Kong Dual Ascender

[Climber020]

Well finally last week I bought one. I am now kicking myself in the @ss for waiting so long to get one. After reading the TCIA footlocking article and buying this I have no problem practically running up the tree. Oh and thanks Mark, that adjustable rope/prussik set-up you have is great. Works nice and smooth and easy to adjust while just dangling.
For those that have considered it but thought it was too much ($160) here is what to do. Call Sherrill and order it ( tell them Wesspur has it for $112, which they do, and they beat the difference by 10%. What a great deal.

 

[Treekwando]

Yeah, I love my Kong too...

 

[Mark Chisholm]

I like the Kong too, but always back it up!

 

[jf1962]

Mark, what kind of back - up do you use on a Kong?

 

[Steve Connally]

Mark,

I was looking at the super cool pic of you in the Stihl ad in the TCIA mag. It looks like you have your flip line and a bowline on a bight. I can tell what the climbing line does from there. Is it a Munter through a beaner on your saddle followed by a friction knot? Must be cool to be the poster child for Stihl.

Does anybody have an e-mal for Dr John Ball. Author of the Rescue article in the TCIA mag this month. The address I found on the web is no good.

 

[Mark Chisholm]

There are many options. I choose to use two separate anchors in the tree so that each cam is independent.

 

[Mark Chisholm]

Poster child, nah. I just bribed my way in the shot. /forum/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

The system is an autolock (friction hitch) with a muenter for extra control/heat management.

 

[Lumberjack]

You bribed or were bribed? haha

 

[PUClimber]

Mark,
At the competition I was impressed when you backed up one set of kong ascenders with another set. Watching you climb and listening to you talk about some of the different set ups and that new saddle. You're definately and innovator.

 

[TreeJunkie]

Was this backed up and used for ascent on the aerial rescue? Was it used to work from as a floating false crotch???

 

[Mark Chisholm]

[ QUOTE ]
Mark,
At the competition I was impressed when you backed up one set of kong ascenders with another set. Watching you climb and listening to you talk about some of the different set ups and that new saddle. You're definately and innovator.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you sir!


Carl, I'm not even gonna... /forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif

TJunkie, I used one set to back up another set only for the ascent.

 

[RemovalWizzard]

i heard that it looked pretty cool..... great for the comptitions, but is it practical for work?..... i did not see it, but i am imagining that you need to have your line through a FS?


Mark, that was a great idea.... this is the reason that i love going to the comps, i always leave with some new ideas

rob

 

[Steve Connally]

Call me dumb but I don't get the double dual ascender. Please explain.....

 

[Mark Chisholm]

Well, if you taker a dual ascender and clip it to the line with no attachment to you and just pull the left line, then the right, then the left...and so on, the ascender will ascend without you. So, if you do this until it hits the friction saver in the top of the tree, it will stop there and not allow either end of the rope to move throught the saver. This almost creates a dbl static rope setup. Then you can climb with a dual ascender from the ground (as per usual) and each ascender is now independent, thus backing each other up.

 

[Steve Connally]

Interesting idea. You just work it up from the gound to lock your system off. Better for footlicking I assume?

 

[glens]

[ QUOTE ]
... the ascender will ascend without you. ... do this until it hits the friction saver in the top of the tree ... Then you can climb with a dual ascender from the ground (as per usual) and each ascender is now independent, thus backing each other up.

[/ QUOTE ]
Well, it's an interesting idea but if nothing else it will commit you to climbing all the way to the top every time.

What happens if one of the upper ascenders craps out?

 

[Mark Chisholm]

Yes, you do have to go to the top to release them. What do you mean by crap out?

 

[glens]

"crap out" in this case would mean to self-release (i.e. fail)

Not likely, I know; but stranger things have happened.

Next time you have a few minutes, take a length of prussic cord and:<ul type="square">[*]hold it horizontally with both hands[*]place it, on "your" side of the ropes, just above the dual ascender (which for this task is oriented with the cams away from you)[*]make three simultaneous upward wraps with each end around its respective leg of the doubled rope[*]pass the ends back toward yourself through the middle and over the horizontal start of your wraps[*]affix the ends to a 'biner (one of those "mice" should work admirably) clipped to the "near" handle, leaving just enough slack to allow free movement but so as to keep the "prussics" near the ascender[/list]I believe you'll find that the ascender will tend the "prussics" and that they will act admirably either independently or in tandem to back up the device.

 

[Mark Chisholm]

Well Glen,

I haven't tried your idea yet. However, if one of the upper ascenders does crap out, I still have the lower ascenders to hold. That's the point of a back-up right?

I will try your idea. I think I know what you are suggesting.

 

[glens]

Okay, so the top unit loses its ability for some reason to grasp the rope on one side and it happens to be on the "small ring" side of the false crotch. How do you climb to the top to retrieve your gear? It's a rhetorical question. I know you properly back up the lower ascender with some other means and go up to fetch the stuff.

It just seams to me to be a good idea to have the backup be readily accessible at all times. Especially so when failure of the backup could cause the most complicated/possible work to become necessary as in the scenario given here.

The only possible downside to the simple method I described above is, as Tom has pointed out before, the negative effect shrapnel might have.