120' becoming too short

[Spellfeller]

So I'm bumping into the upper limit of my first climb line and maxing out at 60' TIPs.

Two questions:

1. Would money be better spent a) buying a longer climb line or b) transitioning to SRT with a canopy anchor?
2. If the answer is a), which length? Getting a 150' hank gets me another 15' and 200' adds 40'. One seems too little and one seems too much... What say you, wise ones? Despite having to manage another 80 ft. (urgh!) will I get more use out of a 200 footer?

 

[Sgriff]

A large benefit that comes from using srt is the base tie,in which case you will still need the length.
I'm not recommending it but when I have come up short on rope i connect two lines to achieve my basal anchor,just have to get it setup in the right manner.

 

[Sgriff]

Just sayin...

 

[BOTS]

You would be set with 200ft of rope for a long time....

 

[Grendel]

Agree with Scott. A 180' or 200' would serve you well. Honestly I seldom run up against the limits of a 150'.

Keeping the option to base anchor with a high TIP is half the point of SRT.

 

[Raj]

I think I missed it, what rope are you using now?

Longer ropes are nice, SRT/SRWP is really nice.

The gear bug has a nasty bite.

 

[sotc]

I'd just descend to some lower branches, pull out the tie in, reset it lower and then hit the ground. A canopy anchor won't make a difference when it's time to get out of the tree

 

[Altissimus]

150' SRT does mostly all of it , once in awhile could use more feet yet not often enough to drag out a 200'

 

[Marc-Antoine]

Don't forget that the rope absolutely love tangling and being jammed under the mess on the ground. Add to that, that each time you want to go in an other part of the crown, you need to pull back all the loose rope and put it in the new sector. That's a lot of movements and worries for a long rope in a relatively shorter tree.
Bring out the long rope only in the trees which really need it.
You can do well in a tree with a too short rope, just adapt your work plan, move your TIP as needed. But a too long rope is more of a hassle, heavy, bulky and... long. It depends of your average trees of course.

 

[Spellfeller]

...Honestly I seldom run up against the limits of a 150'.

150' SRT does mostly all of it , once in awhile could use more feet yet not often enough to drag out a 200'

Don't forget that the rope absolutely love tangling and being jammed under the mess on the ground. Add to that, that each time you want to go in an other part of the crown, you need to pull back all the loose rope and put it in the new sector. That's a lot of movements and worries for a long rope in a relatively shorter tree.
Bring out the long rope only in the trees which really need it.
You can do well in a tree with a too short rope, just adapt your work plan, move your TIP as needed. But a too long rope is more of a hassle, heavy, bulky and... long. It depends of your average trees of course.

I hear the advocates for 200', but I think I may be leaning towards 150'...

Having fifty feet LESS to wrestle with sounds pretty good. Or to put it another way, fighting with 50 extra feet ALL the time when you need it VERY rarely sounds like a bum pain...

 

[BOTS]

If you are going DRT only then 150ft is prob fine if trees are short

SRT.... 200ft fo sho unless you got really short trees in your area

In my area u gotta have 300ft for SRT or you will come up short in the pines Oh, and some black oaks

 

[Eric H-L]

What rope are you thinking of? (Sorry for derail)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Levi]

Don't forget that the rope absolutely love tangling and being jammed under the mess on the ground. Add to that, that each time you want to go in an other part of the crown, you need to pull back all the loose rope and put it in the new sector. That's a lot of movements and worries for a long rope in a relatively shorter tree.
Bring out the long rope only in the trees which really need it.
You can do well in a tree with a too short rope, just adapt your work plan, move your TIP as needed. But a too long rope is more of a hassle, heavy, bulky and... long. It depends of your average trees of course.

It depends on how you're climbing. 99.9% of my climbs are done on a base tie with just enough tail to reach the ground plus any length I may need for "permanent" redirects.

I agree that it is nice to have multiple lengths, I have a 100' and a 180'.

Also, I think it is very important to manage your rope throughout your climb i.e. no tangles and always have enough to get to the ground.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

All depends on the trees
Man can't have enough rope.
Even on srt, if you have good spread on a crown, you will need more.
I have all different size banks 80-200 foot. All depends on the trees and climbing style/plan
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[Burnham]

I never tried to manage my tree climbing without a good selection of lengths to choose from. Out here in stupid tall tree country, once I had all that I felt I wanted in my stable, that meant the shortest was 100', a 150', a 185', a couple of 225' (most used length, on average), a 300', a 400', and a 600'.

Not to suggest that's what you need...only to say that several different lengths are just about required to do this sort of work efficiently. All depends on the trees, the work you do, and the type of climbing systems you use.

 

[SeanKroll]

Buy another rope and make a wooden rope wrench (like the originals), or buy an SRT device. Midline attachable is out with a wooden rope wrench, but so what.

I srt a lot on 120'. I can always reach the ground while cutting, sometimes having to DdRT twice to exit the tree without a pull down rope (easily your rigging rope).

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I never tried to manage my tree climbing without a good selection of lengths to choose from. Out here in stupid tall tree country, once I had all that I felt I wanted in my stable, that meant the shortest was 100', a 150', a 185', a couple of 225' (most used length, on average), a 300', a 400', and a 600'.

Not to suggest that's what you need...only to say that several different lengths are just about required to do this sort of work efficiently. All depends on the trees, the work you do, and the type of climbing systems you use.

That pretty much about sums it up. Burnham puts it up plain and simple

 

[Hunnicutt]

I look at it the same way I look at picking a saw out of the truck. There's no sense in using one that's too big or too small. It's all about the assortment and all it takes is $$$!

 

[greengreer]

150' is a good all around in the trees we generally climb. Every once in a while we get into a really tall stand where we are running out of rope. I primarily climb srt, and keep a hank of 120ish ft rope for the back end on a base tie or the retrieval end on a canopy anchor. A few times I want for a 200 footer but its just not often enough to buy one t this point.

 

[Page]

Rope is not that expensive. Buy a long and short. I've had 3 sized ropes almost since I started.

 

[Tim_B.]

It depends on how you're climbing. 99.9% of my climbs are done on a base tie with just enough tail to reach the ground plus any length I may need for "permanent" redirects.

I agree that it is nice to have multiple lengths, I have a 100' and a 180'.

Also, I think it is very important to manage your rope throughout your climb i.e. no tangles and always have enough to get to the ground.

I just wanted to reiterate what Levi said here in his first statement, about using just the amount of rope you need in SRT. This is a huge hint. You can base tie using an alpine butterfly or some other midline knot, putting only the amount of rope you really need into the tree, and the rest stays in the rope bag at the bottom of the tree. In this way, the longer rope gives you the option to climb any size tree, all with one rope, and no need to wrangle with any more of it than is absolutely necessary.

Just be sure to tie a stopper knot about 10 feet from the end of the rope, just in case all of your SRT redirects eat up more rope than you expected them to. You do not want to run the risk of lowering yourself right off of the end of your climbing line. Leaving the stopper knot 10 feet from the end of the rope will allow you to get a foot ascender on at the bottom in order to come back up and figure out what to do next. If the stopper knot is too close to the end of the rope, you are left with only arm strength to pull yourself back up, possibly combined with some kind of a mechanical advantage setup.

To sum up, if you are a guy like me who can't afford to throw money away like a drunken sailor on tree gear, I would opt for the "buy once, buy long" option.

No offense intended towards drunken sailors.

Tim

 

[Spellfeller]

Thanks, guys. I so appreciate all the wisdom in your responses. Thinking 200' and a BIG bag now!

 

[Broncman]

I have 150 and a shorter 50. I use a Milwaukee tool bag that a large saw/drill set came in. Works great. I need a bull rope now! I love gear and sure this will never end...

My wife says I am obsessed. But the below around the house is much nicer now!

 

[Sgriff]

Great post Tim👍

 

[Broncman]

I have 150 and a shorter 50. I use a Milwaukee tool bag that a large saw/drill set came in. Works great. I need a bull rope now! I love gear and sure this will never end...

My wife says I am obsessed. But the below around the house is much nicer now!