New Rec Climber

[Ragnar]

Is that ocean polyester eye & eye? I found it a little goofy interacting with the tachyon, but I might not have broken it in enough and it could have just been me. Anyhow, just know that different hitch cord interact differently with different ropes. It takes a bit of work finding the perfect match, but you should be good if you can get it to reliably grab and release when you need it to. Try a bunch of hitches too.

Yoyoman has a good video on hitches.

Yes, there are two 8mm Ocean eye to eyes, one 32" and one 28". I also have 10' of 8mm Ocean and 6mm Vectran to play around with.

I did expect it to take some trial and error to find a rope, knot, and hitch cord/length that I like. The tachyon and ocean combo was mentioned in a few videos so I figured it was a decent place to start.

This being my first experience with climbing rope, I will say the Velocity Cool is softer in texture and compression than the Tachyon. Just clipping onto my belt, and leaning back on the system, the 8mm Ocean did grip better on the Velocity. I am sure this will all change with actual weight and use.

What is your preferred rope, hitch cord, and friction knot?

 

[monkeylove]

I use Vortex (Velocity only bigger), and it works well for me with Ice Tail.

 

[John_KAYS]

Understand that this is my preference and my opinion, but I have found armor-prus works well on a variety of ropes. I use the green 8mm armor-prus with both my Tachyon and Imori. The Bee-line 8mm works well, but feels smaller (because it flattens and is more supple) when you try to work your hitch...not much between your hand and the rope.

I haven't tried Ice Tail or many others, and I don't know why my ocean polyester didn't grab... I heard good things about it too.

But you will have a great time, once your harness arrives, trying all sorts of adjustments until you find what works for you.

 

[gmcttr]

Nice pile of gear. You're going to have fun with it!

...It takes a bit of work finding the perfect match, but you should be good if you can get it to reliably grab and release when you need it to. Try a bunch of hitches too...

+1....I had to set up a hitch climber system a couple of days ago in preparation for a tree to tree traverse. I played with a couple of hitch cords in varying lengths and had to find a video on the VT again before I got a good combination. It worked great on the climb.

I used Yale Bee Line Blue on Yale 11.7mm Aztec for the Hitch Climber DdRT.

I went 85' up a white oak SRT with a Bulldog Bone on the Aztec and used Richard's magthrowbag to get a throw line across into the adjacent ash which I used to pull the tail end of the Aztec (with the hitch climber setup) across the gap. I pulled the SRT rope end across behind me and descended to the ground DdRT. (Thanks for the instructional video Richard)

Half way across...



Hitch climber DdRT on one side...



Bulldog Bone SRT on the other...

 

[gmcttr]

...Ended up going with the Onyx. I hope it is not too bulky to stuff in a pack...

Shouldn't be a problem. Here's an onyx in the bottom of a standard size rope bag...



Google 'autoblock' and practice using it with the Figure 8. It let's you safely let go of the rope while descending on the 8.

 

[Ragnar]

Saddle arrived Friday. Fit in the desired pack with the rest of the gear with room to spare.

Cut some of the tech cord and played around with making a few prusik loops and eye to eyes. I do like the clean look of the spliced/sewn eye to eyes but tech cord by the foot is a lot cheaper. I will probably order some other samples by the foot and wait to order any spliced eye to eyes until I find the sweet spot.

Got about 10' off the ground using a cheater pulley.....

 

[John_KAYS]

That's no fair man, it looks so beautiful in Texas! Here in PA we are looking forward to a -5 [feels like -24] tonight. I miss the West...

Looks great Ragnar.

 

[monkeylove]

Don't forget the 50 mph wind gusts John.

 

[Ragnar]

Thanks John. Weather has been outstanding the last few weeks. 30s at night and 70-80s high during the days. Getting ready to fire up the grill for an early dinner.

 

[Tuebor]

Envious. Hundreds of dollars of climbing gear here, staring out the window at blue skies and 4° with -0° wind chill.

At least it's a dry cold.

 

[gmcttr]

Nice.

I also bought a variety of tech cord by the foot until I worked out the combinations and I-to-I lengths that worked for me. Then I started getting the sewn I-to-I's. Seems like I mostly end up using one of the Yale Bee Lines.

 

[Will]

Pfft, come to Canada.. Today was -25C feeling like -42C with wind! So sick of winter

 

[JeffGu]

Ain't exactly balmy in Nebraska, either. Cabin fever is setting in. Snowing again, today. Bunch of new gear I want to play with, too.

 

[oldtimefiddler]

In the low 20s and icy here in NC

 

[oldtimefiddler]

You will love the onyx by the way!

 

[Ragnar]

Just checking back in. Read through the thread again. Thanks for all of the good info shared.

Went to the TCC in Fort Worth last weekend as a spectator. It was nice to eyeball the gear, vendors, how people had their saddles set up, and some climbing. Picked up a few items from a vendor at great prices (Pinnacle Arborist Supplies)

Been mostly practicing with the throw bag and line but did give the O-rig type system a try the other day. Still struggling on the hip thrust so I wanted to see if it was easier to ascend with the O-rig. It did feel easier. May look into getting a larger ring or biner on the bridge that would allow a scaffold knot to pass.

Saddle organization and adjustment are coming along. Assembled my lanyard and added a storage pouch for the extra line.

Still staying pretty low but am high enough to play with lanyard then descend with figure 8.

No regrets on any gear purchases yet but still have a decent list of things I would like to add.

 

[gmcttr]

...Still struggling on the hip thrust so I wanted to see if it was easier to ascend with the O-rig....

....No regrets on any gear purchases yet but still have a decent list of things I would like to add.

Good to get an update.

Get foot and knee ascenders and let your legs do the climbing instead of hip thrusting.

 

[Howie65]

Hello Ragnar, your gear-bag proofs a well organized and well planned start - indeed I'm impressed.

For myself I started 2014 with mechanical devices (ISC D4, Grigri, hand- and chest ascender). First I did RAD and later I learned to make unassisted changeovers (anyway this was already SRT ). It took me many month to dare myself climbing with friction hitches. In the meanwhile I trust them in the same way as MDs and I'm happy having them in my toolbox.

What I like to comment is the hitch you are using. I wonder myself a little that no one of the Pros recommended you a more beginner friendly hitch like the Distel, Knut or the Michoacán. The VT is a high performance hitch invented for faster descending and this has to payed with more alertness because its behavior can change occasionally. Sure it's good to know it but in my eyes it's not the first choice for recreational climbing.

And by the way if I take a look to your picture at post #20 then I would say that this is a French Prusik and not a VT because I miss the over and under of the legs (others may correct me if I am wrong at this point).

Unfortunately it's impossible that we climb together because of the distance but maybe we can learn from each other in this wonderful forum.

For the moment I have some recommendations for your list: Hard Hat, Unicender, Rope Runner, Bulldog Bone, Hitch Hiker, Rope Wrench, Tether, Zig Zag, Foot Ascender, Hand Ascender, Knee Ascender, Chest Ascender, Adjustable Rope-Bridge, Swivel, Big-Shot, LOTS, Mag Throwbag, Shizll, XSRE, Mesh Goggles, Rope Sleeve, Ring 2 Ring Friction Saver, Quick Link, Shackle, Rollnlock, Rigging Plate, Omni Block, Pinto, more Rope, Rhino, Ultra O, Wonder Gloves, ....

Believe me this hobby gets never boring and nobody here can put his gear into a medium size pack (ok, maybe the first 6 month).

Have fun!

P.S.: your HC pulley changed its color somehow

 

[Ragnar]

I will look into some ascenders.

Thanks Howie,

I did start with the VT (seemed like a popular choice) but I have since moved to playing with a Michoacan for both climbing and the lanyard. It seems to have less set back than the ~VT and is easy to tie. I agree, I do need some more practice/understanding the VT. I will dig out my copy of ABOK and see what it has to say about the VT type hitches.

I have enjoyed tying knots for a while and knot tying is partially what drew me to tree climbing. I don't have much reservation about trusting them although I am sure it helps that I am staying fairly low. There are several types of hitch cord I would still like to try and have on hand. Good eye, I did get another HC pulley, 8mm Epicord, Petzle biner, and caritool. A lot of items on your recommended list are currently in my TS cart. Definitely more gears wants than room in budget.

Question:

For descending; If I leave the HC set up intact and just attach the figure 8 below it, do I still need to use an autoblock?

 

[Howie65]

Good to hear that you use the Michoacan now. It is also my choice for the Teufelberger CEClimb (11 mm Tachyon / 8 mm Ocean Polyester).

Wether Ashley knew about the Valdotain is a good question but I guess this knot was invented later. But this Forum offers an Archive with some good Articels about climbing hitches written by Mark Adams.

To answer your question:
if you leave the HC set up intact, then you are ready to descent even without a figure 8
I guess the reason why you want to use the figure 8 together with the HC is to enlarge the lifetime of your friction cord - am I right?

A backup for the figure 8 is mandatory because if your are getting K.O. (e.g. falling piece of wood) then you need something which blocks the fall for you. In the combination HC and figure 8 the friction hitch does this job very well and therefore no autoblock necessary in addition.