spiderjack

I climb on a Lock Jack on almost all trees that I do. I bought it used (on here) and have since basically worn it out. I love climbing on it but so much rope has passed through it that a grove has worn into the aluminum into one of the screws holding it together. I'm going to email ART and see if they sell rebuild kits for them.

What Joe's video shows really well is how the rope just falls through these devices while you are ascending. They are especially dreamy to climb on when you use a good pulley on your friction saver. Just how smoothly and easily these devices tend slack is the reason I can't go back to a friction hitch. If I tie my friction hitch to tend slack like that I feel like I'm going to kill myself by sitting down and not having it grab.

I am going to find someone who has a Unicender for me to try before I jump on the Spiderjack but after reading this thread I am pretty much sold on it. The fact that it can't be put on midline is a big disadvantage though. That is one thing I like about the Lockjack. I can set my climbing line up SRT and ascend with my ascenders, switch over to DDRT with the Lockjack and start climbing.
 
That is the interesting question, do I spend the money on the Spiderjack or the unicender? The spiderjack cam is cheaper at $35 compared to the rebuild of the uni. Which lasts longer? I really like climbing on the secret weapon and I think the spiderjack would be awesome in that configuration. Any thoughts?
 
I climbed on one for about 3mnths and loved it. It took me a few hours on a Saturday to get comfortable enough with it to use it full time at work. The one I had was company owned and I have since left that company, so I don't have access to one anymore. Watching Joe's video really made me whish that I still had access to one (not that I could ever climb as well as Joe does in that vid). What I really want to try is the SJ in conjunction with the Rope Wrench. I tried the SJ with the F8 system and it worked fine. Has any one out there in treebuzz-space tried this? The time I tried the SJ with the F8 was pretty low and slow, but it didn't do anything wierd that I would be overly wary about. Still it is such a quick tool I would caution people who haven't used the SJ very much, to be careful trying it in new and different applications.
 
Mark C says,
"The SpiderJack is amazing. The design is clean and simple. It works very good, but takes getting used to. I am not as good with mine as others are, but I am trying. For that reason I use the friction hitch more. Maybe over time I'll get better?"

Well...Did you get better or is it on a shelf?
 
why the heck wouldn't you just use a rig or the thousand other mechanical single line descenders/ascender. i don't understand how the sj would work srt; the unit has to lever or "jack" for the cam to set. so i call bs.
 
Having used one on DdRT for a while, I would never use one on a single line by itself, never. You would probably just free fall, possibly a significant free fall, and then slam to a stop. It would be ridiculous and could possibly cause damage to the line (?). But I know that it works with the F8, with the same problems that a hitch has with that system, it sucks going back up. That's why it would work, and why I want to try it with the RW (rope wrench).
 
Judging by how smooth it was in the video I think doubled rope would be the way to go.You could never ascend back to the top of the tree that easily srt.That was awesome how it self tailed,thats actually one thing(taking out slack) i could do with out.Im seriously thinking of buying one.
 
Me too. I haven't taken a few minutes to look into it yet though, will it self tail a half inch rope that easy too? or just smaller diameter ropes?
 
I think all equipment manufactures should take a page from this video and realize how important it is for us to see this equipment in action to realize its potential. Taylor Hammel's video on the new Treemagineers equipment, this ART video and things like it are the future of marketing. I know I want one now.
 
i tried the spiderjack briefly with the rope wrench in pittsburgh at TCIA. I could not get it to work but that could have been my unfamiliarity with the device. It did not seem to grab the rope when I sat back on it. It really seems like it should work though.

Jeff, there is only one mechanical ascender/descender that I know of and that is the unicender. The RIG, Id, and gri-gri are purely descenders. It seems logical that the spiderjack, lockjack, and line boss, since they work much like a hitch, would work in conjunction with a rope wrench.
 
Lock Jack won't work with the rope wrench in the obvious configuration and so far I have not found a non-obvious configuration that works either.

Free fall is a problem.

The top connector on the LJ needs to be pulled up in order for the LJ to engage the falling end of the rope. As long as you manually set the RW the LJ will clutch onto the rope. The moment tension is lost the clutch disengages and down you go.
 
That sucks, oh well. Sorry I was wrong, but I'm kind of used to it at this point. Just discovered another way to not make the light bulb.
The spiderjack is still worth having if you take the time to learn how to use it. It was a refreshing re-examination of climbing style the 3 months that I had one. I don't really enjoy tending slack, or sort of struggle to do it while still advancing the climb. The spiderjack really helps to alleviate that problem.
 
Been run the spiderjack for two weeks know and loving it. Still not as smooth as I am with a vt but getting better everyday. There are some drawbacks, but I think the pros out weight the cons.
 
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