If this wall of text is unsettling to you, don't fret! I've summarized everything at the TL;DR at the bottom! This is admittedly a bit of a rant, but I tried to take some time to help people who are newer to climbing and new to testing hitches at home to understand some important safety considerations, as well as to report my latest test results.
I finally had the testicular fortitude plus enough inspiration to gather all of my relevant climbing gear and to venture out into the 108 degree heat. I installed my Teufelberger XStatic line into a nice, thick limb that I do most of my tests on which is probably only about 20 feet up, which is plenty for the purposes of demonstrating and testing. After I have gotten the line over, I create a canopy anchor with just an Alpine Butterfly; sometimes with a Notch Quickie. At this point, I do whatever I sought to do.
Because this hitch is an SRS/SRT hitch, I have to test it without a rope wrench. I tested two different SRS/SRT hitches this afternoon. After tying the hitch, I clipped into it directly. In order to ascend, I used my foot ascender to ascend my foot on the rope (which was weighted down with throwing weights), shift my weight to my foot, pull myself up and then ascend the hitch manually AKA a Sit-Stand method.
For anyone new to testing hitches, whether they are my hitches, your hitches, or the hitches that are currently most popular today, it is important to take mind of some important safety considerations. Typically, if you're testing with a rope wrench, it's not going to be likely that your hitch will jam; the same is true for any hitch you test as part of an MRS/DDRT setup. But what is your backup plan for if you're testing an SRS/SRT hitch, which is designed to work without the use of hardware to alleviate undesirable tension...and suddenly you find yourself well above the ground, unable to break the hitch?
There are a multitude of methods for "backing up" your climbs while you test hitches. In fact, even for hitches that make use of a rope wrench or MRS/DDRT, it is advisable to have a backup plan. When it comes to SRS/SRT hitches (this time I'm speaking of ANY hitch used on a stationary rope system), my suggestion for testing on a single rope (versus an access line and a backup line) is to always use a foot ascender whenever possible. This will allow a gear-conservative means of ascending the rope and it will also allow you a means of descent should the hitch bind. Simply shift your weight to your foot and raise the hitch enough to that it slides freely and then use your free hand to slide the hitch lower than it was before, but not so far that you end up tilting upside down when you shift your weight back onto the hitch. Repeating these steps will get you safely to the ground, but you'll look and feel foolish.
Another way you can descend is to use a length of cordelette to tie a prusik above the bound up hitch and then connect a figure 8 device below the hitch. Connect the figure 8 to your bridge. Use the other end of the cordelette to tie a Munter Mule Overhand (MMO) at the top, larger hole of the FIgure 8. Make sure that your FIgure 8 is locked off.Use your foot ascender or tie a foot loops (alpine butterfly or overhand on a bight, inline figure 8, etc( or footlock or use a prusik to make a foot loop to shift your weight to the whatever foothold you are using, then slide the cordelette prusik up until you are now hanging from the cordelette (which is holding the FIgure 8 which is connected to your bridge and not the original, bound up hitch anymore. Take this opportunity to disconnect from the bound hitch, untie it, stow it on your harness. Finally, carefully until the Munter Mule Overhand and slowly let the Figure 8 settle with all of your weight on the climb line. Untie the MMO, undo the lock off on your Figure 8 and descend to the ground (after removing whatever foot ascent method you chose, if you chose a foot loop knot).
Phew, that might be a bit too complicated for most users, but knowing this technique doesn't hurt. The better way to test new hitches safely is to use two different ropes; a primary access line and a secondary line. This makes life so much easier. This way, all you need to do is (ideally with two bridges, but one will work just fine) use your throwline to pull two different ropes, or even both sides of one long rope, up over your tie in point (TIP) and now you can create two canopy anchors (even with two ends of one rope this is possible) or, if basal anchors tickle your fancy more, then by all means...go for it.
At this point the number of ways you can back your climb up with this second rope are endless, but I would recommend that you use a) literally any multicender will work: Zig Zag w/ Chicane, Rope Runner Pro, Akimbo, Unicender, etc, b) descenders such as the Petzl Rig or GriGri, c) a Rope Wrench with a hitch you trust, d) a Figure 8/Rescue 8 descender with third hand, etc.
I am fully aware that most of the people on here are more than capable of testing a hitch safely and correctly. Most of you are certainly aware of all of these techniques and, similarly, most of you have no real need for this information because you're using hitches that date back to the Jurassic period which are effectively trusted implicitly in the the tree climbing world (aka Distel, Michoacán, Knut, VT, Blakes, Tautline, etc) and, consequently, testing results are pretty reliable and predictable. Anyways, the reason why I'm writing this lengthy dissertation on techniques for safely testing hitches is because not everyone who reads this thread, or any thread on here for that matter, is as qualified as a lot of you. I'm certainly no expert, but I'm confident in saying I know more than many of the newer viewers of this forum that likely lurk in the shadows. I think it's great when we all can talk and use industry standard terminology and throw out acronyms and we all easily understand what's being said. But I have always made it my purpose to focus on explaining ideas and concepts and techniques in ways that can be understood by those individuals who are completely new to tree climbing and tree work. Did I accomplish that tonight? Well, I hope so. I tried not to assume that everyone will understand what goes into safely testing hitches.
Anyways, getting back to my tests, one of the hitches bound up and I couldn't break it, so I had to bail. I tried it again with less wraps and I nearly plummeted to the ground, but lifted up the small coil just in time to engage it. Hitches are super needy in my opinion. I have developed a habit of manually engaging my hitches whenever and wherever possible. It certainly cain't hurt. Anyways, then I tested the second hitch (which is the hitch up in the previous post's picture) and...
...it worked BEAUTIFULLY! I intentionally tried to get it to bind by repeatedly ascending and descending on the rope, but it was unfazed. After a few ups and downs, I could tell that there was a lot of friction in that coil; you could hear it. But it continued to work every time. Once again, this hitch works SRS/SRT without any additional hardware; it works as is, hitch only, which is pretty spectacular. It absolutely made my day. I had honestly predicted that the other hitch would have worked, not the one that did work. But I'm not done testing the other hitch; it may function better if I tie it differently; perhaps looser.
TL;DR - I went out into the 108 degree heat to test two new hitches. One ended up binding, but the other hitch (the hitch pictured in the previous post, and below) performed beautifully! I did my best to make it bind with multiple ups and downs, but it worked every time. This was one of my SRT/SRS hitches, which work as is, without the need for any added hardware. In the block of text above, I did my best to share my wisdom regarding how to best test hitches and suggested that anyone testing a new hitch for the first time have a backup plan in case the hitch binds up so badly that it locks the climber where they are. A foot ascender is the ideal backup tool and sometimes it makes sense to have a secondary climb line installed with a device that allows descent. I'm super excited about the results and I'll continue to try and make the other hitch function. Below is a picture of the hitch that performed very well, my "PrecisionSRS" hitch.
If anyone thinks I write too much in my posts...I have to be honest...that sounds like a
you problem. Just throwing that out there for any naysayers in the crowd.
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