Friction Savers???

[Reddog]

I like a three strand home made ring and ring with steel rings. Easy peasy and works!

Same here.

 

[emr]

I will defend my choice of dyneema, not to change your mind, but just to prove I have thought the thing through.
My dyneema sling is rated to 24kn and then configured in a basket hitch over a branch resulting in in 48kn of strength. I have seen reports no higher than a 40% strength reduction with a girth hitch. I personally feel very safe using this set up. A big benefit of the dyneema is that is set real nice on the ring and revolver, which you would not have with a nylon sling. Secondly, I use this for other applications where there is no chance what so ever for shock loading, so it would be favorable to nylon. Lastly, with my climbing style there is almost never slack in my line so any fall that my FS would see would be more of a swing anyhow. If there was an accident that somehow placed enough force on that sling to break it, well let's just say I would most likely be screwed anyhow.

 

[pantheraba]

I think you need Jeff Jepson's Tree Climber’s Companion...LOTS of tips in that little book. It is where I learned how to set the FS from the ground, well illustrated and explained. I almost always set a FS before I go up, even on takedowns. If I am limbing on the way up I already have my 2nd safety set and sitting in the saddle is lots more comfy than leaning back on spurs.

http://wesspur.com/Books/tree-climbers-companion.html

 

[treesmith]

I like a three strand home made ring and ring with steel rings. Easy peasy and works when I use it!

What brand/size of 3-strand do you use?

Jaime mentioned making his own conduit friction savers. The conduit is easy to find, but how would you terminate it? Just sawing it off is going to leave some jagged edges on the ends. Sherrill's have some sort of swaged ends on them it appears. Anyone know how they're finished off?

 

[Porkbrick]

Jaime mentioned making his own conduit friction savers. The conduit is easy to find, but how would you terminate it? Just sawing it off is going to leave some jagged edges on the ends. Sherrill's have some sort of swaged ends on them it appears. Anyone know how they're finished off?

to your question about slices fitting through, probably not in the 1/2" conduit, but 3/4" should work.

to make the ends of the conduit rope friendly they use a threaded cap. i found a cap that is identical in the plumbing dept. at the hardware store. its part of a water tight conduit fitting, you have to take th fitting apart to get at it. if anyone is interested ill go find out the name and brand.

 

[brendonv]

"Treemaster?" (Samson?), 1/2". Scott.

 

[bonner1040]

If there was an accident or fall that somehow placed enough force on that sling to break it, well let's just say I would most likely be screwed anyhow.

Your right Eric, if you put enough force on the system to break the dyneema AND IT DIDNT BREAK your back would, with or without a rope in the system. Even the lowest stretch arb ropes are going to dissipate enough force that the dyneema wont break; again...quickdraws. It all comes down to force vs weight, distance fell vs total system length, and dissipation of force through the dynamic properties of the ropes.

But as the popular quote goes to each their own.

 

[Koala]

I have a ring/ring cambium saver and an adjustable one. When you work on badly hacked trees (like most of the cedars or maples we have here ) where is difficult to find a strong TIP the adjustable is really useful. Even on small hacked trees where you don't have a strong TIP you can run your adjustable FS around some suckers and make a good tie -in ( think it is better explained in Gerry Beranek's fundamentals)....sure, they don't have to be twigs.

 

[Koala]

I think you need Jeff Jepson's Tree Climber’s Companion...LOTS of tips in that little book. It is where I learned how to set the FS from the ground, well illustrated and explained. I almost always set a FS before I go up, even on takedowns. If I am limbing on the way up I already have my 2nd safety set and sitting in the saddle is lots more comfy than leaning back on spurs.

http://wesspur.com/Books/tree-climbers-companion.html

Nice book.
Here we are not used to set the FS from the ground. Personally I've never tried. Are there many advantages in it?
I think i will be messing up with the throwing line and lose too much time...
On big trees (even on removals) I'd rather set a semi-static rope, climb Srt on that , set my FS when I reach my TIP,and switch to Drt and start working on my climbing line.

 

[pete mctree]

I notice that some of you use a krab in your set-up. I am not a fan as the position of the gate with regards to both the stem & rope cannot always be monitored. Why not replace it with a cheaper, safer maillion? Which. Has the additional benefit of being more robust with regards to retrieval.

 

[treesmith]

to make the ends of the conduit rope friendly they use a threaded cap. i found a cap that is identical in the plumbing dept. at the hardware store. its part of a water tight conduit fitting, you have to take th fitting apart to get at it. if anyone is interested ill go find out the name and brand.

I'd like to know the name/brand. And how about some pics of one you made?

 

[pantheraba]

Nice book.
Here we are not used to set the FS from the ground. Personally I've never tried. Are there many advantages in it?
I think i will be messing up with the throwing line and lose too much time...
On big trees (even on removals) I'd rather set a semi-static rope, climb Srt on that , set my FS when I reach my TIP,and switch to Drt and start working on my climbing line.

Sometimes it does take a few throws to get the TIP for the FS, you are right. But, I don't do SRT so it's either climb up and set it or throw up and set it...I prefer to throw up (don't sound quite right)

 

[Porkbrick]

I have a ring/ring cambium saver and an adjustable one. When you work on badly hacked trees (like most of the cedars or maples we have here ) where is difficult to find a strong TIP the adjustable is really useful. Even on small hacked trees where you don't have a strong TIP you can run your adjustable FS around some suckers and make a good tie -in ( think it is better explained in Gerry Beranek's fundamentals)....sure, they don't have to be twigs.

posted this a while back. that is my home made adjustable fs.

p.s. i notice, looking at it, that its not adjustable. i usually have a prussik with a small ring on it.

 

[treesmith]

Got any pics of one of the conduit types that you've made?

 

[Koala]

@ Porkbrick

Nice. Sometimes a pic is worth a million words.

 

[Bermy]

The conduit type can be set from the ground.
Put the conduit on your climb line, pull a decent amount through, sa 10' or so, and tie a slip knot behind it, tie on the throw line and pull it all up, once the conduit goes over your TIP, hold the throw line tight and jerk back on the climb line to release the slip knot, then continue pulling your climb line through the conduit.
I have one that 'Moss'(Andrew Joslin, he's on facebook and he hangs out at the AS rec climb forum sometimes) made, he has all the specs for the end caps and all, he may be the first guy who made them.

I prefer my Buckingham strap RR FS, and I try to set it from the ground as much as possible. Using the Hitchclimber and VT, less friction is essential! I make the FS adjustable with a prussik loop and a carabiner.

For retrieval I clip a little keychain biner into the loop I've sewn in each end of my climbline, it keeps everything streamlined and eliminates a knot getting stuck on anything!

 

[pantheraba]

Bermy...maybe a picture of how you do that? Sometimes my ring-ring FS stays in the tree when my climbing rope comes down. Whenever I try to use a pass thru knot on the large ring and hope it passes and then engages the small ring it does not always work...sometimes the knot (or washer or whatever I am trying) gets hung at the large ring and I am fooked at that point...either climb up and sort it all out or whatever...sometimes I use a throwline as a control line on the end of the climbing line so I can retrieve the bitter end of the line if it gets hung at the large ring. Still a hassle. Several times I did get the climbing line down but the RR FS remained.ii gets to ride the spar down. Last time that happened was a 40 foot spar that I downed at dusk. I didn't see the FS get launched into a bush about 10 feet away and 4 feet up inside the bush...took me 2 days to find the FS.

Clue me in on your small biner and sewn loop trick, please.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

you using a Fig 8 knot or over hand ? What size rope Gary?

 

[pantheraba]

Poison Ivy...overhand...does not pass thru the large ring sometimes...jams.

 

[pantheraba]

I have used a washer before, thought it might pass easier...not really, though.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Usually if you flip the line and run a wave up the rope it will work through the ring... If you keep yanking on it.. seems to get worse. If you can;t send a wave up the rope because you worked your way around a couple limbs.. it can really get interesting... Finesse always works better than force for me.
Too large a tail in the knot can cause you grief as well.

 

[Porkbrick]

heres a few pictures of home made conduit saver. the inside ends of the caps have a rolled edge that makes it a pretty tight fit for poison ivy. going with 3/4 conduit or sanding off the rolled edge would fix that.

total cost was around $15.

 

[sotc]

This is what I use, just keep it on the back of my saddle until I need it

 

[SouthSoundTree]

If you're tying a knot, and its stuck by pulling down the spar, move as far away as possible, to introduce as much horizontal to the line as possible. This helps.

 

[pantheraba]

Good tips...I'll try Willie's screw link, too.