Any Rope Wrench or Hitch Hiker users here?

RiverSap said:
My setup is a Rope Wrench ZK2, Hitch climber pulley, Oceans split eye stiff tether, 30” Bee Line eye to eye hitch cord, Sterling HTC kernmantle climbing line. I have been using a distel hitch but it has been biting really hard on the climbing line and has not been tending well. I am going to try a Michoacán hitch. Like any system it takes some fine tuning. My biggest problem with the Ropewrench is the removable pin is not tethered to the body. Believe it or not it can be dropped. Trust me on this. You get to think creatively on how to get down safely when that happens.
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Are you talking about the pin on the RW itself ? Is there some reason to remove it completely, I don't think I have ever removed it even for 1/2" ropes.
 
Yes I remove the pin completely to put the Ropewrench on the climbing rope. I have never tried to put the Ropewrench on the climbing rope with only removing the pin from one side. I just tried it as I was sitting here and I was able to get it on the rope. I see there is a little indentation in the side plate that the retractable pin can rest in that allows more clearance for the climbing rope. That was probably in the instructions which I did not read. Thanks for the info.
 
One of my co workers was having problems today with his distel locking up a bit on the RW. I asked why he wasn't on his usual VT and he told me " it's been so long , I couldn't remember it". I'm glad you posted this though. He dropped his slick pin today. He also climbs on 1/2"(13mm). Also it's probably my fault he forgot. He's been my rope man for quite a while. This was our first big climbing trim job in a long time.
 
SouthSoundTree- said:
is the stopper the rubber band?
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the stopper is sort of like a spring that engages the wrench for you in a way so you don't have to engage the wrench manually like with the ZK 1. it is hard to get that action with the zk1 because the side plates are too far apart.
 
I am going to do a test climb tomorrow with the Ropewrench setup I mentioned a few posts ago. There is a tall Sugar maple on the back bluffs and some of the branches are blocking my view of the Missouri river. I am going to take off a few of those limbs. I am going to use a Michoacan as my friction hitch and see how that does. I feel secure with the distel but it does tend to bind up on me which is a pain when all I want to do is get out of the dang tree.
 
I did a climb this past weekend using the RopeWrench with the setup I posted a few posts ago. I used a Michoacán hitch with it and it did not bite like the Distel hitch has for me in the past. Just looking at the hitch and how it is constructed I liked. I also tested out a foot loop for tree climbing and positioning sling I came upon on YouTube. If you search on YouTube for “Footloop for tree climbing and positioning” you should be able to find it. It uses a length of rope tied together using a sliding double fisherman knot and a figure 8 on a bight with bunny ears. It worked very well for me as I do not wear spurs at this time. I did just purchase a pair but I have yet to use them. The tree was a tall sugar maple and I wanted to remove many of the lower branches. The spacing of the branches made it such that working positioning was difficult because there was no branches to stand on. I used the sling around the trunk and placed my feet into the bunny ear loops which put me in a position like I would be in if I were using spurs. I did have a SRT climbing line I was hanging from with the RopeWrench and the Michoacán hitch. I used my safety lanyard around the trunk and leaned back for the positioning.

In the process of looking around online I found a video that NHLocal (a member of this forum) posted of a tree he wrecked going spurless. This sling might have helped him in that situation. I know it worked really well for me.
 
Cool! Sounds like you're getting along good with the RW, take some pics the next time you're up there. Slings work good for that " should have worn my spurs " situation. I always carry several yates loop runners, they don't take up any space and there also 24 Kn rated.
 
Loop runners come in handy in so many ways. When you can't quite get the energy to grip and pull yourself up, a runner is a quick handhold or foot hold to get to where I need a redirect.
 
I have two on a clip on my harness all the time, one shorter than the other...absolutely invaluable for a quick foothold, or to girth hitch a branch or palm frond that I don't want to drop free.
 
Who has spare dogbones for the HH-2? I know I saw them somewhere but now I cant find it of course.
 
RiverSap said:
I am going to do a test climb tomorrow with the Ropewrench setup I mentioned a few posts ago. There is a tall Sugar maple on the back bluffs and some of the branches are blocking my view of the Missouri river. I am going to take off a few of those limbs. I am going to use a Michoacan as my friction hitch and see how that does. I feel secure with the distel but it does tend to bind up on me which is a pain when all I want to do is get out of the dang tree.
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Here's a link to a thread over on the TreeBuzz forum which was started by moss that deals with the issue of hitch binding. I'm sure the issue of hitch binding is not limited just to the Rope Wrench, just for the record. The thread is just titled the way it is as a result of a conversation that happened in another thread about the Rope Wrench, specifically.

A lot of the tips in this thread I'm about to provide a link to are things I'd never seen spelled out anywhere in the forums before this.

Here's the link:

http://www.treebuzz.com/forum/threa...inding-with-the-rope-wrench-on-descent.32350/

Tim
 
Raj said:
Colour coded by the manufacturer, I just pick what will girth hitch and my boot fits. Nothing quick with me!
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Yeah, Peter, I know how that goes. I might be remembering wrongly, but it seems to me that when I've purchased loop runners, I've received runners that were the same length, but differing colors. Which makes it tougher to keep things straight. Thanks for your answers.

Tim
 
I roll my loops up and wrap an elastic around each one. Goes in my ditty bag, reach in and feel the size. After use in the tree it might go down my shirt, loop it around my neck and arm, or dangle off my saddle, depending on what's next in the tree.
 
Tim, you can clip one biner to the end of the sling, then spin the sling a couple times, and there will be an 'eye' at the other end. Clip that eye. It will spiral coil up pretty neatly. Unclip one end and the spins fall out of the sling, ready for use.

Stores on your gear loop. Not snaggy like when they hang long.

You can see them, readily, eyeing up for size. You will learn your gear to where you just know what you need after using the same gear all the time.
 
Hey I like that Sean!
I usually fold mine in half then tie an overhand and clip the biner in the loop...can be bit fiddly, going to try your method :)
 
SouthSoundTree- said:
Tim, you can clip one biner to the end of the sling, then spin the sling a couple times, and there will be an 'eye' at the other end. Clip that eye. It will spiral coil up pretty neatly. Unclip one end and the spins fall out of the sling, ready for use.

Stores on your gear loop. Not snaggy like when they hang long.

You can see them, readily, eyeing up for size. You will learn your gear to where you just know what you need after using the same gear all the time.
Click to expand...

This is my method, too. I like keeping color codes for different lengths. Didn't always manage to do so, but liked it when I did.
 
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