Show off them splices

Sgriff · Jul 30, 2015

i got the wrong size something,ended up putting tube and bungee on the outside,should workout,few ziptyes and couple stitches whatever...

JonesClimber · Jul 30, 2015

So here is the first try at a 16 strand in Samson Blue Streak. The rope was a used 60ft piece I used for short climbs, so it was tight. I had to wait for my ABR Wire Fid from TreeStuff to come in before I attempted this from reading through this whole thread, since I knew my Samson Fids were not going to be up to the task.

So I got started and everything was going fine until it was time to bury the sheath back into the rope, this is where I found out the wire fid was not long enough to do it in one pass. So I decided to try and push the 3/8" fid through the rope instead of the 1/2", since I knew it was going to be super tight at the crossover. Everything was going fine until I hit the crossover, that is when everything went south. First thing was me bending my pusher from how tight the crossover was with the fid in there.

I was able to work it by hand for about 30 mins until my hands gave out and I realized this was a futile effort. I was able to get it about half the way from mark C to mark D, but I don't see it going any further. I ended up cutting it off at the fid, so now I have about a 57' rope. DOH. Any hints, criticism, or help is appreciated. I am now looking at the Toss Wand - Arborist length... Any yea or ney on this?

Dave Rohach · Jul 30, 2015

The Toss Wand, is a great tool, but the string snare will not handle a lot of pulling, that's why I went to wire snares instead. They're really strong and can handle a lot more tugging and force. Used rope is a real pain in the A$$ to splice, as you're finding out.
Best of luck!
Dave6390

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Sgriff · Jul 30, 2015

It looks as if you did not taper your tail reduction,making your "crossover" jam

Dave Rohach · Jul 30, 2015

I thought the same thing the taper is really extreme, you're suppose to count down 8 picks and 5 after that times 4, so a total of 10 strands are removed.

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Sgriff · Jul 30, 2015

Looks like they were all cut at same location vs tapering,right?

Dave Rohach · Jul 30, 2015

Yes, its not tapered properly, that's why you're having so many problems with the final 3-4". Once you get the tail out, I use my vise to hold the tail and a winch to set the final few inches.
Dave6390

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Sgriff · Jul 30, 2015

I find with little extra length added to the tail and a little extra taper,this is one of th easiest splices to execute,cut the excess off after you bury,i do it by hand sitting on the couch when i taper as described.

RajElectric · Jul 30, 2015

+1 on following the taper, I use piano wire and a bench vise for 16 strands.

Dave Rohach · Jul 30, 2015

Works every time! How have you been fellow Buzzer? You staying busy?

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Sgriff · Jul 31, 2015

Tryed out my knee ascender and hh2 today,I need to figure out a tending choice cause its nice but hard on the hands compared to the rw imo,any input welcome please

RajElectric · Jul 31, 2015

As in what sort of tending strap?

Sgriff · Jul 31, 2015

Yea,or even what exactly needs to be pulled up on by the tending strap,i was just keeping one hand under the setup and pushing it up with me.

RajElectric · Jul 31, 2015

I sewn up a leather and webbing strap, with a metal insert to keep it U shaped. I like neck loops, so I sewn one onto my shirt, I hardly feel it, a small wiregate connects the two.

Sgriff · Jul 31, 2015

Ok i see,interesting,thanks for that last pic lol.

I guess I'll search around and see what folks are doin as well.

JTree · Jul 31, 2015

For 16 strand, I use a wire fid about 18" long made out of piano wire attached to a retired carabiner. Also, I don't do the bury all at one time. I take it in three stages.

First stage, I bury just enough to get the tapered portion stuffed. When you get to the point where the untapered rope is getting buried, I stop pulling and start snatching at it by attaching a short loop runner into the carabiner allowing me to get a little momentum going before the loop catches creating a little shock load.

Second bury, I go to about 2 inches before the "crossover" area. It goes easy because it's all thin at this point and it's going through straight up hollow cover.

For the third stage, I carefully pretension all the core strands the same amount, then tie the core strands to my ball hitch with a clove hitch. This way, when I start pulling the fid, the cover opens up and allows the final part to go.

I can get a 16 strand splice done in about 30 min and I feel pretty good about that. If I had never climbed on 16 strand and learned to love it before I started splicing, I probably never would have fought to learn to splice it. By far my least favorite rope type to splice.

Hope that helps. It took me a while to get it down, unlike double braid. With double braid, all it took was screwing up 2 splices and after that I've been golden. I failed 4 16 strand splices before I figured out how to use mechanical advantage and about 10 more after that to do it by hand consistently.

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RajElectric · Jul 31, 2015

Sgriff said:
Ok i see,interesting,thanks for that last pic lol.

I guess I'll search around and see what folks are doin as well.

I have one of those tending straps from treestuff, seems to slide down on the biner. I like the leather, keeps the HH body and biner properly orientated no matter what happens.

JonesClimber · Jul 31, 2015

Thanks all. The Samson Splicing manual says count 5 strands from mark A and then mark the 5th one for a total of 5 pairs. I might have missed one set.

I will give it another try. Curious what size piano wire some of you are using? Thanks again for the help.