Backing Up The Rope Wrench

chris_girard

chris_girard

Branched out member
Location
Gilmanton, N.H.
OK, so like I said in one of my other posts, I'm thinking about getting the Wrench, but was wondering if there was a way to back it up?

If for some reason you are doing a long ascent and you don't tie your hitch tight enough, you could slip. I'm not crazy about using my lanyard over my shoulder to advance my hitch and pulley, though I'm sure that this works.

I climb wearing a TreeFlex and have a nice seperate attachment point built into the saddle, where I can wear a set of Petzl Secur suspenders and a Croll.

The Croll would act as a backup, as well as a fairlead to advance my hitch.

Anybody use the Croll and Wrench together?
 
You could do something like a fooltlock prussic above the RW and attached to your saddle. There would be more resistance advancing it but it would be outside the working parts of the RW system if you had to ditch it and move quick.
 
[ QUOTE ]
You can tie into your upper ascenders if you are ascending in a frog style ascent

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the info Kevin. That's the way that I ascend SRT.
 
I wear suspenders as well. I have a micro biner attached to them that I quickly clip on and off to fairlead my hitchclimber pulley. Works even better than the lanyard in my opinion.

To answer your other question I think that you should tie your knot so as it grabs on a single line regardless of the rope wrench. I have switched cords and knots just because it doesn't always grab.
 
Chris, like Derrick says, You need a hitch that will grab right away, and I think the croll idea would work, but I'm too fast man, I'm 70 feet is a little bit :)
 
I used my RW for the very first time today. It was for a spikeless removal of a three stemmed cherry with numerous crotches to climb around on and stand in to make felling cuts or blocking out shorter pieces.
I remember a post from a guy that fell a bit due to the method of advancing the wrench. It seems important to me to tether to the hitch pulley when advancing, and also having a hitch that will grab easily. I just wonder about backing up to a toothed cam after reading the article in TCI magazine about the incompatibility of them with most arborist climbing lines. A cam compatible static line should be used in that case, but perhaps some hitch cord in a 4:1 distel would do well with a carabiner and pulley.
I tied my FLY into a taller, adjacent Ash tree with an Alpine Butterfly, leaving a long enough tail to grab from the ground to retrieve. I like the idea of being able to "tune" the amount of line on the climbing side of that type of set-up, and being able to ascend SRT without toothed cams. If you need to go down quickly, you can.
It was great to set the climb line into different crotches as I moved around without setting redirects needed for DRT. You can even retrieve the line out of a crotch above you by planning ahead and clipping the tail of the line to the leg between the TIP and the crotch. Simply lanyard to the stem and pull the tail towards you...once it's there, disconnect it and pull the line back over the crotch. That was a real time saver.
The hitch was 30" Ice Tail tied as an XT. I found that the hitch would hold me in position without ever becoming difficult to release. The Ice seems rather supple enough to grab readily.
I was footlocking with the lanyard over my shoulder to advance the hitch. I can see how suspenders could help make that a bit more efficient. I could also shorten my bridge a bit, lowering the RW and hitch a bit.
I'm sure I'll spend a great deal more time in SRT, yet I still see the merits of DRT in some instances. It's nice to have a variety of systems to utilize...every tree is different.
Also thought I'd mention to get the QR pin right away. It's worth every penny!
 
Just get it. Even if you use it for SRT access to set up DRT, it gives you that option for quick exit. I'm sure you've read all 16 or so pages of the 'rope wrench feedback' thread, but you could get in on the discussion of retrievable TIP methods that don't leave your line exposed like base tying can.
To stay on the topic of this thread, I'll just say that ANY system requires proper understanding and use. I can't think of a convenient way to back up a wrench, but that may be because, after using it, I cant see why it would be necessary. You just have to monitor that the RW isn't holding the hitch down when the wrench is disengaged.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Just get it. Even if you use it for SRT access to set up DRT, it gives you that option for quick exit.

[/ QUOTE ]

etree, this is what sold me on the Wrench to begin with, but obviously there's so much more to it.

I'm ordering it today.
 
The RW changed the game for the everyday climber. So much easier to set a single line and use a panton. I still want a left hand ascender
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom