I (Think/Hope) I Developed A New Hitch Design

[WoodCutr]

Imagine doing rigging without any hitches.

man I would have had to put a rope grab on my line the other day instead of a prusik to pull with the maasdam, first time iv'e used a rigging prusik in like 6 months lmao
OK, ive used a spider leg sling exactly twice in 3 years
do other hitches (like girth hitch, cow hitch, timber hitch ETC) count?

 

[Knotorious]

@WoodCutr, no, I think we're talking about friction hitches. Your point is well received. There is no doubt that they are progressively going out of style in our area of use as arborists. I just don't think their extinction is imminent. Nor that they will ever altogether disappear.

P.S. - Okay, okay, okay, maybe in the year 2669 we'll see the demise of the fabric friction hitch when everything is made out of Unununium instead. Yes, that's a real element on the periodic table. Look it up.

Also, I made an oopsie. Looks like knots date back to 8,000 BC, alongside the earliest stone tools. It's just that the earliest fossilized example appeared to be from 15k-17k years ago. Obviously, knots easily decompose, that's why older examples don't exist...thus far.

I just feel that, whatever you make your ropes out of, surely a fabric friction hitch will be able to help a climber ascend or descend on it. At least for the foreseeable future.

 

[WoodCutr]

no doubt they will be around damn near forever
just not so much in my kit bag, I like the predictability of mechanicals, although hitches to work, I just prefer a good ole hunk of aluminum or steel in there

 

[Jed]

Of course, of course. Man I read my stuff and it almost half convinces me to quit drinkin. A better man might have by now.

 

[WoodCutr]

Of course, of course. Man I read my stuff and it almost half convinces me to quit drinkin. A better man might have by now.

you should quit

however, makes for some interesting conversations!

 

[Knotorious]

There are few drugs more hazardous to one's health than ethyl alcohol AKA "alcohol." Its readily available-ness and cultural accepted-ness are what predominantly makes it dangerous. If our FDA actually cared about us more than making a buck, it would ban the substance outright. Drugs such as heroin and meth, although more addictive, are way less hazardous to our health.

 

[Tree09]

They tried that once, didn't work too well. And no, opiates and meth aren't safer or healthier than booze. Weed on the other hand most certainly is.

 

[WoodCutr]

Weed on the other hand most certainly is.

keep it at home and its great

 

[Knotorious]

@Tree09 If you create them in a chemistry lab, they are. I was also referring to it as a vice or an addiction. When consumed responsibly, its effects are negligible. for both alcohol and heroin and meth. Addiction quantities of pharmaceutical grade heroin are far safer than that of alcohol for an alcoholic overall. I'm definitely not referring to street meth or heroin, which is cut multiple times and filled with impurities. I'm also not advocating for meth or heroin use. Especially not meth, which is, regardless of its synthesis, a neurotoxin to the dopamine receptor. I'm referring to the drug in their purest of states. Sorry, I wasn't very clear. It may surprise you to learn that pharmaceutical meth exists in the form of Desoxyn, a drug used for narcolepsy. So, yes, meth is FDA approved. Marijuana is most definitely safer than alcohol, unless you're discussing the smoked form, in which case you'll be inhaling more tar than you would with a common cigarette smoking a joint. That isn't to say its more cancerous. No form of marijuana is more cancerous than a cigarette. Edibles are where it's at for safe drug consumption. But anything in excess is bad.

Just because the government tried that once doesn't mean that the FDA shouldn't again. Alcohol is a huge health liability and ever since the government learned it could tax the substance up the ass and require permits to sell it and forbid home synthesis (creating a monopoly) they've learned to accept it. They're making bank off of our plight. Ask your local CDC representative about alcohol and its deleterious effects to society and you'll be neck deep in data confirming my sentiment. And that's only one of the relevant organizations you could ask. There's a reason no one has ever been prescribed the alcohol we drink in recent times and yet people are prescribed stimulants of the amphetamine class (even meth) and opioids closely related to heroin which is diacetylmorphine, a structural analogue to morphine. It would be against a doctor's Hippocratic oath to prescribe drinking alcohol when safer drugs such as benzodiazepines exist to moderate the same receptors alcohol works on, the GABA network - specifically receptor A.

EDIT: Rewrote something.

 

[Bart]

Always cool and interesting to see the "B" side of the members here. Do you ever answer at the border crossing "What do you do for a living?" "I make/sell drugs."

Interesting work on hitches. Can you expand your testing to dirty used hitch cords? I find new clean anything seems to work great and later on not so much. Someone said years go something to the effect of disliking focused friction points like the cross point of an XT, due to wear (?) Thoughts?

 

[Knotorious]

Always cool and interesting to see the "B" side of the members here. Do you ever answer at the border crossing "What do you do for a living?" "I make/sell drugs."

Interesting work on hitches. Can you expand your testing to dirty used hitch cords? I find new clean anything seems to work great and later on not so much. Someone said years go something to the effect of disliking focused friction points like the cross point of an XT, due to wear (?) Thoughts?

You make a valid point insofar as dirty and used hitch cords. I've been out of work since my surgery and so these hitch cords haven't seen much action. I ordered them off Wesspur as an impulse buy and so they've seen minimal actual use beyond being stressed on my 9:1 pulley system to replicate real life conditions and to watch out for any slippage, binding. I also lately have been testing them with my own weight at heights reaching the top of this tree near my apartment complex. I go up with two access lines and I use one to test the hitch and the other to descend in case that hitch binds up on the other line. So they have seen serious kilonewtons to be certain, they are just nicely kept up and maintained and abused a fair distance away from any serious quantities of mud of dirt. That soon will change as my wound heals more and more. So don't think that I'm just throwing some hitches together and calling them success stories. They've all been tested to an extent. Perhaps it might not be sufficient to your liking, or anyone's for the matter, but I'm doing my best from the proverbial sidelines.

 

[Knotorious]

@Bart Oh, I misread your message. As far as disliking friction points, for any hitch, I believe that's a matter of personal preference and relative to the application at hand. I don't want to speak for everyone. Just like any part of any hitch, it can be a benefit or a hinderance to any operator. Just like hitches are veritably akin to snowflakes (as mentioned earlier), each unique, so are their users and their user's applications for said hitch. Everyone has a hitch or hitches that they call their own. Similarly, they have many they cast aside.

@Bart, I do want to add something, since my previous answer was a bit too democratic, that the "friction point" of the XT also serves to keep the coils in their original orientation and with desired tension better than a VT, at least in theory. I'm assuming I understand what you mean by "friction points." Correct me if I'm wrong.

EDIT: Merged two posts together. For the moderators: I deleted the other message because I was wasting space. I also deleted something unrelated to the actual top. Trying to get things back on track. It was largely my fault things went off track.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

Don't worry at all about the off-tracks. They are so common that it makes them almost mandatory in our forum

 

[Knotorious]

I am proud to share with you the ANDREA hitch, named after my mother! It's quite the hitch. You'll have to experience it to believe it. It's like a new age Schwabisch mixed with a Catalyst hitch.

I appreciate the sage wisdom, @Marc-Antoine!

YouTube video coming soon. I have to space those out carefully or else I'll run out of content prematurely! I'm so impulsive I just want everyone to see my progress immediately, but I must be as petient as possible!

Try this one out, ladies and gents! It is certain to please! I got new lights for the table where all my best hitch videos are made! Hopefully they do justice!

 

[Bart]

I never pondered too hard on the concentrated friction point issue. It was just something someone contributed to the conversation. But now having thought a bit, with a hitch cord with significant kevlar content the probable root concern of local overheating kind of goes away. Possibly localized increased abrasion might still be a concern worth considering.

Whaddayafiggur?

 

[Knotorious]

@Bart, You are definitely onto something. Look at you; answering your own question like a boss. Aramid fibers, such as Kevlar and Technora, the latter of which has NO MELTING POINT, are fit for the highest order of friction hitch duty and performance around "friction points."

 

[lxskllr]

A concentrated friction point would fail a cord sooner than one that spreads the friction out. I guess it depends on how you feel about that. Cord's ~$1.50/ft, and if you like splices, that adds cost. If you really love that hitch, it's a cost of doing business I guess, but for shaving dollars, it would be better to find a more uniform hitch.

 

[Knotorious]

@lxskllr (always good to see you!), you're essentially correct that any concentrated friction point in any given hitch is effectively a huge liability on any hitch cord being used to tie said hitch. When considering the use of/continued use of such a hitch with a pronounced friction point, one must also consider the longevity of their hitch cordage being used to tie it. Over time, considerable wear points can emerge along the hitch's length from eye to eye. That's why I a) suggest tying preferred hitches in more than one chirality, so as to eliminate strain on any given hitch cord in one place assuming the operator ties the different chirality with the hitch in the same starting position as usual b) Wear can also be mitigated by changing hitch type for various applications. But if one must use the same hitch cord in the same chirality every single time, they should invest in aramid fiber sheaths in their hitch cords. Plain and simple, frequent day solution to the pasts pesky problems. It should also be noted that a hitch cord can also be re-oriented without changing the chirality of a hitch, thus multiplying the effective lifespan of any given hitch cord by 2X+2X. I never excelled in math, so pardon any discrepancies - should any exist. I think it makes sense for the industrial operator to buy specific hitch cords for very specific purposes versus a recreational climber who might use the same Blue Water VT prusik eye to eye for everything from a VT to a Schwabisch (wraps varying per user). And no, that wasn't intended to be a plug for the alleged OG VT prusik, however I wouldn't cry if it were to exist onward as one through many years ahead. Firsts must be respected, even if they suck profoundly; setting precedence is paramount toward ensuring progress and the original VT prusik most definitely does not suck. It's just that i would never buy it! Ha!

 

[Knotorious]

So, update. I decided I didn't like the Andrea hitch (the hitch I named after my own mother turned out to be kind of shite). I can see it maybe failing if it were to not be dressed and set correctly, which requires more work than for the average hitch. It looks pretty freaking cool, but I give that one a fail. Fortunately, I was able to come up with a new hitch out of the ashes of this previous hitch. I'm running out of ways to introduce new hitches, so here it is...

...the DUALITY hitch, which is a complementary hitch to the Trinity Hitch and only because this one has two sections of wraps (the Trinity obviously has three) and because they were both inspired by the Schwabisch...or at least that's what I've been telling myself!

Attached at the bottom are front and back photos of the Duality hitch. One nifty fact about this hitch is that even though it is most definitely a directional hitch, it will grab readily when pulled in the opposite direction. I can imagine this being useful for something like alpine climbing where the routes are never just up or down, it's a mixture of ups and downs with one predominant direction ranging in extremes from sheer rock face to practically flat. So in a situation where a climber is predominantly ascending but with frequent downclimbs along the way, they might want something to catch them if they were to fall with direction of pull opposite the dominant pull direction. To at least prevent them from sliding, perhaps not a full body weight fall. If it were grab with a full body dropping on it, it would be after much sliding and rope melting, possibly even de-sheathing. All no bueno. Unless, of course, the top wraps actually grab nicely with the bottom wraps (with the force how I show in the video). My concern is that this design would cause the top wraps to collapse, thus leaving all of the weight on those two lower wraps.

Thankfully, you can reconfigure the wrap construction of this hitch just like any other hitch, allowing the climber to place as many wraps as they want in the catch side or the climb side! In theory, one could make the catch side the climb side and visa versa. A long hitch cord could even be used to create all kinds of helpful adjustments to this original form. Reversing climb side (where someone might try to tie this hitch 180 degrees rotated and apply climb forces in same direction shown in video) might be interesting to try out, but I don't recommend doing it unless its on the ground. It wasn't tied with that orientation in consideration and knowing the directionality of the hitches I want to make directly effects how I tie them.

Here's the obligatory "how to" video for your viewing pleasure (or displeasure)! I'm still learning to relax and be natural when a camera is rolling. I'm already awkward enough off camera. Yikes!



It's worth noting that I tied this hitch wtih a 32" cord. Normally, a hitch like this would be challenging and congested to tie using a hitch cord with sewn eyes. However, this is shown tied using a spliced cord. This is my first spliced eye to eye and it's amazing how much it opens the doors to more complex hitch making since it is possible to make use of the full length of the cord. I freaking love it! I certainly did not make it. Someone one this forum (if they want to take credit for this masterpiece, they can of course) who is both thoughtful and generous bestowed this piece of veritable hitch cord perfection upon me. It's a standard Sterling RIT sheath 9mm (my favorite diameter) with the usual Nylon core removed and replaced with braided (?) Dyneema. I've never been so inspired to learn how to splice as I am now. I'm not even blowing smoke, I'm genuinely this excited about a length of spliced fabric!

Oh crap, @Burnham tried to warn me. My addiction is progressing and now I've gone from spending money on hitch cords to get my fix to prospectively making my own hitches...would that make me a manufacturer or a dealer? I guess I couldn't hit dealer status until other people are hooked on my hitch cords. Ha!

As always, if anyone tries this out, please share your experiences. I like this one a lot. You might even say it "tickles my fancy!" =-D

EDIT: I made an abundance up clarifications and typo corrections. Feel free to reread this if it made little to no sense when you first tried. I realize my writing is voluminous and most people probably won't read even half of it, but I'm still going to continue writing this way because it makes ME happy.

 

[Knotorious]

I think I just created one of the best hitches I’ve ever made. Okay, I know, I hype up a lot of my hitches (deservingly so), but this is “totes for realsies” as I once heard a teenager utter with complete seriousness to her friend in a shopping center. Disturbing, I know.

I was playing around with my new hitch cord, the spliced 32” cord, and I was inspired by the astrological symbol for a Cancer (no bullsh!t). I know nothing about astrology except that it is pseudoscience, but I did imagine two legs of a hitch cord making similar shapes with loops or bights and then the legs going into the other’s loop (you can't make this up).

Soon it was decided that I had to experiment. After much fussing around, I managed to construct a hitch of epic proportions. If Zeus or Thor or Osiris - or even George Washington, Abraham Lincoln or Ghandi (okay, now this is getting out of hand) - had been tree climbers or arborists, without any doubt in my mind…they would have climbed with the EXQUISITE hitch.

Don’t worry, I’m not that egomaniacal, and that was definitely a bit of hyperbole for the sake of humor, but I do firmly believe that this hitch is a bona fide winner. Just look at it. It isn’t basic and it isn’t actually that hard to tie. And, no, sorry @Brocky, I don’t think it can be tied with one hand! However, it’s kind of like a micro VT mixed with a compact Michoacan…or maybe not…it’s honestly quite original, so I don’t want to reduce it to two generic, well known hitches.

The best part is how the legs create secondary coils by opposing one another, going in opposite directions, which generates a great deal of extra nip. I did some preliminary testing on it and it functions very well. I admittedly haven’t actually climbed on it yet, but I probably will do some tests tomorrow. However, just by looking at it, I feel confident in its abilities. That may be a bit presumptions of me, but when you make and test as many of these things as I do, you develop sort of a sixth...maybe even a seventh (ha!)...sense. I’m pretty sure most of us have some type of “sense” for hitches and hitch behavior, etc.

Anyhow, check out the attached pictures and let me know what you think. It truly is NOT as complicated as it looks. It is, however, 100% as freaking amazing as it looks. “Totes.”

 

[Knotorious]

I used the EXQUISITE hitch yesterday for several hours on both my lanyard and as part of a Hitchclimber MRS setup. This hitch performed exceptionally in my personal opinion. What I discovered is that I had to dress and set it more loosely than I would with other hitches (not by much, but enough that it's worth noting) because it really wants to grab the host rope. Thanks to the single braid that I have located just after the coil at the top, the third stage, which is the signature knotting at the bottom does not have to be tied right up next to the coils. It can extend downwards a bit which keep the legs of the hitch cord from lifting up to form loops which could catch on branches and twigs. I'm going to make a "how to" video for this hitch in the next day or so, showing how I tie it. My hope is that it will prove just how easily this hitch can be tied despite its complicated appearance. Finally, I found that because of how the final stage (the knotting) is tied prevents the hitch from deviating very far from how it was dressed and set even after extended periods of use. It's probably my second favorite hitch that I've invented, with the favorite still being the CALLIGRAPHY hitch.

 

[Knotorious]

It's the moment you all have (not) been waiting for! It's finally here! Without further ado, I give you the how-to video for the EXQUISITE hitch! Huzzah!

 

[CurSedVoyce]

It's called dressed and set instead of nice and tight

And ya'll need a 12 step program

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Knotorious]

@CurSedVoyce Yes, that is definitely the ideal way to say it and I'm familiar with the phrase and I've used it in a number of videos. However, the majority of my audience is people who are newer to knots and climbing, so I sometimes use verbiage that is a little more generic so that a larger portion of my viewers will immediately understand.

And you are probably correct about the 12-step program. The first step is admitting that I have a problem and that I am powerless over hitches and hitch cords...! Hehe

Thanks for your input and thread participation. I greatly appreciate it!

 

[Burnham]

Am I the only one who thinks most (not all) of these interesting new hitches, both here and in this other thread,

I (Think/Hope) I Developed A New Hitch Design

I've been stuck in bed for almost two weeks now trying to recover from a surgery and so I have an uncomfortable amount of free time. I also inherently and innately love using rope. There's something unbelievably tactile-friendly about rope and learning/tying knots has yet to get old. Anyways...

www.masterblasterhome.com

look like they'd have a fairly significant degree of setback before grabbing?