LordFarkwad
Branched out member
- Location
- Chatham Co.
I feel very unqualified to tell you anything about anything, but, that being said, I like the RR allot if for no other reasons than ease of tending and easy on/off.
1) It's allot quicker on and off the rope than the HH2, at least for me. JB Holdway posted a video of him putting some version of the HH on a rope in 2min, including him setting the hitch and getting it fully ready to ascend with. That's allot faster than I can put the HH on the rope in, but not in the same universe as the speed with which the RR can be set up and ready to climb. To someone who leaves the HH on their rope all the time, moot point. But I don't. That being said, if a total delta of even 10min between RR and HH setup time makes or breaks a work day, you're running a pretty tight ship. However, I do enjoy spending a total of 30sec hooking up my ascent device.
2) I've not used either device in the rain (which is one aspect I've read where the HH outshines pure mechanicals), but I have used both devices with moderately-fuzzed Vortex and with brand spankin new Vortex, and on the new stuff, especially after getting hot on a long descent (90' or so) the RR would bring me to a very buffered stop (soft stop), whereas the HH immediately arrests descent when hitch pressure is released. Maybe some wouldn't like the soft stop, but it doesn't bother me, and when working, I don't often descend that much in one shot anyway. These are mainly rec climbs I'm talking about. And, to render that point even more moot, I've also not adjusted my RR at all either. It is set to maximally open, so being soft like that is to be expected. It can be dialed in (bollard setting) to immediately arrest descent.
3) You sound like you have your hitch dialed in on the HH for a good balance between immediate engagement and super-easy tending, but tending effort had heretofore been the biggest negative to the HH for me, as you all know from having followed this thread. The lesser-coil version of the recommended hitch helped that allot, and I would think it would get even better as I play with and tweak it more, but rope literally falls through the RR on its on, no assistance needed except that of gravity.
Now, that could be a negative in the case where you unclip from it in the tree and accidentally drop it down the base leg of your anchor line - at least with how I have my HH tied, that is practically impossible (knock on wood, and I also tie a stopper knot of some variety above it when whipping it over to the base side of the line, advancing a basal anchored PSP). With the RR, if it ends up going over the PSP, it's going to the ground unless you catch it on its way past you. But with a little awareness and prep, not a real downside, perhaps.
4) The RR has multiple parts that can be dropped out of tree while disassembled. Hasn't been a big deal once I got a consistent procedure worked out for taking it on and off the rope (about 10 climbs' worth of using it...slow learner here), but it is possible to drop them.
The slic pin that is used to unite the friction plate and tending pulley assembly to the rest of the body is held captive with a short chain (and the 'washer' tying the pin to the chain is actually the tending point you clip into! Works like a boss, for me). That would be a nice upgrade to somehow use similar short connectors to hold the rest of the RR's parts together, or at least the slic pins. But with running ropes, I can see how this could easily result in additional vulnerabilities being created, with these little things getting pulled into the device after snagging the rope, etc. Or something.
Anyway, that's my 1-minute summary of the RR as a very inexperienced HH2 user.
Hey, if you're asking those dudes at Clogger, I'm a "small" (ha! There's no other place in the known universe that I qualify as "small" except New Zealand, apparently)
