Belay devices: Are they well suited for Tree Climbers?

I just like gadgets. I got a Shunt, a Smart 1.0, a 1st gen GriGri, probably some other stuff. Can still tie a rope to saddle and taught line hitch one handed. No other hardware. It’s old but I think it’s worth knowing. The day might come that I find myself in a bad spot up there and don’t have the use of both hands. Unlikely but possible.
 
We've had some freezing nights, so I was unloading the gear in my tree work trailer and moving it all to the basement for the winter... while sorting stuff out and organizing it, I started doing various maintenance stuff and got some weird ideas for a Trango Cinch.

I want to make a tether and try two things, just to see how well it works. First, put it above a hitch on an SRT line to see if it works for an emergency descender, with nothing but the Cinch, a hitch cord and a 'biner. I use them on lanyards, so I've always got one with me when I climb, always have a 'biner, and would only need to carry an E2E cord. The idea is in the event my primary multicender had an issue, I could take the Cinch off the lanyard and descend with this simple setup. Of course, multicender failures aren't exactly common, but I have on two occasions been caught in the rain and had to do some annoying things to get back down when the multicender didn't want to grab the wet rope.

The other thing I'd like to try, is to put it above a ZigZag on a MRT setup and see if it would add the necessary added friction for a rescue pick off.

Of course, in both scenarios you would need both hands to operate the setup, but it is something I've always got with me that might do the job.

I need to cut down on the caffeine intake.
 
JeffGu said:
We've had some freezing nights, so I was unloading the gear in my tree work trailer and moving it all to the basement for the winter... while sorting stuff out and organizing it, I started doing various maintenance stuff and got some weird ideas for a Trango Cinch.

I want to make a tether and try two things, just to see how well it works. First, put it above a hitch on an SRT line to see if it works for an emergency descender, with nothing but the Cinch, a hitch cord and a 'biner. I use them on lanyards, so I've always got one with me when I climb, always have a 'biner, and would only need to carry an E2E cord. The idea is in the event my primary multicender had an issue, I could take the Cinch off the lanyard and descend with this simple setup. Of course, multicender failures aren't exactly common, but I have on two occasions been caught in the rain and had to do some annoying things to get back down when the multicender didn't want to grab the wet rope.

The other thing I'd like to try, is to put it above a ZigZag on a MRT setup and see if it would add the necessary added friction for a rescue pick off.

Of course, in both scenarios you would need both hands to operate the setup, but it is something I've always got with me that might do the job.

I need to cut down on the caffeine intake.
Click to expand...
What do you need the hitch for when coming down on the cinch? It's an autolocking device.
 
I don't think it would be a very smooth descent, but I'll try it with a couple of different ropes. The last time I tried it, it was horribly jerky. I'm not convinced it's a viable idea, anyway... with both devices being adjustable, I couldn't find a balance between the two that was predictable.

As I mentioned, I don't think being buzzed up on caffeine for two days without sleep is a good time to consider such things.
 
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Now, if you'll excuse me... I've got to get back to these plans for making a nuclear reactor out of a Mr. Coffee machine, a smoke detector, and the wife's pressure cooker.
 
Yeah... maybe even play with a hitch with only a couple of wraps that gives a fixed amount of friction without having to release it, even.... might be hard to do that with any repeatability on different ropes, though. Maybe a mini-RW that fits in your pocket without making you look like you have a stiffy.... er... stiff tether.
 
JeffGu said:
Yeah... maybe even play with a hitch with only a couple of wraps that gives a fixed amount of friction without having to release it, even.... might be hard to do that with any repeatability on different ropes, though. Maybe a mini-RW that fits in your pocket without making you look like you have a stiffy.... er... stiff tether.
Click to expand...
Mini rope wrench:. Cmi glide pulley with the sheave moved plus the RW slick pin, fits in ur pocket, the Becket and biner holes give many options for tether connections.
 
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