Blake's Hitch slipping

[evo]

Thanks again everyone for all your suggestions. I'm on a bit of a budget but seeing Stumpsprouts' suggestion for the split tail rope makes me feel a bit better that I won't have to go out and put another few hundred on an entirely new system I would like to pick up the Yale rope evo suggested as well, but it may not be in the budget this month.

I definitely want to go low and slow which is why I'm doing so much by myself...my limited experiences with other climbers have had them belaying me into places I didn't feel ready to go in with too much gear that I didn't understand. Being in a tree was fun but I was also terrified the entire time because I didn't even really know what was holding me up or how anything worked.

If I'm understanding correctly, the reason I don't want to use friction hitches with a static rope is because they aren't pliable enough for a friction hitch to grab?

one thing I did, and still do from time to time is I buy a short chunk of rope.. Wesspur sells "scraps" for cheap, anything greater than 10', even 30' is cheap. Works great to get a feel for the line, and you can use it as a positioning lanyard, tie down rope, or many uses.. It will give you a tangible feel for the line, but the only down side is you cant feel the stretch of the line much.
There is always a 100 and 1 uses for short lines and many if not all of us will save that 150' line we nicked in the middle and have a 75' line and a bunch of other line for fliplines or short rigging lines etc..

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

i think if work ropes enough can even feel a rope saying it doesn't lend to seating around host that well for this once familiar with requirements. Kinda have to listen with fingers.

And then also kernmantles not flattening enough to give good area of contact. As another factor, generally less resolvable by smaller diameter.
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Favor dual leg pull Friction Hitch to be about 75% host diameter and denser packed, but can vary to tune. Mostly to model half force per leg in duals grabbing full force , so if same rope type hitch less rigid than host trying to impose on and control. Blake's and Tautline single leg full load leg to full load host, so can use same diameter to control host more confidently I think.
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Found 3/8 Tenex flattening out as dual pull Friction Hitch surprisingly favorable aspect. That doesn't stand tall away from host as much as cord, so not leveraging against it self very hard on the tight arc around host. But then Tenex became round at some points that seemed favorable; like in Scaffold as then flattens around it's own round self as Standing Part to leave the shrinking eye.

 

[Mintopop]

Thanks again everyone for all the explanations. I tried out one of my 8mm eye-to-eyes and it did seem to grab a bit better but was still slipping a bit. Might have to experiment a bit with the style of hitch or amount of wraps, or else just give up and get one of the many many ropes you have all recommended. Fortunately I'm not in a rush to get off the ground anytime soon

 

[Vicente]

Thanks again everyone for all the explanations. I tried out one of my 8mm eye-to-eyes and it did seem to grab a bit better but was still slipping a bit. Might have to experiment a bit with the style of hitch or amount of wraps, or else just give up and get one of the many many ropes you have all recommended. Fortunately I'm not in a rush to get off the ground anytime soon

Try putting a twist in your hitch cord, we had to do it to get the hitch to grap on the rope one of the guys who works with me used.

 

[islandarb]

I got you @Mintopop. I will make a short vid. You need a 28" hitchcord. 8mm to 10mm. And a micropulley to tend. I have some KM3 max special edition. Great rope but really for experienced climbers. Not nice for moving rope at all. Great for a wrench. Fast rope. I will set it up for you using a michoacan. Best knot in my opinion for reliablity on this rope.

 

[Jehinten]

Thanks again everyone for all your suggestions. I'm on a bit of a budget but seeing Stumpsprouts' suggestion for the split tail rope makes me feel a bit better that I won't have to go out and put another few hundred on an entirely new system I would like to pick up the Yale rope evo suggested as well, but it may not be in the budget this month.

I definitely want to go low and slow which is why I'm doing so much by myself...my limited experiences with other climbers have had them belaying me into places I didn't feel ready to go in with too much gear that I didn't understand. Being in a tree was fun but I was also terrified the entire time because I didn't even really know what was holding me up or how anything worked.

If I'm understanding correctly, the reason I don't want to use friction hitches with a static rope is because they aren't pliable enough for a friction hitch to grab?

For being on a budget, you might try a setup like this. Bulk hitch cord is cheap, any spliced hitch cord that you already own will work too. The carabiner is not only your connection point but it tends the hitch as well. The captive bar is not necessary, but does keep everything tidy which leads to easier tending.

The setup pictured was actually a lanyard but the same system can be used as a doubled rope climbing system. It won't self tend like a hitch climber pulley or a zigzag, but it will tend much easier than a Blake's hitch.

It's probably been mentioned, but if you stick with that rope for a doubled rope system, be sure to use a friction saver. The cover of that rope isn't designed for rubbing over the tree branch.

 

[evo]

@Mintopop just to put this out there, I can buy you a hank of Yale 11.7 and you can ship me your km111

 

[knudeNoggin]

>>> just the wrong rope for your hitch : not really pliable enough to grip well

Here's a good case of seeing that "knot characteristics" is often a too limiting view, as Material Matters (much)!
As for the OP's problem with the ProhGrip (er, my name for what Heinz Prohaska presented way back in 1982?, and again I think in NSS's Nylon Highway; and then also Jason Blake ..., the common namesake for the knot),
. . .
Heinz advised "If the knot should slip because the rope is too slippery, add turns (coils) to the away end; if it slips because the rope is too stiff --the OP's case--, add turns at the front/near side of the knot.
Essentially, with the latter, for-stiff-rope version, one is giving more of the wraps a 2nd diameter to bend around, accommodating to the rope's bending resistance.
Now, that said, YMMV per rope & loading, and the above suggestions of others come to the rescue.

(I've --in just manual rope-play, not real use such as climbing-- seen instances where the knot didn't hold if the tucking of the tail too much pulled the near/initial wraps snug; but then did if I pulled out a bit of tail so to spread the initial wraps a little.)

*kN*

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Rope Seating to host, rules controls of frictions, nips and grips, especially in the most powerful user of these in arcs and apexes. Kinda try to listen to rope with fingers as grooming into place purposefully, it is a machine are making.