Hitch Runner? What is this sorcery??

I may try it. Looks like a Singing Tree iteration of the hitch hiker, with the friction below the hitch instead of above, and with good tending given the pulley.
 
I love the Hitch Runner. The OG works amazing, but it is a little tricky to install the Hitch cord.

The Vertec installs amazing but needs a custom hitchcord. Cutting off the bird also makes it useless if you want to go back mechanical. But that is all you have to do, is cut off the bird and tether.

The OG is nice because you can go back to mechanical if you want.

I don't recomend cutting up your runners. I have a few to spare.

The pro requires the most modification, grinding altering a few holes, and purchasing an appropriately shoulder bolt. but it works really well and installs great. There is also no return to original.

They all can work like a hitchclimber pulley in MRS. True MRS really

I'll make a video of them in action over the next few days. It doesn't weigh very much and it's pretty damn compact.

Hitches run a bit different since the eyes are hugged tight together. But especially with the pro and vertec, installation of the cord is very simple and there are no parts to drop. Can be installed and un-installed while clipped in too which is nice.


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Bet it takes away or I should say doesn't have the HH hitch sensitivity to being tied tight/looser having to settle it in just the right hitch cord length etc. Is this correct?
 
Remember watching a VT pucker up it's braids and then sit back down? Performance at a price. Hitch hiker knot was a VT with zero braids. I think the wide spread hitch legs might have been the juju to get good behaviour. More leg angle = less hand force to descend. Maybe also hitch de-clamping on ascent initiation. I always figured the angled slots were a source of binding wheras the RR bottom end is more pure pivot pinches mechanically speaking taking out deadband windowing caused by unbinding stuff - more direct pressure control, better. Suggests a quick experiment with a mini hitch leg spreader bar (?) Could prove it out yay or nay. then the marketplace might speak ; )
 
The braidless hitch just 5 or 6 wraps up seems to do the trick. I have not had trouble with it binding, more trouble on the others idea getting it to grab. Granted. The sitback is a bit more than the HH.
 
It seems to me a HH dogbone isn't amenable to the RR holes. Suggest a clevice-like piece of aluminum with a slic pin/bolt hole, shave out a slot to accommodate the RR body then shave out two more slots out at the "magic" width to hold/confine the hitch eyes. Assembly - tie knot, put eyes in slots, bar on RR body, slide in/secure bolt/pin. Only difference is bar spreads hitch eyes. Test prototype could just be a long bolt and a crap pile of washers. Would need to test spread width, hitch cord length # coils (suggest HH knot) (= resultant hitch legs angle) and then performance.
 
I think another option is a dog bone that comes in 2 pieces and screws together like a sex bolt, and to mitigate the weak point of connection it could slip inside a tight bushing that sits between the two cheek plates of the runner.
 
I haven't found binding to be a problem. I don't think that spreading the hitch would make enough of a function difference to be worth the loss of ease of installation. But it is always worth exploring. The great thing about hitches is that they are infinity adaptable to the situation. There is a combo of wraps and twists that will work.
 
Kevin doesn't your assertion seem to contradict the anecdotes about trying really hard to tie the HH knot as tight as possible to get the best performance? My device had spread hitch legs attachment and it responded to tying tight the same as the anecdotes. I achieved super easy release and powerful stopping. My design failed on easy adjustability to different ropes.
 
Bart_ said:
Kevin doesn't your assertion seem to contradict the anecdotes about trying really hard to tie the HH knot as tight as possible to get the best performance? My device had spread hitch legs attachment and it responded to tying tight the same as the anecdotes. I achieved super easy release and powerful stopping. My design failed on easy adjustability to different ropes.
Click to expand...
I have used the HH a little bit. I liked it a lot. This doesnt tend as butter as the HH but it tends well. I'm not sure what anecdotes you are referring to though. What was your device?
 
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Well then... life and tree climbing always travels in circles that connect. The circles that go back are as relevant as the latest whatever in tree gear.

@treebing has given and given, then given again to the greater tree climber community.

I believe this was Spring, late March 2018. We had 3 back-to-back storms, one of which dumped a lot of snow.

Chris Coates (now of NAOM) had posted the concept of the Hitch Runner somewhere. I saw it and built one with parts from a pre-release RR iteration combined with a temporarily separated brand spanking new RR friction piece.

Typical first try of anything, I bitched and moaned the whole time and then...? By the end it received the very highest possible gear rating: Very Not Bad (VNB)!


PS: Rope is (I think) the Veteran's Day edition Tachyon Ash 11.5 but seemed more like 11.8. Has the second inner core to keep "roundness". Tachyon never ran well for me with mechanicals despite what everyone says they want: super round profile line through a mechanical. A little rope flattening through a mechanical can be good. 8mm polyester cover braid, high-modulus fiber core hitch cord. Double-tooth slic pin holds the hitch cord to the RR part. Ran damn well considering it was Tachyon.
-AJ
 
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Dug my gizmo out of storage and if anyone pursues hitch leg spread effect my center to center hitch rope hole spacing was 1.75". Was HRC cord. Device was 5 1/2" long bit heavy so no winner chicken dinner there. Tending pulley had negligible side guides too. Good on almost zero sitback though. Actually assembled using two slic pins per the style of the times. 4 or 5 coil HH knot
 
Im surprised to read and see this whole thing, although I probably shouldn't be. I'll have to explain another time. Carry on please.
 
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