spiderjack

Jeff_Cochran

Jeff_Cochran

New member
Location
Memphis TN
who is rolling one? do you like it or love it? or hate it? just wanting to try some new systems and am thinking of rolling a jack for awhile (the hitch climber is getting boring. i have been rolling it for over two years. i have been old schooling a LOT lately just for fun).
 
I got one about 3-4 months ago. spider jack 2. Took a little bit of getting use too. I like that I dont have to worry about tying a hitch every time, its ready to go every time, after a simple hang in it to test the clutch. the self feed is really nice. Should have a slogan of "grab and go". The no sit back is great also, I never could get use to that with a hitch. I like to stay at the level I stopped at, makes me feel more secure, dont ask me why. Now for the cons. I dont like the no fair lead part. One of those things that you take for granted with the HC. It's hard to use your weak hand. With the HC using both hands for decend was easy, with the SJ it's tricky and at times jumpy. O yeah, one more pro is only one link is needed to attach to yourself, its also a con if you use the open holes on the HC a lot. but i like simple. All that said I keep my HC on me when I climb just in case and still use it every so often.
 
I am using the Spiderjack and am loving it. I too love the self tending feature. I climb on a Cocoon pulley on my friction saver so there is no friction in the system. When I want to ascend I sometimes just pull myself up hand over hand without even using my Pantin or footlocking the tail. The rope just drops through the device and locks where you stop pulling. One hand rappels are a breeze with the little wood brake that you push against the rope. My saddle is a Petzl Navajo Sit Fast and I really like it because I can clip the Spiderjack to the webbing where the front D ring is and keep it really close to my body.

The negatives are:
1. When rappeling over a limb you have to pull the rope you will need so it is hanging below you so you can move.

2. The clutches are $40 and I am only getting 2 months out of a clutch. I just bought a fatter rope (Imori) to see if the old worn clutches will work on that once they start slipping on Velocity which is my normal rope. I've thought about having a local machine shop make me a big batch of clutches if they can beat that price.

3. If you put your arm across the rappel lever inadvertantly you drop! Scary to say the least.

4. The worst part of climbing on this thing is that it totally spoils you. Once I climbed on the Spiderjack I knew I was completely ruined. I will be buying clutches forever because climbing on this damn thing is so much fun and is so easy! It is just a dream to run up trees pulling rope hand over hand and having it drop through the device as fast as you can pull it. If my hitch is working like that, I am scared to sit down for fear of it not grabbing.

So my two cents are I love this thing but like anything it could be improved. Just don't buy it unless you are committed to buying clutches and eternally cursing the beauty of this wonderful piece of machinery that you will be enslaved by.
 
Heres my solution to burning clutches.
Use a descender. I've got a rack and gri gri and get almost a year just switching over fir descents.
wink.gif
 
Ryan, why only two months for a clutch? Are you using the wooden brake alot or just the clutch. I have never climbed on the spiderjack, but would love to try. But $40 for two months service is too much for me.
 
I try and use the wooden brake for all descents. If you don't use it, you just don't have as good of control. I think what it comes down to is how many feet of rope I have passing through this thing. By design it is only going to be able to handle so much rope passing through before wearing out the clutch. But I am also using the smallest climbing line made which could be part of the problem. I'll stick it on my new Imori climbing line and see if the clutch that is slipping on Velocity will hold on that fatter rope. I should probably also wash my rope. That dirty thing might be contributing to the fast wear.
 
I am not that great at big swing/drops. I'm more of a conservative climber. Usually when I go to get out of the tree or decend a little I always push the wood thumb brake as hard as it will go and then release the clutch. this way I can be confident that the clutch is wearing as little as possible. Thats a great idea about the F8 below the SJ. Used to do that with the HC but thought nothing of it for the Jack. One other thing is, I climb/work with a old school guy and he rips me every time about having it, but he tends slack up the tree I DON'T. He has called it slap jack, cracker jack, fancy pants jack, and now he just calls me Jack.
 
Ryan, I'd be willing to bet the clutches are wearing so fast because you have 0 friction in your system. The clutch is bearing the brunt of that. If you natural crotched (yes, I know, I know, natural crotching is a mortal sin) the clutches would probably last longer. Also, if you are bailing out of the tree like it is on fire every time, then you are going to burn up the clutches really fast.

I love this tool as well. $40 a month might be worth the fun for all that speed. I don't have one at the moment and I really miss it sometimes.

Not telling anyone what to do. I'm sure that 0 friction system is a whole lotta fun!
 
Oh, and this kind of just dawned on me, has anyone ever toyed around with modifying that wooden piece? You know, personalized it for the perfect amount of bonus friction. I bet you could dial that in something awesome to where the clutch was just the back-up safety feature. I don't know, just brain storming.

Its been said on here before that the RW doesn't work with the spider-jack. Never tried it personally. I tried the F8 system really low and slow (in an apple tree in my back yard) and it seemed to be working fine. I have since lost access to the spider-jack so I can't answer this question. It has been something I've really wanted to try though, for sure.
 
Am I the only one that can't descend smoothly on this thing? Ascending is awesome but descending sucks! More of a free fall then grab, repeat. I have tried adjusting the wood piece to no avail. Any ideas?
 
i have been playing around with it for a little while and love it. swinging descents = no problem i love the way the rope cruises through it it doesn't lock up as soon as i let go of the rope though like i thought it would. the cause might be the rope being new though. i'm going to try it on some older rocket line tomorrow.
 
Sorry, had a long day. I have only climbed on it three times. Haven't felt comfortable enough to work with it and have been slammed with work so it has been patiently waiting on me. I wear atlas type grip gloves with the finger tips and cuff's cut off during hot weather (MUCH cooler). Rope is tachyon, and I usually climb on a cmi pulley w/swivel for large trims. The rope I have the spider jack II on is new though, so that could be a big factor as well.
 
Jeff, do you have the wood piece adjusted more towards the rope, or more away from the rope? Is there a trick to the smooth descent? Thanks.
 
dude the wood peice is all the way toward the rope and i push the lever all the way and then pull the release on the clutch and then feather the speed with the wooden handle
 
I've been running the Spiderjack on the Imori rope for a few weeks now and I love it. I was running it on Velocity and using that the clutch was starting to slip in a little less than two months of use. I put that same clutch on the Imori and it is working just fine. So I think that with using two different diameters of ropes I should be able to get four months out of a clutch. In my opinion, for how much of a dream this thing is to climb on is that cost is totally worth it.
 
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