what makes you say that hitches and SRT are not a good combination. Your crazy!, People have been climbing SRT with hitches since rope was invented. I am fairly sure that Hitches and SRT came well before dDRT and hitches. There have been several studies and break tests done with hitches and SRT and I have not seen anything from those results or my own experience to find that there is anything abnormally dangerous about it if you use a well tied hitch.
Climbing with a footlock cord is essentially SRT with a hitch and that is a sanctioned event at climbing comps.
I think there is a lot of misconceptions about SRT. One of them that it is a new technique that requires lots of gear. SRT means Single Rope Technique. It is not new, it is an ancient practice. It is THE normal way to use rope for access. Mechanical Ascenders on the other hand ARE recent inventions that can help in SRT climbing but they are not neccesary. There still remains far more unanswered questions regarding the safety of ascenders than hitches. I hear a lot more stories about how ascenders can shred ropes in a fall, come off the line in inopportune times and are capable of malfunction due to the higher number of moving parts. I use ascenders but remain wary of them. Most ascenders are not rated to take a fall whereas a hitch actually provides some shock absorption in a fall because it will slip at a high load. There are lots of advantages to well tied hitches and they are proven safe, and effective.
Also, for what its worth, This video was taken before The Kong issue became understood. You will not see any of that on my harness today. I have replaced the robot with a rope wrench, and the ascender with a CMI. SRT Does not need to be complicated or expensive.
