Anyone use 2 flip lines?

O

otismcfeely

Location
Eastern US
I just started climbing and while observing other climbers unhook themselves to transcend limbs I always got this feeling of unease watching them. I decided that I would use 2 flip lines for transcending limbs. My boss said it was a good idea since it is a pretty common situation for falling.
 
otismcfeely said:
I just started climbing and while observing other climbers unhook themselves to transcend limbs I always got this feeling of unease watching them. I decided that I would use 2 flip lines for transcending limbs. My boss said it was a good idea since it is a pretty common situation for falling.
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Yeah sure, why not... as the replies above would imply some do, actually alot do...

Unclipping is the dumbest thing you can do up in a tree.. yeah we all free climbed trees when we were kids... but we were exactly that.. Dumb! Regardless, you don't necessarily need two fliplines to keep your points of contact.. What you can do is, (& its a little harder to do with a steel core, especially depending on how stiff the brand is) you can create a completely seperate lanyard out of the tail of the existing one by using a 2 biners & a prusik.. it's just called a 2in1.. There's also the "DEDA", as i think it's called.. Double Ended Double Adjustable.. I can't remember exactly on that one.. To be honest, there really no excuse to have to completely unclip as there are a hundred different ways to maintain points of contact when navigating obstacles. One of the more simple ways is to use your climbing line... & Even If your tied in with it above & you need to maintain your two points of contact, but have the need to unclip your Lanyard, you can just use the tail of your climbing line..

So they're realy is a ton of ways to go about keeping it safe.. I actually just spliced a short lanyard up to see how running two would work out.

I think running a double ended system /2in1, whatever its called, on a longer climb rite steel core might not be too bad. I felt one out recently & was amazed at how flexible it was while still maintaining the ease of flipping. It also looked allot thicker than the 1/2in rope logic i have. It had to have been a 9/16 or something, so you would think heavier & stiffer, but it flexed way better than my 1/2in.

Anyhow.. there's lots of info here on this subject.. you deff won't have a hard time finding it

Good luck & be safe my friend!

EDIT - The Steel Core i liked the flexibility of was not a Climb Right. It was made by U.S. Rigging Supply, which is even odder as i had always been under the impression those were exceptionally stiff.
 
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I use 2 fliplines when I climb up a tree to create a TIP, works faster than climbing with one flipline/climbing line. When I have a TIP, I throw the second flipline down.
 
I'm just an amateur and barely that, but I use a 15' flipline double-ended as Jimmycrackcorn said. For a lanyard length adjuster, I use a prusik loop, which works in either direction ... but I'm thinking of trying the (as yet untested by me) "modified Distel" that I saw discussed here on Treebuzz, which is balanced/symmetrical, because my prusik can be hard to move one-handed after it's been loaded. I'm hoping the modified Distel won't "jam" as hard as my prusik loop sometimes does.

If the modified Distel works (and I don't know yet that it does) I would expect it to work equally well in either direction on my flipline...YMMV. Here's the hitch:

https://image.ibb.co/k9gRdK/Modified_Distel_Hitch_TEST_THIS_FIRST.jpg
 
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I use a 50' lanyard with a hitch tending pulley on each end. Works as a long lanyard and a flip line or 2 long lanyards.

I also use the tail of my climbing line as an extra lanyard when needed.
 
Z'sTrees said:
You're definitely on the right track. What are you climbing system are you on currently?
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Climbing system? Umm, buckingham climbers with the crook leg tree spur, an old wide saddle my boss gave me, turned an old piece of rope into thigh straps, 2 flip lines I made my self out of good sections of old rope, both with self made prusiks one with a pulley for self tending.IMG_20180823_172427.webp
 
Z'sTrees said:
Like do you climb on a closed system with a Blake's or tautline, or a split tail, etc?
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Ohh, I'm not using any over head safety line at the top of the tree yet, I'm still in the preliminary stages of taking down every branch of the tree on the way up. I don't have to rope anything out yet or cut something big enough to split and break my back with my flip line, leading me to use something like a blakes, which is what my boss man uses.

If I have a line at the top of a crotch, through a friction saver attached to my butt saddle D rings with a prusik attached to the releaving line allowing me to descend onto lower limbs and remove them with a third hand; is that a closed system? I understand the blakes requires nothing but a single rope.

My boss is kinda old school from what I've learned by reading everyones posts on different forums, he uses one flip line and a life line with a blake's knot from what I can tell it might not be a blakes knot. He even uses plain bowlines to tie his saws and locking eye hooks to his flip line.
 
Agreed, at least run a split tail and a Blake's hitch, it'll make life easier and safer. Nothing wrong with old school, people tend to get hung up on gadgets these days. If you learn to work a tree on a simple system you'll be rocking with some of the newer techniques.
Check out the book Tree Climbers Companion. It's a great read for someone in your shoes
 
Like this (don't need the pulley if you don't want it) . It allows you to pass over limbs or re crotch without constantly having to retie the Blake's. There are better options out there but this is a good start.
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