HC/RW tending

John@TreeXP said:
Another approach might be to use a hand ascender attached to a foot loop, but your system is more minimal and just as effective, I guess.
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Hand ascender with double foot loop is excellent, I use it for beginner facilitated DRT climbs. So much easier for beginners to move up for the next push compared to a prusik foot loop. What I do is more effective than that since I can ascend continuously without moving anything up. What the knee ascender offers as well.
-AJ
 
moss said:
I don't use a knee ascender, I have a foot technique along with a regular foot ascender that I use that gives me two leg power on ascent. Always trying to reduce gear complexity, have enough stuff on my harness as it is. If I had to do plus 70' all air ascents daily I might use a knee ascender.

At 2:44 into this vid you can see the foot technique, not as efficient as a HAAS/SAKA etc. but very not bad. It's like a more efficient secured footlock motion. Pantin on right foot, half hitch around my left foot on the tail of the rope, to get off the ground a couple shakes of the left foot on the first couple pushes to feed the rope on the left foot, after that self tending. The tail of the rope is on the inside of the left foot, otherwise doesn't work. Tip your toe slightly down to lock it, I do that on my Pantin foot anyway, nice balanced leg loading on the push up.


In the first minute of this my current RW tether setup:


-AJ
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Nice, thanks. That's a really compact tether. Appears you prefer a biner on your lanyard to a steel double locking snap. Is that a decision you make depending on the climb and what you'll be doing in the tree? Is the lanyard crab an auto lock? I couldn't tell in the video. I've got steel on my lanyard and like the weight to advance it but you make that light crab look pretty easy.
 
Aragorn said:
Nice, thanks. That's a really compact tether. Appears you prefer a biner on your lanyard to a steel double locking snap. Is that a decision you make depending on the climb and what you'll be doing in the tree? Is the lanyard crab an auto lock? I couldn't tell in the video. I've got steel on my lanyard and like the weight to advance it but you make that light crab look pretty easy.
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Steel or alloy snap on a lanyard is traditional for arb climbers, most useful for chunking down spars. I prefer a carabiner on my lanyard, works fine chunking down spars, but gives me a bunch of other options for how I implement my lanyard, I think of the lanyard as a short rope. This is not new, check out the Teufelberger CE lanyard for example. I clip a 10 oz throw bag on to the lanyard if I need to flip it somewhere. I use a triple action double locking autolocker for all my “life support” carabiners including on the end of my lanyard, that’s an industry standard.

After I watched a climber pull a steel carabiner into his face taking his lanyard out I lost interest in anything steel on the end of my lanyard.
-AJ
 
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Aragorn said:
Will you share the link, please? Like to see that.
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Heads up, this is not a technique to be taken lightly. First you need to have a reason to implement it, that’s true of everything in tree climbing, do things because you have a reason why, not because some gear or technique looks cool.

If you do decide to try it, tie it again and again and try it on the ground several times before climbing on it. If you don’t completely understand it don’t climb on it. It’s very safe but has to be configured correctly. Thx.
-AJ
 
moss said:
Steel or alloy snap on a lanyard is traditional for arb climbers, most useful for chunking down spars. I prefer a carabiner on my lanyard, works fine chunking down spars, but gives me a bunch of other options for how I implement my lanyard, I think of the lanyard as a short rope. This is not new, check out the Teufelberger CE lanyard for example. I clip a 10 oz throw bag on to the lanyard if I need to flip it somewhere. I use a triple action double locking autolocker for all my “life support” carabiners including on the end of my lanyard, that’s an industry standard.

After I watched a climber pull a steel carabiner into his face taking his lanyard out I lost interest in anything steel on the end of my lanyard.
-AJ
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I'm familiar with all of your detailed reply, including the potential for a face-planted steel snap. Thanks! I'll likely keep my steel at least until the pain inflicted by it exceeds my threshold as I've become so comfortable with the one handed activation and hitting the side D.
 
moss said:
Heads up, this is not a technique to be taken lightly. First you need to have a reason to implement it, that’s true of everything in tree climbing, do things because you have a reason why, not because some gear or technique looks cool.

If you do decide to try it, tie it again and again and try it on the ground several times before climbing on it. If you don’t completely understand it don’t climb on it. It’s very safe but has to be configured correctly. Thx.
-AJ
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I'd need an awfully strong reason to deploy that setup. Maybe if I was spending the night in a canopy hammock and wanted it out of sight. Good to know it's possible.
 
Aragorn said:
I'd need an awfully strong reason to deploy that setup. Maybe if I was spending the night in a canopy hammock and wanted it out of sight. Good to know it's possible.
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The reason I experimented with it myself was that these conifers here are sometimes so cluttered with limbs that it is just impossible to isolate a canopy TIP. Often, I could not even clearly see the TIP. But once I was up there, then I could swap over to a proper canopy tie in, even move it to a stronger limb if necessary. And I was leap frogging higher after that too, using both ends of the line along with my lanyard and combined with free climbing. I think this is what Moss was describing. At one point I had a small limb break with me on the way up, due to not being able to see the TIP through the clutter. But with the base tie, the line just dropped me about two feet to the next lower limb and the bounce in my Tachyon Ash soaked up a lot of the shock. I guess some bounce is nice to have at times!
 
Burrapeg said:
The reason I experimented with it myself was that these conifers here are sometimes so cluttered with limbs that it is just impossible to isolate a canopy TIP. Often, I could not even clearly see the TIP. But once I was up there, then I could swap over to a proper canopy tie in, even move it to a stronger limb if necessary. And I was leap frogging higher after that too, using both ends of the line along with my lanyard and combined with free climbing. I think this is what Moss was describing. At one point I had a small limb break with me on the way up, due to not being able to see the TIP through the clutter. But with the base tie, the line just dropped me about two feet to the next lower limb and the bounce in my Tachyon Ash soaked up a lot of the shock. I guess some bounce is nice to have at times!
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@Burrapeg one of the reasons I've moved so slowly on Srt is on the first low and slow attempt I made high up through an oak my down rope was over a small protruding branch I couldn't see. It didn't break when I loaded the up rope, until I was couple feet off ground. Dumped me on my ass. Embarrassing, even alone! Decided I don't want to risk the stress that may have put on my saddle had it occurred higher up.
 
Aragorn said:
Wish I could. Maryland's Eastern Shore: Delmarva Penninsula. 1.5 hrs South and East of Baltimore/Washington. I've looked without success but maybe you have suggestions for sources?
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Funny, my Buzz profile photo is from up in an old-growth Loblolly along the Wicomico River downstream from Salisbury, love the Delmarva. Was down there visiting a friend.
-AJ
 
moss said:
Funny, my Buzz profile photo is from up in an old-growth Loblolly along the Wicomico River downstream from Salisbury, love the Delmarva. Was down there visiting a friend.
-AJ
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No kidding! I've got a small farm downstream just off the river in Eden. That's where I was hoping to do the other spar sets I referred to in another post.
By the way, I Srt'd round trip 40' for a deer perch this morning here in the "Land of pleasant living". My HC pulley arrives tomorrow. Then new rope, RW, sewn eye to eye....the list goes on...
 

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Brocky said:
BEWARE! Slowly,but surely, gear lust starts to creep into your subconscious, manifesting itself with deep urges and many purchases.
Good luck to you, there are support groups for it, but unfortunely they all promote it, instead of cure.
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Someone just needs to create the perfect climbing bundle for all trees in all environments. Until then, I'd be happy if someone sold some chest rollers at a fair price, or maybe I should just clip a micro pulley to my chest harness.
 
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Brocky said:
BEWARE! Slowly,but surely, gear lust starts to creep into your subconscious, manifesting itself with deep urges and many purchases.
Good luck to you, there are support groups for it, but unfortunely they all promote it, instead of cure.
Click to expand...
Scary to think this disease can be caught surfing the web. The only cure, a fat soon flat wallet.
 
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