acronyms

treebing

treebing

Been here much more than a while
Location
Detroit, Mi.
SRT= Single Rope Technique. The climber uses one rope
dSRT= dynamic or Doubled Single Rope Technique (also known as DdRT)
sSRT= static or stationary Single Rope Technique

DRT=Double Rope Technique. The climber uses two rope independently

Currently at the ITCC there is misuse of the term SRT. There is discussion of single line work positioning versus doubled rope positioning. The problem is that tree climbers climb SRT, and have been forever. They use one single rope. The single rope technique that they can use can vary. For example they can use a dynamic single rope technique such as a traditional blakes hitch climbing system where the single rope is folded or doubled.

Or you can have a static SRT system where the line such as a rope wrench system where the line is static and doesn't move.


Currently the term ddrt or (Dynamic or doubled Single Rope Technique) is confusing as it appears to be closer to DRT than SRT. Where does the second D come from in dDRT? dSRT is a specific Single Rope Technique.

static SRT is then referred to simply as SRT which is a broad term that encompasses both techniques.

DRT should be very specifically reserved for a technique used by professional workers at height who for safety reasons climb with two independent lines, one as a backup, one as a mainline. They are always tied in twice. This means they are two mistakes from falling as opposed to one mistake in SRT. For rope access workers, being tied in once is an instant DQ on the certification exam. In the climbing competitions being tied in 0 times is an instant DQ. The same as dropping a carabiner.

Professional workers at height are confused when they see differentiation of SRT and DdRT ( where does the second d come from?) As they just call it all SRT. For all safety purposes one rope is one rope. Two ropes is Two ropes.
 
Or, we change the definitions behind the acronyms to reflect some truth about the configurations. DRT can be Dynamic Rope Technique, and SRT can mean Static (Stationary) Rope Technique.

From there, you can have dDRT, dSRT with the d representing 'double'. You could also have t for 'triple' if needed. In my mind, the acronyms SRT and DRT imply that only one rope is being used unless otherwise specified with the lowercase letter in front.
 
I think wether the rope is dynami or static is inconsequential and should be lower case or not even mentioned at all. Other rope access professions only have DRT and SRT. arborists pretty much only use SRT unless they pull out their tools and they switch to DRT. I don't think distinguishing between static and dynamic really is helpful except when deciding what tools to use on your single line. Some tools can only work on a dynamic rope others are designed for static.

I think the use of the d in the acronym DdRT is really confusing. It seems to put it in the DRT category when it is without a doubt a single rope technique.
 
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treebing said:
I think the use of the d in the acronym DdRT is really confusing. It seems to put it in the DRT category when it is without a doubt a single rope technique.
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I agree with that. I didn't know any acronyms at all until I started reading Tree Buzz, and the lowercase d always confused me until I read more and more from Tom Dunlap. His description made it clear to me, and I'm sure it was the most appropriate thing at the time it was introduced.

I will disagree that there is little importance to Static and Dynamic, as it describes what the system is doing, even in a rigging application. A lot of the rigs I set up are basket style and the load moves on the line more so than the load is fixed to the end. It may not be important for the point you're trying to make, but it's still a significant part of the equation.
 
What does the 'd' mean in DdRT. I always assumed it, being lowercase, was part of the initial letter 'Dd'. meaning Doubled.

Also, what about MRT for Multiple Rope Technique

Then you would have:
MRT - Multiple Rope Technique
DRT - Doubled Rope Technique
SRT - Single Rope Technique

Get rid of the little letters altogether. Unless you wanted to use it as a modifier for the Multiple Rope Technique.
dMRT
sMRT
 
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Good write-up treebing. You're making me look at dynamic single line in a whole different light. Now i can say I've been an SRT climber since I started 14 years ago.

The acronyms are definitely a little confusing but fwiw, I think the way Eric is describing makes more sense. It would be easier to build off of in the future anyway, and seems more system-driven to me.
 
And Oceans, I guess it wouldn't apply to your sDdRT, as the 's' in what I laid out stands for single. You could say it was a DsRT - Doubled single Rope Technique, but that could still be confused with Doubled Rope Technique. I don't know. We have too many system, that's our problem. We should eliminate systems rather than acronyms. (:
 
I think it's easier for the small letter to be the modifier as to how many ropes are being used. Other than that, the acronyms make sense when referring to configuration...static or dynamic. Kevin is trying to point out here that DdRT is still only one rope, and yes, 'Dd' is for doubled...much different than DRT which is currently 2 ropes.
 
John_KAYS said:
And Oceans, I guess it wouldn't apply to your sDdRT, as the 's' in what I laid out stands for single. You could say it was a DsRT - Doubled single Rope Technique, but that could still be confused with Doubled Rope Technique. I don't know. We have too many system, that's our problem. We should eliminate systems rather than acronyms. :)
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My acronym there was for 'static Doubled Rope Technique'. The doubling is part of the equation, and infers a single line is in use, but its static, so hence the lowercase 's'. That's were I was going with that.
 
Oh and Oceans, I understood what you meant it to be. I was just trying to think how it would work with the way I broke out the three techniques. BUT as I realized it eliminated the 'static' and 'dynamic' from the equation.
 
Gotcha. I hope this doesn't erode Kevin's thread, but we've been here before, talking about this. For so long, the idea was to keep other industries out of the world of tree work, and now there's an influx.

After setting up my sDdRT system and climbing on it, I would have no problem if I was mandated to climb with 2 ropes. It's way easier to manage than someone might think, especially in a static configuration. It's actually quite beneficial in some ways.
 
DsRT - Dynamic single Rope Technique
SsRT - Static single Rope Technique
DmRT - Dynamic multiple Rope Technique
SmRT - Static multiple Rope Technique

And then you could have SdRT - Static doubled Rope Technique

But I don't know if it's worth separating the mRT's

Okay well I don't have anything more to add.
 
Think of it as biology.
Kingdom, phylum, class order family species.

Kingdom=work
Family= work at height arborist
Species= SRT and DRT
Subspecies= dynamic static
Hybrids etc

So you would say

I climb SRT sub species doubled, variety ;hitch cord, race; coopers.


I climb SRT static. variety ropewrench race VT.

I climb DRT hybrid : dynamic hitchclimber X static ropewrench.

Think of how a biologist would lay it out.
 
I have climbed that way, and will continue to do so. As of this moment, I still think the static or dynamic nature is more prevalent than how many independent ropes are incorporated. It makes sense to me to describe the configuration of the system before describing how many systems were in place.
 
I don't want anyone to misinterpret this and think that I want SRT banned at them comps. In my opinion they are recreational athletic events, no one is on the clock and no sharp tools are employed. They would be slowed way down if SRT was frowned upon as it is in the professional work at height environment.
 
I like Kevins new terms, I always wondered about "DdRT". Seems misleading for me, but English is not my mother tongue.
Btw., I would avoid bringing "static" and "dynamic" into the game, as this can be misleading as well (static & dynamic ropes), or at least its not totally unambiguous.
And I really think a more developed terminology should be, otherwise it would be superfluous, wouldnt it?

I dont think the TCC responsibles will catch up here, especially when it comes from you Kevin.
What do you suggest for naming (and distinguish) sSRT ascent only systems and sSRT work systems?
Or would you like to skip it at all (what I can imagine ;)?
I'd have no problem with that for my part, from a safety perspective it doesnt really make sense.
From a systematic (and maybe historical...) approach it does somehow.
 
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