I have the new adjustable arm for the bone and so far the results are very interesting and I am a fan. I haven't worked it too hard yet, but I have been goofing with the adjustments a bit. Currently I have the bone set to always touch the rope even when fully collapsed. At first I thought this would be bad as it would drag on ascent. I put a digital fish scale on it though, and the drag is only a half a pound more which is no big deal to me. (1# 8 oz goes to about 2# 4 oz. on cougar).
What I have found the most interesting is two things: 1.) The bone seems to lock differently. Not lock up or bind, but the arms seem to set themselves into new ways that seem stronger. They release a little different too yet they remain very smooth on release and descent. I know it sounds odd but still wanted to share. This is not a function of the new arms BTW, this is the result of the "always engaged" setting.
2.) The second thing this config does is it always provides a degree of friction which the bone uses to set itself, thus IMO it cannot theoretically not engage on free-fall (branch broke under you without having the bone fully engaged or some such scenario). There was chatter (on another tread) that without a spring to always set the upper arm (ala the RR, Unicender, or Akimbo) the bone was potentially less safe. I don't think most bone users had concern about that, but the theory and conversation was worth having. Well I would offer that, setting the upper arm to always contact the rope while collapsed, takes the lack-of-the-spring conversation off the table.
Sorry for being long...wanted to share my observations and thoughts since I have learned so much from you all.
What I have found the most interesting is two things: 1.) The bone seems to lock differently. Not lock up or bind, but the arms seem to set themselves into new ways that seem stronger. They release a little different too yet they remain very smooth on release and descent. I know it sounds odd but still wanted to share. This is not a function of the new arms BTW, this is the result of the "always engaged" setting.
2.) The second thing this config does is it always provides a degree of friction which the bone uses to set itself, thus IMO it cannot theoretically not engage on free-fall (branch broke under you without having the bone fully engaged or some such scenario). There was chatter (on another tread) that without a spring to always set the upper arm (ala the RR, Unicender, or Akimbo) the bone was potentially less safe. I don't think most bone users had concern about that, but the theory and conversation was worth having. Well I would offer that, setting the upper arm to always contact the rope while collapsed, takes the lack-of-the-spring conversation off the table.
Sorry for being long...wanted to share my observations and thoughts since I have learned so much from you all.
)
