blaze/bandit

JTree

JTree

Participating member
Location
East Texas
Alright, now that I have reached a proficiency with 16 arbo and hollow braids that I am satisfied with, it's time for me to take another look at splicing some bandit/blaze. I've made a couple of splices work with the measurements from the toss vids, but not many. I know that the final milk/bury is suppose to be difficult, but this is ridiculous. When I say that it's super difficult to get this final milk done, I mean I personally have been able to get it done 1 time out of 10 times I've attempted it. Yes, I'm massaging the rope, yes I've tried taking a hammer to it to get it a little looser....and yes I've given up on a couple and put a come along on it and pulled the bujeezus out of it to get it to bury (and no I wouldn't climb on a splice that I had to load with a come along). To add insult to injury, Knot and Rope Supply's description of the rope states "easy to splice." The measurements I've been using for the tucks are as follows:

10.5" cover (from the end to the beginning of eye)
6 1/8" pure core tuck before any cover is involved

When I look around at the different manufacturer's instructions I've noticed 2 things. 1) I didn't find a splice on the yale site that is labeled for blaze/bandit. 2) the industrial double braid splice yale DID have for similar rope construction required shorter tucks than I have been doing (9.18 cover, 3 core).

Anyone care to share a little enlightenment? I plan on sending in some splices to be broken soon, so if I don't mind trying a couple different ideas. OP 10mm went together like a dream compared to this stuff!
 
Blaze is just a difficult rope to splice. I tried it 3 or 4 times and only was able to finish one ( with youngbuzzers help). I would say that blaze is the toughest double braid to splice. We ended up using a lot of rubber mallet to get it settled. Then I didn't feel right climbing with it so it more like a trophy now.
I believe blue moon has much of the same properties as blaze, that spliced well for me.
P.s. we were using used rope and that probably had a lot to do with our problems. Is yours new?
 
Bran-spankin' new. Just curious....what were the measurements you used. Sampson's class 1 doesn't bury as much I've been trying to either.
 
JTree, do you lubricate the core before the final bury? I use liquid dish soap and really notice the difference. It also helps a lot to anchor the loop to a high point--a rafter or some such--so you can really put some weight into it when you yank on it to bring it home.

But no matter what, it is pretty hard.
 
Make sure your core/cover crossover is as tight as possible, stitch it if you have to. I don't use a mallet anymore but at first it helped, now I just massage it really well when the throat gets tight. I think massaging works better than banging on it. I also try to milk as much of the core as I can towards the bury so I don't have to fight the bunching when the crossover gets there. You'll get it, keep trying. Got any pics?
 
I follow the Samson instructions for Type 1 dbl-braid. So for Blaze one fid is 9 1/2 inches, a short fid is 3 9/16 inches.

And I agree with Banjo that massage works better than a hammer. Just before each attempt to pull more cover slack towards the eye, bend the splice back and forth a bunch of times to loosen everything up. And of course keep a lot of tension on the core as you pull on the cover slack.
 
banjo-wow, I musta just completely missed your post last time I was here. I agree 1000% that banging it with a mallet doesn't do as much as bending the rope back and forth, and, LOL, yeah I learned to keep the core milked down to the throat after about the 3rd time that I got that big nasty plug that is just completely unworkable. Just checkin....are you also using the sampson measurements? I don't have any pics right now, but I will tomorrow and I'll be sure to post 'em. The pics won't be stunningly beautiful as I'm taking them with a phone, but I think I'll be able to get enough detail in 'em to make 'em serviceable.

to both of you-I think I'm just trying to bury too much. A couple of months ago when I decided I'd learn how to splice, I got the Toss video and never bothered to check out other instructions. That video will teach a body a lot, but I've learned that it isn't the end all for every single situation. Alright, enough jiberjabber for the evening. Time to get crackin'. I've got 6 splices to turn out before tomorrow at close of business. Thanks for your time.
 
The only thing that's kept me from going crazy on splicing blaze/bandit is backing out the core before the crossover when it starts to bunch up at all...and then I use a small Samson fid to pry up the cover before burying again. But it's still pretty hard. I'll try the dish soap trick, too.
 
I have found several things that help.

1. Obviously the more compact you keep your core and cover burials the more compact the final product is before you bury.

2. a smooth tapering of the core and cover is a world of difference.

3. even pulling when you first start to bury it. I can muscle the hell out of the rope but I find that when I do this I bunch the core up and it defeats me in the final pulls.

4. I run a look #2 screw drive blade throug hthe eye, to hold and it allows the rope to slide aroudn it.

5. I milk the cover forward wit ha prussik, it also help while holding the cover while i'm tryign to tworkl the cover.

6. like mentioned above twisting the rope side to side and pulling on it to bend it tight will relax the fibers.

It's no easy task, it normally takes me 30 minutes to milk it is i've done everything to an A. Now i've never used a light duty soap as a lube, I can see that working as long as you wash it before using.

Landon
 
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