Knee Ascender Bungee/Advancement

[Louhut]

For my knee ascender I am using a piece of rubber to advance the ascender. It’s like what you’d use for resistance training; handles either side to hold and pull apart etc..

It works better than anything (for me that is, I’ve tried so many different things), it has the best spring up the rope ever and it is such a short tether from the top of the ascender to my bridge. I can get a huge step with room for more stretch left in the rubber.
Only downside to this is that rope entering the ascender chafes the rubber and could cause it to snap if it advanced much further.
Question is: who knows of any reliably source-able bungee or retractor reels that are equally as good? I’ve tried a cheap reel but it couldnt lift the ascender, and all bungee I used had to go over my shoulder to get any real stretch which I am totally against.

TIA!

 

[evo]

For my knee ascender I am using a piece of rubber to advance the ascender. It’s like what you’d use for resistance training; handles either side to hold and pull apart etc..

It works better than anything (for me that is, I’ve tried so many different things), it has the best spring up the rope ever and it is such a short tether from the top of the ascender to my bridge. I can get a huge step with room for more stretch left in the rubber.
Only downside to this is that rope entering the ascender chafes the rubber and could cause it to snap if it advanced much further.
Question is: who knows of any reliably source-able bungee or retractor reels that are equally as good? I’ve tried a cheap reel but it couldnt lift the ascender, and all bungee I used had to go over my shoulder to get any real stretch which I am totally against.

TIA!

Stick it in some tubular webbing?

 

[John@TreeXP]

Sounds great. I'd like to see how well it works for you. Have you tried any of Dan @Educated Climbers recommendations for a bungee-less knee ascender?

 

[theatertech87]

West Marine has elastic dock lines by the foot. Can't speak to long term durability for a knee ascender. But as a bungee Esq saw scabbard keeper it lasted on the boom of the bucket for several years before I broke it. Should have enough stretch for you as well

 

[39Buick]

For my knee ascender I am using a piece of rubber to advance the ascender. It’s like what you’d use for resistance training; handles either side to hold and pull apart etc..

It works better than anything (for me that is, I’ve tried so many different things), it has the best spring up the rope ever and it is such a short tether from the top of the ascender to my bridge. I can get a huge step with room for more stretch left in the rubber.
Only downside to this is that rope entering the ascender chafes the rubber and could cause it to snap if it advanced much further.
Question is: who knows of any reliably source-able bungee or retractor reels that are equally as good? I’ve tried a cheap reel but it couldnt lift the ascender, and all bungee I used had to go over my shoulder to get any real stretch which I am totally against.

TIA!

Look at the replaceable bungee on climbing Innovations website. It is the most flexible and has the most spring in it than any I have ever seen or used. Better yet just pick you up the mini-max and you'll have the best there is on the planet!

you may also want to check out this thread.

retracting reels

There was some discussion in the other threads regarding the knee ascender and using a retracting reel. I definitely think it is the way to go at this point. Experimented with the Gammon reel per surveyors thoughts, but they were too weak unless I stacked three of them together. I then found...

www.treebuzz.com

 

[Louhut]

Retractor reels are probably my favourite idea because you can have the zero length aspect where you dint have a bungee flopping about when it’s stowed and they can work with every step length but mine is nowhere near strong enough to pull the ascender.

I’ll have a look at the thread on the reels and see what I can source for it her bungees. Main reason I didn’t get a SAKA was that I’m in the UK and the shipping is A lot. So getting a replacement bungee for the saka may not be a good idea for me.