gettin up a tree

cashmoneytreeboy

cashmoneytreeboy

Location
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kong makes a double handed/ double cam type asscender. some have glow in the dark hand grips , nice effect, i have been using it for maybe 2 years now, the anser i want is probably not the one i ll get, is that asscender on its own atached to a saddle safe at any working height . i guess , what i am asking ;does ansi have a problem wit it on its own or is there a back up i should be using? what was kong thinking? i just attach to my bridge and foot lock it seems to run better than a prusik. a co worker of mine uses the rock exotica dualcender, which seems safer but its got no handles for my girly hands are there any climbers that could anser this one?
 
This ascender is not okay to footlock alone with unless you run your climbing system up your single line and have it anchored off so the cams are on two independent ropes. If you're footlocking and one am should fail then the rope will start to slide and down you will go. Also you can't just back it up with a single prussik above the ascender each side of the rope has to have a prussik to be considered backed up.
 
There are lots of reasons not to use the Kong dual ascender. I won't let anyone under my command use them, they scare me...nuff said...

Why bother using two ropes? Make the shift to single and you'll find everything much easier. Sure, it'll take a few climbs to sort out the gear configuration and the same for footlocking a single rope, but, once you do, it'll be easy sailing.

There is no ANSI requirement to backup ascenders or descenders. Think about it...if someone opted to body thrust on a DdRT/traditional system there is no backup requirement.

For years I have promoted the idea of a backup for ascent no matter what system is used. Doing that is SO easy and adds so much more safety.

Clipping a shelled rope grab to the front d of yoru harness and let it tail along as a backup. Super simple and reliable in most configurations.
 
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These might help:


http://www.treebuzz.com/pdf/CC_Jun07.pdf


and


http://www.treebuzz.com/pdf/CC_Aug07.pdf


They discuss Doubled Rope Technique ascent systems and are in the articles section of TreeBuzz.

As others have said, ANSI does not require ascenders to be backed up, but it is strongly recommended.

SRT may seem a little more confusing, but the result is definitely worth the frustration of the learning curve.
 
I just started using a Kong double ascender backed up by a Crool ascender and my Knut hitch above this.......all on a single line. Should have done this years ago!!!
 
O.K. its a STRAIGHT SHOT to A 60ft crotch. not one water sprout/-"sucker"-/ branch or peice of wood in your way' we need to prune this one like a pro," like god himself" i like to start with the dead wood and then see were we are at : rocket shoes and jet backpack at the shop; two ends of rope in your hand ,,,,,you could send a running bowling to the top of the tree . or you could advance on the two ends of rope in your hand / strap on your saddle and make the choice this is not a comp, but we wood like to have lunch around noon
tree climbers , arborist , ground guys , sales men ,bucket boys, master ground men , old school/ new school tree huggers and tree haters what do you do? RE:gettin up a tree?

. i thank mother nature herself for this forum.
 
If that's the case I'm gonna single line by attaching the rope to a grigri at the base of the tree slapping on my ascenders and walking up the rope using my pantin and footloop with my hand ascender and a croll. Then I can set my floating false crotch to work off my already preset drt system. Or eventually when I have saved enough money I'll just start working of my unicender.
 
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Rich, you may experience a delay on an emergency descent with your hitch above the ascenders.
I keep the hitch below for a quicky bail out.

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Thanx!!!
 
i just bought the duelcender at the show, i like it, it works well with footlocking a double line but i always back my ascenders up with a vt knot above and a carabiner going through to hold it in place, the vt knot slides very easily, almost as if it isnt even their, but with the doublecender i havent found a carabiner long enough to go through both sides of the ascender which has at this point left me a bit worried, til i do find one im using the double ascender on srt, i am able to back up one side of the ascender so i can climb with no worries of mechanical failure

thanks puclimber for the imput of the one end sliding if one cam fails, for some reason it never occured to me
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Rich, you may experience a delay on an emergency descent with your hitch above the ascenders.
I keep the hitch below for a quicky bail out.

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If the hitch is BELOW, and the Kong ascender fails, the hitch comes down too !

I looked into using a Kong Dual Ascender on a double line, w/ a Rock Exotica DualCenter as the back-up above.
The problem that I envisioned is ..........

If I don't make it up to a secure tie-in point. How do I transition to come back down the double line?

I called the owner of Rock Exotica, & he said that he would not recommned that setup.

Just FYI .....
I had originally thought that a single Prusik, or Klemhiest above the Kong, could be a simple back-up.
However, if you look a pictures of the Kong, the 2 lines appear to be separated by 1/4 to 1/2". Therefore, I was concerned that the Prusik might not set properly, if employed.

Thus as noted above, you would need a separate Prusik on each of the two lines.

Seemed pretty messy.
 
I use a couple of ascenders taped together for doubled rope footlocking. I learned a unique way to back them up from a race climber I work with sometimes. It's a prusik on each individual leg of the rope that goes back to my harness tie-in. Looks like this...

Ascenders_01.jpg
Ascenders_02.jpg


No particular reason to do it that way other than that's how I learned it. I definitely believe in backing up the ascenders, I've had a twig jam a cam open before.

I'm working on a different backup that will permit fast bailout but I haven't got it figured out completely yet.
 
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