Any Rope Wrench or Hitch Hiker users here?

[cory]

Nice looking setup. Do you a lot of srt and Ddrt with the HH or are you mostly srt ?

 

[BOTS]

Thanks Cory

I SRT only with the HH.....one day mabey try it with DRT

 

[PCTREE]

Why 2 plates ??I like the added security but was wondering . great Ddrt tip

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

Scott, looks like you have enough hitch tail to do Dave's DMc's hitch tail trick. Did you see that? I might try tomorrow.

Is that a spliced, or stitched tending loop that you use?

Do you DdRT with another system,... or why bother?

 

[lonniels]

I like that BOTS! I will have to try it.

 

[BOTS]

Why 2 plates ??I like the added security but was wondering . great Ddrt tip

I like 2 Xbats for, I think better bend radius for bridge, and it works well with a pinto, tight fit with grinding, no side movement

one Xbat would be plenty strong though.

 

[cory]

It looks natural

 

[BOTS]

Scott, looks like you have enough hitch tail to do Dave's DMc's hitch tail trick. Did you see that? I might try tomorrow.

Is that a spliced, or stitched tending loop that you use?

Do you DdRT with another system,... or why bother?

I should give that a try Sean

its stiched, my wifester made it for me, works well

I do have another system, a DRT set up I use on smaller trees, but dont use it very often..lol

 

[Tico]

nice and neat set up!

 

[Bermy]

BOTS, that's about identical to my setup now. Only difference is I used a fixe pulley. I had to spread the cheeks to get it on my bridge ring.
I climb in an Edelrid Tree Magic harness and it has two triangular floating 'rings' on the bridge, I only use one for this setup.

I'm getting better at finessing the clipping in and out when I want to move my setup around a branch...I was considering making one side of the fixe a hook...

 

[kevin bingham]

On another note...been hanging out on the SRT forum on facebook, the majority of folks there seem to be ropewrench users.
I have always had the thought that the RW could be awkward when getting up through lots of small branches, or when your rope is hard against a branch...I manage with the HH, but thought the RW would be much more difficult?
This is one of the reasons I waited to go SRT, when Paul had his prototype circulating here it just looked so much more streamlined overall than the RW which was already in production.
Any wrenchers got some input? I confess to never having tried one.

Dave is right, there is nothing better than a hitch based system for climbing. The rw as a concept is as close as you can come to the idea of simplicity. I can go to any tree in the world with just a rope and no hardware and with my own skill climb srt. A pocket knife and a peice of deadwood from the tree I'm climbing and I'm good to go. It does ride above my hitch but contrary to beleif, when I am on a spar for instance, the wrench adds less than an inch of height to my system. The hitch is as I tie it, I own it. ISC engineering has refined the rope wrench and I could not make one on my own that gets it so right in every way. I have seen lots of homemade wrenches and variations kn the rw but I have yet to see one I would pick over the isc version. The zk1 is awesome and I love it like my own kid (almost) but it would be well down on the list of rws I would grab over it. The ISC zk2 is an excellent, economical and functional peice of kit. I have not climbed on anything that compares in all my experience climbing srt. Going to climb doubled line is as easy as a one second popping off of the rw and clipping directly into the hitch climber system which is yet to be beaten in the world of doubled rope climbing. I love the HH as well, brilliant design and brings a lot of things to the table. I like the tucking in of the tail method dave. I see how that cuts back your sit back.

 

[cory]

The rw as a concept is as close as you can come to the idea of simplicity. I can go to any tree in the world with just a rope and no hardware and with my own skill climb srt. A pocket knife and a peice of deadwood from the tree I'm climbing and I'm good to go.

That's just an awesomely cool notion.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Dave is right, there is nothing better than a hitch based system for climbing. The rw as a concept is as close as you can come to the idea of simplicity. I can go to any tree in the world with just a rope and no hardware and with my own skill climb srt. A pocket knife and a peice of deadwood from the tree I'm climbing and I'm good to go. It does ride above my hitch but contrary to beleif, when I am on a spar for instance, the wrench adds less than an inch of height to my system. The hitch is as I tie it, I own it. ISC engineering has refined the rope wrench and I could not make one on my own that gets it so right in every way. I have seen lots of homemade wrenches and variations kn the rw but I have yet to see one I would pick over the isc version. The zk1 is awesome and I love it like my own kid (almost) but it would be well down on the list of rws I would grab over it. The ISC zk2 is an excellent, economical and functional peice of kit. I have not climbed on anything that compares in all my experience climbing srt. Going to climb doubled line is as easy as a one second popping off of the rw and clipping directly into the hitch climber system which is yet to be beaten in the world of doubled rope climbing. I love the HH as well, brilliant design and brings a lot of things to the table. I like the tucking in of the tail method dave. I see how that cuts back your sit back.

You need to try the OAR.. Damn near the same feel

 

[kevin bingham]

I have, Damn near but it's not a hitch. I would say the runner can feel close as well but it's not a hitch either.

 

[cory]

Alright, Ive got GN and BN. The bad news is I have an ultra rookie question, the good news is if you experts answer it, it'll probably help other rookies besides myself.

I've had a zk-1 for a long time, just getting around to trying it now…. Ok, when I take up a little slack by grabbing line underneath the HC, as the friction hitch is forced up the rope, it bumps into the RW (which is of course in neutral gear then) and pushes it up a bit too, but then when I sit back, the RW is pinched a tiny bit against the top of the hitch which makes the hitch more or less bind up and prevent easy descent without taking weight off the system and manually separating the RW and the hitch, which then makes descent easy. I tried differing the length of the tether but didn't seem to help. Its not a stiff tether, is that the problem?

Thanks for your help, SRTers.

 

[kevin bingham]

The stiff tether with a bumper makes a world of difference. As you have it right now it requires a manual engagement before sitting back. With a stiff tether and a bumper to engage it you don't have to think about it.

 

[Bermy]

Thanks Kevin, but still, does the RW get bumped and rubbed and bashed when hard up against a branch and trying to get up and past?
It happens to me with my HH, and it just goes through my mind wondering how I'd fare if I had the RW.
Purely a hypothetical wonderment...one of those things that you ponder when on your way up a tree...

 

[cory]

Thanks very much, Kevin. Which stiff tether do you recommend, and is it compatible with the ISC RW if I upgrade? And is the "bumper" part of the tether?

 

[PCTREE]

Cory are you trying to get into the 21st century?? Good for you man, its hard to break out of our familiar systems ....

 

[cory]

Yeah I am trying, things always take awhile with me.

I was fiddling with the HH today too. Had some trouble getting it to take up slack easily, I suppose I need just the right pulley, or to play with it more. The Hitch Climber didn't really get it done, so far.

 

[Tim_B.]

Hey, Cory!

I do not actually own the tether I'm about to recommend, but if I were to want to buy one, this would be it. It includes the "bumper" you were referring to, and looks to be a quality product. Here's the link.

http://www.treestuff.com/store/catalog.asp?category_id=161&item=12391

I'm not certain that it is compatible with the newer Rope Wrench, but I would bet that it is, since most people are buying the ISC version of the Rope Wrench now. That is probably the one that the tether is currently being produced for.

With regard to the Hitch Hiker, if you put a knee or foot ascender below the Hitch Hiker and an over-the-shoulder tending strap connected to a tending loop at the top of your Hitch Hiker carabiner, whenever you take a step up, the Hitch Hiker will just be pulled up the rope. I use a four wrap Knut hitch on 8mm beeline.

Tim

Also, did you see my short video with the Hitch Climber pulley being used with the Hitch Hiker biner in the bottom hole? I posted it earlier in this thread.

Fair warning, I think most folks here think I'm nuts for trying to use my Hitch Climber pulley in this fashion. So far, I have not had any scary moments with it used in this fashion. I climb with two ropes all the time, though, lately, so if I did have an issue I'd still have a backup.

 

[cory]

With regard to the Hitch Hiker, if you put a knee or foot ascender below the Hitch Hiker and an over-the-shoulder tending strap connected to a tending loop at the top of your Hitch Hiker carabiner, whenever you take a step up, the Hitch Hiker will just be pulled up the rope.

Thanks for the link, Tim. The description says it is designed for the new RW, so that is a good thing, assuming it works fine with ZK 1 too.

With the HH, yes I'm aware of the tending strap arrangement, I was referring more to when you want to take up a foot or 2 of slack having just climbed up the tree a foot or two, without using the tending strap, just grabbing line below the HH.

I didn't see your video but would like to watch it, can't really bear to find it myself since Ive been watching and reading so much SRT stuff lately, feel like I'll be cross-eyed soon

 

[PCTREE]

Cory slack tending is all about how you tie your hitch. The 2" gap from the HH is very conservative so as to have the hitch always engage, as with any hitch based system the easier it tends the more likelihood of it not grabbing.

 

[cory]

Paul, I agree the 2" gap is fine, I feel like the somewhat sharp edge (not hazardous at all, just not low-friction) at the bottom of the HH makes pulling a foot or 2 of slack kinda difficult. I'll probably have to try a pulley different than the HC.

 

[Tim_B.]

Hey, Cory!

Just to save you the time of having to grind through the thread looking, here are the links to my two rather crappy videos of the Hitch Hiker in use with the triple attachment pulley. One is on the ground, the other is real short, and in the tree, showing the Hitch Hiker used with the triple attachment pulley in a 3 to 1 mechanical advantage configuration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBQWMYkQ3ck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRrk69rIAZM

I need to get slicker at shooting video, and especially editing it.

The main point I was trying to show with these videos is that with the Hitch Hiker's steel carabiner in the bottom hole of the triple attachment pulley, and the middle hole used for attachment to the bridge ring on my harness, the Hitch Hiker's steel carabiner never cocked itself sideways, in spite of the fact that there were no "keepers" or whatever you want to call them, installed at the top of the biner.

Tim

P.S. I tried to attach a photo (the only still photo of my setup) to this message to give you an idea of how it looks.

Also, the videos can be watched in 1080P high definition, for a clearer view of what's happening.