SRT techniques for beginners

[lxskllr]

I'm ok using someone else's knots if they're easy to inspect. Apparently you can tie a poachers knot wrong so it fails. I saw it mentioned on a video, where the guy said someone fell from tying the knot wrong. I fooled with it for a minute, but I couldn't figure out how to tie wrong where it didn't look completely dogshit wrong, but maybe it can be done :shrugs: I'd trust MB to tie a double overhand right. That's the easiest part of building a saddle. It's barely tying a knot at all.

 

[Knotorious]

Haha that's the stuff Monkey Beaver uses for bridges! I don't care for it anymore than you do I think, but I've got a kink for green... it's certianly strong enough for the task. When I re-tied the stopper knots it had decent hand.

Dunno about you guys, but I don't much like trusting my life to someone else's knots, maybe I'm weird.

@Ryan please keep posting your progress. I am deeply enjoying your success, it's good to see. Climb High, Be Safe.

If the person tying the knots has tied the knots a thousand times, it's probably safe. I almost never tie knots wrong and I do so on auto mode most of the time. I obviously inspect any knot I use, and you can easily inspect factory tied knots as well.

Teufelberger will sew their double Fisherman/double overhand knots closed using sewing thread on their Treemotion saddles to ensure that, if you get injured and the sewing thread isn't in tact, you can't make a claim for liability -- assuming you're using the stock bridge and played with the knots like I have to make length adjustments.

 

[Knotorious]

Just to be clear, the stitching used my Teufelberger would not prevent a corrupt knot from failing. It's just cosmetic to be able to tell if an alteration has been made.

 

[friedrich]

well, i you replace the bridge with the proper tm bridge only one side will have the stitch. as long as the double fisherman is tied right there will never be a reason for a liability claim but the manual say‘s it‘s ok to tie it yourself..

 

[Kaveman]

Big talk from folks who've never ridden the wind to the ground. You'd be less trusting of others knots too. How long does it take to untie theirs and tie your own, just to silence one of the voices screaming in your head?

 

[Knotorious]

Big talk from folks who've never ridden the wind to the ground. You'd be less trusting of others knots too. How long does it take to untie theirs and tie your own, just to silence one of the voices screaming in your head?

I have no voices screaming in my head. I'm Knotorious, the knot and splice enthusiast and hitch connoisseur. I can easily identify and verify most life supporting knots quite easily and with confidence. I'm not trying to sound like a badass, I'm just saying...if I see a knot tied correctly, that's good enough for me. When knots aren't tied correctly, it triggers an instant and rapid red flag. I spend A TON of time tying knots, but most people aren't focused on knots to the extent that I am and so if you experience better peace of mind by retying a correctly tied knot, then that's solid due diligence as far as I'm concerned and I have no issues with that.

 

[Ryan]

It's like hauling a load someone else strapped down. You might not take the straps all off just to put them back on but you damn sure are gonna eyeball each strap and give it a little tug.

I lost a few scaffold ladders on the highway learning that lesson. Thankfully nothing happened but I quickly learned the load is  my load regardless who strapped it.

 

[Ryan]

Finally, looked up some 3 to 1 techniques and liked these two. There was another good one with a ring and a carabiner but I don't have a ring. Yet.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

When and if I needed MA on my SRT, I kept it real simple.
I already had a handled acender, a carabiner, and a pulley. Used them on my way up.
Clip the handled ascender above you, clip carabiner into the bottom hole on the ascender, clip the pulley with your climb line tail onto the carabiner.
Easy peasy.

 

[SeanKroll]

You can pre-install the 3:1 before pulling up the rope for a base- tie.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Probably with proper planning and clear enough canopy. But not sure I ever would.
The whole MA thing was sooooo damn temporary for me climbing. My arm and upper body strength just took over and made it a rare if any needed thing to do.
Often I found it easier to redirect my line and decend or walk out from a further point. Using the speed of SRT to just return to the redirect to remove or change it. More often remove.
Just other ways of skinning a cat. Plan the climb better and there is less up and down.

 

[SeanKroll]

Different tricks for different trees.

Having a deep bag of tricks helps different things.

I can't think of the last time I pre- installed at work.

Can be a way to tend slack from the ground and have a backup belay for a novice rec climber, keeping things simple... tree dependent.

😃

 

[Treeaddict]

I just come back in from a limb walk in pure srt without any MA. It seems fine. Maybe if I did this full time it would be an issue with my shoulders? Sounds like Stephen doesn’t MA either. Anyone else just muscle it? Granted the 3:1 may tend towards more smoothness.

 

[friedrich]

i sometimes carry a short bit of prussik-cord and a petzl pulley-carabiner if i have to return from extrem angles, it has more uses than a croll for me: redirect, anchor-point for inline-rescue (tying into the climbline above the person to be rescued..)

for regular return‘s from branchwalk‘s i clip into my chest-harness and my pantine and simultaneously walk and take out the slak, works very well with minimum effort. i know a lot of climber‘s wigh shoulder issues so i try to be nice to them

 

[Treeaddict]

Yup, clip the Akimbo to the chest tether to self tend slack.

 

[Knotorious]

Mechanical advantage on a limb walk is a luxury, not a necessity.

 

[stig]

I have a revolver carabiner and a croll for that.
Compact and light on my belt and easy to set up.

 

[Ryan]

Thanks for all the input! Sounds like the best idea is to have the option available w/o thinking that I'm going to be stranded on every limbwalk if I don't setup a 3 to 1.

 

[SeanKroll]

The 3:1 let's you use either/ both hands pulling toward yourself with steady pressure while tending slack.

It's similar to an O-rig on DdRT/MRS in its body mechanics, though with a bit more MA.

 

[Tree09]

You can always add it if you want it, by advancing it you basically mimic a tautline or other long hitch. A good trick for that was to push it a few feet farther up with a stick if there was a tricky spot you needed it for, or to take bigger moves. Also as you get used to it try to utilize a redirect of some sort to make the limbwalk easier, and since it's just a redirect it often doesn't even have to be capable of supporting your body weight, mind your line angles and you'll love how much easier it is when you can easily improve your climb line location for the tasks at hand. For me that was the big kicker that made srt the way to go, by doing something as simple as tossing my hitch over a limb i could have a new tip there to help my climb be easier. In no time at all it'll be the easy way

 

[Knotorious]

For anyone reading this a considering using any of these techniques, be sure not to use them with a Rope Runner OR Rope Runner Pro because the instruction manual specifically shows that it isn't designed for such applications. Using a RRP in a 3:1 can cause it to collapse, resulting in the climber dropping to the ground. Just throwing that out there for all the RRP users. Although the Akimbo is very similar in structure and mechanics, there is nothing stating (TO MY KNOWLEDGE) that it can't be used this way, but I would be careful doing so. The rope wrench is definitely safe to use this way. Not sure about the Unicender. Not sure about the ZigZag. Always refer to your instruction manuals for proper use of your devices. They all have plenty of diagrams showing proper use and misuse.

EDIT: I'm guess a hitch hiker is probably safe to use this way, but I don't know for sure.

 

[Kaveman]

I remember seeing elsewhere on the forum, the Unicender set up with a 3:1. That said, do so with caution. Any situation that could squeeze the top and bottom plates together will release the device, after all.

Also I've never used any MA set up whilst limbwalking. The thought simply never occurred to me, likely because I haven't seen the need. Maybe the future holds something different.

 

[Ryan]

With drt, a lot of the time I'll just grab both legs and handhaul my self out of difficult spots.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

It can feel a tad weird on SRT when you first start doing that. That leg of rope missing. Almost insecure. Was for me anyway. And a couple guys I taught. Eventually, I moved past it, as did they. The you just do the same thing with the single rope. Tending slack as you go.
Good rule is keep your slack under 3' of rope between tending..

 

[Bodean]

Ha I remember srt starting out,,, how much I missed that other leg of rope.