What Is/Are Your Favorite Friction Hitches for Climbing SRS/SRT?

[Knotorious]

That's basically a Valdotain with a bunch of fancy add-ons. This is a Valdotain, often called an Autobloc when tied with a sewn loop. You've added an extra wrap at the adjustability section, which is pretty sweet. Whatever works for you. You could streamline that so much better in my opinion. That full wrap below the aforementioned adjustability section is going to add setback.Setback of any kind means you might cyclically load your hitch to failure. Just some thoughts. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Tree09]

That's just how i have tied it there, i use that for work positioning while climbing around in the steel and pipes when working as a fitter, remember it's best attribute is it's adjustability and adaptability to the conditions. It's 1/2" promaster or whatever the softer lay one is called, on treemaster i would have it much tighter but treemaster wouldn't grab as well when wrapped around pipes, and as a fitter I'm around nothing but pipes That slop allows easier adjustment on the grabby 3 strand, often while wearing thick welding gloves over tingling hands. Tighter hitches are simply harder than they need to be to adjust since i don't have nearly as much weight on it as one would when using it as a lanyard in a tree, I'm simply stabilizing my body while doing fitter work for balance. A good example is when I'm standing on a pipe trying to weld another pipe, and all are on hanger rods so it flexes and shifts all over, and your buddies are rigging up pieces and tacking up right down the line so they can help shake it all too. I once even had a foreman that used to yell "anyone can weld it when it's sitting still" at me the whole time, and he actually meant it. The lanyard simply allows you to hold the pipe still when leaning on it with your arm, I'm old so i don't like to fight stuff anymore and that makes it easier so i can just weld. Same with wrenches or other tools, without it working with both hands is often awkward and almost begging for a fall since our only tie off is the fall arrest. It's primary purpose is for balance, sometimes it is loaded much more but ease of adjustment is king on that one for me.

It's also pretty much only used on a fall arrest harness with side ds, and it's all just 2" webbing with no lap belt, sometimes even worn with a double bag and suspenders toolbag on over the harness with the side ds pulled out to the front, basically full on ironworker gear when doing certain tasks. That said I'll often run it with a looser hitch, it grabs so reliably that i was starting to push it work faster and easier, eventually switching to a mechanical to get the performance that i was after. But i still run it on my lanyards, and will even run a wrench over them on either of the ends of my 60' double lanyard shown in the first pictures (the bight fits in a little bag when you're not using the length). Btw if adjust yourself too close and then ease back to the perfect positioning spot you'll not only remove sitback from the equation, you'll set your hitch very well and you'll likely assume a better positioning stance since it forces you to lean back into your harness and support. I have a strong tendency to be grabby like I'm climbing as a fitter if I haven't climbed a tree in awhile, and doing that helps get me back in tree mode. Conversely if I've been climbing trees a bunch i have to slow down at work and remember that i can't just jump and swing around the room like normal

 

[Knotorious]

That's just how i have tied it there, i use that for work positioning while climbing around in the steel and pipes when working as a fitter, remember it's best attribute is it's adjustability and adaptability to the conditions. It's 1/2" promaster or whatever the softer lay one is called, on treemaster i would have it much tighter but treemaster wouldn't grab as well when wrapped around pipes, and as a fitter I'm around nothing but pipes That slop allows easier adjustment on the grabby 3 strand, often while wearing thick welding gloves over tingling hands. Tighter hitches are simply harder than they need to be to adjust since i don't have nearly as much weight on it as one would when using it as a lanyard in a tree, I'm simply stabilizing my body while doing fitter work for balance. A good example is when I'm standing on a pipe trying to weld another pipe, and all are on hanger rods so it flexes and shifts all over, and your buddies are rigging up pieces and tacking up right down the line so they can help shake it all too. I once even had a foreman that used to yell "anyone can weld it when it's sitting still" at me the whole time, and he actually meant it. The lanyard simply allows you to hold the pipe still when leaning on it with your arm, I'm old so i don't like to fight stuff anymore and that makes it easier so i can just weld. Same with wrenches or other tools, without it working with both hands is often awkward and almost begging for a fall since our only tie off is the fall arrest. It's primary purpose is for balance, sometimes it is loaded much more but ease of adjustment is king on that one for me.

It's also pretty much only used on a fall arrest harness with side ds, and it's all just 2" webbing with no lap belt, sometimes even worn with a double bag and suspenders toolbag on over the harness with the side ds pulled out to the front, basically full on ironworker gear when doing certain tasks. That said I'll often run it with a looser hitch, it grabs so reliably that i was starting to push it work faster and easier, eventually switching to a mechanical to get the performance that i was after. But i still run it on my lanyards, and will even run a wrench over them on either of the ends of my 60' double lanyard shown in the first pictures (the bight fits in a little bag when you're not using the length). Btw if adjust yourself too close and then ease back to the perfect positioning spot you'll not only remove sitback from the equation, you'll set your hitch very well and you'll likely assume a better positioning stance since it forces you to lean back into your harness and support. I have a strong tendency to be grabby like I'm climbing as a fitter if I haven't climbed a tree in awhile, and doing that helps get me back in tree mode. Conversely if I've been climbing trees a bunch i have to slow down at work and remember that i can't just jump and swing around the room like normal

I don't know anything about pipe fitting. If that's what works for you, you won't get any sass from me.

 

[Knotorious]

I owe you an apology, @Tree09. I asked to see your hitch and I kind of shat all over it verbally.

I sometimes forget that other people aren't as enthused by hitches and knots, and that's okay. You don't have to be.

Obviously your setup works for you. My point was that it could easily be streamlined to be more reliable and to have less setback.

But don't let my personal opinions hurt you. If they even did. You probably were like, "listen to this asshole. He knows fuckall about pipefitting."

And that's true. But I know A LOT about hitches. So if you want to consider some new hitches, DM me. If not, then the world is your oyster, sir.

 

[Brocky]

I used the Penberthy method below, but the knot book I got it from didn’t specify if it was a single or double eye hitch. I choose two eyes, worked fairly well, but the pseudo-Bowline would tighten up causing it to start to slip. Neat idea to make it a loop!

 

[Eric H-L]

I'm simply stabilizing my body while doing fitter work for balance. A good example is when I'm standing on a pipe trying to weld another pipe, and all are on hanger rods so it flexes and shifts all over, and your buddies are rigging up pieces and tacking up right down the line so they can help shake it all too. I once even had a foreman that used to yell "anyone can weld it when it's sitting still" at me the whole time, and he actually meant it. The lanyard simply allows you to hold the pipe still when leaning on it with your arm, I'm old so i don't like to fight stuff anymore … without it working with both hands is often awkward and almost begging for a fall since our only tie off is the fall arrest. It's primary purpose is for balance,

It's also pretty much only used on a fall arrest harness with side ds, and it's all just 2" webbing with no lap belt, sometimes even worn with a double bag and suspenders toolbag on over the harness with the side ds pulled out to the front, basically full on ironworker gear when doing certain tasks. Btw if adjust yourself too close and then ease back to the perfect positioning spot you'll not only remove sitback from the equation, you'll set your hitch very well and you'll likely assume a better positioning stance since it forces you to lean back into your harness and support.

Kyle, I really enjoyed reading your details about work positioning in industrial construction. I do the same in electrical but only rarely. Most of my work is commercial or light industry and we usually work in a lift or on the ground.