What hitch for lanyard?

Benjo75

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Malvern, Arkansas
Hey all. I've been playing around with different climbing hitches and just started using the Michoacan the last couple weeks. I really like it so far. So I decided to try it on my lanyards. I've tried several different combinations of wraps. It doesn't grab 100% of the time. When I first adjust it for the limb and have just pulled some slack through it, it will usually need to be set first. Luckily I always load my hitches every time before use and before putting my weight in them. I used VT for a while before the Michoacan. I seem to get the VT too tight and it's harder to tend slack than it should be. Yesterday I tried the Distel and it seemed to work good. I'm going to stick with it for a while. Just wondering what everyone else uses and why. Oh yeah, I'm using 10mm Bee Line on my lanyards. Just swapped to 8mm Ocean for my climbing hitch. My next purchase will be HRC to see how it does. Been hearing good things about it. Thanks, Ben.
 
If the hitch is too tight then extend the cord a little. Alternately, if it's too loose and not grabbing then shorten it up or add one more braid/wrap.
 
The Distel has always worked well for me on a lanyard too Ben. The HRC is good stuff and I like Sterling's RIT as well, they are both super heat resistant and grab consistently.
 
Did you incorporate a pully under the hitch for one handed tending?
A distel seems one of the favourites for a flip line/positioning lanyard.
Use a VT myself. But it really all comes down to what combination works for you on your rope to your liking.

And there, is the pulley.. AHA!
 
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I've used Been Line for quite a few years but it is starting to seem to be quite stiff. The Ocean is more flexible. I'll look into the RIT. I guess it's my neverending quest for perfection. I keep thinking back to the days of the closed 3 braid lanyards from Baileys. I still have quite a few of them. Super tough. They would wear me out adjusting on them though especially when wet. I didn't know there was anything better then. I guess there wasn't.
 
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Yep. There's a pulley. I tried a VT for a while. I'm using spliced eyes for now and the VT had too much set back for my liking. When I got enough wraps to avoid setback then it was too tight.
 
I used a distel for years with very good results. Using a knut now for the last several years...good with it, too. Beeline for hitch.
 
I have had a few like the distel more for that reason. I just never seemed to have the issue. But I ran pretty small prussics as well while I was on beeline eye2eye. Nick used to splice them for me. Worked great on my arbormaster type sampson ropes. Floating more on the Yale lines in the Poison Ivy family now. Fount the BeeLine a little too grabby for my taste.
Personal preference. Dave (thattreeguy) Runs a beeline Distel on his Yale XTC and loves it. I had a hard time with it. He weighs considerable more than I though.
 
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I haven't tried the Knut. Might play with it tomorrow. I don't think I've even seen where to tie it though. I weight about 225 right now without gear. When I first switched over to this from the Blakes hitch, I used a French Prussic as described in Mr. Beraneks working climber series. It was always too tight for me but opened my world to new things.
 
Try the cooper's hitch.
I love it for the flip line.
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With your hitches, when you are using fixed length cords and you want more grip but one wrap or braid more is too much, sometimes twisting the cord before you clip it onto the carabiner can give you an in-between setting.
 
I'm not nearly a good enough climber to even post here, but I think someone might like how I run the helical hitch. It's definitely not my idea, but I can't remember where I learned it from to cite the proper source. I came across it looking for a hitch to fit nicely under the rope wrench, but then ended up liking it so much I use it on everything. I don't use an eye to eye, and I don't run it off the tail like it is usually shown. I use a slip knot to make a cinching knot for the carbiner, then do how ever many wraps (rope and weight dependant obviously), then tie the bowline as close to the slip knot as possible. After you dress and set you then take the highest wrap and pull it over the knot, collapsing it into a vt like configuration. The best part of this knot is the fact that you can adjust the bowline to completely fine tune it, even in the tree (and it doesn't need eye splices). It is also very compact, so it will fit perfectly under the rope wrench, and doesn't have very much sit back. I use 7 wraps (collapsed to 6) on the poly core 8mm ap on blaze for tree climbing, and this picture shows a three strand lanyard that I use as a pipefitter when welding up in the air on pipe racks and such. Normally I get the bowline wayyyyyyyyyy closer to the slip knot, but this was working so beautifully that I have left it. Sorry about the messy background lol
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I have just switched from beeline 8mm distel to a VT for my lanyard. Tied eyes...distel was getting too tight, so now VT 3 wraps 2 braids...seems to be ok.
So many variations to play with...one will work eventually.
I used to like icetail for my hitch cord, now for some reason it's too soft and binds up too quickly...maybe I have put on the odd ounce or several ??
 
6 mm ocean vectran 5/1 distel on 10 mm ocean poly lanyard is pretty slick for me. Get the tails on the prussik the right length for minimal setback and better tending
 
I have just switched from beeline 8mm distel to a VT for my lanyard. Tied eyes...distel was getting too tight, so now VT 3 wraps 2 braids...seems to be ok.
So many variations to play with...one will work eventually.
I used to like icetail for my hitch cord, now for some reason it's too soft and binds up too quickly...maybe I have put on the odd ounce or several ??

Been a while but I went out and looked at my dusty old saddle to confirm. I used the same 3-2 VT hitch on my lanyard, used a 4-2 VT for climbing. Hand tied New England Sta-Set cord in 3/8".
 
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