Knee ascender

DMc

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Lately I have been using this knee ascender set-up and have pretty much stopped using any hand ascenders. This works so well and your arms are free to be used for balance, passing limbs, whatever. You don't even need to take it off for moving around the tree if you don't want to. Just unclip the Pantin and Croll from the rope.

David

Knee Ascender Bungie.JPG
 
Ive been climbing on that same line I think. Rocket line? stuff has no stretch. Bugs me a little.
 
Nice, I'll have to throw a pic up of one I'm trying for someone.

I like rocket line a lot. It's a bit unnerving if you're used to climbing on something with a lot of stretch, but once you're used to it it's great.
 
That looks great. You would always be pulling tension down through the HH as you ascend. Is that a revolver that the tether runs through? It reminds me of a hands free M system.
 
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  • #6
... Rocket line? stuff has no stretch. Bugs me a little.

Yes, it is Rocket line. It has been a good line, but it is stiffer than I like. Samson Vortex is my go to line now; fat and soft and even less stretch but it still has great knot-ability. Unfortunately, I need to get a longer one for base-tying some of these big Pondies, so out came the Rocket line.

Dave
 
Looks good, Dave. I've come to the same conclusion about how nice it is to have both hands free to use on the rope, limbs, stem, what ever. Although, I'm using a bungee to the chest snap and some different components but very similar in concept.

Maybe I should post a pic ...
 
I would like to see a scantily clad hottie demonstrating that setup in action:lol:

Dave when you get the setup perfected let me know as Im too Wraptor bound and lazy to play with setups:D
 
I would definitely like to see a video of that in action! :D
Being new to SRT, maybe most of you are familiar with this type of setup, I've never seen
or heard of this type of setup. :dontknow: I think I'm using something like(same as?)Jack's,
bungee to a chest harness to advance the knee ascender.
.....
I like the look of your setup Dave, I'd like to try that. :thumbupold:
Thanks for posting that picture! ;)
 
You pump your feet like a bicycle and up you go. The tether through the ring between the knee and foot ascender just advances the ascender at knee height. HH captures and helps keep you up right with the chest strap advancing it. Basically walk right up the rope hands free if you like.
 
A video would be great but a few answers to questions would do for now. What is the revolver attached to on the saddle? I figured it would be attached to the center ring but appears to be somewhere else. How is the rope attached to the foot with the ascender? Lastly what size rope are you running for the setup?
Looks like a sweet rig the bungee over the shoulder tends to cause me irritation.
 
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  • #18
I apologize for my lack of clarity on this system's use. I, too, would love to see a video of it being used, especially with a scantily clad hottie! Unfortunately, making videos is beyond my ability. Maybe we could pressure Nick into filming something?

Be that as it may, I will try to explain things a little better. The knee ascender takes the place of the more common hand ascender with a foot loop, as used in a typical rope walker setup. It has a one inch nylon web sewn on the bottom of the Croll/knee ascender, with an adjustable size foot loop on the other end. The length of the strap should be set so the Croll comes to about the top of your knee. Some length fine-tuning here can make a big difference. The Croll is advanced up the rope by the bungee cord run through a Revolver carabiner clipped to my harness belt then back down to the Pantin strap. The bungee has small clips on both ends.

So, to use, I first attach my Hitch Hiker to my rope as I normally would and clip the advancing strap to my Torse shoulder harness. Clip on the Croll and Pantin. Now as pictured with the HH set on the bridge ring, in a normal work position, you will need to hold onto the rope to maintain an upright position for walking up the rope. You can run the HH higher up on your chest by using a short tether for a more hands free climb but I don't find that as comfortable.

The thing I like about this setup is all the advancing is done below the HH. This works far better than using a hand ascender above because you can keep your hitch adjusted nice and tight and everything still advances smooth and easy. With a hand ascender I would often need to do a double stroke with the Pantin foot to take up slack or run the hitch real loose so it would self-feed, which I don't like to do.

The reason I run the Revolver off my waist belt as opposed to the bridge ring is it orients the roller in the proper direction and it keeps a more constant tension on the bungee even when not traveling up the rope.

David
 
Thanks for the explanation David. Based on the picture you posted I "threw together" a workable system as close as I could
get it to what was in the picture. The one thing I missed was the cord that went from your right foot to the Croll was bungee
cord! :|::? Now it makes sense why I struggled with it. :thumbup: I'm gonna change the cord to bungee and give it another
"test drive"..... ;)
I took some video of the climb, I'll try to get it posted..... :D
Thanks again David!
 
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  • #20
... The one thing I missed was the cord that went from your right foot to the Croll was bungee
cord! ...

Oh man, sorry about that! Another point regarding the bungee is try to find some with a lot of stretch potential. The Croll doesn't need a lot to get it to advance so the amount of stretch is more important than strength of stretch.

David
 
I have all the components now...raining and blowing like stink today so a good day to fiddle with the setup while watching TV...
 
Ok, so I got a foot loop made up for the basic, it reaches just to my knee , put a little cord on the back of my pantin for a loop to clip the bungee to, and have been fiddling with the bungee lenght...how long/tight should the bungee be when it's clipped to the basic, run through a ring on my waist belt and down to the pantin?
Or is this something I'll only figure out once I actually attach it all at start to climb?
 
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  • #24
It will take some experimenting to find the proper tension. Whether the bungee routing, redirected off the bridge or waist belt works will depend on just how stretchy the bungee cord you use is. If you run into difficulty getting it right, try clipping the bungee to the back of your saddle and over your shoulder to the Basic. Though this is slightly uncomfortable, it is easy to get used to and is a lot less fussy and works well.

This is how I prep the parts for putting on my harness.
 

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