Is this safe?

[Nroche9114]

Don’t know if i posted in the right section.

when i do anything except palm trees, i use a friction saver, my rope through the friction saver, i have a alpine on the small ring side, and the line i ascend and descend from on the large ring side. The loop of the butterfly is not through the rings.

so then I’m at the bottom of tree. I have my hand ascender, it’s got a carabiner and a tiny cmi pulley attached to it on the bottom hole, and I’ve got a line straight to my harness.
i then have a petzl pro traxion hooked to my harness.
my climbing line goes through the hand ascender, through the traxion, back up to the tiny pulley, and then i pull down on the line to ascend, while pulling myself up on the hand ascender, then i slide my hand ascender up and repeat process.
I don’t have a foot loop yet.
since i mainly only ever do palm trees, and if i do anything else it’s mainly removals, i usually don’t have to do redirects or anything.

i started using the traxion because i didn’t like that the hitch climber with prusik would give a little. So id ascend abd then before the vt engaged again i would go back down a few inches, while the traxion i may go back down a centimeter.

also if it means anything, i use a petzl avao fall arrest harness because i went from doing staging to doing trees.

i know there’s likely better ways to ascend, like knee and foot ascender and doing the running man up a tree, but that’s not the question I’m asking.
I’m also very comfortable in my harness despite it not being a saddle.

so, is the alpine and friction saver safe, and is the handascender and traxion safe?

 

[Brocky]

Sounds like a good system for ascending, connecting the hand ascender to the harness would give it some redundancy. The original RAD system that you’re using had a Grigri instead of Traxion to be able to descend at anytime. Do switch over to a hitch when in the tree?
I was looking at your harness the last time I bought one but decided on their lighter Falcon Ascent. I use a chest ascender attached low to the belt which pushes up a hitch. After ascending, I only have to disconnect the chest harness to continue.

 

[Crimsonking]

I’ll echo Brocky and ask- how do you descend? Are you able to descend if needed while in ascent mode?

 

[Nroche9114]

Sounds like a good system for ascending, connecting the hand ascender to the harness would give it some redundancy. The original RAD system that you’re using had a Grigri instead of Traxion to be able to descend at anytime. Do switch over to a hitch when in the tree?
I was looking at your harness the last time I bought one but decided on their lighter Falcon Ascent. I use a chest ascender attached low to the belt which pushes up a hitch. After ascending, I only have to disconnect the chest harness to continue.

When in tree, i am tied in with a wire-in rope and rooe grab lanyard from waist d ring to waist d ring.
to descend, i have to unclip all of that stuff and clip it to one of my side loops on harness to hang there till i need again.
i will then set up my figure 8 and descend. Otherwise, i will have set up drt and used my hitch climber and the vt hitch and used that to descend, and sometimes that’s cool cas i can stop if i need to and walk out on a limb, but 9/10 times if I’m descending I’m just going straight down for whatever reason so i don’t have to stop on a limb.
Setting up the figure 8 is simple enough because all i have to do is unclip stuff and clip that stuff to my harness. It seems safe to me because I’m still tied into the tree with my lanyard, after I’ve set up my figure 8, i put tension on my figure 8, so that it’s got all my weight, take off the lanyard and let it hang freely, and then i descend.

 

[Nroche9114]

Sounds like a good system for ascending, connecting the hand ascender to the harness would give it some redundancy. The original RAD system that you’re using had a Grigri instead of Traxion to be able to descend at anytime. Do switch over to a hitch when in the tree?
I was looking at your harness the last time I bought one but decided on their lighter Falcon Ascent. I use a chest ascender attached low to the belt which pushes up a hitch. After ascending, I only have to disconnect the chest harness to continue.

And i connect the hand ascender to my harness in the event that the progress catch/rope grab of the traxion fails, my hand ascender will catch.

 

[Nroche9114]

I’ll echo Brocky and ask- how do you descend? Are you able to descend if needed while in ascent mode?

I am unable to descend at a moments notice if i am in the process of ascending, but if i add a carabiner to my hand ascender on the top ring and switch the traxion to pulley mode, i can run the rope through and use that to descend quicker than i can set up the figure 8, but it adds some sharp bends to the rope and some heavy friction.

 

[Brocky]

I forgot about the lock out option on the cam, are you using a Munter hitch on the added carabiner?

 

[Nroche9114]

I forgot about the lock out option on the cam, are you using a Munter hitch on the added carabiner?

I wouldn’t really have to if the traxion is in pulley mode, i just have to have long enough rope. Going through the ascender(the ascender staying where it clipped to), then through the traxion, back up to instead of the pulley, a carabiner, then a separate carabiner would create a second point of friction, or I’d just use a hitch. Ideally I’d use my figure 8 though

 

[Crimsonking]

Here’s the thing- you set this system up because you don’t like the sit-back of hitches, so you use a system that is not readily descendable, and when it is switched over, has no brake potential if you let go of the rope. It sounds like you’re causing over-complication and exposing yourself to risk for a matter of inconvenience. There are hitches other than the VT that can give super smooth performance.

I strongly suggest you go back to hitches and find one that works smoothly with your weight, rope, and hitch cord combination.

 

[southsoundtree]

Don't reinvent the wheel, especially with one prone to flat tires.

 

[Nroche9114]

Here’s the thing- you set this system up because you don’t like the sit-back of hitches, so you use a system that is not readily descendable, and when it is switched over, has no brake potential if you let go of the rope. It sounds like you’re causing over-complication and exposing yourself to risk for a matter of inconvenience. There are hitches other than the VT that can give super smooth performance.

I strongly suggest you go back to hitches and find one that works smoothly with your weight, rope, and hitch cord combination.

Which hitches do you suggest trying? It’s also much easier for me to ascend with my system, which was another reason i didn’t really use the hitch climber system, and srt with no rope wrench.
im asking if it’s safe to ascend this way, not if it’s a lot of work to switch to descending mode/figure 8. I don’t know much about descenders

 

[Crimsonking]

Many have success with the Michoacán. Others like the Knut or Distel.

If you can’t descend with it, it’s not safe to ascend with. There are too many options for ascent that meet basic safety criteria for someone to use something that doesn’t. Why not use a wrench or hitch hiker? The gear you’re using totals up to more than the cost of a wrench, so price should not be an issue. Besides, as someone once told me, if you’re compromising safety based on any tool, you’re saying that the price of that tool is worth more than your life.

 

[Crimsonking]

Okay, I reread your original post. It sounds like you need to go ahead and pick up a few essentials- foot ascender, knee ascender or foot loop for your hand ascender, and a rope wrench or hitchhiker.

Set yourself up for success. If budget is an issue, there are plenty of guys here with extras who may be willing to sell at a discount.

 

[Nroche9114]

Okay, I reread your original post. It sounds like you need to go ahead and pick up a few essentials- foot ascender, knee ascender or foot loop for your hand ascender, and a rope wrench or hitchhiker.

Set yourself up for success. If budget is an issue, there are plenty of guys here with extras who may be willing to sell at a discount.

I’ve got a hitch climber set up, just haven’t got a rope wrench as well. The hand ascender was given to me, i got the traxion a few years ago when i was a stagehand and i just thought i could use it again and not have to buy anything else. Money isn’t really an issue, it would just be slow to get. The knee ascender and foot ascender look easiest to climb with. I might have to try it

 

[Crimsonking]

Sherrill and wesspur show wrenches and tethers in stock. They both have shipping locations close to Vegas, so turnaround should be quick. They both sell the camp knee ascender, which is my personal favorite. It’s super light and compact, and travels up the rope with ease. The notch jet step is my preferred footie. It doesn’t need anything to weight the rope to begin ascent with most ropes, unlike many of the others.

Let us know what you end up getting!

Also, do you mind giving us a glimpse of what climbing in Vegas is like? I almost moved there a few years ago to be close to friends.

 

[southsoundtree]

Your traxion and/ or hand ascender might be made into a knee ascender.

I've logged lots of feet of ascent on a cut- off petzl handled ascender, an adjustable foot loop, and bungee cord.


You can make a friction device. Threads are around. Real RWs are sweet.

 

[Nroche9114]

Sherrill and wesspur show wrenches and tethers in stock. They both have shipping locations close to Vegas, so turnaround should be quick. They both sell the camp knee ascender, which is my personal favorite. It’s super light and compact, and travels up the rope with ease. The notch jet step is my preferred footie. It doesn’t need anything to weight the rope to begin ascent with most ropes, unlike many of the others.

Let us know what you end up getting!

Also, do you mind giving us a glimpse of what climbing in Vegas is like? I almost moved there a few years ago to be close to friends.

I mean slow to get like, i can usually only afford to get one item every two weeks/paycheck. I ordered from sherrill before and got my stuff rather quickly, same week or the next week.

you mean post pictures or give descriptions of what it’s like here? As for a description, it is mostly palm trees, this place is littered with palm trees because of the idea that palm trees are synonymous with vacation, resort, luxury, etc
There’s a lot of pine trees, those are my favorite. The palm trees can be fun if they’re sorta close cas you can jump to the other ones or swing. I have a hook made out of a spare lanyard/meat hook, throw it around tree or have it catch frond, and use a progress catch or rope grab to pull myself and then lower myself on my climbing line and then I’m on the second tree.
it’s mostly residential here unless you’re working for the commercial companies. Tree service is paid poorly here, $14-$18, but one company pays $33 for their climbers.
If you’re not trimming a palm tree, then you’re gonna be removing a palm, a pine, a sumac, an ash, or a mesquite tree. A lot of the trees have spikes.
i did staging/theater/festivals for 10 years, thought it was the best thing in the world. Pandemic hit and i was out of work, got unemployment, but i was bored. Started trees and since i love climbing and rigging, even though i get paid almost $10 an hour less than before, I’m likely not going back to staging except for nights abd weekends.

 

[Nroche9114]

Your traxion and/ or hand ascender might be made into a knee ascender.

I've logged lots of feet of ascent on a cut- off petzl handled ascender, an adjustable foot loop, and bungee cord.


You can make a friction device. Threads are around. Real RWs are sweet.

I’ve thought about making one out of spare rope grabs I’ve got, didn’t know if itd work out.

 

[Nroche9114]

Sherrill and wesspur show wrenches and tethers in stock. They both have shipping locations close to Vegas, so turnaround should be quick. They both sell the camp knee ascender, which is my personal favorite. It’s super light and compact, and travels up the rope with ease. The notch jet step is my preferred footie. It doesn’t need anything to weight the rope to begin ascent with most ropes, unlike many of the others.

Let us know what you end up getting!

Also, do you mind giving us a glimpse of what climbing in Vegas is like? I almost moved there a few years ago to be close to friends.

In the winter you’ll be able to do a ton of work/trees, but in the summer you’ll definitely notice a decrease in how much you’re able to do. It’s not even summer yet and it’s already gotten to 110 Fahrenheit. You can drink all the water you water, wear sunscreen, do whatever you think would help, but the heat is unforgiving and it is relentless. I would easily take the East’s humidity and heat over this heat.

 

[Crimsonking]

In the winter you’ll be able to do a ton of work/trees, but in the summer you’ll definitely notice a decrease in how much you’re able to do. It’s not even summer yet and it’s already gotten to 110 Fahrenheit. You can drink all the water you water, wear sunscreen, do whatever you think would help, but the heat is unforgiving and it is relentless. I would easily take the East’s humidity and heat over this heat.

While I never worked while I was out there, I hear what you’re saying- 112 surrounded by brown rock was an experience. However, I preferred the dry heat to what I live in, when I got back from my trip I almost threw up every day for a week, and the humidity was lower than where I live now.