Best rope bridge

JJM IV · Feb 22, 2023

Shadowscape - How did you set up the Petzl rope grad on bridge? Is it as easy as carabiner to rope grab and paw? Can you send pic?

Shadowscape · Feb 22, 2023

JJM IV said:
Shadowscape - How did you set up the Petzl rope grad on bridge? Is it as easy as carabiner to rope grab and paw? Can you send pic?

I will do better than that.
I will try and explain my set up.

I have a DMM swivel Director on my bridge. This makes for a short connection to a Zigzag for climbing.

I have a Petzl rope grab connected to the right paw with a Petzl openable ring. That makes a short set up for an adjustable bridge. Stopper knot of course, although I have never had an issue where it was needed. Side note: Monkey Beaver has begun selling that set up as an adjustable bridge now.

Rope Grab / Bridge Rope Combo | Monkey Beaver

monkeybeaver.com

I really only use the adjustable bridge to make it easier to get into the harness. Rarely do I use it in the trees.

I run a Petzl Zillion lanyard on the paws as well with a DMM swivel Director carabiner.

Then there is one of the most used items. I have another Petzl Zillion on a 100' piece of Blue Moon that almost always goes up with me (Rope hangs down). It mounts on another DMM Director swivel carabiner on a side D. It has a DMM yoke carabiner on the end. I use it for a second lanyard; move it over to my bridge carabiner for a choke lanyard when I need it; use it as a progressive capture pulley with a Captain hook attached; I can tie a butterfly knot (so as not to contact the zigzag portion when working) and use it for a second bridge; I carry a small lanyard with a large ring (70mm) that the yoke carabiner will go through and a small micro pulley on a prusik on the other end. I wrap that around a stem and run the line through those and clip it on and I have basically a DRT descending device (mini Zigzag) that is removable from the ground.

Check out the link to Monkey Beaver above for a photo. it is exactly what I am using for the adjustable bridge.

Hope I have made my set up understandable enough. If not, let me know I will attempt to make it so.

Unfortunately I can't show you photos of my set up because DMM has most of my harness gear somewhere in Wales at the moment. Grrrrrrrr!

Muggs · Feb 22, 2023

Shadowscape said:
I will do better than that.
I will try and explain my set up.

I have a DMM swivel Director on my bridge. This makes for a short connection to a Zigzag for climbing.

I have a Petzl rope grab connected to the right paw with a Petzl openable ring. That makes a short set up for an adjustable bridge. Stopper knot of course, although I have never had an issue where it was needed. Side note: Monkey Beaver has begun selling that set up as an adjustable bridge now.

Rope Grab / Bridge Rope Combo | Monkey Beaver

monkeybeaver.com

I really only use the adjustable bridge to make it easier to get into the harness. Rarely do I use it in the trees.

I run a Petzl Zillion lanyard on the paws as well with a DMM swivel Director carabiner.

Then there is one of the most used items. I have another Petzl Zillion on a 100' piece of Blue Moon that almost always goes up with me (Rope hangs down). It mounts on another DMM Director swivel carabiner on a side D. It has a DMM yoke carabiner on the end. I use it for a second lanyard; move it over to my bridge carabiner for a choke lanyard when I need it; use it as a progressive capture pulley with a Captain hook attached; I can tie a butterfly knot (so as not to contact the zigzag portion when working) and use it for a second bridge; I carry a small lanyard with a large ring (70mm) that the yoke carabiner will go through and a small micro pulley on a prusik on the other end. I wrap that around a stem and run the line through those and clip it on and I have basically a DRT descending device (mini Zigzag) that is removable from the ground.

Check out the link to Monkey Beaver above for a photo. it is exactly what I am using for the adjustable bridge.

Hope I have made my set up understandable enough. If not, let me know I will attempt to make it so.

Unfortunately I can't show you photos of my set up because DMM has most of my harness gear somewhere in Wales at the moment. Grrrrrrrr!

How does the Petzl rope grab compare to the Roll N Lock on the MB? I just threw a roll n lock on my Monkey Beaver 1.0 and I like it a lot....

Shadowscape · Feb 22, 2023

Muggs said:
How does the Petzl rope grab compare to the Roll N Lock on the MB? I just threw a roll n lock on my Monkey Beaver 1.0 and I like it a lot....

I had a Roll N Lock on there before I went to the Petzl. It worked fine, I just never felt comfortable with that set up. Not because I was worried about it, but because I always felt there was a better solution. The Petzl is so easy to release, where the Roll N Lock took me two hands. I like simplicity. Had the Roll N Lock zipped tied down to keep it in place and felt like it was an unwanted lump there. But for what I did with it, it worked okay. If I was one to make bridge adjustments while in the tree working I would not go with the Roll N Lock. The Petzl is an easy one hand without having to look adjuster.

Shadowscape · Feb 22, 2023

Muggs said:
How does the Petzl rope grab compare to the Roll N Lock on the MB? I just threw a roll n lock on my Monkey Beaver 1.0 and I like it a lot....

On a side note: August connects his Petzl ring to the strap just off the paw, whereas I run the ring through the paw. I don't know why he does it that way, other than maybe he figures that the two aluminum pieces will wear too fast if hooked together. I've had mine hooked together for about two, maybe three years now, and although there is some wear it is not excessive by any means.
I'll have to ask him about that, if I remember.

MikePowers321 · Feb 22, 2023

Shadowscape said:
On a side note: August connects his Petzl ring to the strap just off the paw, whereas I run the ring through the paw. I don't know why he does it that way, other than maybe he figures that the two aluminum pieces will wear too fast if hooked together. I've had mine hooked together for about two, maybe three years now, and although there is some wear it is not excessive by any means.
I'll have to ask him about that, if I remember.

Do you mean that he is replacing the paw completely with the open ring, and attaching rope grab directly to ring along with leg and hip-d webbing?

Have a pic of this set up?

Curious

Shadowscape · Feb 22, 2023

MikePowers321 said:
Do you mean that he is replacing the paw completely with the open ring, and attaching rope grab directly to ring along with leg and hip-d webbing?

Have a pic of this set up?

Curious

Hey Mike,
No. He still has the Rock Exotica Tri-rigging plate there, but instead of running the ring through a hole in it, he loops the ring around the webbing straps that connect to it from the main belt. Got to be that he doesn't like the metal on metal.

Muggs · Feb 22, 2023

Shadowscape said:
Hey Mike,
No. He still has the Rock Exotica Tri-rigging plate there, but instead of running the ring through a hole in it, he loops the ring around the webbing straps that connect to it from the main belt. Got to be that he doesn't like the metal on metal.

This is how I have my 2 bridges set up, before adding the roll n lock with zip ties. Do you have a picture of how yours is set up?

Shadowscape · Feb 22, 2023

Muggs said:
This is how I have my 2 bridges set up, before adding the roll n lock with zip ties. Do you have a picture of how yours is set up?
View attachment 86614

I will break out my 8,000 dollar camera tonight and get a shot for you. Unlike the rest of the world, I still do not own a cell phone, with or without a camera built in. My only phone is connected to the wall with a cord. Got to love those Princess Phones, they keep on going, and going, and going. A good 50 some years old now. I hear there is another person some place in Nepal that doesn't own a cell phone too, but he may have gotten one by now. Information from there is kind of sketchy.

MikePowers321 · Feb 22, 2023

Shadowscape · Feb 22, 2023

Muggs said:
This is how I have my 2 bridges set up, before adding the roll n lock with zip ties. Do you have a picture of how yours is set up?
View attachment 86614

You are / I am in luck! I didn't have to go through all that. I found a shot on my computer I had taken when I set it up originally. Just had to do a little cropping of the file. Looks better than it does now anyway. Plus it is out in my truck, which is 15 below zero at the moment.
That had to be about the second or third day of climbing with this harness and set up because I see I had a hank of Double Esterlon for a bridge. Nicked the orig with the saw a couple of days after I got the saddle and made a makeshift one with some unused rigging rope.
Is that the Weaver suspenders you have on yours? That is what I am using. They work fine.

Shadowscape · Feb 22, 2023

MikePowers321 said:

I see in that video he has the ring on the webbing as well.

Muggs · Feb 22, 2023

Shadowscape said:
You are / I am in luck! I didn't have to go through all that. I found a shot on my computer I had taken when I set it up originally. Just had to do a little cropping of the file. Looks better than it does now anyway. Plus it is out in my truck, which is 15 below zero at the moment.
That had to be about the second or third day of climbing with this harness and set up because I see I had a hank of Double Esterlon for a bridge. Nicked the orig with the saw a couple of days after I got the saddle and made a makeshift one with some unused rigging rope.
Is that the Weaver suspenders you have on yours? That is what I am using. They work fine.

oh perfect, thanks. Does it have any orientation issues in that setup? Seems to me like it should be turned 90 degrees. I definitely like the look of that more than with the roll n lock...
Yes I just have the cheap weaver suspenders since 2018, I like them.

Shadowscape · Feb 23, 2023

Muggs said:
oh perfect, thanks. Does it have any orientation issues in that setup? Seems to me like it should be turned 90 degrees. I definitely like the look of that more than with the roll n lock...
Yes I just have the cheap weaver suspenders since 2018, I like them.

You have to remember looking at that photo of mine, the adjuster is going to rotate 180 degrees on that ring and be pointing upward, not down as it is in the photo, and it can slide to the side on the ring and point just about anywhere the bridge is being hung from.

Z'sTrees · Feb 23, 2023

I use the ropeman on mine. Those petzl grabs are really great but I like having the paw every once in a while.

Shadowscape · Feb 23, 2023

Am I the only one who has a hot pink Protos helmet?

Froggybear · Feb 23, 2023

Anything wrong with Sterling TriTech for bridge? Seems like it'd be perfect.

Edit: found my answer - it appears Tritech is what the bucking ergo pro saddle uses from the factory

Shadowscape · Feb 23, 2023

Froggybear said:
Anything wrong with Sterling TriTech for bridge? Seems like it'd be perfect.

Edit: found my answer - it appears Tritech is what the bucking ergo pro saddle uses from the factory

The only thing I would be concerned with would be your stopper knot. The TriTech does not take a knot well. Very difficult to tighten them up. Rope is extremely stiff. Makes a great flip line though. If you can make your bridge work with a sewn eye, then it probably would be very good.