Grigri Direct Aid

Heg

TreeHouser
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Messages
54
Location
Oregon
I stumbled on this video which I was fired up to find because I have some trees that I want to climb that do not have suitable crotches; branches too small, and without spurring up, always wondered how to climb them. Well now I know:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-RBrBWnx2A

The reason I am posting this is because of the comments below. I have a grigri1 and want to try this, but I don't understand what he means by
"the brake hand (in your video) is removed from the brake side of the rope and as a result the rope can slip through." I'm guessing that means you are never supposed to take you brake hand off the rope?

pentachronic
Petzl does not advise using a GriGri or Grigri2 in this manner. The reason is that the brake hand (in your video) is removed from the brake side of the rope and as a result the rope can slip through. Some form of autoblock should be used instead. Also there should be a backup prussik.

CornellTreeClimbing

Petzl may indeed not like this. However, it works quite well. I've been on this type of system more times than you've taken breaths this year! If you really thought this was a problem, it'd be a moment's work to tie a knot on a bight below the device. That being said, tho Petzl doesn't call this a hands-free device, I'm very comfortable using it this way.

pentachronic

+CornellTreeClimbing I've actually seen rope slip through the GriGri2 so be warned (albeit a dry rope 9mm). The Cinch is apparently better from what I hear. You should also consider things such as Wildcountry Ropeman-II, a Petzl Microcender or just a plain backup prussik.

NOTE: From Petzl (re GriGri2):
Self-belaying is prohibited!
http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/grigri-experience

ALWAYS backup your system (and from your videos I don't see much of that but I haven't seen all your videos or have attended your classes so this may be unfair criticism).

CornellTreeClimbing

+pentachronic I could imagine a thin rope sliding out of the grigri, but with the volume of experimentation we've done with this, I'm very confident that the grigri won't slip on NE Ropes Safety Blue. We worried about this more back in the day when Petzl regarded the grigri as a belay device only. Later they endorsed it as a sole descender. Now we use it routinely in this way, literally zillions of times without incident.
 
That is pretty horrible instruction. A grigri wont work with modern arb ropes anyway. I cant even begin to go into all the things wrong with that video. I would check out some real tree climbers video, as opposed to Cornells.
 
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That is pretty horrible instruction. A grigri wont work with modern arb ropes anyway. I cant even begin to go into all the things wrong with that video. I would check out some real tree climbers video, as opposed to Cornells.

Thanks Nick, I wont try it. The frustrating thing is, how's a newb supposed to recognize good instruction from bad? These guys seem pretty solid: http://www.climbingarborist.com/

I also like Reg Coates' channel.
 
Guilford-20131107-00103.jpg
I would like clarification on this as well. I am no expert but in the photo what you can't see is the GriGri on the Poison Ivy line. I have used this method repeatedly on a spar. I have never had an issue with rope slippage or anything else. This is not by go to choice but I always have the GriGri on my saddle as an option.
 
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I would like clarification on this as well. I am no expert but in the photo what you can't see is the GriGri on the Poison Ivy line. I have used this method repeatedly on a spar. I have never had an issue with rope slippage or anything else. This is not by go to choice but I always have the GriGri on my saddle as an option.


I started on a GriGri SRT before I knew anything about tree climbing. I had rock climbing gear. I used to use it SRT with RADS for climbing. The big drawback is that it doesn't work 1:1 with a foot ascender. For chunking a spar, it mostly a work positioner, and I found that it worked fine as you use it. I would typically tie a running bowline to reduce gear. I would favor a grigri SRT on a choked climb line over a DdRT. I would tie a long tail if I wanted to lower off the length of the next chunk, spur in, and pull down my tie, as you could do with a Ring and Ring.
 
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