Aerial Traveler
Participating member
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- Thread starter Aerial Traveler
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moss
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Carlisle, Massachusetts, U.S.
Congrats! yer gonna love it.
Probably my best mod is I didn't use the black bungee cord they include to thread through the clear plastic tubing to make the gear loops. I installed a 3/16" diameter static cord instead, it's held up for a few years now. I also like that I can hang my saw on one of the gear loops if I want to in a pinch and I don't worry that the loop will break.
This is not parachute cord, it's a little wider diameter and much more durable, Knot and Rope supply sells it as "Task Rope"
https://www.knotandrope.com/products/task-rope-per-foot-3-16-diameter
-AJ
Probably my best mod is I didn't use the black bungee cord they include to thread through the clear plastic tubing to make the gear loops. I installed a 3/16" diameter static cord instead, it's held up for a few years now. I also like that I can hang my saw on one of the gear loops if I want to in a pinch and I don't worry that the loop will break.
This is not parachute cord, it's a little wider diameter and much more durable, Knot and Rope supply sells it as "Task Rope"
https://www.knotandrope.com/products/task-rope-per-foot-3-16-diameter
-AJ
moss
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Carlisle, Massachusetts, U.S.
I hang a New Tribe "Open Bucket" bag on the left side towards the back of my harness. The bag contains slings of different sizes for various purposes and is good for temporary storage of sunglasses, gloves, etc. when I need them out of the way.
NT Open Bucket bag has a heavy webbing "tongue" with velcro and a snap which I slide through and attach here:
It's kind of a big bag (smaller than the DMM Hook Bag) but... I like to be able to reach down and grab the sling I want no fuss. Doesn't give me anymore trouble than my hand saw or anything else (top handle saw) when I'm moving around in a tree, except maybe the worst thickets in say a spruce, fir or white pine top. I modded the bag with a piece of the 3/16" cord so I can close it if I want:
Zippered bag same position on the right side for hitch cords, phone, whatever other small things I want on my harness:
The non-locker biner with the red gate is installed both sides, very useful, it also helps divide whatever carabiners I have on my gear loops when I want things priority sorted.
New Tribe harness bags are here if folks are interested:
https://newtribe.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=5&zenid=4obv0mu8jla7ts6s5rkr2aemp6
-AJ
NT Open Bucket bag has a heavy webbing "tongue" with velcro and a snap which I slide through and attach here:
It's kind of a big bag (smaller than the DMM Hook Bag) but... I like to be able to reach down and grab the sling I want no fuss. Doesn't give me anymore trouble than my hand saw or anything else (top handle saw) when I'm moving around in a tree, except maybe the worst thickets in say a spruce, fir or white pine top. I modded the bag with a piece of the 3/16" cord so I can close it if I want:
Zippered bag same position on the right side for hitch cords, phone, whatever other small things I want on my harness:
The non-locker biner with the red gate is installed both sides, very useful, it also helps divide whatever carabiners I have on my gear loops when I want things priority sorted.
New Tribe harness bags are here if folks are interested:
https://newtribe.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=5&zenid=4obv0mu8jla7ts6s5rkr2aemp6
-AJ
moss
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Carlisle, Massachusetts, U.S.
And lastly, I'm sure this will be a long thread with many cool customizations so I won't be a discussion hog...
I don't recall having to adjust the riser straps for the lower D's bridge support in front, seemed good out of the factory.
I like my bridge shorter than factory spec, it's 18" measured from the inside of the green alloy lower D's. Doesn't limit my mobility limb walking, keeps things lower on the ascender side. I don't ever pull rope from below my ascender so no adjustable bridge needed. As mentioned in past threads if I want a super short bridge, say chunking a spar, I pull out slack from the bridge, tie a slip knot between the lower D and the stopper and spike it with a carabiner, works great.
-AJ
I don't recall having to adjust the riser straps for the lower D's bridge support in front, seemed good out of the factory.
I like my bridge shorter than factory spec, it's 18" measured from the inside of the green alloy lower D's. Doesn't limit my mobility limb walking, keeps things lower on the ascender side. I don't ever pull rope from below my ascender so no adjustable bridge needed. As mentioned in past threads if I want a super short bridge, say chunking a spar, I pull out slack from the bridge, tie a slip knot between the lower D and the stopper and spike it with a carabiner, works great.
-AJ
LordFarkwad
Branched out member
- Location
- Chatham Co.
What is the current state-of-the-art as to bridge attachments (pulleys, rigging plates, DMM rings, etc.)?
I was up a tree recently struggling with the number of attachments I had on my central DMM ring (had 3 carabiners jammed in there) :| Running a treeMOTION Light.
Was considering getting one of those 3-hole CMI guys and putting on there. Or maybe even an SMC mini rigging plate, which I already own a couple of.
What's the word?
I was up a tree recently struggling with the number of attachments I had on my central DMM ring (had 3 carabiners jammed in there) :| Running a treeMOTION Light.
Was considering getting one of those 3-hole CMI guys and putting on there. Or maybe even an SMC mini rigging plate, which I already own a couple of.
What's the word?
moss
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Carlisle, Massachusetts, U.S.
LordFarkwad
Branched out member
- Location
- Chatham Co.
You'll laugh, but I already have 2 bridges and two DMM rings (for redundancy) - BUT they are all in parallel. Meaning, two bridges having the two rings around both of them (functionally, it's one ring and one bridge). I guess I could split the rings up by having one on one bridge and one on the other, but I was worried about how the bridges and rings would interact if they were all tensioned up. Maybe that's not a concern. (Edit: this would also circumvent my redundancy, unless I was always tied in to both rings...I guess I'm usually tied in twice anyway, so maybe that doesn't undo redundancy. hmmm).
I ran into an interesting situation with two more-or-less equally-tensioned bridges; a carabiner got squeezed between the two ropes such that I couldn't get it un-wedged without un-weighting the bridge (pulled up on a nearby branch). Made me re-think having the bridge ropes at equal length. Might be a bad idea.
I am probably under-utilizing the bridge D's, as I'm in the habit already of ignoring them. That would alleviate some of the crowding from having 3 carabiners in one DMM ring (really, two rings, but functionally one, since every attachment is through both rings). Also - more lol's on the way - I was tied in 3 times at one point. That was part of the crowding issues.
Is a good "first stab" at solving this issue just to utilize the lower D's where the bridge is attached?
LordFarkwad
Branched out member
- Location
- Chatham Co.
Oooo man, maybe I could try the dual plate idea. That sounds solid.
I will freely admit, I'm still learning to trust equipment, so part of this is simply comfort-, ignorance-, and trust-driven mania.
While being thrice-tied-in, it became a real pain to undo carabiners, etc., and then also there was the situation with the pinched carabiner that I couldn't move until unweighting the bridge(s).
LordFarkwad
Branched out member
- Location
- Chatham Co.
Have I taken a steaming dump on this thread? Sorry - I can move this into a new one if you'd like.
LordFarkwad
Branched out member
- Location
- Chatham Co.
Oh man - you'd be underwhelmed (there is also literally nothing to learn from my setup or from me in general on any of this, btw, if you couldn't tell). It is also hula-skirt-ish at the moment since I don't know what I'm doing. But I have removed about 10lbs of things from it over the last few days 
moss
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Carlisle, Massachusetts, U.S.
Love the steaming imagery!
I have a DMM ring on one bridge and the DMM small axis swivel on the other, fits two carabiners up top and one on the part attached to the bridge. Like so, the positioning lanyard in SRT mode is on the lower part of the swivel.
Photo in the next post below....
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moss
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Carlisle, Massachusetts, U.S.
LordFarkwad
Branched out member
- Location
- Chatham Co.
Ah yeah, that looks clean. Did you ever try the single large DMM ring, and find it to be crowded when you had 3 tie-ins as shown above?
For context, I was simply transitioning from one tree to an adjacent tree about 10' away, for experimentation purposes, and found that the ring handled 3 okay, but it was a marginal pain to try and manipulate any of the carabiners once they were locked into the ring. One tie-in was my life line which was anchored way up the tree I was leaving, and a lanyard in MRS/SRT config over to the same tree. Then, the third tie-in was over to the dry and dying tree...oh man, I just realized that I may have had both ends of the third tie-in lanyard attached to the DMM ring as well. I guess I could have hooked them separately to the lower D's OR the upper D's, right? Edit: OR, I could have connected the returning lanyard end to the prusik's carabiner, and had only a single carabiner from that entire lanyard connected to my bridge ring. I'm fuzzy on the details now. Will have to see exactly what was going on next time I'm in the tree. Raining here...
Edit #2: I have a couple of mickey-mouse ear CMI pulley's that I can use as my lanyard adjusters, which will also afford me the ability to clip in when using them doubled! That issue is solved, I believe!
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RBJtree
Branched out member
- Location
- Pittsburgh
I did a couple things. I added a transporter to each side, a shem biner to the right and a non-locker to the left, a small bag I made in the back center attached to one of the straps designed for the first-aid kit, I spliced a second bridge onto my lower d's ( there is a potential safety issue with side loading directly on the splices, but due to the length of the bridge I don't think it will be an issue, I am keeping a close eye and will make arrangments to let everyone know if it fails and I die ) I have two smc rings on the main bridge which can be used separately or often I clip into both with my main multisender just for a softer bend and less wear on the bridge. I use the second bridge for my captain hook, or I have found if I ddrt, I can clip one side to each bridge and it keeps thing unclutered. Also the vastly different lengths on my bridges helps keep things separated for both multiple attachments and for ddrt. I made my suspenders with fabric store webbing, dogleash type swivel snaps in the front, a shackle in the back, and a petzel ring out. The swivel snap directly on the ring serves as my assention tending point. Front attachment for suspenders is paracord, rear attachment has several pockets sewn in for adjustment. I also flipped the leg loops so they buckle on the inside making it easier to step in and out. I always use the lower d's for my lanyard which leaves the hip rings open for storage, ect. I eliminated the center leg loop support bungy because it just seemed to pull the loops up too much or be too loose and thus worthless. I think thats all I have done so far.
RBJtree
Branched out member
- Location
- Pittsburgh
Oh, I put the stock ring on the second bridge and use the little mini biner to keep the long bridge out of the way when I am not using it.
theatertech87
Branched out member
- Location
- Rochester
I don't own a tree motion, but I found that with 2 independent bridges, a long and a short go a long way towards avoiding conflicts of hardware. One sits about 3 inches further out than the other, still close enough to be out of the way, but long enough to avoid issues. Also with 2 independent bridges, I find that the tie ins are usually far enough apart in the tree that the rope angles naturally separate the hardware.
I also have a ring and a mini swivel on each bridge (you could easily do it with just 2 rings on each) to give you extra room to spread stuff out, multiple options etc. I REALLY try and avoid more than 2 tie ins + lanyard, but on the rare occasion where I'm on something incredibly spindly, bouncy, or also tied into an adjacent tree, having the option to slack one system and weight into one thats already connected is nice
I also have a ring and a mini swivel on each bridge (you could easily do it with just 2 rings on each) to give you extra room to spread stuff out, multiple options etc. I REALLY try and avoid more than 2 tie ins + lanyard, but on the rare occasion where I'm on something incredibly spindly, bouncy, or also tied into an adjacent tree, having the option to slack one system and weight into one thats already connected is nice
moss
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Carlisle, Massachusetts, U.S.
I keep my bridges equal length, when I'm using both they're usually loaded different directions so no conflict. I really like the second bridge with the fairly large diameter DMM ring. When I'm in some weird body position where I want to clip a second anchor in, it's really easy to find the large ring on the second bridge and clip in one-handed.
-AJ
-AJ
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moss
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Carlisle, Massachusetts, U.S.
Ah yeah, that looks clean. Did you ever try the single large DMM ring, and find it to be crowded when you had 3 tie-ins as shown above?
For context, I was simply transitioning from one tree to an adjacent tree about 10' away, for experimentation purposes, and found that the ring handled 3 okay, but it was a marginal pain to try and manipulate any of the carabiners once they were locked into the ring. One tie-in was my life line which was anchored way up the tree I was leaving, and a lanyard in MRS/SRT config over to the same tree. Then, the third tie-in was over to the dry and dying tree...oh man, I just realized that I may have had both ends of the third tie-in lanyard attached to the DMM ring as well. I guess I could have hooked them separately to the lower D's OR the upper D's, right? Edit: OR, I could have connected the returning lanyard end to the prusik's carabiner, and had only a single carabiner from that entire lanyard connected to my bridge ring. I'm fuzzy on the details now. Will have to see exactly what was going on next time I'm in the tree. Raining here...
Edit #2: I have a couple of mickey-mouse ear CMI pulley's that I can use as my lanyard adjusters, which will also afford me the ability to clip in when using them doubled! That issue is solved, I believe!
Super pain to have three tie-ins on one ring, you can do it but as you said they press on each other and get bound up, enough to never want to do it more than a couple times.
Really helps to have a DMM Hitchclimber pulley or the CMI Micky Mouse, our one of the other 2 or 3 hole tender pulleys now available when you're using your lanyard as a short rope to your bridge. One attachment point keeps it simple.
The other lanyard attachment hacks you mentioned will work but will eventually piss you off ;-)
-AJ
RBJtree
Branched out member
- Location
- Pittsburgh
I put a little thread up on my leg loop flip. It just makes it easier to get in and out of the saddle because you don't have to step through the loops, but it puts the available leg loop accessory attachment points on the inside/back of the leg. I don't use them anyway, so it didn't matter to me. Plus there is still a place to put a carabiner on the outside, its just not the place they designed for accessory attachment. Its a little thing, but every time I put my saddle on, I'm glad I did it.
John@TreeXP
Branched out member
- Location
- Bainbridge Island
For rec climbing on my TM, I added a couple plastic tube loops along the back and have two large Caritools, and a 1st aid kit. I've also added a second rope bridge using KM III, tied to the lower d's, using anchor hitches. This second bridge serves as a backup to the primary bridge, since both run through the swivel, used in place of the stock O-ring. The second bridge is a bit longer than the primary rope bridge. I added a smaller O-ring on the second bridge so I can attach it to a lanyard or secondary climbing system. I like the redundancy of having a back-up rope bridge on my primary climbing system, along with the versatility of using a second bridge for greater range of motion.
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