Scratch
Participating member
- Location
- Hudson, WI
I got my rope walking setup a couple days ago. It's already WAY easier and faster than the RADS setup I was using. It consists of a Hitch Hiker 2, SAKA mini, CT foot ascender, and a simple chest harness made from some tubular webbing, but I have some concerns...
How high should my HH2 be? When ascending, I have the spine of the HH2 pretty much in the middle between my belly button and my nipples. And when descending, my eyes are right underneath the HH2 spine. Should I change my height or is that ok?
A question on the SAKA mini... To get more length in the shock cord, I run the bungee cord up to my chest harness then loop it through a carabiner, then back down and clip it back into the foot loop biner. When I get to the top, I just remove my climbing line from my foot ascender and the knee ascender, then lower myself down. It seems to work great but I always see climbers completely remove the SAKA and stow it on their saddle somewhere. It doesn't seem to be necessary to remove and stow it though, I leave the SAKA connected to my chest harness and my foot loop, and just lower away. Am I missing something and I should be stowing it? Maybe it's a professional arborist thing to keep it out of the way and not necessary for rec climbing?
One thing I don't like about the SAKA mini though, or at least running it doubled like I am, is that the bungee cord coming back down, keeps falling into the body of the ascender whenever the climbing line isn't in it and the catch is open. So if I ascend, then remove the rope from the SAKA, but for whatever reason I have to put it back in again to ascend again, I have to flip out the bungee cord from the SAKA ascender before I can put in my climbing line since it snuck it's way in there. I'm thinking about running something like a rubber hose or some loops on the back of the SAKA ascender to keep it where I want it. Is there another solution or maybe I shouldn't run it doubled over like I do?
I'm also not I love with the steel locking carabiner that comes with the HH2. I don't like the "push up" then twist part of it like the DMM's are. I like the "pull down" then twist like the Rock Exotica biners. Just a personal preference thing, but I think I'll find a steel locker that I can pull down instead. I think I should use an oval shape biner for it rather than a D shape (I could be wrong) but it looks like RE doesn't sell their Rock O in steel, anyone have any other suggestions?
While I'm talking about the HH2, it seems to be pretty hard to lower myself on it. I see videos of people lowering themselves using just two fingers but I seem to need to break it loose almost with two hands, and sometimes I get a quick sharp drop (just a couple inches) then it seems to be easier to lower. I'm using the standard friction hitch that HH suggests but I've tried a few others like the Distel, VT, etc, but I like the other one best.
How high should my HH2 be? When ascending, I have the spine of the HH2 pretty much in the middle between my belly button and my nipples. And when descending, my eyes are right underneath the HH2 spine. Should I change my height or is that ok?
A question on the SAKA mini... To get more length in the shock cord, I run the bungee cord up to my chest harness then loop it through a carabiner, then back down and clip it back into the foot loop biner. When I get to the top, I just remove my climbing line from my foot ascender and the knee ascender, then lower myself down. It seems to work great but I always see climbers completely remove the SAKA and stow it on their saddle somewhere. It doesn't seem to be necessary to remove and stow it though, I leave the SAKA connected to my chest harness and my foot loop, and just lower away. Am I missing something and I should be stowing it? Maybe it's a professional arborist thing to keep it out of the way and not necessary for rec climbing?
One thing I don't like about the SAKA mini though, or at least running it doubled like I am, is that the bungee cord coming back down, keeps falling into the body of the ascender whenever the climbing line isn't in it and the catch is open. So if I ascend, then remove the rope from the SAKA, but for whatever reason I have to put it back in again to ascend again, I have to flip out the bungee cord from the SAKA ascender before I can put in my climbing line since it snuck it's way in there. I'm thinking about running something like a rubber hose or some loops on the back of the SAKA ascender to keep it where I want it. Is there another solution or maybe I shouldn't run it doubled over like I do?
I'm also not I love with the steel locking carabiner that comes with the HH2. I don't like the "push up" then twist part of it like the DMM's are. I like the "pull down" then twist like the Rock Exotica biners. Just a personal preference thing, but I think I'll find a steel locker that I can pull down instead. I think I should use an oval shape biner for it rather than a D shape (I could be wrong) but it looks like RE doesn't sell their Rock O in steel, anyone have any other suggestions?
While I'm talking about the HH2, it seems to be pretty hard to lower myself on it. I see videos of people lowering themselves using just two fingers but I seem to need to break it loose almost with two hands, and sometimes I get a quick sharp drop (just a couple inches) then it seems to be easier to lower. I'm using the standard friction hitch that HH suggests but I've tried a few others like the Distel, VT, etc, but I like the other one best.
