Hitch limber and Distel,not grabbing?

fastbub

fastbub

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I just got a Hitch Climber setup with an 8mm ocean poly with a Distel on a 7/16 rope. I noticed that when I was climbing up on my Spurs and didn't tend the slack often enough that it wouldn't grab right away once I pulled the slack through. I would have to manually twist and dress the hitch quickly before weighting it or it would just slip. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong? Would a different hitch prevent this?

Other than that, it is awesome and so much more responsive and easy to tend than the Blake's hitch I have been using for years.
 
Also might try a different hitch cord, they are cheaper than a new rope. Not all cords play well with all ropes even at the same diameter.
 
monkeylove said:
I don't run hitches much but those that do will need some more info.

Number of wraps, number of twists?
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Distel hitch. One wrap on the bottom and then 4 on top if that makes sense. It ends up kind of looking like three wraps with one long spiral wrap down to the carabiner/pulley connection
 
It works fine if slightly weighted when tending slack, but if I let a few feet of slack fall below me and then pull the line through. It doesn't bit right away,without dressing.
Maybe it is normal and,just a technique,thing but I just wanted to get some feedback.
 
Sounds right, other than just trying to dial it in (wraps, twists, lenght, size, material...) As I mentioned I'm not a hitch guru, I switched to mechanicals not long after I started climbing. Rather than passing on bad information, I think you are better off waiting for someone better acquainted with hitch to lend some help.
 
How long is your hitch cord? If the final product of the distel hitch has too long of legs connecting to the carabiner, your slack tending will loosen it more based on how long those legs are.
 
I use a Distel hitch with 8mm EpiCord on an 11mm line I have... took awhile for the cord to break in and it's been reliable ever since. If the rope or cord are both new, there's going to be some breakin period. With 8mm I use a 24" sewn eye-to-eye cord with the Distel, because as already mentioned, the legs are too long with a longer cord. For 9mm cord, 26" is perfect with the Distel, and for 10mm cord, 28" is just right. I weigh about 200 lbs. with gear.

If your cord is longer, try tying the hitch as 5 over 1 instead of 4 over 1 and see if that helps. I did that when the cords and/or rope were new, and they broke in after a few descents. I then could go back to the 4 over 1 configuration. Might work for you, too.
 
JeffGu said:
I use a Distel hitch with 8mm EpiCord on an 11mm line I have... took awhile for the cord to break in and it's been reliable ever since. If the rope or cord are both new, there's going to be some breakin period. With 8mm I use a 24" sewn eye-to-eye cord with the Distel, because as already mentioned, the legs are too long with a longer cord. For 9mm cord, 26" is perfect with the Distel, and for 10mm cord, 28" is just right. I weigh about 200 lbs. with gear.

If your cord is longer, try tying the hitch as 5 over 1 instead of 4 over 1 and see if that helps. I did that when the cords and/or rope were new, and they broke in after a few descents. I then could go back to the 4 over 1 configuration. Might work for you, too.
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Ok thanks. I will try that. I had to do the same thing with my Blakes. 5 instead of four to get it to bite for me. I am maybe 145 or so. I don't know if that has something to do with it.
 
Wraps are cheap infact free new ropes are expensive. If I had to pic a quick grabbing cord right out of the box in my opinion it would arbor pruss
 
When I first started climbing, I was using an ocean cord hitch and had similar results. I find that new ocean cord is fairly stiff and doesn't like to coil tightly, so when the weight comes off, it tends to uncoil. That is not a good property of a hitch cord, so I discarded my ocean hitches. It's true that once they get broken in, they work well, but I didn't want to break in a cord that felt dangerous in the meantime. I switched to beeline and epicord and had much better results with those.
 
You might try a schwabisch hitch until it is broken in. I started with new tachyon and ocean - both were stiff. Schwabisch grabbed best at first. Once both the rope and hitch were broken in, I switched to a distel. I don't use ocean anymore because it takes so long to break in, then once it does break in, it doesn't like to be tied in other configurations.

8mm Armor prus, Samson ice, and beeline eye to eye will work well on 7/16


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I love that fat, fluffy OP when it breaks in... I found it to be troublesome, at first, too. Then I put it on a Yale XTC 16-strand and just did a bunch of 30' descents on it. Nice and slow, and I would take the cord off and tie it again, making sure I rotated the cord each time. After a few descents, the cord behaved beautifully, and it would work fine on my other ropes (well, all but one). Now, when I buy backups I just break them in that way right off the bat so I don't have to put up with it acting goofy on the other ropes. I did that with a couple of EpiCord 9.2mm ones today, while it was nice out, and it seems to take that "new cord" stubbornness right out of them with just a couple or three descents.
 
Also, I'd suggest getting used to resting your weight and hips in the hitch at all times and constantly tending slack. It'll also help you save energy while climbing. The hitch and rope will be supporting you instead of your muscles - I think this will naturally happen with experience but it is something you can teach yourself. The more slack that builds in your line, the more the friction hitch is loosened and also the greater the fall if you slip, lose your balance, a branch breaks, or a spike slips out


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One last question- do you have a spliced eye on your climbing rope? Otherwise, a termination knot on the climbing line will prevent the hitch from grabbing and is not recommended by DMM


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