Transition from footlocking to work

J

jakers

Ended up with the day off so I figured I would ask y'all how you usually go about transitioning from footlocking to working. In my case I climb drt, split tail e2e with a pully, and would not be willing to carry a separate acess line and so would be footlocking both strands of my climb line. To be more specific, do you take your split tail up on your saddle and install aloft? Install it on the ground with a bit of slack and pull the whole thing up to you or have a groundie pull it up for you? I would like to try to take advantage of footlocking more and am looking for any tips for making the transition from ascending-working faster/smoother. Thanks in advance. Jake
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What I have seen done is tie your hitch on the ground and leave slack. Foot lock up, secure yourself in the tree (with your lanyard) and have a groundie pull the tail of the line so your hitch comes up to you. If you want to put a friction saving divice in install or climb higher an install. It seems to work well for the guys I know that use it.

PS if you use a single eye pully (such as a micro pulley) you need to connect the two biners together before sending it up to the climber. With a hitch climber it should all be set up.
 
If you have a hitch climber you can tie off your tail and send the whole system up and it choke itself off . Then footlock up to your hitch ,lanyard in , untie your tail and clip in and go!
 
Thanks for the replies, I use a normal micro pulley. I really like your idea (VIC) of choking your hitch and having the whole thing set up with the slack removed upon arrival, not sure I really have a good understanding of where the hitchclimber comes into play so if its not too much trouble I would appreciate some elaboration. I'm trying to think of a good way acomplish the same thing on my current set up. I can see that working really well if your heading all the way to your tip. what do you think about sending your hitch and pulley up while setting the climb line so that the hitch is close to the tip on one line. that would take half the slack out of the system and you wouldnt have to go all the way to the tip if theres a handier limb a little lower to stand and lanyard into.
 
Just curious why you dont wanna use a seperate access line.Personally I think its a better idea from a safety aspect and more versatility . It could be used as a rescue line,another climber could use it to come up and help you. There is a variety of systems(secret weapon,ring loops) you could use to work the tree on the way up.You can even install frictions control systems(a revolver on each side or a pinto pulley on one side and a butterfly knot on the other) directly on to the access line and climb off of them and have and easy lowerable system when done.You can also use your access line to lower your friction devices(rope guide-friction savers) with your primary line in them,Ive even hung my chain saw on my access line ,when Im not using it. I dont really climb this way any more but If I did footlock up a doubled rope I would use an access line for sure.Because the ground man may be busy and its always better and more efficient for the climber to be independent in alot of circumstances and Like I stated there are alot of other options as well .
 
Hi Jimmy, I guess I'm opposed to using an access line for for the sake of simplicty alone, for better or worse I'm kindof a minimalist. I understand what your saying about rescue being easier but otherwise dont really see enough advantage to warrent the exra gear and setup. But then again ive never tried it, I'll give it some thought though. I find that just about every aditional piece of gear I try to incorperate gets abandoned before too long and I end up back too my "skeleton" kit. I would also would like to leave the groundies out of it, they've got enough to do without having to babysit me
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You need the hitchclimber to keep you system inline . You want your climbing prusik to grab before assent . If you do it with just a micro you have to snap to carabiner's together witch wont stay alined and will side load! If I come across a tree with low indicated limb to be removed I wont choke it off I only send it up to the limb I need work on or a area close by so I can secure myself to change over to my drt !
 
When I footlock for access I run my hitch up to the crotch. When I get there I just pull out the slack and go. If I only need to go halfway up, the situation stays the same, easier actually, because you dont need to pull as much slack through. Make sense?
 
yeah banjo that makes a lot of sense. Its kinda what I was leaning towards. Have to give it a try the next time I think footlocking will save some time.
 
This scenario would use a line with 2 eye splices but does not require them...

~Isolate the limb with a throwline.
~Pull your climb line over the limb until the eye splice is a few feet off the ground.
~Use a Delta link to capture 3 things (upper eye splice [which is really your tail], parallel strand, lower eye splice with hitch & micro-pulley installed).
~Pull downward on the parallel strand.This will form a cinch around the limb with everything you need in one place.
~Lanyard in.
~Connect micro-pulley to your bridge.
~Open mallion and drop your tail, or advance it for said planned climbing route.
~Put enough slack into your climb line to set it around the desired location and off you go!
 
I use a blakes hitch but this is simple and would work with any system. Tie only your anchor end on the ground with some slack. when you get to where you want to work, lanyard in and pull that side up, and then tie your climbing hitch. That way you don't have to mess with pulling slack twice.
 
entering and working on the same line should be limited to trees that you can clip or tie on a throw ball to your rope and reach the second or third limb. never the first because of the inability to surpass without using an abundance of energy. not to mention looking like a novice to your customer. i keep my ropes and accessories in bags. i tote my gear, my helper totes his. share the load we all have a responsibility to do the job.
 
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