New guy to Rope Runner: question about bottom slic-pin

LordFarkwad said:
Gatcha, gatcha. Makes sense.

The HH2 is my only other SRT device, but the only gripe with it - which is something that I will felt admit can be drilled to down to being MY problem as opposed to one with the device itself - is that it doesn't tend as easily as the RR. I can live with it pretty well after a few ascents and descents, when the hitch loosens up. But that first several are savage to the shoulder meat my tending strap routes over.

I have the hitch tied that tight because when I'd just started really climbing higher (months ago), I had tied a Distel above the HH and one of the first times up with it, it wouldn't engage without manually helping it (pushing the hitch upwards). This scared the CRAP outta me, and lead me back to the original HH hitch (a VT without any braids, which I also tie very tightly), which has never failed to engage, the way I tie it at least, the way recommended in the instructions.

After using it for a few minutes, it tends great, but it has not matched, much less beat, the RR in terms of ease-of-tending.

Didn't want this to be construed as detracting anything from the merits of the HH2. I have so little experience as to base this on, that it makes me almost ashamed to say it, but I'm very happy with both devices so far.
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There is no shame in sharing your experiences with a device. I believe you are close to being on the correct path in your use of the Hitch Hiker. I have in the past written up a procedure in multiple places that I use to make my original version Hitch Hiker tend well for me. I'll do it one more time, as it is easier than trying to find it again.

I tie my hitch really, really tight, and short, folded over to the front side of the Hitch Hiker. It takes some effort just to get it pushed up so that it sits on the top of the Hitch Hiker when I'm done tying it.

Now, here is the secret to easy tending with the Hitch Hiker, which I believe you have already discovered. You have to sit hard in your harness, while still on the ground, and then walk forward tending your slack. Once you've walked forward all the way to the base of the tree, pull on the hitch and walk backwards ten or twenty feet to your starting point, and sit hard into your saddle again. Then walk forward to the tree again, tending your slack as you go to the base of the tree again. I do this procedure three times in fairly rapid succession. Sit hard, walk forward tending, walk back, sit hard again. By the third iteration, the Hitch Hiker is tending very easily.

The only difference between what I do and what you do is when we do it. By doing it on the ground, while you are comfortable, you get to have nothing but an easily tending hitch for the whole time you are climbing. I hope this helps. Apologies if it all seems too obvious, no slight is intended.

Tim
 
John@TreeXP said:
Since when did the Runner's tending point even become an issue? Seems to tend so smoothly already that any further modifications would be extraneous, with little if any significant improvement.
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As has been said by others earlier, tending from one side does not always feel as smooth as it would if being pulled from the center. What I need to experiment with is whether or not it is ok to put body weight into that tending point.

I like to have a really solid connection to a climbing device that is strong enough that I know it will not break if I choose to lean back into it. Sometimes on a long ascent it is nice to be able to take a break on the way up by leaning back into a really strong over the shoulder webbing strap/tending strap. I tend to work alone, and carry most of what I need with me on my saddle, so I am not a minimalist climber. All of that extra weight means more work to ascend, and a greater chance of needing to take a break before reaching the top. Sometimes I also want to sit back and trim some deadwood on the way up. So it would be nice to know that it is ok to lean back with my full weight on my tending point, and not have it be an issue. I can do this with the setup I use with my Hitch Hiker or Rope Wrench and a triple attachment pulley. I would also like to be able to do it with the Rope Runner.

Tim
 
Thanks, man.

I said 'ashamed', but I probably should have said 'silly' instead - my experiences, feedback, and input on basically anything to do with trees, saws, climbing, etc., should rightfully be considered meaningless to anyone.

Your previous post(s) about tending was one of the original I read months ago! I'ma have to give this approach the good ol' college try on the ground and see how much it eases the tending. It's difficult to believe that it'll ever be as easy as the RR.

That being said, I see now why those more experienced revere the HH's "simplicity". It is 100% butt simple. Coming up over branches and things that could apply torsional force to the RR makes me extra cautious to not put it in position to be levered over across the branch.

Same thing applies to the HH of course, but it seems obvious that - and, I could be totally wrong - it is much less vulnerable to damage from it being levered across an object of appropriately small radius.
 
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LordFarkwad said:
Thanks, man.

I said 'ashamed', but I probably should have said 'silly' instead - my experiences, feedback, and input on basically anything to do with trees, saws, climbing, etc., should rightfully be considered meaningless to anyone.

Your previous post(s) about tending was one of the original I read months ago! I'ma have to give this approach the good ol' college try on the ground and see how much it eases the tending. It's difficult to believe that it'll ever be as easy as the RR.

That being said, I see now why those more experienced revere the HH's "simplicity". It is 100% butt simple. Coming up over branches and things that could apply torsional force to the RR makes me extra cautious to not put it in position to be levered over across the branch.

Same thing applies to the HH of course, but it seems obvious that - and, I could be totally wrong - it is much less vulnerable to damage from it being levered across an object of appropriately small radius.
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ive found that when I’m levered against a branch with the akimbo I throw on a three to one mechanical advantage and hip thrust up and around the branch and then just take it off. Easy peesy
 
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