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

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  • #51
This is my version of the Chinook Hitch, which uses two rings instead of wraps as main grabbing force. Keeping the rings together is important, and a couple of crossed turns/ braids, is all that’s needed, I added the Sticht finish for Single Rope use.

Your Macrame is another type of Series hitch, there are multiple variations, interesting to explore. Another option for a single eye hitch cord, or the end of rope is the Knut H hitch, it self tends.

Thanks for the new information! I had never heard of the Chinook hitch nor the Series hitch! I'm especially interested in the former as I'm curious to see how well a hitch dependent upon two rings for its nip works. One immediate benefit is that I can imagine that it wouldn't jam as easily and, because the rings cannot distort their shape, they likely provide a more consistent performance than rope on rope. I'd imagine the friction isn't as strong, though. I could be wrong.

In other news, I've been testing hitches, both new and old, as well as the same hitches using various diameters of hitch cord, hoping to identify which work best and what it is that allows them to do so. In order to better do this, while currently unable to climb, I have been using mechanical advantage to replicate the forces a hitch would see aloft while on the ground. I recently bought a pair of double pulleys and built a typical 4:1 system and then added three more pulleys, two prusik "bridges" and one prusik for progress capture. I'm not absolutely sure about this, but I believe that the finished result gives me a 13:1 mechanical advantage.

I tried it out today and it's extremely effective. It allows me to take almost all of the stretch out of the Rope with relative ease. Unfortunately, I don't have any devices, such as a load cell, to measure the force I'm able to generate, and I would definitely buy one if they weren't so expensive. Hopefully, some day. Anyways, as far as I can tell, I'm able to apply more force than a climber would unless perhaps they fell. It's been very interesting to see how the hitches react to such force. They all eventually reach a point where they lock up, which isn't surprising. The most fascinating aspect of doing these tests is to witness how each hitch distorts from its original shape so that it can stretch out and grip the rope.

My research is far from ground breaking, but I'm gaining insights as I continue testing. I've also gained invaluable knowledge and practice with pulley systems. I absolutely cannot wait to start climbing again. Hopefully by Christmas time.
 

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  • #53
I swear, you all have lost your minds.

Damn taught line hitch is all any climber needs.

Friction is friction for crying out loud. Don't over complicate the simple things.

But at some point, back when everyone was climbing just with a flip line and spurs, certain people "over complicated" climbing and before long people were climbing with ropes and Blake's hitches on doubled rope. Then another group of people "over complicated" matters and eventually most climbers were using eye to eyes on doubled rope. Then someone else challenged that suddenly SRT started gaining popularity. Then someone really "over complicated" the situation and developed the rope wrench, and someone else made the Hitchclimber. And then, again, it happened, and multicender devices appeared. All of these "over complications" have improved our artform.

I don't claim to be the guy who is going to take climbing into its next phase, but I definitely believe that there is something very rewarding insofar as tying and experimenting with knots. This industry relies on people who are passionate about specific aspects of climbing and arboriculture to evolve. If everyone were deterred by the process of complicating what is currently considered normal, our arboriculture would undoubtedly make minimal to no progress. Anyways, those are my feelings on that. Thank you for sharing yours.

Speaking of knots, I came up with a new hitch today called the "Kinetic" hitch. It creates two sets of coils on alternating legs and finishes like a knut with one leg going around both the rope and the opposite leg, creating a marl and adding more friction. In the picture you see three wraps in the top coil, but that is perhaps one wrap too many. It performs pretty well and I think it looks pretty sweet also.
 

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I admire your enthusiasm and pursuit. Really I do.

I'm an old school arborist from the late1960s. U.SA. and proud of it. I swear to God. I started climbing using natural fiber ropes. That was the thing. That's all there was.

Synthetics were just entering the arborist realm in the early 1970s. (Silverlon) Later came arborplex. In those years I tried out a few different variations of friction hitches using natural fiber and modern synthetics.

Oh Lordy, when it come to making rapid descents the synthetic would not fuse against the natural fiber. And the synthetic friction hitch wore longer against the natural fiber.

Yeah, those were the old days.

Between the 1970's and today quite a number of noteworthy developments have come about in the chemical composition, design and manufacture of modern synthetic cordage. Truly incredible stuff!

Despite all tecknological developments in cordage, for a working climber / arborist using a friction hitch to move about in a tree all the same physics of cordage / friction apply.

In a nutshell, basically, four wraps of rope can work sufficiently as a friction hitch to hold one's position on a line .

With all the new cordage today and combinations there of anything is possible.

It's a great time to be alive. Have fun experimenting.
 
I agree with Gerry, the hitches Bioassay and Brocky are showing here are overcomplicated. I myself wouldn't tie any of them day in and out, multiple times, knowing I can get superb function from several that are far easier to tie.

But I also agree with these fellows that experimentation has always been the only way to advance our abilities to manage work in trees safely and with less strain on our bodies.

But I must point out, that when Bioassay writes " But at some point, back when everyone was climbing just with a flip line and spurs, certain people "over complicated" climbing and before long people were climbing with ropes and Blake's hitches on doubled rope.", he seemingly misstates tree climbing history. Climbing with ropes and friction hitches goes way back...doubled rope and the tautline hitch have been in use for over a hundred years. I don't know of any reference that climbing with spurs is any older a practice.

Everything after as far as hitch development has just been icing on the cake. And SRT and hybrid SRT device development all the more so.

Having said all that, I know of few better ways to pass some intellectually challenging personal time than with a piece of rope in hand, playing around with knots. And for Bioassay and Brocky and any others so inclined, I salute the time spent doing so.

Thanks for sharing what you have been working on.
 
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Some of the more elaborate semi mechanicals are interesting cause they eliminate dedicated hardware for a single line descent. That could be a good trick to have in the bag in case /something/ comes up where it's needed. Not sure what that something would be exactly. I could contrive scenarios where it would be useful, and everyone would think "That'll never happen" til it does, and then you can pull out your crazy hitch with a couple rings and make magic happen.
 
I kinda like the simpler one with the ring...going to experiment, and like John said, its a possible fallback in case of need.
 
I tried the Kinetic, but had trouble getting it like your pictures. Realized it was because the top wrap isn’t restricted someway as it coils around the rope. This allows it to be rotated around the hitch at the top, changing the number of wraps of the two groups. Hitch on top has it rotated all the way to the left and bottom hitch all the way to the right.
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  • #60
I've been away for a bit and I see this thread is still alive. That's happy!

Thank you to everyone who gave their support, thank you to those who made criticisms, and thank you, Burnham, for the historical corrections. I have no doubt that you're right. I'm relatively young, so my history for arboriculture likely doesn't extend as far back as it should and I feel motivated to learn more about it, and improve my accuracy in turn.

Finally, I agree with the sentiment that, industry level breakthroughs or not, there are few finer ways to pass one's idle time than by playing around with rope or hitchcord. Having my hands manipulating cordage is like the tactile version of ASMR; it's pleasing to the senses. Not to mention how rewarding it is when one has created something novel that is also useful.

Brocky, I admit that I'm a little confused. I don't have my hitchcord with me right now, but I'm going to replicate what you showed me in the picture. It's also been a while since I looked at that hitch and I will need to look at my own instructions again. It looks like the bottom hitch in your picture is deformed. Are you saying how the unsecure nature of the wraps is causing spinning when it's weighted? The Kinetic hitch is probably my least good hitch creation. I wouldn't be surprised if it had issues.

Also, I created a new hitch! I call it the "Mirror" hitch because it finishes with the two legs interlocking via two half hitches tied in opposing (mirrored) directions. Although a tad bulky, it results in two additional wraps worth of nip on top of the three wraps with which the hitch begins. It's similar to the Knut hitch and Cornell hitch. Or at least they inspired me.

If you attempt to replicate it, be sure to tighten everything in the lower portion, where the two legs intermingle, bringing the knot up close to the wraps. But not too tight of course. You don't want it to bind.

See the attached images, please! Let me know what you think! I added a second set of pics showing the hitch tied loosely to give anyone looking to replicate it more visual data.

Happy holidays everyone!
 

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  • #61
The above hitch is kind of bulky, but it puts a nice bend in the rope and, so long as it isn't over tightened, and so long as the mirrored portion isn't crammed against the wraps, it actually appears to work quite well. You may need a 32" cord for this one. Surprisingly, I've experienced no jamming thus far using reasonable forces. This is not my favorite hitch by any means, but I'm sharing it because (I believe) it's novel.
 
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  • #62
When tied properly, this hitch is quite nice. I believe that I may have improved upon it since my previous pictures. It may have been tied wrong in the above set of images. The pics below are accurate.

Here is a YouTube video I made for the Mirror hitch. If you click on my username, you can go to my channel. It's only two weeks old (roughly) and I've tried to add as much content as possible before I end up working again after my surgery. It is by no means complete. Knots are shown tied in the most popular ways, not necessarily the best way. I welcome constructive criticism. If you are so inclined, feel free to like or subscribe...or don't! 'Merica!

If anyone knows of some quality knots or hitches I could feature on my channel, or any other quality educational material, feel free to share if you're so inclined. I was thinking of making a video about slack tending pulleys. Once I'm able to climb again in a few weeks, I'll be adding some more gear oriented climbing content.

 

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The Kinetic stays the same when loaded, but you can easily change the number of wraps by rotating the diagonal section of cord, either left or right.

I noticed some hitches that are similar to the Mirror, just different routing before the mirrored overhands. B3D906FF-069A-4A67-B888-8002849CB3D5.jpeg

Here are some others options besides a pulley for bumping the hitch upwards. With longer hitch legs, crossing them, or tie an overhand in the back under the hitch, will work also, not shown.
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  • #64
Two questions immediately come to mind for Brocky...

1) What's the green and black thingy at the base of the hitch in the lower image, lower left quadrant, below the tan hitch cord on the orange/blue glazed rope? Is that a piece of metal covered in some kind of hitch material?

2) Where do you get all of your sweet spliced eye hitch cords? I recognize the green with black fleck hitch cord from other people's videos/images, though, I don't know from where it came. Do you have a good source for such cords? All of my hitch cords have sewn eyes.

And, I lied, there are three questions...

3) Do you cut and polish your own metallic insertions for these hitches?

I lied again, there are four questions...

4) How many different individual hitch variations do you have recorded in those trichromatic, handmade drawing form? Were you able to glance at your own, personal. records and assert that my Mirror hitch was a unique variation of known similar hitches or did that require outside research?

I'm such an asshole. I have one more question...I guess that makes me a liar thrice over...

5) Have you ever considered compiling all of your hitch variation artwork into a single, comprehensive piece of referential literature? If the answer is "no," you should somehow sway your feelings toward a "yes" and find a publisher. I'd be happy to help you with the research as part of a side project. We could work together to compile an exhaustive list of known hitches and then you could draw them in your signature style and voila! lol, I'm over simplifying, but it's all good.

Let's end this with a shitty joke!

What do you call the leader of an arborist team?

-The Branch Manager!

Okay, one more...

What's the first thing that arborists do in an emergency?

-Tree-age (triage) the patient!

One more, I swear!

What did the tree say to the drill?

-"You bore me!"

Ha! I slay myself.

Sorry, one last question for you, Brocky...

Do you also rock climb? I noticed a wire gate carabiner at the top of the first image. Or do you use that for something arborist related?

Would it surprise anyone that I have one final (or is it?) question? Whats that spliced-ish camo paracord thingy called in the middle and did you make that? What is that used for? Is there a technique for making them?

Thanks!
 
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1. & 7.-It’s only paracord with some rope cover over it to make it it slide easier, can also use tubular webbing, or a technora cover for heat resistance. The easiest method is to tie a bend. A longer one with an o ring puts the tender closer to the hitch for less work when tending.
2. &6.- I spliced them, the green and black is Beal’s 5mm Back Up cord, similar looking to other cords, mostly used in rock climbing, which I only do from an arm chair!
3.- The tending tubes are bronze, brass, or water pipe, easy to cut, I make them half inch wide, and round off the edges. Riding on the rope does the polishing.
4.- The Mirror is the latest hitch, in the upper right corner is the number 232, plus there’s another 59 that are hitches that are rotated 180 degrees, that are also able to work, and another 36 loop hitches that I added about a month ago, had a productive couple of days.
5.- Any new to me hitches get added to my collection, hopefully there’s others who have more. The drawings with holes on top are the “finished” ones. The original format was going to be a book held by two rings and then clipped to the climb line for easy viewing while tying. I’m now taking pictures of 16 at a time for easier researching, flipping through the cards isn’t practical anymore. They are arranged in chronological order now, but once they’re all finished, I’m going to group them into similar types.
 
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  • #66
Well, damn! And these paracord pieces are all for incorporating your metal pipe fragments into the hitch, attaching them to the same carabiner? The use of tubular webbing is pretty brilliant, actually! I think it's admirable that you've amassed such a large number of hitch variations. When you say that you have some hitches which are rotated 180 degrees, are you saying that they are known hitches, but with the primary force going upwards versus downwards?
That's funny what you said about engaging in rock climbing from an armchair! I've recently gone down the proverbial interwebs "rabbit hole" watching Go-Pro footage of climbers on Everest, K2, Annapurna, etc. on YouTube and I commented on one video saying, "thank you so much for sharing this incredible footage so that I don't have to do it myself!" I also recently watched Alex Honnold free solo/or fail to free solo (I don't want to ruin the end for you if you decide to watch it) El Capitan in the Nat Geo documentary with the uninspired name "Free Solo" and thought, "frig that. Hellz no." I experienced vertigo through my computer screen. It was quite anxiogenic.
But I digress, as usual...
I created a new hitch...I hope! It's called the "Abstract" hitch. It's what you would get if the VT cross pollenated with the Catalyst hitch. I created those cool braids by emulating how one wraps one leg around another at the very start of the catalyst hitch and the overall resemblance is that of the VT, I suppose; and the hitch begins like a VT. Take a gander! I pulled out some different cordage for your optical enjoyment. I didn't yet make a YouTube video for this one, but for anyone interested, I have made videos for all of my hitches on my channel (in case they're hard to decipher via static imagery). I will add the video to this post or a new one once I am enlightened enough to do so.
It's actually quite remarkable how much extra friction these "extended" braid "intersections" create along the rope. It also doesn't jam very easily. The intersections create a more desirable bend (as far as creating friction) than the traditional braids of a VT would.
Below are a front, back and side photo!
 

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The double eye strap is wrapped around the rope and clipped between the hitch eyes, the metal tube is used in the hitch without the strap.

By rotate, I meant around the rope, the front becomes the back, sometimes these work better. The Michoacán and Scaffold/Petroacan are an example.
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Your newest hitch is a 180 degree Chris Coates with an addition twist. The Cooper came first, the braid on front of the Coates keeps the twist in back for less extension and setback.
 
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  • #68
Thanks for explaining. Although it isn't a new concept for me, I now possess the proper terminology and nomenclature for such a phenomenon! Well done!

I'm currently trying to create a comprehensive online "how to tie" video for knots, including (read: especially) hitches. Assuming some of these may be originals, and some might not be, do I have permission to share some of the hitches you've shown to me those far via my YouTube channel? I'm honestly run into a bit of a dead end after already making several hitch videos and you seem to have an eclectic selection at your fingertips. By allowing me to share these videos, you'll be able to better dessiminate them throughout the world and hitches-made-with-hitchcords enthusiasts will probably appreciate it. Elsewhere on YouTube, there's hardly a single video regarding anything that isn't considered mainstream. I hope to change that. It's up to you. If you're interested, I'm curious if there are 5-10 unconventional hitches that you would like to share pictures of which haven't been shown already. Otherwise, if you aren't interested in sharing, I would completely understand. No obligations, sir! You do as you wish. I won't hang it up or anything weird like that lol

It should go without saying that I can give you credit for any originals. In both the video itself and within the video's description(s). And if any of the other hitches need to have credit given, which might be for someone other than yourself, I'm more than happy to do that as well in a way of your or their choosing.
 
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No problem with you using them, I went through the thread, these are the hitches that aren’t my originals:
OPC came from Gary Storricks website
Synergy X -castenda on TB
Chinook-the original from snunyabizness on TB
Series- GS website
Scaffold-?
Cooper- Sam Cooper
Chris Coates- Chris Coates

I’m glad you started this thread, it has motivated me to complete the “finished” drawings. I’m almost done penciling them, have a bunch to ink and color. I post some when I’m done, finding a lot that can self tend without adding anything else.
 
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  • #70
Awesome! I appreciate it! Thank you!

I'm also glad I started this thread. It has expanded my understanding of all things hitch cord and I'm now creating more advanced systems. It's pretty sweet. It's also good to know that I'm not the only rope connoisseur/hitch devotee on the internet.
 
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  • #71
Each of your hitch pictures have a unique identifying number, right? Can you help me identify the proper hitch to go with the proper names. In other words, simply add the hitch number next to the names if you're able to. If you're referencing a hitch you displayed with actual materials (versus a drawing), perhaps just describe it very briefly, like colors or any hardware (or even just the page number) that might be on it and I can more than likely locate it. I'd hate to get the names messed up, or worse: tie the wrong hitch. No huge rush. I'd greatly appreciate it!

But yeah, I think it's really cool that you're finishing drawings now! This book, is it going to something you eventually want to get published or is it going to be your own, personal repository of hitch combos? No judgement either way. If you already addressed this at some point, and for whatever reason I was oblivious to it, I apologize.
 
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  • #72
Brocky, remember my "Series" hitch? Check out this creation. It can safely act attached to a rope in the form of a friction hitch which can be pulled from any direction. It's actually surprisingly secure with the equivalent of four wraps. What would be great is if I make a longer eye to eye and have enough length to make six wraps. I can imagine all kinds of uses for a hitch like this. In the pictures, you'll see me struggling to to show how ropes could be attached to the hitch eyes. And the line it's connected to is solid, almost like staging, where someone could adjust the position the hitch anywhere along that rope, so literal progress capture. Anyways, I'm pretty stoked about it.

Because it can connect to loads in all directions and because it's adjustable, I'm calling this the OMNI HITCH. Pretty sweet. Pure fire!
 

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  • #73
I was wrong. The hitch will slide if it is pulled in the direction of the wraps, running parallel, and this can happen on both sides. Nothing new to see here. That's just hitch behavior. I bet I could create really strong, durable eye to eyes that are long enough to make those extra two wraps for a six piece mcnugget of wrap majesticness. Secure that bad boy somewhere and you'll always have a secure, mobile connection point. Or maybe no one will ever use it.

I'm still calling it the Omni hitch, though.
 
In order of appearance in this thread:
Bermie-228
Midshipman Dbl Eye-46
Un-Named-186
Cartman Like-148
OPC-50
Synergy X-88
Sticht-137
Chinook-no drawing or number
Series-42
Single Eye Knut H-129
UnNamed-204
RBG-205
UnNamed-203
UnNamed-218
Scaffold/Petroacan-87
Cooper-84
Chris Coates-89

Your Omni maybe needs more of the girths to hold better.
 
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  • #75
Thanks so much for numbering everything for me! And I agree, I wish I had a long hitch cord so that I could make six girths on it.

I was messing around today and came up with this. This style of finish resembles many different hitches, so I need your help to determine if it's original or not! Please!

Front and back photos attached!
 

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