The Rope Runner sucks at sucking.

[fall_risk]

I wash my ropes pretty frequently, once a quarter-ish to monthly, the hand so much better afterwards. Split tails and lanyards, too, snaps and all. I use compressed air or my girlfriend's hairdryer on cool to dry the snaps out. I use a cold/cold cycle, with Method, Seventh Generation, or Woolite detergent, and fabric softener sometimes. Before putting them into my regular top-load washer, I quadruple or octouple them (i.e. doubled twice or thrice), and then daisy chain them, cinching the initial slip knot up good and tight, and then pull the last link all the way through with about 18" of tail, and really lock that down. A 150' rope ends up around 12'. That gets laid around the center post in the machine about twice. Lanyards just get regular daisy chained, and split tails get doubled and tied in a figure eight. I have never had anything come undone. Sometimes, if they're really dirty or sappy, I'll send them through once with no soap and then once with. When they come out, they get hung up in the basement, still daisy chained. If I hang them before bed, they are dry enough to use in the morning (not totally dry), and usually completely dry by the end of the day. I may try a fan after reading this thread, but the hanging has not changed the length, cross section, or diameter of any of my stuff, and they handle so nice afterwards.

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[islandarb]

Laying flat causes pooling as the water has nowhere to go and also means one side gets no air exposure, which is key to drying anything. With hanging it just drips off. Do you lay your towel on the floor when you get out of the shower or spread your clothes out on the deck after doing laundry?

I am dying reading this. Just hang the damn rope or lay flat. There is minimal water in rope after a nice spin....I do both and lay in sun too. Arb ropes are tough.

 

[fall_risk]

There is minimal water in rope after a nice spin....I do both and lay in sun too. Arb ropes are tough.

True story, I don't necessarily climb every day, so I hang'em if I'm not going to, but like Swing said, after a spin cycle they're already pretty dry, plenty dry enough to use if I am climbing, and they pretty much always dry completely with one day of use.

Again, like swing said, our ropes are tough. People get all worked up about cleaning and what soap to use... I've subbed for companies that keep their lowering lines in a bin with 1/8" of mix fuel or diesel in the bottom, and then (after pointing the situation out and being assured of no responsibility for any failure) dropped bombs into those same ropes, with no apparent effect on performance. They get dragged through the mud, stepped on, ridden hard, and put away wet. I am completely unconvinced that the soap matters. I hedge my bets and use gentle stuff, but that's partly because I'm a pink-o hippie Tree-hugger, and those companies are environmentally groovy. I use cold water to prevent sheath creep or milking. I definitely don't think about drying too much.


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[fall_risk]

I haven't worn the paint off the heat sink yet, as I'm afraid to use the rr in a tree until I get a rope that I'm comfortable with.

Ha, I just got the baby bump, and I'm so thicc that one climb rubbed the paint off at the top and bottom. Between the baby bump and cleaning & lubricating the pulley, I am back in love w/ my runner. I was going to get the bearing pulley, but it seems like it might not be available anymore. I am also excited to try that 4SRT cover for the end of the bird.


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[TimBr]

@fall_risk; What has been the effect of the baby bump on how your Rope Runner seems to behave? Thanks in advance for any answer you choose to provide.

Tim

P.S. Here is a link to the 4SRT cover for the Rope Runner.

https://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?category_id=2062&item=17605

 

[islandarb]

@fall_risk; What has been the effect of the baby bump on how your Rope Runner seems to behave? Thanks in advance for any answer you choose to provide.

Tim

P.S. Here is a link to the 4SRT cover for the Rope Runner.

https://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?category_id=2062&item=17605

Baby bump sucks....plain and simple....I grinded that bump flat and polished it with some friction....lol...

 

[Brocky]

That’s just the way he swings, dude!

 

[islandarb]

Why in the world would you modify it instead of switching back to the flat version that came with the rr?

Yo yo yo. Cause I been climbing on them for ages....I have 2 of the first ever made. That was also one of the first bumbs ever made. Friction plates wear out. That one was sitting there. Needed some action. So I grinded the bump down polished it and put it in use. I am not one of the new runner crowd....

 

[moss]

Ha, I just got the baby bump, and I'm so thicc that one climb rubbed the paint off at the top and bottom. Between the baby bump and cleaning & lubricating the pulley, I am back in love w/ my runner. I was going to get the bearing pulley, but it seems like it might not be available anymore. I am also excited to try that 4SRT cover for the end of the bird.


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It seems odd that it would make so much difference but the bearing tending pulley made a huge difference for my runner performance.
-AJ

 

[islandarb]

It seems odd that it would make so much difference but the bearing tending pulley made a huge difference for my runner performance.
-AJ

Oh yessss

 

[fall_risk]

@fall_risk; What has been the effect of the baby bump on how your Rope Runner seems to behave? Thanks in advance for any answer you choose to provide.

Tim

P.S. Here is a link to the 4SRT cover for the Rope Runner.

https://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?category_id=2062&item=17605

I'm 250lbs and I am still getting used to and breaking in my ropes. It feels like the baby bump has added a slight amount of more friction. Instead of sliding or coasting to a stop, I more or less stop sooner and breaking the beak seems to be easier.

I was happy to get it.

Baby bump sucks....plain and simple....I grinded that bump flat and polished it with some friction....lol...

Talltree kind of covered the difference that the bump made for me. For me, at 265-275 (+clothes and gear), the bird was pretty hard to break at first. I bombed out a bunch, and once the bollard started to wear a bit of a groove, everything came together.

I stopped using the runner for a while, b/c it started to get choppy or jumpy. Turns out the pulley sheave had frozen to one of the cheek plates. I'm not sure if it happened b/c the plate was turning against the axle nut gradually tightening it, or b/c I wasn't storing it as carefully as I should have, but the sheave had basically stopped turning on the axle, so my runner was pretty much a wrench sitting above the bottom of a hitch hiker.

Having that experience is why I'd love to try the bearing pulley if I can source one. Once I figured out what happened, I disassembled, cleaned, and lubricated the pulley. It's dreamy again.

Just like a hitch, mechanicals behave differently for different climbers. I'm sure the bump fouls things up for swingdude's little island bod, but it changes the relative friction of the bird and the plate in just the right way for me and my badonkadonk. Like Talltree, I frequently coast to a stop and have trouble breaking the bird open, and sometimes, stuff creeps on me. Different strokes I guess. If I remember, I'll take some pics of the the wear patterns on my runner.

If you're using a new runner, make sure you give it chance to wear in before you give up on it, especially if you're also using a new rope. As a big guy, I hate new, slick, unfurred rope.

Also, @Brocky, I see what you did there.

 

[fall_risk]

Here is the wear on my runner. Both bollards have a millimeter or three of groove. The bump plate (the pink one) only has half a dozen climbs on it, but I think from the difference in the wear patterns, the rope is getting bent over the bump, which probably accounts for how it makes the bird behave differently.

Anyone know if the bearing pulley is going to be restocked?

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[islandarb]

Here is the wear on my runner. Both bollards have a millimeter or three of groove. The bump plate (the pink one) only has half a dozen climbs on it, but I think from the difference in the wear patterns, the rope is getting bent over the bump, which probably accounts for how it makes the bird behave differently.

Anyone know if the bearing pulley is going to be restocked?

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All normal wear @fall_risk . You will be good. Long ways til bollard rotation. Those friction plates now need work.

 

[islandarb]

View attachment 56751

Again nice light wear.

 

[islandarb]

I never take a runner apart....ever....thread it on the rope. Been climbing on them for years....just ascend up the rope and bail out repeatedly.... I do it often when practicing open ascent.

 

[treegongfu]

I emailed treestuff about the bearing pulley but the person who responded didn't even know what I was talking about!

I tried to clarify and got no further correspondence on the matter.

But I would still like a couple of them.

 

[TimBr]

@treegongfu; I'm not sure if it was in this thread or somewhere else, but I read a rumor that TreeStuff was switching the production of the Rope Runner to China. It appears to me that they may have failed to establish a new manufacturing stream of parts before canceling the original one. I think it has created a gap in coverage for the Rope Runner and most of its component parts.

Maybe @bonner1040 can chime in and correct me if I'm completely wrong about all of this. Your best bet to find a bearing pulley for the Rope Runner at the present time might exist on ebay.

Tim

 

[fall_risk]

Here is something I should've done on day 1:

View attachment 56752

The deburred bevel Edge makes putting the pin in ten times easier.

That's an awesome idea, did you just use a countersink bit for that?

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[fall_risk]

All normal wear @fall_risk . You will be good. Long ways til bollard rotation. Those friction plates now need work.

Ha, right on swing, I was showing the bollards because I didn't like my runner's action as much until they wore in like that. I am very heavy for a climber (275ish), and I just swapped that stock plate for the baby bump, which has improved it even more.

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[treegongfu]

I don't know about all that manufacturing origin stuff. I do know that Bonner has expressed a committment to US based manufacturing.

I'm Canadian.

I was considering pestering Bonner about it but I think he must be busy and I'm reluctant to add to his burden.

I want them for my homemade multiscenders.