New Hitch for the Hitch Hiker X and other things.

Your hitch is still plenty short, nice. I have become intolerant of anything that increases setback like long legged hitchs. They work so well in a MRS because only half the setback is felt.
 
rico said:
Agree about the hitch on post #7. When I was using the standard HH hitch I too used the 4 wrap variety. I believe I got the idea from you somewheres on the inter webs ? Really nothing to complain about and when run with a pulley it was near perfect for me. I have just found my current hitch choice to be slightly better on both ascent and descent.
Funny but I was just talking to a buddy yesterday about the fact that I no longer view trees in term of a MRS system. Its amazing how quickly MRS became a last resort for me.

My current working setup. Love it!


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I haven’t messed with a hhx when you run that pulley Rico where are you clipping into with your bridge?
 
Ronhayden said:
I haven’t messed with a hhx when you run that pulley Rico where are you clipping into with your bridge?
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Here ya go Ronhayden. I've never been a fan of a swivel on my bridge, so I run either a small or large ISC ring on my bridge, but I'm thinking a small SMC machined ring might be the ticket!

IMG_1445.webp
 
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Yep, the pulley makes it tend like butter. I'm sure there are pulley that would work better, but its what I had in my gear bag and it working pretty flawlessly for me. I'm imagine DSMc would have some solid recommendations for pulley's that work well in this configuration.
 
No, it does not when using a pulley. It is one of the ways that the pulley makes tending better.

Honestly I've only tried a few pulleys because the Petzl Fix works so well for me I didn't see any point in looking further.
 
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I can only speak for myself but adding the pulley to the HH was the icing on the cake. It took a world class device and made it the sweetest, smoothest, most versatile device I have used to date.
 
I'm looking at y'all's hitches and I'm wondering what kind of gains I could get by simply using less wraps. I always go at least 5, but maybe for 9mm RIT on 1/2" Vortex with 220+lbs hanging on it, it's just too much friction.

I also have some 9.3mm epi, 10mm OP, and 10mm Flex drying in front of a fan right now (superglue-finishing the cut ends) that I'm wondering if one or all of those will make tending buttery smooth. Still need to experiment with your hitch, rico.

Thanks for the advice, btw, gentlemen. I've not had a chance in the past two days to climb or try anything out. Getting back to it now...
 
rico said:
I'm a pretty light climber (160lbs) and can't go more than 4 wraps on either the HH or the Wrench.
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Good to know.

Since I am a total newb at this stuff, is it generally easy to tell if a hitch doesn't have sufficient (or marginal) holding power for a given weight/load?

Watched a video with Mumford where he was using his dial-a-friction addition to go to HHx, and was thinking that I'd crap my pants if I was in a tree and I had a hitch that slipped slowly like that.
 
Went up 70' out this afternoon/evening and ascended and descended a few times. Tried a 4 wrap Valdotain (as opposed to the 5-6 wrap from the instructions that I've been running). Tended much much much easier. Never had a failure to engage.

Pictures attached of what it had morphed into by the time I was finished. Same hitch, just two photos.
 

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@rico, check out that hitch, man. Isn't that the one you tied, but just rotated 180deg on the line?

Worked like a boss, btw. Just less wraps! I didn't even try the other hitch cords yet after getting the RIT to work so well. Thanks for the help.
 
I am always amazed at how many wraps, x-overs, and tucks guys have on their hitches. They look like they would tend like a boat anchor.

After a quick look your hitch appears to be a standard 4 wrap HH hitch.
 
rico said:
I am always amazed at how many wraps, x-overs, and tucks guys have on their hitches. They look like they would tend like a boat anchor.

After a quick look your hitch appears to be a standard 4 wrap HH hitch.
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I still want to try other cordage to see what I'm potentially missing, but functionally, with the little bit of maneuvering and advancing I know how to do, this setup wasn't costing me anything, in terms of ease of tending, engagement, etc. It tended like I've seen others demo in videos; just grab the carabiner and pull up, and it goes right up the line with very little effort
 
Throw a pulley
LordFarkwad said:
I still want to try other cordage to see what I'm potentially missing, but functionally, with the little bit of maneuvering and advancing I know how to do, this setup wasn't costing me anything, in terms of ease of tending, engagement, etc. It tended like I've seen others demo in videos; just grab the carabiner and pull up, and it goes right up the line with very little effort
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Put a pulley underneath the HH and call it a day. You will have a world class hybrid device that will serve you well for many years.
 
Slow creeping or slipping is something most experienced climbers have dealt with plenty. While not a comfortable, secure feeling, it can usually be stopped by squeezing the hitch or friction component. Then addressed at a point where the lanyard can be used while a hitch is dressed or retied.
 
From the first moment I saw the HH device I fell in love with its simplicity and effectiveness. I've been lurking on this thread and have tried several of the hitch configurations with notable improvements over the "stock" setup. Now I'm seeing all this stuff about a pulley under the device...its almost like you all are forcing me to buy more gear!! That being the case, any input on which pulley seems to work/fit best with the steel crab that comes with the HH2?
 
Phil said:
From the first moment I saw the HH device I fell in love with its simplicity and effectiveness. I've been lurking on this thread and have tried several of the hitch configurations with notable improvements over the "stock" setup. Now I'm seeing all this stuff about a pulley under the device...its almost like you all are forcing me to buy more gear!! That being the case, any input on which pulley seems to work/fit best with the steel crab that comes with the HH2?
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I believe many use the Petzl Fixe pulley. I am using this CT pulley and it is working flawlessly.
https://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?item=7987
 
I use the ISC fixed. If you have to go out and buy one there are cheap'Os on ebay. It does nothing life support, just tends.

Climbing with out a pulley makes me sad, love that extra fluid tending. Doing pony redirects kinda sucks, having to hold onto the bridge, carabiner, pulley. Then keep the rope in place while feeding it all back onto a ring / swivel. But it is still worth it. I have both on my bridge and use the swivel most of the time. Being able to toss my tail over my shoulder and having my system lay correct is magic. The ISC pully just slightly interferes with the ring, holding it in place. Making it a bit easier to install.

I'm 160 without gear, I use 3-4 wraps knut or 5 wraps with the classic hitch. Oceans 8mm or HRC, on Anitdote 11mm double braid (like Yale Blaze). I first demoed the HH with RIT 9mm and loved it. Just haven't had a reason to mail order some, living in Canada shipping is nuts.

I really want to get a HHX, for the lighter body and slick pin shackle. But I can't see a huge improvement in function, just quality of life stuff. I would like to try the HH with a quickie, but still haven't gotten one yet.
 
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