- Location
- Chattanooga
Edit:
I started uploading the vid at 7:05 pm ESDT. I'm not particularly happy with the quality - it's standard definition (720x480) and I guess what you'll see (once YouTube is through processing it) is probably about as good as SD is gonna get.
However, next video I make is gonna be 720p. I don't like the features of my Aiptek HD 1080p as well as the Sony SX-44, but the Aiptek will do 720p and 1080p for that matter. The biggest drawback to me is the short battery life which is about 55 minutes so that's not too bad.
BTW, the gear, Lava rope, the Rig, and the Shunt work beautifully on the limbwalk and especially well on the descent. So don't blame the gear when it's really my lack of skill.
Although I will say in my defense, this is a pretty small limb and I go out a long way on it with nothing but a single rope. Notice, how little the limb rises as I return to the tree. That's a good indication that I'm keeping my weight on my rope instead of the limb. I probably weigh about 210 geared up, and with me way out on the limb, the limb probably didn't deflect much over 8 inches.
End of edit --------------------------------------------
I promised to do this sometime back and it finally got to the top of the stack so to speak.
The Rig is spec'd for 10.5mm to 11.5mm rope. While one of my favorite ropes, Velocity, is dead center of that range two of my other favorites, awww alright, all my ropes are my favorites, but two of them 10mm HTP and Lava are a bit out of spec for the Rig.
The rope of interest in this thread, Lava, according to my digital calipers is between 12.4 - 12.5mm, or just about 1mm bigger than spec for the Rig. But then 1mm is just a touch over 1/32 of an inch, which of course is one of those idy-bity marks on a tape measure.
I've done three RADS climbs with the Rig on Lava and a pretty tricky limb walk - the same one I did with the Rig on Velocity, except I did a little better this time.
As before, I used the Shunt as the upper ascender but this time I tried Dave's idea of a regular pulley and standard connection to the Shunt. I couldn't tell any difference and I kinda like that arrangement better - I think.
Speaking of the Shunt, it's spec'd for 10-11mm rope, but I found installing the larger 12.4mm Lava to be quite straight forward and easy. The Shunt grabbed securely and held; I couldn't tell any difference in it's performance on Lava or Velocity as far as grab goes. But....there always has to be a but....
I've noticed that Lava seems a bit 'slicker' than other rope I've used, like PI. I felt like the Rig runs a little faster through the Rig on descents and seems like the Shunt wants to slide a bit if you pull down even slightly on the shell. I don't believe it's a lot slicker and certainly not much of an issue. In fact, if I'd been using Lava first and a lot, I just might find myself a little annoyed that the Rig feels 'sluggish' and less responsive on PI and Velocity. Understand that this is not a big deal, just noticeable and could just be me.
I hope to have video by tomorrow afternoon - got a lot of video to edit. When I did the rappel over the small Dogwood and my wood pile, that's a push out hard and pull the lever, the Rig performed beautifully and I felt in full control of my descent all the way down. I hit the ground light as a feather. Oh, the Shunt trailed right down - I couldn't even tell it was on rope.
So my conclusion, for me personally, the Rig works well on Lava rope. The Shunt works well on Lava rope but be aware that Lava is out of spec for both the Rig and even moreso for the Shunt so there may be some issues that I haven't detected.
I haven't seen any indication that the Rig would slip on any rope. In fact, a standard test I do is to pick up some speed descending and release the lever quickly. The Rig has always grabbed and locked securely.
Dave said something interesting about the Rig in a post lately. Something to the effect that it looks big and heavy compared to a hitch, but neither it's size or weight gets in the way of climbing. I concur.
I started uploading the vid at 7:05 pm ESDT. I'm not particularly happy with the quality - it's standard definition (720x480) and I guess what you'll see (once YouTube is through processing it) is probably about as good as SD is gonna get.
However, next video I make is gonna be 720p. I don't like the features of my Aiptek HD 1080p as well as the Sony SX-44, but the Aiptek will do 720p and 1080p for that matter. The biggest drawback to me is the short battery life which is about 55 minutes so that's not too bad.
BTW, the gear, Lava rope, the Rig, and the Shunt work beautifully on the limbwalk and especially well on the descent. So don't blame the gear when it's really my lack of skill.
Although I will say in my defense, this is a pretty small limb and I go out a long way on it with nothing but a single rope. Notice, how little the limb rises as I return to the tree. That's a good indication that I'm keeping my weight on my rope instead of the limb. I probably weigh about 210 geared up, and with me way out on the limb, the limb probably didn't deflect much over 8 inches.
End of edit --------------------------------------------
I promised to do this sometime back and it finally got to the top of the stack so to speak.
The Rig is spec'd for 10.5mm to 11.5mm rope. While one of my favorite ropes, Velocity, is dead center of that range two of my other favorites, awww alright, all my ropes are my favorites, but two of them 10mm HTP and Lava are a bit out of spec for the Rig.
The rope of interest in this thread, Lava, according to my digital calipers is between 12.4 - 12.5mm, or just about 1mm bigger than spec for the Rig. But then 1mm is just a touch over 1/32 of an inch, which of course is one of those idy-bity marks on a tape measure.
I've done three RADS climbs with the Rig on Lava and a pretty tricky limb walk - the same one I did with the Rig on Velocity, except I did a little better this time.
As before, I used the Shunt as the upper ascender but this time I tried Dave's idea of a regular pulley and standard connection to the Shunt. I couldn't tell any difference and I kinda like that arrangement better - I think.
Speaking of the Shunt, it's spec'd for 10-11mm rope, but I found installing the larger 12.4mm Lava to be quite straight forward and easy. The Shunt grabbed securely and held; I couldn't tell any difference in it's performance on Lava or Velocity as far as grab goes. But....there always has to be a but....
I've noticed that Lava seems a bit 'slicker' than other rope I've used, like PI. I felt like the Rig runs a little faster through the Rig on descents and seems like the Shunt wants to slide a bit if you pull down even slightly on the shell. I don't believe it's a lot slicker and certainly not much of an issue. In fact, if I'd been using Lava first and a lot, I just might find myself a little annoyed that the Rig feels 'sluggish' and less responsive on PI and Velocity. Understand that this is not a big deal, just noticeable and could just be me.
I hope to have video by tomorrow afternoon - got a lot of video to edit. When I did the rappel over the small Dogwood and my wood pile, that's a push out hard and pull the lever, the Rig performed beautifully and I felt in full control of my descent all the way down. I hit the ground light as a feather. Oh, the Shunt trailed right down - I couldn't even tell it was on rope.
So my conclusion, for me personally, the Rig works well on Lava rope. The Shunt works well on Lava rope but be aware that Lava is out of spec for both the Rig and even moreso for the Shunt so there may be some issues that I haven't detected.
I haven't seen any indication that the Rig would slip on any rope. In fact, a standard test I do is to pick up some speed descending and release the lever quickly. The Rig has always grabbed and locked securely.
Dave said something interesting about the Rig in a post lately. Something to the effect that it looks big and heavy compared to a hitch, but neither it's size or weight gets in the way of climbing. I concur.
