Saddle & Rope recommendations

Marc_H

Marc_H

Location
Denver, Colorado
I am looking at buying a new saddle and was wondering what everyone else likes. I don't do a lot of climbing and most of what I do is inspections.

I am also looking at the Posion Ivy rope, anyone use this one?

Thanks
 
I am gonna first ask what you've climbed on in the past and how you climb. If you've used 1/2 inch adn climb traditional I am gonna suggest poison ivy or fly. If you're into lightweight and new stuff go for the blaze or velocity. Saddle the new tribe is comfy and pretty reasonable but I have fallen in love recently with the glide.
 
I really enjoy my Buckingham Master. Has multiple tie in points, comfortable, and so far has held up to everything I've put it through.
I also have the poision ivy and agree with the others but find that it can be difficult to grip.
 
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Poison Ivy is good. Not too lightweight like Blaze or Velocity.



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Why do you say too lightweight, Nick? What might be the disadvantage?
 
Thanks for the replys. I have not done any rope & saddle in trees for few years and the gear I used was old then so I can't say exactly what it was. My best quess is they were basic Weaver saddles (some were ok and some I hated) and 12 and 16-strand ropes. I have done more rock climbing/ mountaineering than tree climbing. So I am used to thin ropes and lots of gear. Basically I need a rope that will work well in a double rope setup with a split tail and as a single using ascenders. I plan on using it for the little work climbing I do as well as rec. climbing.

How do you find that the Buckingham saddles fit, are they true to size or do they run big or small? I like all the attachment points of the Master. I have never used a suspension bridge like on the Glide.
 
The trade off is not the weight loss with the lighter ropes...that's a BIG bonus! But the thinner ropes are harder to hold on to and pull on.

I use 11mm Blaze and it's fine for me because I always have my blue Atlas sticky gloves on. When I try to pull with a non-gloved hand....not much success there!

I have a medium Buckingham Master II and a medium Butterfly II. My waist is about 32".

Suspension bridge = <3

love
nick
 
Oh, Mark, I forgot to address one thing. If you're a rock climber and mountaineer (I did Blanca a few years ago!) you should already be used to climbing on ropes 9-11mm. But you might not be used to actually pulling yourself up from them. I say go with the poison ivy. It's about 11.7mm...a little more heft for grabbing, but still some weight savings over the 12.5mm standard half inch lines like XTC, BlueStreak, Braided Safety Blue, etc.

Let us know how it goes!

love
nick
 
I am definitely a fan of New Tribe saddles and highly recommend them. The Buckingham Master Classic/II is a very versatile saddle which I like....but less comfy than a New Tribe. Questions you haven't addressed. How high do you expect to climb regularly? Easy access or lots of hiking? Natural crotches or Frictionsaver?. SRT ascents or DdRT. If you are doing Ddrt over natural crotches, under 60 foot climbs, with easy access I say forget the skinny ropes and get Arbormaster, Safety Blue or XTC. They will wear longer, be easier on the tree and much easier on your hands trying to grip them( definitely utilize sticky gloves). Of the skinny ropes Velocity is lightest and wears longer,tougher, better than PI. But PIvy is very nice rope to handle. Blaze is pretty and handles well also. The 7/16/11mm ropes are really nice to carry since they weigh less and will pack in half the space of a fat 13mm like Arbormaster but unless you are working at exceptional heights where hanging rope weights are a serious impediment the fat ropes are easier on the climber in the tree(IMO as a fat, aging, slow climber.)
The dirty little secret about SRT is that while our fat 13mms work and the 11mm tree ropes seem slightly smoother with ascenders, neither genre work as well as the Static rescue ropes that were designed for the tools in the first place. If you plan on lots of SRT buy an 11mm Static and a good tree rope of your choosing and use each where they work best.
 
i just got my poison ivy line in the other day and i love it, just enough to fill my hands, i used the fly for a while and it did a number on my hands, but then again i dont wear gloves, as far as saddles go id suggest going a little inexpensive at first, new tribes are great and light weight, ive seen a couple of people use the petzl, honestly havent climbed in one before but the owners i know swear by them, or you could go expenseive, buy a treemotion or treeflex (i believe that baileys is now offically selling them, they look very nice and light weight, im actually considering buying one)
 
i used the fly and velocity in the past...the velocity i only used once as it was way too small to grip with bare hands...same with the fly...it is difficult to hold whithout gloves and i always thought it had too much stretch. Poison Ivy works really well with bare hands and ascenders. Thats my personal choice.
 
Like you, I came at tree climbing as a rock climber. I've used both PI and velocity... and XTC, as primary climbing ropes and I prefer PI by a pretty wide margin. I don't like XTC at all and made it a hand line not long after I started using it.

Also, if you're used to rock harnesses look into the Butterfly II harness. It's nice and light and super confortable once you get it adjusted. (Hint... the leg buckles go all the way to the outside of your legs, not the tops)

What are you gonna use for friction?

[I just retitled the post...Tom]
 
I have been using the XTC plus from Yale rope and have found it to be durable and functional in everyday work. I now have the Fly line and have found it to be also extremely easy to use.
On the saddle note I can only recomend one kind and that is a Bry-Dan made by Weaver and available through Don Blair at Seirra Moreno Mercantile Company. The saddle is tried and well proven throughout the profession. Its not the saddle for everybody so don't just go on my recomendations.

[I just retitled the post...Tom]
 

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How do you find that the Buckingham saddles fit, are they true to size or do they run big or small? I like all the attachment points of the Master. I have never used a suspension bridge like on the Glide.

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I have a master saddle, also love the different attachment points, the great thing is that if you want to try the suspension bridge it is very easy to add to the master. And if you don't like it just as easy to remove it. refer to this thread if interested

http://www.treebuzz.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=105438&an=0&page=0#105438

I also have a 32 waist and the medium fits perfectly, very comfortably. Plus it isn't as pricy in comparison to some of the other newer versions. In terms of climbing line, if your not looking to do a ton of climbing i would stick to the 1/2 line, little cheaper and the weight issue isn't that big of a deal really if your not planning on spending all day in the tree.
 
Marc H, I agree with Sohner's assessment of the BryDan saddle. For pure climbing, in my opinion, it is one of the best out there. I used one for many years. But I noticed that you are from Colorado and if you are planning on climbing through all the seasons, it may not work for you. The adjustments needed to go from summer weight clothes to winter weight arctic suits are just not there. I faced the same dilemna when I moved to Montana.

You stated that you have rock climbing/mountaineering experience so, theoretically, do not have the phobias about technical devices that most of us old tree guys have. There is a lot of nice stuff out there and if you are over the age of 18 and plan on climbing multiple trees in one day, they can save you a lot of work.

My current set up is the Glide with shoulder straps, velocity and Lockjack. This is a nice multi-season set up.

My thoughts.

D Mc
 
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