Hitch Hiker

I've been on a HH for 1.5 months now and have found it a real development process, more so than when I started SRWP with a RW.
I'm not thick, I've just found the adjustability of the HH amazing and I feel a lot more confident with it than I did with my ZK1. (I'm not knocking the RW, the HH just suits my brain better)

Regarding the comments on hitches. I'm still using the original piece of Beeline on Poison HiVee. I tried more and less wraps with more and less leg length and right now, i'm prefering 5 wraps and really tight.
I don't set the stopper as tight as possible because then it was too tight for ascent and slack tending, so I slacken it a tiny bit so that there is still a bit of undesirable tension while slack tending. This way, I know it's going to grab every time, guaranteed.

I have a Petzl hand ascender and have always felt weird with it but I can't explain why. It's interesting to hear your comments on the Kong Futura as now my Petzl feeling makes sense, although I still cant explain it but it's relating to body position. I'll be getting a Futura then!
Thanks for the help.
 
I'm in pretty much the same boat as you are. Ive only had mine for two weeks and i really really like it except it is a a little tight tending slack. its not bothering me so much on ascension. when you say your on five wraps do you mean 6 original wraps that turn into the five wrap prussic like the HH instructions suggest or are you taking a wrap out?
 
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I have a Petzl hand ascender and have always felt weird with it but I can't explain why. It's interesting to hear your comments on the Kong Futura as now my Petzl feeling makes sense, although I still cant explain it but it's relating to body position. I'll be getting a Futura then!
Thanks for the help.

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The Futura is a nice little handled ascender, but I find it a real PITA to take off the line once I reach my PSP in the tree.
 
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I have a Petzl hand ascender and have always felt weird with it but I can't explain why. It's interesting to hear your comments on the Kong Futura as now my Petzl feeling makes sense, although I still cant explain it but it's relating to body position. I'll be getting a Futura then!
Thanks for the help.

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The Futura is a nice little handled ascender, but I find it a real PITA to take off the line once I reach my PSP in the tree.

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I had the same problem with it and my brother showed me a trick getting it off. It's not intuitive (to me anyway), but if you pull it down it makes more room for the cam to release.
 
B's onto it Chris, by slightly loading the ascender drawing the cam into the rope allows for the lock to be deactivated and the cam to be locked back. I believe this a safety feature so as to keep the cam in a forward position and the rope in the channel at all times.
Just make sure you weight it whenever attaching so as to place that lock in that position, its a bit of a sneak sometimes especially with my new rope.
As for the for mentioned cam slippage when ascending, like others I find thumbing the cam works fine, the back of the locking plate is nicely shaped for your thumb to rest on and adds to the secure feeling of gripping.
 
I have had the same issues and solutions with the Futura. Overall I still think it is the best hand ascender for my climbing system (compared to CMI,Petzl,Black Diamond Jumars)
 
I am still thinking I would like it if there were a way to use an eye to eye (or tied) instead of the stopper knots with the HH. At least on one end.

Would be so much quicker getting off, for example.

Got to be some simple solution here.
 
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I am still thinking I would like it if there were a way to use an eye to eye (or tied) instead of the stopper knots with the HH. At least on one end.

Would be so much quicker getting off, for example.

Got to be some simple solution here.

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I agree except that you would not be able to fine tune the hitch. Eye2eye is also a lot more expensive here than plain cord.
 
I was REALLY against the stopper knot/backbone idea at first.

After using the HH as much as I have I wouldn't trade mine in for a model that utilized eye2eye cords. There are too many advantages to the dogbone. Fine tuning the hitch length being foremost and cost/ease of replacing used cords and trying new ones being a close second.

It IS different but that doesnt mean we HAVE to change it just so it fits in the nice comfortable box we are used to. I can set/unset my HH with gloves on and have never had any problems breaking the stopper knot on the adjustable side of my hitch cord.

Just my .02
 
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I was REALLY against the stopper knot/backbone idea at first.

After using the HH as much as I have I wouldn't trade mine in for a model that utilized eye2eye cords. There are too many advantages to the dogbone. Fine tuning the hitch length being foremost and cost/ease of replacing used cords and trying new ones being a close second.

It IS different but that doesnt mean we HAVE to change it just so it fits in the nice comfortable box we are used to. I can set/unset my HH with gloves on and have never had any problems breaking the stopper knot on the adjustable side of my hitch cord.

Just my .02

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Actually I said eye to eyes but what I would defintely use is tied knots for tunability (and cost).

I like my cord kind of snug and it takes me fiddling to get the stopper knot close enough to suit me. And untying the stopper after a 100 ft descent (seems like the stopper is set even tighter with HTP) takes me more time than I am happy about. Was kind of cursing that yesterday again.

Maybe I am just not skilled enough with stopper knots. Maybe there is something I can insert into the knot while tying to make it untie easier...like a small loop of throwline

So still dreaming about some sort of way to slide on/off a pretied knot/eye on the right side but have it secure. I would love that.

But since no one else feels the same way, it's likely a personal problem.
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What hitch cord are you using? With smaller hitch cord the stoppers will definitely be more difficult to get out.

The stopper that comes tied in the beeline that came with my HH seems way easier to untie than the way I would tie a stopper. I just made sure to duplicate the way it came tied and now I'm tying all stoppers that way. At least I think I am!
 
Pauls 'HH stopper knot', the sort-of double fisherman, that is tied in the hitch cord when it arrives is far easier to unset than a traditional double fishermans. In all of my use it has never loosened unintentionally or given any indication that it should be worried about. Its also easier to tie the hitch tightly with the 'HH stopper knot'
 
The knot Paul employees from the factory is the "Stevedore" and I believe is used in sail rigging to stop the tail running out through a pulley. A quick search also says its utilised in kite flying..... and now climbing.
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Mine is getting a little tighter to get out now the cord has fluffed up, stretched and got a bit of sap and inground dirt and bark fibers on it, no biggy as its still relatively easy to roll loose, besides its coming up for replacement shortly. Once TDS it does not move as the marker whip I have testifies to. I can't think of an easier stopper to get out.
 
The stopper knot that Paul shows is a Double Overhand Knot and it can be started in two different ways.

If I'm not mistaken, it is the same knot as half of a Double Fisherman's (Grapevine Knot), which is also the same stopper knot that is used in the TreeMOTION stopper knot on the bridge.
 
My apologies Chris, you are correct it is not as Stevidores knot, simular but upon checking the web they differ with the exit of the tail.


I always thought double overhand was just a different name for a double fishermans. I learnt the double overhand when I was a child tying rope halters and later was taught what I thought was the same knot as the double fishermans. Have I missed something?
Sorry for the off topic question.


Double Overhand

Double Fishermans

Stevidore/Double 8 Left Pauls Stopper Right

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Paul's stopper is tied as a double overhand, but like Mahk Adams has said before, it hasn't been dressed and set in the normal manner. Mahk has also said that he has seen it dressed and set like this before, but he doesn't know how secure it is compared to a properly dressed and set double overhand.

I and others have not had any issues with the TDS method of the double overhand stopper knot that Paul has with the HH.

The stopper knot that is on the TreeMOTION saddle bridge is a double overhand knot, TDS in the traditional method. When making the traditional double overhand knot, be sure the turn is seated across the entire knot.

Paul's HH stopper knot is essentially an Anchor Bend tied into itself, except it's reversed. If you loosen it a little and slip the upper turn over the lower turn it's converted into a traditional double overhand.

For more info on these important knots, read Mahk's article Double, Double, Fisherman's Trouble in the Feb 2008 ISA Arborist News.
 
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