Zig zag tips

Jonny said:
Ascending SRT, often climbing past the work, switching over to DdRT then coming back down to the work will never be faster or more efficient than just working SRT on a base tie.
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I always get tickled when guys climb to the top to switch their anchors up when a simpler anchor could have already been set and ready.
 
I think most the skepticism's voiced about SRT's directly due to so many novices not realizing base tied SRT in certain configurations are a powerful force multiplier quite capable or tearing out an upper redirect, resulting in the climber hittin the ground hard.

Mechanical advantage needs to be fully understood, not trivialized.

Jemco
 
I agree, it needs to be understood, but that is not hard to do. Everything we do needs to be understood in order to do it safely.

As far as getting up a skinny rope with no ascenders, there is always the foot-lock. The benefits of an SRS need to be experienced to be appreciated, you should give it a try.
 
Jemco said:
SRT still gives me the creeps in that it's so dang skinny the thought of powering up the rope hand over hand's a fantasy without a foot ascender, knee ascender, or hand ascender.

If yur gadget breaks, you pretty much have only one way out, down.

Now SRT on a one inch fat rope.......

Jemco
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one could always foot lock the roop, one of the rope climbing skills to possess!
 
Yes, footlocking up a single 1/2 inch line's doable, but I seriously doubt many novice climbers could actually do it for any considerable distance.

I remember well the dirty look Blair gave me when I trapped him into demonstrating a single line footlock at a seminar we gave together on a college campus here.

Hard on the hands. Blair pulled it off no problem, but was ticked with me for forcing the demonstration.

But seein's believin!

Jemco
 
Jemco said:
Yes, footlocking up a single 1/2 inch line's doable, but I seriously doubt many novice climbers could actually do it for any considerable distance.

I remember well the dirty look Blair gave me when I trapped him into demonstrating a single line footlock at a seminar we gave together on a college campus here.

Hard on the hands. Blair pulled it off no problem, but was ticked with me for forcing the demonstration.

But seein's believin!

Jemco
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I’ve footlocked single lines to show off to a new employee, but you’re right, it’s no fun at all! Rubber dipped gloves and the right boots do help a lot though.
 
Wrestling shoes make it much easier!

I firmly believe the athleticism involved with fine pruning far exceeds that involved with strategic removals.

I want a quickly detachable blade interchange system where a single 13 inch handsaw blade's universal to a short or long polesaw.

A universal blade secured in my leg scabbard when not in use.

Happiness in the pruning world's a razor sharp new blade!

Gonna have to wear different costumes n apparel depending on what task's at hand each day.

Believer it or not I had a pair of knee high Harlem globetrotter tennis in the early 70's, cuz my ma use to rag somethin fierce about comin home with my socks full of foxtail stickers.

A helluvalot lighter than my custom knee high highliners for sure!

Those were the days!

Jemco
 
theatertech87 said:
If you're rope walking in any fashion, you'll have some type of ascender for each foot, so there is redundancy. Also it doesn't take much to setup a 3:1 z rig to advance either, so additional redundancy...

Yes you're slower, but no where near stuck having to decend
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The foot ascenders and 3:1 do not provide any redundant safety backup.
 
Jemco said:
I think most the skepticism's voiced about SRT's directly due to so many novices not realizing base tied SRT in certain configurations are a powerful force multiplier quite capable or tearing out an upper redirect, resulting in the climber hittin the ground hard.

Mechanical advantage needs to be fully understood, not trivialized.

Jemco
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If a base anchor versus a canopy anchor means I rip out my TIP, I'm going to choose a safer fucking anchor.
 
I use a 3:1 exclusively. I can go hand-over-hand for a short distance, two hand pulls almost continuously, or use a double-handed ascender with foot loop when I'm away from the trunk and want to go faster.

I depend on my ZigZag, but I always keep at least one hand on the rope below it until it's taken the load. The hand ascender provides a backup when I use it, but coming down with it would be difficult and slow. I'd rather just use my gloved hands on the rope, and stop or switch hands if/when they get too hot. That's doable with a 3:1, but probably not on SRT.

I just cannot get comfortable with the idea of using a foot or knee ascender. If the ZZ were to fail, I'd be in a very awkward position with the ascender jammed against the bottom of the ZZ. That beats falling, but not by much. I always tie a knot in the rope when I'm twenty feet up to prevent a free-fall to the ground.
 
Winchman said:
I use a 3:1 exclusively. I can go hand-over-hand for a short distance, two hand pulls almost continuously, or use a double-handed ascender with foot loop when I'm away from the trunk and want to go faster.

I depend on my ZigZag, but I always keep at least one hand on the rope below it until it's taken the load. The hand ascender provides a backup when I use it, but coming down with it would be difficult and slow. I'd rather just use my gloved hands on the rope, and stop or switch hands if/when they get too hot. That's doable with a 3:1, but probably not on SRT.

I just cannot get comfortable with the idea of using a foot or knee ascender. If the ZZ were to fail, I'd be in a very awkward position with the ascender jammed against the bottom of the ZZ. That beats falling, but not by much. I always tie a knot in the rope when I'm twenty feet up to prevent a free-fall to the ground.
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"If the zigzag were to fail" is not a reasonable way to look at this. Either you have inspected and trust your gear today or you don't. There is plenty of stuff to actually worry about when you are climbing a tree.
 
If you run fat enough rope with the ZZ, I think it would grab pretty well even without the spring working. However, the fatter ropes are hard to thread thru it when you put the ZZ on them. You might like a Bulldog Bone if you are nervous about using the ZZ. Get one and resell the ZZ? The Bone is foolproof, works great every time, once it is adjusted, and rugged as hell.
 
We tried failing a zigzag yesterday by knitting the top plate during setup. Grabbed Everytime, it would creep, but no free fall... Tested with brand new tachyon and a yard zigzag plus, your results may vary, but I'm not concerned
 
Yeah, the whole thing reeks of trolling. There is only one spring in a ZigZag, on the top release plate. You can disable it, and it still works. It just keeps the thing from sliding down the rope when it's unweighted.
 
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