- Location
- Chattanooga
Rich Hattier\'s rope bridge- can\'t get any better
Cougar Rope Bridge by Rich Hattier
I had an opportunity to try one of the rope bridges that Rich makes for the Cougar saddle. Both the quality and function are top notch. The pics I've included really can't convey how well it is made or how well it works. I know it's 'just a rope bridge', but I already had a rope bridge on my Cougar saddle and if you can recall from some of my comments about it, I did not like it at all. In fact, Rich and I publically discussed the reasons for my dislike of the Cougar rope bridge.
I apologize for the pics. I wanted to do these outside and the weather has just been....well I think you know, and I decided to go ahead and make the pics and post this. I thought the rope background would be in context with climbing etc., but it really made for a cluttered background. Anyway...
This is the orginal bridge.
Notice in particular how much of the core is exposed. You might not think much about that, but I did every time I looked down and saw a pulley, especially side plates, in contact with the bare core. Would that really be a problem? It was for me. Seems like I was forever situating those rubber grommets and repositioning biners and pulleys back onto the covered portion. It just looked like the core was working its way out.
Now compare that to the way Rich did it:
Notice in particular that the only core exposed is just enough to make the girth hitch. And, at the time the pic was made, I had climbed on it numerous times and it has not budged.
Here's a pic of the bridge installed:
This bridge is the same length as the orginal, but it's done the way it should be done. There's just enough core exposed to connect to the the rings. Although the eyes are 'tight', I had no installation problems. However, I did get the girth hitches reversed from each other and decided to change one. Getting the girth hitch loose after it's been correctly installed - now that's another story - I had to work at that. But that simply adds to the integrity of the bridge - it's not going to work loose.
I think the thing that comes to mind for me is 'transparent'. After one climb, I was down and 're-living' the climb and it occured to me that I hadn't observed the bridge during the climb. The reason was, there was nothing to observe. It did what it was suppose to without any attention from me. That was not the case for the original stock Cougar bridge as I was constantly aware of the exposed core and lumps under the cover.
Rich's rope bridge is right - the quality, function, materials, and performance. There are few things that I can't find something that could be done better, but in the case of Rich's rope bridge, he did it right from the start and I can't find anything that could make it any better than it already is.
This may sound like a big to-do over a low key piece of gear, but my life depends on this piece of gear - it needs to be right and it is.
Ron
Cougar Rope Bridge by Rich Hattier
I had an opportunity to try one of the rope bridges that Rich makes for the Cougar saddle. Both the quality and function are top notch. The pics I've included really can't convey how well it is made or how well it works. I know it's 'just a rope bridge', but I already had a rope bridge on my Cougar saddle and if you can recall from some of my comments about it, I did not like it at all. In fact, Rich and I publically discussed the reasons for my dislike of the Cougar rope bridge.
I apologize for the pics. I wanted to do these outside and the weather has just been....well I think you know, and I decided to go ahead and make the pics and post this. I thought the rope background would be in context with climbing etc., but it really made for a cluttered background. Anyway...
This is the orginal bridge.
Notice in particular how much of the core is exposed. You might not think much about that, but I did every time I looked down and saw a pulley, especially side plates, in contact with the bare core. Would that really be a problem? It was for me. Seems like I was forever situating those rubber grommets and repositioning biners and pulleys back onto the covered portion. It just looked like the core was working its way out.
Now compare that to the way Rich did it:
Notice in particular that the only core exposed is just enough to make the girth hitch. And, at the time the pic was made, I had climbed on it numerous times and it has not budged.
Here's a pic of the bridge installed:
This bridge is the same length as the orginal, but it's done the way it should be done. There's just enough core exposed to connect to the the rings. Although the eyes are 'tight', I had no installation problems. However, I did get the girth hitches reversed from each other and decided to change one. Getting the girth hitch loose after it's been correctly installed - now that's another story - I had to work at that. But that simply adds to the integrity of the bridge - it's not going to work loose.
I think the thing that comes to mind for me is 'transparent'. After one climb, I was down and 're-living' the climb and it occured to me that I hadn't observed the bridge during the climb. The reason was, there was nothing to observe. It did what it was suppose to without any attention from me. That was not the case for the original stock Cougar bridge as I was constantly aware of the exposed core and lumps under the cover.
Rich's rope bridge is right - the quality, function, materials, and performance. There are few things that I can't find something that could be done better, but in the case of Rich's rope bridge, he did it right from the start and I can't find anything that could make it any better than it already is.
This may sound like a big to-do over a low key piece of gear, but my life depends on this piece of gear - it needs to be right and it is.
Ron
