Figured I'd share my thoughts on the CBDB (elongated bollard) after a few hours of use rec climbing.
Pros-
First off, Gordon's customer service is top notch, much appreciated. Build quality is excellent, it's a solid and beautiful piece of engineering and the tolerances are dialed in. It has excellent modulation on decent with my blue moon rope, almost on par with hitch systems. Definitely less jerky and more comfy than akimbo, maybe about the same as rope runner but more comfortable than bird (to me). I never had any issues or concerns with it collapsing or not engaging properly. Appears to flatten the rope less than akimbo. Ease of installing on rope midline, not quiiiite as easy as akimbo (to me) but def better than rope runner.
Cons- Tending had notably more friction than other mechanicals I've tried. Extra friction also didn't lend itself as well to MRS or mechanical advantage systems like SCAM redirect. It wasn't a deal breaker though, i think if i ran a thinner rope like 11-11.5 it would excel in these areas as well. Last one is lack of certifications, I definitely trust my life to it but good luck convincing some employers..
Aside from typical MRS hitch systems I've used rope wrench, rope runner, hhfx, akimbo, and a bit of ZZ. Everything has it's pros and cons but as of today, this is overall my favorite system. Hopefully it wears in a bit and tending gets better, but if not I wouldn't hesitate to invest in a narrower rope to use it. Well done Gordon!
