CRITIQUE MY CLIMB! ...rope walking on 9mm HTP

[TREEfool]

PM me your address and I will send you one. Screw gates freak me the eff out.

You guys are so damn generous! I actually already have two auto lockers from when I attended a tree climbing seminar and a gentlemen felt the same way about my screwgates so he lent me two of his and left without letting me give them back! So I do have two!

About the Rope Wrench,

gmcttr sent me his rope wrench to use for a month or two (since he is now rocking a bulldogbone I believe) and I have played with it a few times but there are a few problems:

1. I really worry about the idea of trusting my life to a hitch. Maybe this is due to my lack of knowledge about hitches (and I admit that yoyoman's video detailing hitches helped me greatly) but a lot of times the hitch doesn't bite. I have tried many different cords and did eventually find one that locked onto my 11mm rope every time but it requires a lot more diligence relative to my GriGri which locks EVERY single time on EVERY single rope I have tried.

2. When the lower pully moves the cord up there is a long drop before the hitch bites. This wouldn't matter as much on a rope walker but when using it with my ascender yoyo-style it is extremely annoying and inefficient.

3. I am using a 9mm line which means I would probably have to use a 7mm hitch. That means my life would be hanging on a cord rated for only 10kn.

4. It is very slow to attach and remove from the rope. In the video that I posted you can see that I switch from head to tail a lot and it is very easy to do with my grigri. There are a lot of pieces to drop if I was doing that with a rope wrench.

Don't get me wrong. I love the idea of not needing my grigri but I can't use my hand ascender for face climbing or limb walking because it only goes in one direction. That means I will be stuck carrying my GriGri unless I attain a Bulldogbone or Uni. But with all the recommendations for the Rope Wrench I will definitely keep playing with it for the next month and see if my opinion changes.

 

[TREEfool]

Fluffy, absolutely love your vids man. Hilarious. My wife says you're goofy, but that's a compliment, cause she won't even watch any of the other videos.

Buddy, come down south where it's warm and visit and try out some gear with me. Your system is working but we can make it so much simpler and easier to stow. I got plenty of family in town with rooms available if needed, but you're welcome to sleep in one of the trees too.

That is a compliment for sure! My wife and I go on two big adventures every year so we are always looking for a new destination. I wonder if the beaches are swim worthy all year round? (That shows how naive I am to the southern climates!)

 

[oldoakman]

malt

DANG IT!! I changed that and it flipped back AGAIN. Stupid autocorrect trying to think for me.

 

[Crazy_Jimmy]

That ascender will shred your rope probably before the hitch would even slip. I would get a larger rope if possible and also try to go rec climbing with some more experience guys .
Dont use it yo yo style, just use it with the haas, foot ascender and something to pull the wrench up, you could possibly use 8 mm for the climbing hitch .
Also The gri gri 2 is a belay device and not recommended for climbing.
I just leave it on the rope so I dont have to take it on and off all the time.

 

[TREEfool]

Crazy Jimmy, I think I have some extra 7mm and 8mm cord laying around so I will play with it tomorrow and see how well the hitch bites.

 

[Crazy_Jimmy]

Slow and low, do you still have the wrench , you'll need it as well ? Be careful bro, what city are you in ?

 

[gmcttr]

Don't forget that with the hitch, the weight is shared by two legs. FWIW, the eye-to-eyes I sent are all high strength tech cords with heat resistant covers and are all rated over 22kN. Of course that doesn't mean they will work with your rope. It definitely can take some experimentation to find the hitch cord/rope/hitch combo that works.

I've forgotten which e-to-e's I sent. If you post up a photo, I might be able to find some other type cords to send.

I would avoid using regular rock climbing accessory cords without a heat resistant cover.

 

[TreeLogic]

My wife and I go on two big adventures every year so we are always looking for a new destination. I wonder if the beaches are swim worthy all year round? (That shows how naive I am to the southern climates!)

For the locals, no. But from what I just saw in your video you should be quite comfy in the winter waters here

 

[Adkpk]

For the locals, no. But from what I just saw in your video you should be quite comfy in the winter waters here

Ya right, that is what I was going to say. As long as it's not frozen, why not, for fish.

 

[TreeLogic]

Count me in on that too. Top off the day with a nice single mart.

Now that would be cool. C'mon!

 

[TREEfool]

As long as it's not frozen...

I laughed out loud haha.

Crazy Jimmy I still have the wrench and live in Chaska on the west side of the cities.

Reed, I tried all your eye to eyes on the 9mm but they just dont bite. I tested an old 7mm rock climbing cord which bit hard but doesnt release without a lot of muscle. I wonder if maybe the RW doesnt like 9mm lines or if I just need a thicker hitch.

 

[Adkpk]

I wonder if maybe the RW doesnt like 9mm lines or if I just need a thicker hitch.

Climb with what your most comfortable with first of all. But what you need is a thicker climbing line. I wouldn't think the wrench would be of much use on a 9mm line, I could be wrong about that. But I agree with the others on the hitch opposed to the devise in tree climbing. First you should climb with hitch then graduate to a devise when your ready for that theater. But a hitch is much more dependable imo.

Btw that is some tree your in there. What was the temp?

 

[TreeLogic]

Fluffy, what hitch configs did you try? VT? Distel? Michoacan? Many times (and you may already know this...apologies if redundant) your favorite hitch won't work with certain combinations of climb line and cord unless you add or reduce wraps/twists or change the hitch style altogether.

 

[gmcttr]

I think at least two of the e-to-e's were 30", so they may be too long for use with a 9mm climbing line.

 

[TREEfool]

Why are hitches much more "dependable" when I have never had the grigri fail?

I am not trying to be difficult, I ask because I am trying to educate myself. Maybe I am doing something wrong but here are a few scenerios where a hitch has failed me but grigri worked flawlessly: yoyo on an 8.4mm rope, frozen rope while iceclimbing, and ropewrench usage. I know these arent tree climbing scenerios but why do ALL treeclimbers think hitches are so safe when I have personally had so many failures (and never had a failure with grigri)

Again, I do not mean any disrespect, I am just trying to understand.

 

[TREEfool]

...and I cant use the grigri in a ropewalker system so it is by no means perfect

 

[islandarb]

Rope on rope is the safest set up possible....but so many variables, you have to learn what rope and cordage work...also what knot works for you....

 

[TREEfool]

Aha! So what you are saying is that I should NOT clump all cords and eye2eyes in the same category. That would be like trying to use a grigri made for 11mm rope on a 5mm rope. A cord made to work on an 11mm line wont work on a 9mm line.

 

[macswan]

Exactly. Try using a supple 8 mil cordage on your eleven mil rope and you might have better results. Even the thought of climbing on 9 mil scares the daylights out of me. But you come from rocks, I am just a fat sassy tree climber

 

[monkeylove]

It's not the Gri Gri really in question Fluffy, it's the toothed chest ascender I believe. If I am correct the fear is that if you fall and the ascender grabs to hard it might shred the rope above the Gri Gri. By putting the friction cord above the ascender there is a chance it will grab what it left of your rope as save you and the Gri Gri from just dropping to the ground.