Singing Tree Rope Wrench

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I have also made an accompanying hitch tender out of wood to eliminate even more metal from the system. This is a tool that kind of takes us back old school while still advancing us forward.

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Treebing - I'm totally intrigued by your whole approach. It seems like the last 10-15 years have seen such huge advancements in climbing technology for arborists, which is fantastic, but it's also raised the level of gadgetry, which may or may not be a good thing. The simplicity of design and function and the whole low-cost aspect of your system is really a plus for the industry...that's a long-winded thank-you.

I'd be really curious to see your wooden hitch tender. Sounds like it would be cool to have on a lanyard set-up as well.

Also, I'm still wondering about one thing - I understand that the Rope Wrench isn't life support and is not rated - the hitch handles that.

But if it did break, which would probably be a freak situation, what would you do? Wouldn't the hitch be locked? Would you use a f8 to take friction off the hitch so that it would release and you could descend?
 
You could place a figure 8 below the knot. Same concept that we use for coming down from footlocking in competition. Its a good idea to carry a figure 8 anyways. Or even an extra biner and use a munter.
 
I think this brings up a great point. I do believe with this system that it is critical you test the hitch cordage and knot to assure it will hold on a single line without added friction (Rope Wrench). Tensile, rope compatability, and number of wraps.... are all considerations before using SRT.
 
I have to admit. The rope wrench featured in the video broke shortly after filming. I have made quite a few different models and this particular one I had made very thi8n and delicat, it also had a tendency to get side loaded, or the rope could jump off to the side and put torque on it. I was actually letting the videographer play around on it when it broke. It got side loaded and he was practicing jumping and swinging. He basically could not descend and had to climb up to where I was and I gave him an eight for descent. While using the Fate system I became fairly adept at using a footlock to provide the necessary friction for descent. It would tear up the shoes for a long descent though. I solved the sideloading problem and have made them a little beefier. Getting side loaded was the real problem. I have a hard time imagining being able to put enough force on the stick during normal operations to break one. Lucas is right though, We do need to test friction hitches further. I use spliced beeline and I am trusting it with 100% of my life.
 
I imagine that the WR can be beefed up without becoming too heavy. A figure 8 and extra biner (around 6-7 ounces combined from what I just looked up) seems almost negligible in weight compared to the benefits. If a strong, dense wood is used, and comes in at half a pound extra, I wouldn't be worried. This would only be 1/400th of of my total geared up climbing weight.

I didn't see a weight on the Unicender set up for comparison.

I would prefer a bit heavier and more durable over lightweight.

I hope that you find a good wood and size combo. If you move to a cast aluminum RW, you might be able to work it out where you can wiggle the rope on midline, sorta akin to the UNI.
 
Did anyone get to see this tool in action at the TCI Expo? Any updates or comments?

Hey Kevin, any chance you could post a picture of your wooden slack tender that I think you mentioned in the first post?

cheers...
 
what happened to the video?
it's been deleted... sure would like to see the singing wrench in action.

I'd like mine in aluminum please... wood is cool, but always subject to question if it's going to fail.
 
soon, soon. I decided to take the video off until I know exactly what I'm doing and how. There have been some great progressions and I really hope I will have this thing in commercial production soon. It will be in metal as well as mid line attachable. I love the wood but there are too many variables to think about.
 
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soon, soon. I decided to take the video off until I know exactly what I'm doing and how. There have been some great progressions and I really hope I will have this thing in commercial production soon. It will be in metal as well as mid line attachable. I love the wood but there are too many variables to think about.

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Man, that's awesome. I can't wait to see...Thanks for what you're doing treebing.
 
Hey!

Just tried the video but it appears to have been taken down. Would love to see it in action.

How is it installed on the line? Doesn't look like it can be attached midline at all. Is that correct?

As for the "S" curve, was that made by drilling a hole at a particular angle and then carving the edges to form the "S?" if so what sort of angle did you use?

Since it looks like you envision people making their own any chance you could share some design drawings?
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I have a couple of ideas how to make this installable "inline" I'll try those out and share with you after some experiments.

Great invention dude!
 
I tried my hammer handle adapted RW the other day. Looks like I got my hole angle wrong or something. Worked pretty well, but not dialed in. I'm keen for some specifics, too. A move in the right direction for me for sure.
 
I made one up out of a hammer handle as well. The first time I used the RW it was a bit of a pain, but once the hole got a nice glaze on, hahaha, it worked almost flawlessly. I'm loving it at the moment, way better than the F8 system.
 
It is nice to hear that other guys are trying this. treebing has hit on an awesome idea with the RW. It has completely changed the way that I climb. I am by no means a wizened tree sage, but I've been around long enough (approaching a decade climbing) to develop personal styles (i.e. ruts) of climbing, and the RW just threw most of those out the window about 3 or 4 mnths ago.
 
Bing ThanX for an awesome idea!

I hacked one out of a hickory drill-hammer handle ( abit more stout than a regular hammer handle) and WOW! I love how it works. But I am having a couple of issues.

First, unless I push the RW up and get it partially engaged before descending I have to pull pretty hard to get the hitch moving. Is this normal? Should I just be able to start descending and let the RW engage on it's own? Any suggestions

The second problem is it seems I may have too much friction in the RW because but I'm finding I have to "pump" my friction hitch like I used to when I had tons of friction on my dDrt system.

Clearly I would have a hard time flying with it hanging up like that.

Suggestions on what, if any, mods to the holes I can or should make on the WR?

My through hole was made with a 5/8 inch bit and then I put about a 3/16 inch radius on the edge of the hole where the rope rides when the wrench is engaged.
 
My co worker made one from a piece of taxus he seems to have it dialed in. One problem was to make it removeable from the rope midline/ installable if the rope has a spliced end. I was wondering if anyone has come up with a solution. I made one installable midline, but i'm hesitant to post a photo. Treebing has a lot riding on this concept/invention/patent. I wouldn't want to step on toes
 
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Bing ThanX for an awesome idea!

I hacked one out of a hickory drill-hammer handle ( abit more stout than a regular hammer handle) and WOW! I love how it works. But I am having a couple of issues.

First, unless I push the RW up and get it partially engaged before descending I have to pull pretty hard to get the hitch moving. Is this normal? Should I just be able to start descending and let the RW engage on it's own? Any suggestions

The second problem is it seems I may have too much friction in the RW because but I'm finding I have to "pump" my friction hitch like I used to when I had tons of friction on my dDrt system.

Clearly I would have a hard time flying with it hanging up like that.

Suggestions on what, if any, mods to the holes I can or should make on the WR?

My through hole was made with a 5/8 inch bit and then I put about a 3/16 inch radius on the edge of the hole where the rope rides when the wrench is engaged.

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I always push it up and engage it before descending. Thats my personal preference. It becomes a fluid motion when going to reach for your hitch.

I think if you have to much friction at the moment its perfect. Its going to glaze after some use, which will make it run a little faster. I like mine with a little added friction. I'd rather have a little to much then not enough. Again personal preference, but i would say give it a little time and see if it becomes a little faster.
 
Hey Bing after reading all this and the bit about lamination have you thought about laminating wood and aluminum or carbon fiber together? I've got a buddy who makes dirtbike and snowmobile parts from carbon fiber. They super strong. He has started to introduce wood into some of his pieces for "show" and they look cool and still keep the strength. Good Luck with this.
 
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