Chain friction hitch

boreality

boreality

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boreal forest
After seeing the unicender I've been meaning to test a short length of chain's performance as a friction hitch. Tied in a VT probably as a partial friction assist ala F8/Revolver, above a rope hitch. Material, link size and shape would be factors. I'd bet you'd want aluminum chain for weight and added friction.

Anyone ever play with this?

I'd suspect the hitch could deform and tangle or not grab at all. One of these evenings I'll try it. Then I may wish I never posted this.
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Or a series of screw links with the rope inside might work best.
 
i have used chain formed into a four wrap prussic to pull 400' to 500' lengths of 1" steel cable off a drum many times. 3/4" grade 8 chain works great for that.
 
Chain and rope kind of go together. It must of been a tried and rejected idea. I tried it a bit after posting and got huge friction running the rope through two links but it looked like it would result in twisting. I had too small of links as well. Tried a girth and it seemed to grab and lock. It will require tweaking. I'll have to go to the big city and pick up some different sizes of chain and other hardwear, maybe a double ended shackel.

Just trying to save a buck on equipment. Thanks to the rope wrench I realized it wasn't a life support rated item so the door was open to try different stuff.
 
You can make a friction device with 4 oval carbiners that mimics a chain. Check out a mountaineering book like "Freedom of the Hills" for pics and more info.

Personally I would'nt bother just buy a F8 or a belay device like the Black Diamond ATC or a Kong Robot.
 
I have that book. I'll take a look.

I just like common hardwear store fixes that work. Short daylight (9-4) makes a guy creative or crazy. I should just go wack some trees and get busy probably. Playing with this could result in something useful though.
 
The biner brake has fallen out of favor over the years. Loading biners like that isn't what they were engineered to do. Better to use a proper descender or Munter.
 
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The biner brake has fallen out of favor over the years. Loading biners like that isn't what they were engineered to do. Better to use a proper descender or Munter.

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I think it's fallen out of fauvour mostly because it is a hassle to set up, and not because of the loading.(http://www.spadout.com/wiki/index.php/Carabiner_Brake this is what we're talking about, right) Under a rappell, the bieners hardly get any load compared what they're made for.

Whith the development of the 8 and later the ATC things were just so much easier.

On a side note, with all the naturalist treeclimbers claiming that they want to keep things as simple as possible, and use as little gear as possible (the reason FL is still in use), strange they don't use the dulfersitz when rapelling :D
 
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On a side note, with all the naturalist treeclimbers claiming that they want to keep things as simple as possible, and use as little gear as possible (the reason FL is still in use), strange they don't use the dulfersitz when rapelling :D

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It's not an issue of maximum simplification, it's one of balance. A figure eight is small, efficient and stays out of the way so it's worth carrying. A dulfersitz HURTS, that's why nobody uses it.

Some guys love to jinglejangle when they have a harness on. I don't even want to notice mine except for the bridge. It doesn't have to be either/or. Have you ever seen two climbers rig their harnesses the same?
 
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