SRT Revolution - Why Now?

Ax-Man said:
I shouldn't really be replying to this because of my limited experience with SRT but I just didn't really feel comfortable with it. Nothing felt right with all my weight on the hitch. I wasn't too keen on just being on one rope tied to the base of the tree. That same rope would catch limbs, guide them down to the base of the tree. Getting the system set-up was time consuming to me. Using mechanical acenders with backups frustrated me. I just shucked the whole system.

Sorry for being so negative. I guess I am just a little too old fashion for the newer methods. I can see where it appeals to the younger guys.

I have not tried it but Gerry's method of using two foot acsenders on a single line looks the slickest and easiest method to me for a long hike into a big tall tree if you don't want to hoof it by doing the old fashioned footlocking or doing the single line footlock thing.
Click to expand...

I use a ropewalker on my DDRT all the time..might seem silly but if you are going to use a DDRT why not save the effort on ascending. I use a method i learned from one of Gerrys vids where he uses a foot strap, which i made myself, a pantin and a croll with the bungee on the "knee ascender" attached to a small prussick (throw line) on the standing line. Gerrys vid used two pantins (one stripped of its foot strap) but i bought a croll because of its increased versatility in other applications.
 
Ax-Man said:
I shouldn't really be replying to this because of my limited experience with SRT but I just didn't really feel comfortable with it. Nothing felt right with all my weight on the hitch. I wasn't too keen on just being on one rope tied to the base of the tree. That same rope would catch limbs, guide them down to the base of the tree. Getting the system set-up was time consuming to me. Using mechanical acenders with backups frustrated me. I just shucked the whole system.

Sorry for being so negative. I guess I am just a little too old fashion for the newer methods. I can see where it appeals to the younger guys.

I have not tried it but Gerry's method of using two foot acsenders on a single line looks the slickest and easiest method to me for a long hike into a big tall tree if you don't want to hoof it by doing the old fashioned footlocking or doing the single line footlock thing.
Click to expand...


The bigshot frustrated the heck out of me at first. Now, where would I be without it? Getting used to, and proficient with your tools, plus knowing their useful place and limitation, and the tricks of the trade make all the different. These often only come with a lot of 4 letter works, though.
 
MasterBlaster said:
I took to it real quick. I bet I could squirrel hunt with it!
Click to expand...

I mean that I liked it for getting a line installed, but the accuracy, line tangles, aiming at too tough of a shot between whorls a vertical foot apart, etc had me cursing at first, and now its more like a walk in the park. Not to say that I'm the world's best bigshotter, but pretty good, and practice makes perfect. Worth the effort to pick up efficiency improving skills and techniques. Trying to encourage Ax-man not to turn away from a good, new(ish) thing in SRT.
 
If you tied off the SRT line at the top with a biner, then put a throwline or similar on it to pull it down when you were finished...what if you had come out of the tree way out at the edge of the canopy, not straight down next to the trunk, isn't that going to be difficult to pull down with the end of the climb line threading its way through limbs and crotches before it gets back to the trunk?

Oh how I wish I could hang out with someone with all the new gear...stuck in the upsidedown boonies, almost as bad as stuck in the middle of the Atlantic ocean!
 
Bermy said:
If you tied off the SRT line at the top with a biner, then put a throwline or similar on it to pull it down when you were finished...what if you had come out of the tree way out at the edge of the canopy, not straight down next to the trunk, isn't that going to be difficult to pull down with the end of the climb line threading its way through limbs and crotches before it gets back to the trunk?

Oh how I wish I could hang out with someone with all the new gear...stuck in the upsidedown boonies, almost as bad as stuck in the middle of the Atlantic ocean!
Click to expand...

Dont use a throwline. use a 4-6mm acc line. or a work rope, or another climb line, or something... you could always pull out even with redirects using a 3>1 or something as long as no knot in the rope..the retrieval line will always lay straight from the TIP to the ground, unles you screw it up sometime.
 
Bermy said:
If you tied off the SRT line at the top with a biner, then put a throwline or similar on it to pull it down when you were finished...what if you had come out of the tree way out at the edge of the canopy, not straight down next to the trunk, isn't that going to be difficult to pull down with the end of the climb line threading its way through limbs and crotches before it gets back to the trunk?

Oh how I wish I could hang out with someone with all the new gear...stuck in the upsidedown boonies, almost as bad as stuck in the middle of the Atlantic ocean!
Click to expand...

You can make a wooden Rope Wrench in no time flat for a few bucks, or free.
 
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  • #84
bonner1040 said:
Dont use a throwline. use a 4-6mm acc line. or a work rope, or another climb line, or something... you could always pull out even with redirects using a 3>1 or something as long as no knot in the rope..the retrieval line will always lay straight from the TIP to the ground, unles you screw it up sometime.
Click to expand...

I was wondering about this too. Thanks for the tip!
 
Bermy, SRT is a system with a large set of variables, and capabilities that when fully understood will make a job easier. The load on tie-in or redirect points needs to be studied pre-climb, to determine the best method for achieving a smooth work climb. In most cases where there will be multiple redirect points, such as is typical in outside canopy work, a base tie is a better choice. There is no reason to fear a base tie. I use one for almost all the trees I climb.

Dave
 
Got me there, Butch.

But I mean, a spoon size piece of whittled down wood, no way.
 
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  • #89
Stig and Butch, I think you're missing the concept of the Wrench (be it wood or metal). If for some reason it were to fail than your friction hitch would hold you, provided it is set properply. As a matter of fact, it would hold you better than DbdRT because all your friction is now on one line.
 
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  • #91
Cool MB, you gotta give it a try sometime, even just for a recreational climb.

I know that I couldn't wrap my head around it when it first came out and I was there watching Kev Bingham 2 years ago demoing it at the TCIA Expo thinking what is with this piece of wood? Didn't make sense to me, but like you, I studied it and saw the merits of it, so I'm gonna give it a shot when I'm healed up.
 
chris_girard said:
Stig and Butch, I think you're missing the concept of the Wrench (be it wood or metal). If for some reason it were to fail than your friction hitch would hold you, provided it is set properply. As a matter of fact, it would hold you better than DbdRT because all your friction is now on one line.
Click to expand...

Maybe.

But we've been down this path before, no need to trod it into mud again.
 
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  • #93
Burnham, I mean no disrespect what so ever, but what path is that? I'm not sure that I follow. Do you mean Cary's sliding burning balls? (sorry Cary, I don't mean to joke about yours or any man's privates for that matter). I just want to make sure that I'm not missing something.
 
Chris, Burnham had mentioned in other threads that friction hitches on SRT need to be tested.
Some cannot handle the added weight and slide never grabbing, while others lock up tight. Better know what kind of hitch you are using.

With so many combinations of hitch material, knots and rope material it is hard to even make a guess at how each system will work.
 
Wally's got my point, Chris. It was before Cary had his unfortunate fall, we went back and forth in a thread about the itsy bitsy tether that some folks (him to be specific) were using on the RW. I argued that if that tether failed, the hitch may well fail, too, depending on a bunch of factors...which Wally also hit pretty well here. That isn't what happened to cause Cary's free-slide, but the effect is the same...hitch failed to grab in SRT mode.

This thread, as I recall.

https://www.masterblasterhome.com/showthread.php?14897-Singing-Tree-Rope-Wrench-Review.
 
I think that a knut will not lock up with full body weight, in the case of a tether or wood failure (not expecting the metal to fail). I don't know of what other's won't handle full body weight. Anybody know of others. That should be mentioned in the RW manual/ video, perhaps. My OEM tether tails on my RW are shorter than I'd tie, but I my hitch locks under full weight.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #98
Thanks for the info guys. I've got a lot of catching up to do here at the TH, but it's all useful reading.
 
Not so much that I don't want to try new stuff, I always do, it's the opportunity...to watch and question others who are already using new things in a work environment, or to have a test ride on a rec climb.
 
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