Wanted: Stein Maxi-Flip Sport!

[JeffGu]

...to throw away flipline after flipline after only the rope cover deteriorating every time...

I quit throwing them away, because I quit buying them. I just make my own, and I use 3/8" ID air hose for the cover. Much tougher than rope, handles saw contact a lot better.
They aren't without their drawbacks... heavy and cumbersome in long lengths, some adjusters work better than others, although they all grab the hose fine. Best adjuster of the bunch is the one on the longer flipline pictured, with the blue aluminum snaps. It's actually a fall arrest type rope grab, but works like a dream for this application. That particular flipline is an old prototype, it just doesn't look like it. The hose wipes clean with WD-40 no matter how much pitch and crap you get on it. A short one about 6 or 7 feet long is shown... I really like that one up in the tree, where the stems are smaller. The longer one with steel 'biners gets used quite a bit and as you can see, it takes forever to wear one out. I have one I made in the 1980's that only looks a little bit rough.

This idea is not for everybody, but it works well for me. They're very stiff a few inches to almost a foot out from the end, because there's three swages on the ends. It hasn't been a problem for me, and in fact, makes it easier to flip. Heavy, though, and it ain't gonna roll up nice and stow away on your harness. Cheap to make, tough as nails.

 

[123Craig]

Jeff - You are way ahead of us all with this; like all great innovators, you're finding the positives (and negatives) of new systems. Hose pipe was on my mind for the last few days as I was thinking of protecting my lanyard...

Still to read/learn so much (mostly from http://www.treebuzz.com/forum/threads/steel-core-lanyard-failure.29907/page-3).

Some Positives for me so far:
Durability
Strength

Some Negatives (that for my personal climb style still outweigh the positives):
Can't release under load (a big one for me - as I've recently started using an Art Positioner, and I love it).
Lack of flexibility when cinched close (I'd like to have just the one lanyard if possible, that covers the middle ground for most of my climbing).
Weight.

Really loving your innovations though.

I think the best middle ground I'll be able to find for my type of climbing will be to find some sort of semi-soft/hard chafing sleeve around 3' long that will 'bunch up' when cinched against the lanyard adjuster and provide at least a little replaceable sacrificial protection against nicks in the rope cover and such.

I really do think somehow/somewhere in the future most things mechanically friction wise will be utilising rollers (ie mini pulleys) ect - that way things can be released under load more easily - though what do I know...

 

[JeffGu]

Can't release under load...

That's a big one, and the hose grabs like crazy... two hands to release unless you can take most of the weight off, which isn't always easy to do.
On the sappy stuff like pines, I just take three up with me, short and two longs. I use the two long ones on the way up, and when I get to where the short one works, I throw the long ones to the ground, and descend on the lifeline on my way down. I still use 2 going up, to get around limbs, because I like to see my TIP before I put too much faith in it on brittle conifers.

I'm always thinking about a better way, a better flipline, but I'm very busy this time of year. I have some ideas I want to try out over the winter, though. I'll post them if anything promising comes out of it. Sometimes, I just end up back at square one.

 

[123Craig]

Ha - look what Treestuff now sells:

https://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?category_id=159&item=15442

Main differences to the Marlow Flipline are that instead of Flemish Eye Splice - they have it Crimped, and the Rubber Rope/Crimp Covers on the end slightly restrict usable length for rope grap. They'll be the cheaper option now though.