Lazy or Clever?

As a rec-climber nearing 60, this kind of technology is inspirational. Here are my initial thoughts.

Lets build this bitch! I really love this idea and wish I could see it built from the ground up, as a mid-line attachable electric powered ascender, augmented by a electric cordless power drill, able to support and lift a 250lb climber with gear, as well as be able to support 10-12mm climbing line. The mid-line attachable rescue/ascending unit needs to have an auto breaking feature, a lock-off and auto kill switch, an ability to work in both directions, either upward or downward. The drill mechanism can be housed to prevent slippage off the drill head, but the cordless electric power drill will be an entirely detachable component.
 
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John@TreeXP said:
. . . needs to have an auto breaking feature, a lock-off and auto kill switch, an ability to work in both directions, either upward or downward. The drill mechanism can be housed to prevent slippage off the drill head. . .
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The drill itself takes care of the auto kill and reversing. You let go of the trigger and it stops, and the reversing button is right there too. One issue is that it while autobraking basically, it will not always hold position if the rope slips on the sprocket, but of course, you want your bone, hitch, or whatever, riding right on top of it anyway, tethered past it to the bridge of the saddle, with as little slack or setback as can be arranged. My bone self-advances on top of the device with no attention at all. I get up there, slack off the ascender in reverse enough to remove it from the rope, hang it off the saddle like I would a small chainsaw, or else hang it there on a limb or lower it if totally finished with it, and then move around as I would normally with my bone (or hitch, RW or whatever your own favourite regular method is). So far, no problem at all with the drill slipping off the device. The drill chuck locks onto the shaft of the device as tightly as it would any large drill bit. Very secure, really. I love this thing! And it takes seconds to whip the drill back off the device if I want to drill some holes or use it somewhere else. Can't do that with a Wraptor!
 
Burrapeg said:
The drill itself takes care of the auto kill and reversing. You let go of the trigger and it stops, and the reversing button is right there too. One issue is that it while autobraking basically, it will not always hold position if the rope slips on the sprocket, but of course, you want your bone, hitch, or whatever, riding right on top of it anyway, tethered past it to the bridge of the saddle, with as little slack or setback as can be arranged. My bone self-advances on top of the device with no attention at all. I get up there, slack off the ascender in reverse enough to remove it from the rope, hang it off the saddle like I would a small chainsaw, or else hang it there on a limb or lower it if totally finished with it, and then move around as I would normally with my bone (or hitch, RW or whatever your own favourite regular method is). So far, no problem at all with the drill slipping off the device. The drill chuck locks onto the shaft of the device as tightly as it would any large drill bit. Very secure, really. I love this thing! And it takes seconds to whip the drill back off the device if I want to drill some holes or use it somewhere else. Can't do that with a Wraptor!
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I agree, backing everything off with a blakes is a wise idea. Sounds like it's all figured out, now all we have to do is locate these rescue kits in bulk, before they all get grabbed up. Military surplus, perhaps?
 
John@TreeXP said:
I agree, backing everything off with a blakes is a wise idea. Sounds like it's all figured out, now all we have to do is locate these rescue kits in bulk, before they all get grabbed up. Military surplus, perhaps?
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These things are not military spec but are basically industrial rescue descenders for high-rise work and such. These new ones on eBay are coming from the Brownsville TX area and there are huge shipbreaking yards right there. These are probably coming off offshore oil platforms being scrapped. I actually worked at one of these yards in 1973/4, helping scrap the famous hospital ship HOPE..
 
Has anyone shot any videos of this device on rope and in action? Would love to see one in use! Watching ebay hoping someone posts some a little closer to my budget! This gear addiction is real!! :(:(:(
 
39Buick said:
Has anyone shot any videos of this device on rope and in action? Would love to see one in use! Watching eBay hoping someone posts some a little closer to my budget! This gear addiction is real!! :(:(:(
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The r500's do occasionally turn up on eBay cheaper than those at present. I intend to get some video of mine in action and I bought a used GoPro I have mounted to my helmet. I was going to climb yesterday with it but it started raining pretty heavily (forecast is for rain thru the weekend too). If I do manage to get some decent footage and figure out how to get it up onto youTube, I will let you guys know as soon as it is there.
 
I really like the cases. I have been using all the parts separately and it has been a good investment. It is pretty specific gear, but it is all pretty useful. I am sure you could sell the parts on here no problem. The rope it comes with is great for rappelling.
 
20180407_105622.webp Here is my latest use for it, dragging the arbor trolley to the chipper. It worked great, I could have pulled it faster, but this saved me a lot of energy and some damage to the yard.

Whenever I use mine for ascent, I use a back-up system with my climbing system on it, so I don't mind using this tool for non-climbing duties.
 
treebing said:
has anyone made a video of it climbing?
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I was all set up to do that this weekend and of course it is raining and blowing again both days. But the GoPro is on the helmet now and I think I have it nailed down how to use it. I still need to get the camera angle locked down just right to show what I am doing with the device framed in the shot OK. The fish-eye aspect of these GoPro cameras is a little weird to get used to but hopefully will work all right for a close up view like this. Will try to get someone else standing by with a regular camcorder too, for a different view.
 
Burrapeg said:
I was all set up to do that this weekend and of course it is raining and blowing again both days. But the GoPro is on the helmet now and I think I have it nailed down how to use it. I still need to get the camera angle locked down just right to show what I am doing with the device framed in the shot OK. The fish-eye aspect of these GoPro cameras is a little weird to get used to but hopefully will work all right for a close up view like this. Will try to get someone else standing by with a regular camcorder too, for a different view.
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Praying for good weather for you! Can't wait to see the footage!!
 
treebing said:
has anyone made a video of it climbing?
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Finally got a dry afternoon today after work and shot some quick GoPro footage of a short climb of about 35 feet with the device. I ride my BDB right on top of the RollGliss with its tether leading past the ascender, so that the Bone is self advancing and requires no attention. I can back off on the drill anytime and sit back on the Bone. The video shows how easy it is to attach and remove the device. Note that normally the rope is captive in the RollGliss r500 and I had to mill away part of the housing to make it mid-line attachable. Climbs nice with the heavy duty DeWalt on high speed and the 4ah batteries last me all afternoon when I am using the device. Here is the link:
 
Meant to say that the reason I have to stop the drill at intervals is to keep tension on the rope with my left hand so that it does not slip in the sprocket. If I weight the tail of the rope near the ground with something like a gear bag or small chainsaw, etc., I can ascend at a constant rate without my left hand needed on the rope.
 
Nice work! Great footage! I picked one up off of ebay and have yet to start repurposing it. This gives me a bit more motivation. Although being very new to climbing I am going to wait a bit and practice climbing with the gear I have. I don't want to get the rollgliss on the rope and get spoiled! I am really getting hooked on climbing and wish I had discovered it years ago!
Thanks for the inspiring video! Btw, which gopro did you pick up? Looks like its doing a fine job!
 
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