Hand Ascenders

D

dtreez

New member
Location
Bucks County
Looking at getting my first hand ascender. I like the look of the simple ones like the Petzl Basic and the Climbing Technology Simple, but I am worried they won't be as ergonomic as an actual handled ascender. That being said, I'm sure they would still be easier on my forearms than just gripping the rope.

Anyone have experience with ascenders like the CT Simple?
 
I have a Petzl, and it works just fine. I don’t use it much, not near as much as I thought I would, but I have no real complaints about it. If I did want to drag myself up a rope by hand though, I would want a double fisted ascender instead.
 
Reach said:
I have a Petzl, and it works just fine. I don’t use it much, not near as much as I thought I would, but I have no real complaints about it. If I did want to drag myself up a rope by hand though, I would want a double fisted ascender instead.
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Do you know if anyone makes a single cammed, double handled ascender?
 
dtreez said:
Do you know if anyone makes a single cammed, double handled ascender?
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I believe there are a few. If I were to use one, I would prefer one that had a handle like the old double fisted, which basically had a short horizontal broomstick for a handle.
 
With the Petzl ascenders, I think the handle makes it easier to operate the cam with one hand. You can hold the handle with your fingers (so it doesn't flop around) while releasing/engaging the cam with your thumb.

It's much more difficult to open my old non-handle Petzl ascenders with one hand. IIRC, they were called Jammers.

To use both hands with a single handle, I just put one hand on the top of the ascender.
 
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I recently got the edelrid hand ascender, I like it quite a bit. One added benefit of it is the multiple holes for adding some MA… the one on the bottom is large enough for a petzl pulley style biner. Nice for quick MA on a SRT limb walk or traversing.
 
Chris Schultz said:
I recently got the edelrid hand ascender, I like it quite a bit. One added benefit of it is the multiple holes for adding some MA… the one on the bottom is large enough for a petzl pulley style biner. Nice for quick MA on a SRT limb walk or traversing.
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I found that when using a RRP (I did see you're selling one), it's dangerous to put the MA pulley on a hand ascender clipped onto the climbing rope. The rope exiting the RRP going to the pulley tends to push against the RRP, preventing it from engaging unless you manually push up on the bird. Not what I want when limb walking. Placing the MA pulley a bit lower than the TIP solves that problem (as shown.)20211119_134818.jpg
 
I have and use the CT Quick Roll that has an integrated non-life support pulley. It is a quick way and compact way to get switched to a yo-yo setup or what ever, but I find the grip small and uncomfortable (large hands), even though I have cut the plastic bump off it.
 
Winchman said:
I bought an Epic Peak hand ascender from Amazon.
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I don't know anything about Epic, but I'll go out on a limb and guess it's a Chinese clone of an older Petzl. They even copied the color.
20220211_050511.jpg
The cam looks more like an even older, less robust version of a Petzl cam. May have copied the handled ascender version that was current with this basic ascender, circa 1990.
20220211_050520.jpg
 
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For Ariel Traveler: I used several flush rivets in countersunk holes to secure the added piece, and I filed the edges of the rivet heads before installation to make sure they couldn't damage the rope. Having a rivet masher from a previous hobby helped.

For Dan: The knock-offs are being sold under several brands. I picked the cheapest and got a nice EP decal, too.

I should add that my climbing weight is about 175 pounds, and I'm using mrs with a low friction BB pulley at the top, so the load on the ascender is about half of that plus a little for acceleration. I doubt that's much different from what you'd put on the ascender with just one hand unless you're really heavy and really strong.
 
Winchman said:
I should add that my climbing weight is about 175 pounds, and I'm using mrs with a low friction BB pulley at the top, so the load on the ascender is about half of that plus a little for acceleration. I doubt that's much different from what you'd put on the ascender with just one hand unless you're really heavy and really strong.
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First post and rank amateur, so please be gentle on me!

Trying to figure out how you would use a hand ascender with MRS climbing (especially with a foot ascender attached) since you are pulling the rope from below your hitch?

I started out using a Petzl left hand ascender with a home-made strap and foot loop on my left side and a Notch Jet Step on the right side for SRT, but couldn't figure out how to use this for MRS, so bought a HAAS Velox for MRS climbing.
 
You can see my setup in the video here:

Finally, a video of me climbing with my doubled rope system...

It's long past time for me to post a video of me climbing with my double rope system. It's just a Zigzag with a rescue pulley up top and a double hand ascender with footloop. Very simple, nearly foolproof, and reasonably efficient. I'm trusting you to tell me what you think, and how it...
www.treebuzz.com

The Petzl zigzag is slightly above me, and it's connected to my saddle with a doubled 30" Ocean eye2eye and carabiner. There's enough room below the zz for a decent stroke with my arms and one leg.

I've made some minor changes since the video was taken, and I've got a more upright position now.
 
Winchman,

Thanks so much for that, I see how it works now. Since my hand/foot ascender is made from a cammed tie-down strap, I could just shorten the strap up and put a longer tail on my hitch connection to make it work.

Interesting that you are using a CAMP saddle. After trying several and not getting a decent fit, I settled on the CAMP ANSI Tree ST saddle for myself.
 
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