i usually just lurk here on Tree Buzz, reading and liking without commenting, but this thread inspired me to share my recent Captain Hook customization, and I felt that this is the most appropriate thread to do so on.
I have had the hook for a few years now, and it sure comes in handy in sprawling trees, traverses and other complicated scenarios. But always wanted to make a setup that was more multipurpose and streamline the amount of gear dangling from my harness. The original kit version that came with 10mm rope with a spliced eye is obviously super compact and very responsive for manipulating the hook (ie: turning it by twisting the rope), but I didn't like the fact that it was a dedicated hook line only. Lugging around the whole kit is bulky, but also I would prefer to not have to bother a ground person to send up more stuff than I already do.
There are certain situations in which I wanted to be able to take the hook off after the traverse and set up a secondary MRS system on the same rope to work position with in conjunction with a main SRS line, especially in the case that one wishes to rappel far from the original hook position and later retrieve the rope without a hassle. In general, I just wanted to not have extra ropes. I like a long lanyard,
Obviously this can be achieved by just cutting the splice off the original 10mm rope, and using a termination knot directly to the shackle. But I wanted to switch out the rope to 11.5mm one with a spliced eye that would be my long lanyard, and not have to deal with the bulk and hassle of termination knots. Another option was to leave carabiner on the spliced eye of the long lanyard, and clip that through the shackle of the hook, but I mainly didn't like the extra length and "floppiness" that it added to the system.
I dreamed about a compact shackle on the hook that could open and connect to the spliced eye of my long lanyard. At some point, I realized that this "something" already existed in the form of the DMM Directors Yoke carabiner/shackle. And it is exactly the same size as the compact shackle in the same lineup, so I ordered one and installed in on the hook directly.
Now I keep the hook hanging on my harness, and just clip it directly to the spliced eye of the long lanyard, and as needed, remove the hook, add a normal carabiner, close the loop of the MRS system, and continue on with the climb.
What I did is definitively not revolutionary and maybe others have found more efficient setups, but I haven't seen anyone else try this modification yet, so I wanted to throw it out there in case it helps someone else work more efficiently too.
Important note:
The rope shown in the photos is a Teulfelberger Fly 11.1mm, and the positioning device is Surveyor's BOLA 3.0. While I have had great success with this device as a lanyard adjustor on Tachyon 11.5mm and also Sterling Tritech 11mm, it DID NOT work for me on the rope shown, as it creeped too much. I have since switched back to the Tachyon for this purpose. (I am also going to be receiving a small elongated steel bollard from Surveyor to modify the BOLA, and quite possibly it will allow the device to work on this skinnier rope. Time will tell, and I can provide feedback about that when I have experimented with it.)
