Knee and foot ascender

N

Nroche9114

Location
Las vegas
Not sure if this is where I’d post this, but I’m thinking of making a foot ascender and a knee ascender.

i have a petzl hand ascender, a climbright rope grab(probably won’t use because have to run entire rope through it to detach it, so I’ll probably just buy a foot or maybe a chest ascender.

i wanted to do ropewalking ascending Cas it looks like it requires little to no energy to ascend, and the speed is unmatched. I didn’t want to spend money i didn’t have to though. I thought that i had seen people on here talk about this before, where someone has made it out of a hand ascender before, if so can anyone link to it or a how to guide?
So i was prolly gonna use the hand ascender as the knee ascender, since it’s got holes for the bungee as well as a hole for the foot loop, and when I’m done with it i can clip it onto harness and if for any reason, i can use it as a regular hand ascender or whatever use i find while in tree if needed.
with the climb right rope grab thing, i think that it prefers only wire in rope, like it’s used for my lanyard that go around tree, but there was an extra one at the shop and asked if i could have it and they said sure. I’ve used it as a hand ascender before, when i didn’t have a hand ascender, it’s worked the same so i know it works. The only problem is that it is not detachable unless you pull the entire remaining length of rope through it. I could do some machining or whatever to make it to where it is able to attach abd detach anytime, but I’m afraid it might mess with the integrity of the device, i might break it, or it just won’t work. Without messing with it somehow, it’s only for one hole, abd that’s where the carabiner goes to pull the grabby guy to pinch the rope, or grab the rope. So if i used that I’d most definitely have to attach something to it that allowed me to secure it to my foot. Doing that would save me whatever it costs for a foot ascender, and then later when i can afford it, i can buy the proper gear.
Any ideas? Thanks guys, and sorry if it’s not posted in the correct spot.
 
Nroche9114 said:
but there was an extra one at the shop and asked if i could have it and they said sure.
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Assuming this is the shop of the folks who employ you?

If that’s the case, they are lucky to have someone working for them who is as dedicated and creative as you, willing to go the extra mile to machine a tool that will ultimately make them money as you become a more efficient employee. Especially in this job climate, I don’t think it’s much to ask them to pony up and buy you what you need to do your job well.

Sorry I’m not answering your question. I’m not as mechanically creative as some other folks on here, I’m sure there will be some good ideas.
 
I made several of my own knee ascenders by starting with the cheapest midline attachable ascenders I could find on eBay (yes, Chinese I expect - I was not using them for life support). BUT this was just til I saved up for a SAKA. A SAKA, or better yet, a MiniSAKA (which you can almost wad up in your pocket), is pretty hard to beat. The ascender cam in these is specifically designed to be very gentle on the rope, yet grabs almost perfectly. And Richard uses a superior type of bungee too. Worth every penny! He is yoyoMan here on the forum. Website is climbinginnovations (dot) com. He has fantastic videos too, for both newbie and pro.
 
Stumpsprouts said:
Assuming this is the shop of the folks who employ you?

If that’s the case, they are lucky to have someone working for them who is as dedicated and creative as you, willing to go the extra mile to machine a tool that will ultimately make them money as you become a more efficient employee. Especially in this job climate, I don’t think it’s much to ask them to pony up and buy you what you need to do your job well.

Sorry I’m not answering your question. I’m not as mechanically creative as some other folks on here, I’m sure there will be some good ideas.
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They’ve bought me 400ft of kmIII rope, new lanyards, new cushiony pads for my gaffs/spikeys so far, they said they’d buy me whatever i asked for. I know i should take advantage of it, but it doesn’t feel right to just send over a list of everything i want, so i usually just ask for what i absolutely need. It’s a landscaping/pool/hardscape type of company, they got a contract with a realty company, i do all jobs involving trees, occasionally I’ll help the construction crew with pool chip outs, pavers, demo and installs, very rarely I’ll be asked to do turns where we make a house look perfect for the sale, includes irrigation, all plants, rocks, pretty much everything outside a house. I’m the only one climbing though. We’re like 3 weeks backed up because progress has slowed greatly because of 110+ degrees with 30% humidity and i take heat stroke seriously abd won’t overwork my crew.
they take care of me, but it feels weird, just doesn’t sit right with me to ask them for everything, even though i really really want to, like everyday.
 
Burrapeg said:
I made several of my own knee ascenders by starting with the cheapest midline attachable ascenders I could find on eBay (yes, Chinese I expect - I was not using them for life support). BUT this was just til I saved up for a SAKA. A SAKA, or better yet, a MiniSAKA (which you can almost wad up in your pocket), is pretty hard to beat. The ascender cam in these is specifically designed to be very gentle on the rope, yet grabs almost perfectly. And Richard uses a superior type of bungee too. Worth every penny! He is yoyoMan here on the forum. Website is climbinginnovations (dot) com. He has fantastic videos too, for both newbie and pro.
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I was wondering about those super cheap ascenders. I was gonna get some but they’re so cheap, are they just as strong? Will they break?
 
Nroche9114 said:
I was wondering about those super cheap ascenders. I was gonna get some but they’re so cheap, are they just as strong? Will they break?
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They are crap compared to the real thing, but it still takes a lot to break one. more than we are putting on them just climbing. And a knee ascender is never your life support anyway. Thing is, they are sometimes hard on rope since they don't always take much trouble to deburr the teeth on the cams or sharp edges. I had to clean them up with a small file and some emery rubbed around on the cam teeth.
 
Just make a foot loop for the hand ascender, it isn’t a knee ascender but works just fine. Im actually thinking of going back to it over a knee, more and more I’m slapping on a ascender above my hitch just to give my hands a break.
 
I've got an old petzl ascender I rounded the teeth off. It works as a knee ascender, and it's yours assuming you won't use it for life support
 
I had got a hand ascender on sale, and chose to make it into a knee ascender as well. I used the smallest Tenex (5/16" ?) and looped it through the mounting holes top and bottom, then added a whoopie sorta loop for my foot. Tied some thin bungee cord I can attach to keep it following upward. I just followed the way the Haas ascender rope part looked
 
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