DMM Captain Hook

Matagorn

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Hey climbers. I’m thinking of getting the DMM Captain Hook. Anyone have any experience with one? I’ve watched videos demonstrating its use. Who uses one, and in what configuration?
 
Sure. Fifty foot kit from TreeStuff. I have a discontinued light slack tending device on it. Do all the authorized stuff with it and maybe a couple that aren't. For big canopy work or traverses from one tree to another it saves a ton of time.
 
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Sure. Fifty foot kit from TreeStuff. I have a discontinued light slack tending device on it. Do all the authorized stuff with it and maybe a couple that aren't. For big canopy work or traverses from one tree to another it saves a ton of time.
Thanks Merle. Any chance you could post a picture of it set up with the slack tending device? Do you take it up most trees with you? Just clip the bag on your harness or leave it dangling on a tail?
 
I have the epple hook and i love it, just a biner and clip it to your harness. I use a really long double ended lanyard, so I've always got a system set up to use it in a few seconds. Practice hooking and unhooking from a distance (twist the line till the hook flips over), that's where you get the most from it. Best uses I've found so far... for easy traverses I'll toss it, yard it tight, then let out on climb line to swing over, which saves time and effort when working a different lead. Great for an extra really quick work positioning aid, especially at bad line angles (doesn't count for a second tie in, but can make you more stable in a hurry when your climb line is at a bad angle or you gotta reach out more).

I'll even use it occasionally to help catch small limbs that can then be tossed. Toss it over another higher limb and then hook the limb you are cutting toward the balance point so it helps balance and hold it for you and you can control it better without as much strain or it falling before you can get both hands on it. You can also pull limbs closer to you and hold them there to prune them. Very handy when you shoot up and need something to get you close to a limb and you are just out in space. I have even set it up to use as an easily movable foothold for work positioning, just hook it above a nub that won't let it slide and clip in your foot ascender so you have a step below the limb for a work positioning step. Also handy for getting on top of a limb, since you can use it like etriers.
 
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The DMM hook is nice. I too got the kit from Treestuff when they first came out. I find it to be tree specific enough that it does not live on my harness, to bulky for that, but instead gets pulled out of the truck as needed.

It really shines in trees with fairly open and spreading canopies. Look at the throat opening on the hook as a gauge when judging a trees application potential. Not much use in single trunk, excurrent trees, where I find a standard long lanyard more useful.
 
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I have the epple hook and i love it, just a biner and clip it to your harness. I use a really long double ended lanyard, so I've always got a system set up to use it in a few seconds. Practice hooking and unhooking from a distance (twist the line till the hook flips over), that's where you get the most from it. Best uses I've found so far... for easy traverses I'll toss it, yard it tight, then let out on climb line to swing over, which saves time and effort when working a different lead. Great for an extra really quick work positioning aid, especially at bad line angles (doesn't count for a second tie in, but can make you more stable in a hurry when your climb line is at a bad angle or you gotta reach out more).

I'll even use it occasionally to help catch small limbs that can then be tossed. Toss it over another higher limb and then hook the limb you are cutting toward the balance point so it helps balance and hold it for you and you can control it better without as much strain or it falling before you can get both hands on it. You can also pull limbs closer to you and hold them there to prune them. Very handy when you shoot up and need something to get you close to a limb and you are just out in space. I have even set it up to use as an easily movable foothold for work positioning, just hook it above a nub that won't let it slide and clip in your foot ascender so you have a step below the limb for a work positioning step. Also handy for getting on top of a limb, since you can use it like etriers.
Thanks for the info! Lots of cool ideas there.
 
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The DMM hook is nice. I too got the kit from Treestuff when they first came out. I find it to be tree specific enough that it does not live on my harness, to bulky for that, but instead gets pulled out of the truck as needed.

It really shines in trees with fairly open and spreading canopies. Look at the throat opening on the hook as a gauge when judging a trees application potential. Not much use in single trunk, excurrent trees, where I find a standard long lanyard more useful.
Thank you for the input!
 
I have the epple hook and i love it, just a biner and clip it to your harness. I use a really long double ended lanyard, so I've always got a system set up to use it in a few seconds. Practice hooking and unhooking from a distance (twist the line till the hook flips over), that's where you get the most from it. Best uses I've found so far... for easy traverses I'll toss it, yard it tight, then let out on climb line to swing over, which saves time and effort when working a different lead. Great for an extra really quick work positioning aid, especially at bad line angles (doesn't count for a second tie in, but can make you more stable in a hurry when your climb line is at a bad angle or you gotta reach out more).

I'll even use it occasionally to help catch small limbs that can then be tossed. Toss it over another higher limb and then hook the limb you are cutting toward the balance point so it helps balance and hold it for you and you can control it better without as much strain or it falling before you can get both hands on it. You can also pull limbs closer to you and hold them there to prune them. Very handy when you shoot up and need something to get you close to a limb and you are just out in space. I have even set it up to use as an easily movable foothold for work positioning, just hook it above a nub that won't let it slide and clip in your foot ascender so you have a step below the limb for a work positioning step. Also handy for getting on top of a limb, since you can use it like etriers.

Yes you sound like a very weak, inexperienced climber :/: ;) :lol:
 
Got a link, Chris?

I just looked and couldn't find one on their site.
 
See if I can get a picture up later. The Captain Hook (DMM?) is also retrievable from a distance like Tree09 mentioned about the Epple hook. Not sure how a three pronged grapple fares in that regard.

As DMC said for himself, I just clip it onto my harness in its bag when I see I could use it. The one time I would also use it on a fir tree is if I can clean it up on the way up and I'm close enough to throw it over into the next tree to work. Life support from the tree I'm coming out of, traverse into second tree and only lose 10 or 20 feet of height. Work up a little, re-tie and finish that tree on the way down.

The DMM is uncanny for balance and ease of use, removal etc.

Tree09 how is the Epple weighted?
 


The above link has a picture of the kit. I stow the hook down in the DMM pouch and use a biner on the pouch to attach to my harness. The device I use to tend slack etc is a Trango Cinch. I think it has been discontinued and there are updated devices available now.
 
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Not sure i understand the question, it's kinda like a piece of pipe that's bent. It has a fixed connection rather than a swivel, so twisting the rope will twist it so you can either catch or release it from a distance.
 
Yeah the DMM will do that too - very valuable.

I have only seen a picture of the Epple and it looks like bent tubing. Do they add weight to the inside to give it some throwing heft?
 
Not really, but it flies pretty good. I've never seen the dmm one in person, but everything they make is amazing. I bought the epple hook before it came out.
 
I wonder if you could make something similar from bent rebar? Does that sound like an idea with possibility?
 
You could but no. It would likely bend. The epple hook is about perfect, i would think thr dmm one is too.
 
Here is a hard core version of a hook....rebar. I keep one in the back of the truck...use it to drag stuff from bed without having to get inside bed sometimes. And in trees occasionally. Several times I have told Alex to send up the "hooker stick" to reach a rope or hanger that I can't quite get to. I have also used it free climbing to access limbs that are out of reach but that I can hook with the stick...then climb up the bamboo to the limb and carry on. I got the idea from a WWII V-Force veteran who fought Japs behind enemy lines in Burma. He said they used metal hooks on poles to help climb steep mountainsides...hooked a tree, pull up the pole to the tree, hook the next higher tree.

I also keep one in my tree trailer...out of the sun...it lasts longer that way. The one on the left stays in the tree/dive trailer...the metal ends are padded with foam...I have used it searching for bodies before. I don't want to puncture the victim in the process of recovering them.

I have not had any trouble with the rebar bending so far.
 

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I wonder if you could make something similar from bent rebar? Does that sound like an idea with possibility?

I made one by bending a 10mm plain steel rod. The temptation was high to heat the metal to ease the binding but there could have been a risk of lowering its strength. Therefore, I had a hard time..
I had the same concern as Tree09, that it might bend, but it did not happen, even with my whole weight on it and creating accelerations to stress the hook. I tried hard and I am not a lightweight anymore.. The rod I used is of a different steel than the one used for bent rebars.

Important: It is not supposed to be used the way I did it in my test at 1 meter from the ground!! It is clearly not a life saver device.

I inserted a ring at the end of the hook to close the opening with a bungee so it does not get caught when on my harness. I got the idea from the Epple hook.
This ring can also be useful to 'safely' retrieve the hook by connecting a throw-line or paracord to it, when arrived at the hook level. This helps in controlling its trip back so it does not get caught in a crotch or whatever else.
 

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