Born again climber intro

samsquatch

samsquatch

Participating member
Location
SE MN
Hi gang. I'm new here and pretty new to the tree biz. I'm capitalizing on an opportunity to use my free time to help others with their trees, trimming & maybe removals eventually, with the intention of learning and then joining my jurisdiction's volunteer FD as a rope rescue chap. Never been afraid of heights, so I figured why not learn the trade & help out.

I came across some second-hand gear and after realizing that I couldn't really trust all of it, made a large purchase of new gear with Gap Power in PA (thanks Ray!). I'm all setup now for ddrt on the Unicender (ref. Tom Hoffmann youtube, thanks Tom, your channel has been a great help!) and have only just begun learning the rope's behavior & friction on a TIP in my garage.

Quick first question I have:
What are you guys' experience with Teufelberger Tachyon & the uni? I was having some issues decending at all in control mode (expert mode was...fun :sorprendido3:), until I retied my buntline hitch to bring the L bracket of the uni more down instead of up. Then the control mode was more reliable. Is this because the Uni is still brand-spanking new and will break in? Or should I start looking at a Sterling Tendril replacement?
Also, just climbing in my garage on ddrt a couple dozen times, my hands are getting ripped. Anybody have ddrt ascender advice that works with the Uni in the "Tom Hoffmann loop"?

Anyway, just wanted to say hello! I noticed this is a busy tree climber's forum, and I'd like to stay in touch. Are there any other popular forums that you guys also follow for arborist, tree removal, or rope rescue work?

Cheers!
SAM
 
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Until your hands get caloused you will be in bladder pain...it takes years of climbing gloveless....use some atlas gloves till you get comfy climbing then ditch them.....tachyon is hard rope to hold barehanded...
 
Oh...welcome to Treebuzz.

How much snow have you gotten? I blew out 13" thsinmorning and more to come

When you come up to The Cities let me know, we can plan a climb or at least a get together
 
Hi Tom, nice to see a fellow Minnesotan. We got ice down here - 1.5" on my truck today, lots of scraping. And now today 3-6 inches of snow and it's blowing everywhere.

About your SRT, am I right in thinking that you get better descending performance with the Uni because you have full rope tension at the Uni? Going ddrt seems to make the Uni harder to descend, what with the mech hitch only seeing 1/2 the kN load. Or am I way off base?

I really don't want to shell out for Sterling Tendril after I just acquired the Tachyon, and so I have been looking at Rich M's drum and really want to try it out.. but also cringe at tearing into a brand new Uni.

Cheers
 
13" this morning when I blew snow and it's still
Snowing! 60* next weekend

There is a Doubling and Halfing that is part of SRT.

Some things are twice as good
Others only half

Anyway...I found that using the Uni on DdRT very sluggish. Either up or down. Besides, for a lot less money there are great DdRT hitch systems.

Halving more load on the rope tightens it and smooths out the bumps and texture

A little trick I learned to smooth out the descent is to let the rope tail down between your legs. Have it do a long spiral wrap by your knee and ankle. This adds just a little friction taking part of your load off the Uni. Kind of like a hot seat rappel. After awhile you'll do the wrap naturally without any setup

You can also do a more traditional body brake by grabbing the rope and wrapping it around your side. It's hard to do because of saws, lanyards and other gear on our harnesses

Actually it doesn't take much friction to smooth out the jittery descent
 
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