I still can't choose...

mikbro81

mikbro81

Location
Philly suburbs
2015-04-04 12.36.38.webp Between the BDB and the RR. And I'm glad I don't have to. After running both, I still can't decide which I like more. I think I love them like my kids... separately and equally. Both are so good at what they do and so easy to run.

The BDB is a little less fiddly to set on my rope and feels like it could withstand an explosion and still be good to go. While the RR feels like it's built for speed and I can't believe the way it gobbles up slack.

I guess I'll just have to split my time between them equally. What's my poor HH going to do? How are you guys managing this "problem" of having so many excellent options and only so much time?
 
mikbro81 said:
View attachment 31353 Between the BDB and the RR. And I'm glad I don't have to. After running both, I still can't decide which I like more. I think I love them like my kids... separately and equally. Both are so good at what they do and so easy to run.

The BDB is a little less fiddly to set on my rope and feels like it could withstand an explosion and still be good to go. While the RR feels like it's built for speed and I can't believe the way it gobbles up slack.

I guess I'll just have to split my time between them equally. What's my poor HH going to do? How are you guys managing this "problem" of having so many excellent options and only so much time?
Click to expand...

Thanks for this post that describes the subtle differences between the Bulldog Bone and the Rope Runner.

Is it fair to say that you prefer both of those devices over the Hitch Hiker now? If so, is it primarily because of how quickly you can get them on and off of the rope?

With regard to the fact that you own all three devices, the only thing that pops into my head is the phrase "You LUCKY bastard!!"

Please continue.

Tim
 
Tim, I definitely am lucky. I had a good winter this year. The HH will always be special to me because it was my first experience with SRT. I've been using that for a little over a year and love it. Maybe I'll try using it on my lanyard. I don't know. A few years ago, I stopped using a rope grab on my lanyard because I prefer the way a hitch functions. I didn't think I would ever like a mechanical hitch. But after hearing so many good things about the RR and BDB, I had to try them. I'm the only climber where I work and I couldn't decide which based on conversations I had or things I read about them - so I got both. I thought then I could decide - Nope.
So to answer your question, yes I definitely prefer both to the HH. Easy and fast on and off the rope. No adjustment of hitches. Pop 'em on the rope and your ready to roll. I only spent about an hour climbing on a wrench, so it's not fair of me to comment on it, but I would probably say I prefer the RR or BDB.
Also to be fair, I don't know much about anything and this is just my opinion based on my experiences. They are all great tools that allow SRT ascent and descent without a changeover. Other than crane work, I'm not sure I'll ever climb Dbrt again.
 
Bulldog Bone - great device. smooth, super easy on and off, quite sturdy, great for spar work/srt redirects

Rope Runner (only tried it a few weeks) - Awesome. Even smoother, on/off capabilities not as nice as BDB, great tending.

Both are winners to me.
 
mikbro81 said:
Tim, I definitely am lucky. I had a good winter this year. The HH will always be special to me because it was my first experience with SRT. I've been using that for a little over a year and love it. Maybe I'll try using it on my lanyard. I don't know. A few years ago, I stopped using a rope grab on my lanyard because I prefer the way a hitch functions. I didn't think I would ever like a mechanical hitch. But after hearing so many good things about the RR and BDB, I had to try them. I'm the only climber where I work and I couldn't decide which based on conversations I had or things I read about them - so I got both. I thought then I could decide - Nope.
So to answer your question, yes I definitely prefer both to the HH. Easy and fast on and off the rope. No adjustment of hitches. Pop 'em on the rope and your ready to roll. I only spent about an hour climbing on a wrench, so it's not fair of me to comment on it, but I would probably say I prefer the RR or BDB.
Also to be fair, I don't know much about anything and this is just my opinion based on my experiences. They are all great tools that allow SRT ascent and descent without a changeover. Other than crane work, I'm not sure I'll ever climb Dbrt again.
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Thanks so much for the quick answer.

There was another thread on this forum in which a guy posted what I consider to be a "must watch" video with the Rope Runner, which you may have seen already. I'll try to post a link to the video as presented on YouTube.



Amazing new technique, in my opinion. At least, I have never before seen anyone else do this. The only downside I see so far is that it is effectively one long rope, so that if you like to climb with two ropes for safety, as a backup, you've just lost that using his technique. I'm a pretty new climber though, so maybe I'm wrong, and missing something.

The power of his technique is that it allows a climber to move his tie-in point anywhere along the line between his two tie-in points. At one point he demonstrates how moving the position of his suspension point allows him to drop right onto a limb on the other side of the tree, and then limbwalk out relatively easily because he'd just drastically reduced his rope angle.

There is so much going on in this one short video, it's hard to register it all. Just ground breaking technique, in my opinion.

Tim
 
gmcttr said:
Buy multiple ropes of differing diameters, set the BDB to work best with one rope and the RR with another. Then your choice of rope selects the device.:sisi:
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I was thinking about buying some escalator since it's on sale. I've never climbed on a static line, but I'm pretty sure I'll like it.
 
mikbro81 said:
I was thinking about buying some escalator since it's on sale. I've never climbed on a static line, but I'm pretty sure I'll like it.
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static line is awesome with mechanicals (at least with the BDB). The reason why i didn't use static lines before was because i was on a hitch-based system (hard stops), but with mechanicals and the gradual stopping, no reason not to use static lines. unless you have soft hands
 
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I used to climb on escalator with the wrench and like tylerhoffman said it don't playnice with the hitch. I should try it with the runner, it's just been hanging out on the retrieval side of my system since I got my cherry bomb
 
Kevin, if you don't mind my asking, I'd be interested in what you think of the technique demonstrated in the video "Pizza and Beer" that I linked to just a bit earlier in this thread. As a vastly more experienced climber than I, as well as being the man who invented the device used in the video, I'd really like to know what you think. It must just be a real kick for you to see people around the world using a device that was born in your own mind, first.

Thanks in advance for any response you choose to give.

Tim
 
I regularly climb with two lines, but I haven't tried with two lines in one device. I talked with johny pro about it and there are some good things ab I t his technique but also some things that need to be worked out. I would say the technique is experimental only at this point. At the moment, I find using two lines and two devices to be the ticket to safe climbing.
 
Thanks so much for this response, Kevin. It's nice to know that you actually had a chance to speak with him about it. I appreciate your measured, reasoned response.

Tim
 
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