Traversing with the Captains Hook.

L

littletreeclimber

Location
Aiken
Hi all, I am fairly new to climbing. I would like to do some traversing between some trees in my yard and I'm interested in the Captains Hook and a 3 to 1 pulley system. Any recommendations as to the equipment needed for this setup?
 
I push a pinto pulley out in front of me on the hook rope using a biner and a hand ascender, and lead the tail thru that, up from the tending pulley under the hitch on the rope, for MA. BTW, I have a new spare hook I would sell for what I paid on sale. It has not been used; I bought it for my daughter hoping she would get interested in climbing with me. But no cigar; she took a new job and has little spare time now. PM me if you are interested.
 
I use a throw hook connected with a quickie to a sewn eye on a 45 foot bite of HTP. For the 3:1, I use a hand ascender and a Rollclip. The Rollclip combines the carabiner and pulley, so that saves a few ounces and uses less gear. I use the hand ascender for ascending too and the Rollclip secures it onto the climbing line, even when not being used for a 3:1 advantage. The CT Quick Roll uses even less gear.
 
Hi guys, I really appreciate all your input on my question. It looks like I'll have the equipment needed to do the traversing I want to do ( yes, even the Captains hook, as my wife gifted it to me a year ago).
Thanks Burrapeg for the fine offer but I will have to take a pass.
 
littletreeclimber said:
Hi guys, I really appreciate all your input on my question. It looks like I'll have the equipment needed to do the traversing I want to do ( yes, even the Captains hook, as my wife gifted it to me a year ago).
Thanks Burrapeg for the fine offer but I will have to take a pass.
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No sweat. I did not realize you already had one. Good luck with your climbing!
 
I just want to add that you obviously need a climbing or progress capture device, I'm using the Akimbo here (in the pic I can't upload). That kind of got lost in my original post, I thought it was obvious, and I was mainly just augmenting @John@TreeXP s post just above mine.
Also, I wouldn't use a 3:1 for a traverse unless I'm using a device that doesn't allow me to use a foot ascender, like a grigri.

It seems I can't upload any pics right now, I don't know if the problem is on my end or on the server end. @Tom Dunlap
 
Yes to climbstihl's point. I'm finding 3:1 is never needed for a Hook traverse. If you have to pull that hard crossing over it means your rope angles are too shallow. When it gets too hard to pull with either the line redirected down to a foot ascender from your progress capture, or just pulling rope by hand through the device it means you need to let out line from where you're coming from to deepen the traverse angle. Once you reach the destination you might want a 3:1 to ascend up towards your Hook anchor location (main rope from your start point is now not bearing weight or not much) but... Hook is an "open connection" so you should be putting your lanyard or tail of your main rope on the landing tree and working your way up to the Hook anchor in a protected way, 3:1 becomes less relevant.

By the way, as you get closer to the Hook/destination tree, watch for Hook rotation on the anchor limb/branch, I've had it pop off as I was getting near to being under the Hook, seriously lucked out on my swing back, wasn't close enough to lanyard in to the tree when it happened. Fatigue was a factor, I'd just driven 12+ hours the day before, I wasn't monitoring the Hook the way I normally would during the traverse.

Don't ever forget that the Hook is an open connection, an uncontrolled swing back with trunk or limb impact can be as serious as falling to the ground. Sometimes I'm happy when I jam the Hook on a very slightly too large diameter anchor, guaranteed to stay put ;-)
-AJ
 
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To elaborate on why 3:1 is not often needed, if you are using a straight-though path progress capture: hitch, BDB, Runner, Akimbo etc. absolutely don't need a 3:1. If you're using a Cinch, Grigri etc then yes there are times when a 3:1 is helpful. After using "straight-through" path progress capture I just can't go back to an indirect path belay device progress capture. I've tried a few times and ask myself "Why am I doing this?" ;-)
-AJ
 
On an accidental swing back, if the hook comes adrift, watch for stubs! I swung back and slammed into the first tree last year right next to a sharp stub I had not noticed before. It was a weak at the knees moment for sure. My backside only missed it by maybe 6 inches.
 
Burrapeg said:
On an accidental swing back, if the hook comes adrift, watch for stubs! I swung back and slammed into the first tree last year right next to a sharp stub I had not noticed before. It was a weak at the knees moment for sure. My backside only missed it by maybe 6 inches.
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Thanks for pointing that out and I'm glad you're OK. If the hook is difficult to retrieve when shaking the rope after returning from a traverse, I'll traverse back over to the hook, lanyard in, then undo the hook and use the hook's line return from the traverse using a more easily retrievable MRS. Perhaps the downside to using this approach is only being able to use half the length of the hook's throw line, as needed to have enough line for a MRS scenario.
 
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John@TreeXP said:
Thanks for pointing that out. It is a concern and avoiding the swing-back can better mitigate the risks. At times, if the hook is difficult to retrieve when shaking the rope after returning from a traverse, I'll traverse back over to the hook, lanyard in, then undo the hook and use the hook's line return from the traverse using a more easily retrievable MRS. Perhaps the downside to using this approach is only being able to use half the length of the hook's throw line, as needed to have enough line for a MRS scenario.
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I often use the tail of my SRS system around a limb or spar to return back, I used to use a Muenter on a carabiner as my return belay but most of the time I just let the rope run through my hand to return. I know not technically kosher but it works for me.
-AJ
 
moss said:
I often use the tail of my SRS system around a limb or spar to return back, I used to use a Muenter on a carabiner as my return belay but most of the time I just let the rope run through my hand to return. I know not technically kosher but it works for me.
-AJ
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Works for me too ... or even running it around a biner to add the tiniest bit of friction. as long as you use the actual end of your rope ... i've gotten sloppy a few times and used a mid-line loop ... which then proceeded to catch on a small nub on retrieval and fucked me
 
CanadianStan said:
Works for me too ... or even running it around a biner to add the tiniest bit of friction. as long as you use the actual end of your rope ... i've gotten sloppy a few times and used a mid-line loop ... which then proceeded to catch on a small nub on retrieval and fucked me
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Haha, yes ;-) I use a midline loop too sometimes but pull the tail through eventually before I pull the whole thing back. Not because i’m smart, probably because I ran out of loop and had to ;-) thx for the warning, it would’ve happened eventually.
-AJ
 
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