabs, doesn't lock up, and easy to tend.

All the testing was using 9mm RIT on 10 mm HTP. Different cords, rope and weight of climber may require more or less wraps than the ones that worked for me.
I'm going to have to add another category to my hitch collection, and see if any of these hitches will work with eyes.

 

[Richard Mumford-yoyoman]

....Your hitch will probably maintain its configuration while in use, but I didn't like the top wrap being able to be twisted far enough around to form another wrap on top and loose one on the bottom.....

What nice artwork!
I'm trying to understand the comment I quoted above, can you draw or explain that? I think I see what you are saying but I have not experience it. I suppose it's like saying the regular HH or Valdotain can cascade down and become a Valdotain Tresse.
One of the great features of the Innovation Hitch is the ability to open the hitch a little for tending after it has been loaded for a while and having the wraps the way they are facilitates that.

Thanks

 

[rico]

Its men like Brocky and YoYoMan that make TB the most informative filled arb site on the web.
I have recently been trying to get my HH2 really dialed in, and this might be just the ticket.
Thanks for the great work gentlemen!

Richard, is that Marlow Vega your climbing on? If so, how do you like it?

 

[Brocky]

It doesn't take much effort to rotate the top wrap clockwise, up on to itself, going from this

To this

 

[Brocky]

I did some more playing with the k and i versions, as well as the Innovation. I'm liking the k version the most, because it seems to have less friction. I tested Richard's idea of twisting the top wrap of his hitch to be able to regulate the amount of friction. What I found is, if you hold the Hitch Hiker with one hand, and twist the whole hitch clockwise with the other hand, you will start to slowly descend. Twist counter clockwise to stop. These three hitches, as well as the usual French Prusik, will perform this way. Sometimes you have to compress the top a little before twisting

 

[vertigo]

View attachment 54286View attachment 54287View attachment 54288View attachment 54289

I tried the Innovation knot on Tachyon and 10mm beeline HH2 but didnt have much success with it, maybe the cord is not supple enough yet. To make it work I had to accept a lot more sitback than I have with just plain wraps and it was much harder to progress.

When I was tieing it I had a flash that this knot incorporates elements of a Rolling Hitch or Clove Hitch, which might be why it required repeated resetting back to a looser state to work for me. A Rolling Hitch is effectively a one direction prusik and is made by extending a clove hitch by another wrap.

Vertigo

 

[rico]

I have been getting my HH2 dialed in with 11mm HTP and HRC Prusik and after trying many different hitches it appears that a 4 wrap original HH hitch is working best for me. Near zero friction on ascent and smooth as butter on descent. YMMV of coarse.

 

[John@TreeXP]

I know I'm not as far along as most of the climbers in here, but for an 210lb climber in his late 50's like me, I seem to be well dialed in using my original HH2 with a 9.3mm epiCord, on my 7/16" HTP, or my 11mm Edelrid Static, using a HH 7 wrap and fisherman's stopper knots. I also like using a 2" piece of (bigshot) rubber tubing on the hitch cord, near the dogbone. Sure, there's a bit of friction when advancing and it doesn't advance nearly as cleanly as my Uni does, but I love the way it performs so consistently and smoothly, even when wet.

 

[Brocky]

After seeing what worked with the Innovation variations above, I went through my hitch collection to see what might work. After testing twenty nine, seven went on to the body weight test

The top left, Knut variation h, turned out to work the best for me, of all the hitches. Others also worked good, but on those, there seemed to be a precise place that the stopper knot had to be, just on the verge of being too tight. This one seems to have a wider range of where the stopper had to be.
The hitch is slightly different than the drawing, with only four wraps, and the top leg coming from to the left, stays on top, rather than going under.

 

[rico]

The top left, Knut variation h, turned out to work the best for me, of all the hitches. Others also worked good, but on those, there seemed to be a precise place that the stopper knot had to be, just on the verge of being too tight. This one seems to have a wider range of where the stopper had to be.
The hitch is slightly different than the drawing, with only four wraps, and the top leg coming from to the left, stays on top, rather than going under.
View attachment 54603

Yesterday I gave the Knut H a go with the top leg staying on top as in the photo, and I have to say this hitch absolutely kicks ass on the HH2! Thanks Brocky.

 

[Brocky]

Thanks for the review, @rico. If that leg goes under, there is a slight delay in it grabbing, so that the hitch slips a little while being loaded. Did you just need the four wraps?
This hitch seems to work with the Wrench from initial testing.

 

[rico]

4 wraps just as in the pic. Best hitch I have ever used on he HH. No friction on ascent, no sit back, and super responsive. Just killer.

I also briefly tried it on the Wrench, and it seemed to work really well. With 4 wraps it is a short knot so a 24”-26” eye to eye would probably be just about right on the Wrench.