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Tree Machine · 10th September 2007, 06:14 AM

Great point, Ekka This gives us an opportunity to get very, very clear on this mechanically-based manner of rope control.

Regarding going up:

You advance ascenders. You tend slack with a descender.

While going up using a descender, you are climbing the tree, not climbing the rope. This is where most of the climb time is spent. Your job is to keep your lifeline taught and free of slack. Going down, the line is always taught. Going up, you have to tend the slack, mechanical OR friction hitch, this does not change.

For everyone, especially the noobs out there, there is one central theme in ropework as it applies to climbing and working in trees, you must keep your lifeline slack free. To do this, you must more or less continuously advance or pull along your friction control.

This is why one of our main Requirements was for the descent device to cooperate and move up the rope freely, and control 100% of the friction when going downward. One would thing that if it applied 100% friction on the down, you would have to fight that same 100% to get the device to go up the rope. Not the case. We should be able to move the device up the rope with very little resistance, whether on static doubled or single.

Body thrusting, as long as it has been mentioned, it has something to offer here.

In a 2:1 friction hitch system, on ascent, there is a body technique called body thrusting, or 'air humping', it where you thrust your hips upward while at the same time pulling the tail of your rope downward. Hips go upward, rope tail goes downward. The rope is advanced over the (crotch or limb) tie-in point and through the hitch, and you pull 50 cm of rope over those two points of friction for every 25 cm of gain in altitude. At the same time you get to look like something freaky, laying back and humping the air. Very professional. Not. Quite efficient. Not. Swift and straight-forward. Definitely not. It works because in 2:1 you have one line going up and one line going down. This is a classic old-school technique, one that should be revered, honored, acknowledged, and then thrown in the shitcan.

In 1:1, body thrusting does not work because the doubled line stays static, does not move up or down. A body thrust, while suspended 1:1 on rope takes real timing, effort and precision. You would have to lurch your body upward and at the same instant, advance your ascenders. Your maimum vertical gain can only, at most, be whatever distance your hips can travel upward. If you can advance your hips and ascender up 25 cm, you get the entire vertical gain of all 25 cm. But in 1:1, you don't generally choose to body hump when you can get 50 cm or better on a single, good footlock while advancing your ascender in a nearly frictionless manner. Dual static ropes lacing over your feet make footlocking very certain, much easier and straight-forward. Gaining vertical in a 1:1 manner is very gratifying, like, how it should be.

Our goal here is to make tree climbing easier. Therein lies the joy.

10th September 2007, 06:14 AM	#235 (permalink)
Tree Machine Over mature heritage tree Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 718	very key point Great point, Ekka This gives us an opportunity to get very, very clear on this mechanically-based manner of rope control. Regarding going up: You advance ascenders. You tend slack with a descender. While going up using a descender, you are climbing the tree, not climbing the rope. This is where most of the climb time is spent. Your job is to keep your lifeline taught and free of slack. Going down, the line is always taught. Going up, you have to tend the slack, mechanical OR friction hitch, this does not change. For everyone, especially the noobs out there, there is one central theme in ropework as it applies to climbing and working in trees, you must keep your lifeline slack free. To do this, you must more or less continuously advance or pull along your friction control. This is why one of our main Requirements was for the descent device to cooperate and move up the rope freely, and control 100% of the friction when going downward. One would thing that if it applied 100% friction on the down, you would have to fight that same 100% to get the device to go up the rope. Not the case. We should be able to move the device up the rope with very little resistance, whether on static doubled or single. Body thrusting, as long as it has been mentioned, it has something to offer here. In a 2:1 friction hitch system, on ascent, there is a body technique called body thrusting, or 'air humping', it where you thrust your hips upward while at the same time pulling the tail of your rope downward. Hips go upward, rope tail goes downward. The rope is advanced over the (crotch or limb) tie-in point and through the hitch, and you pull 50 cm of rope over those two points of friction for every 25 cm of gain in altitude. At the same time you get to look like something freaky, laying back and humping the air. Very professional. Not. Quite efficient. Not. Swift and straight-forward. Definitely not. It works because in 2:1 you have one line going up and one line going down. This is a classic old-school technique, one that should be revered, honored, acknowledged, and then thrown in the shitcan. In 1:1, body thrusting does not work because the doubled line stays static, does not move up or down. A body thrust, while suspended 1:1 on rope takes real timing, effort and precision. You would have to lurch your body upward and at the same instant, advance your ascenders. Your maimum vertical gain can only, at most, be whatever distance your hips can travel upward. If you can advance your hips and ascender up 25 cm, you get the entire vertical gain of all 25 cm. But in 1:1, you don't generally choose to body hump when you can get 50 cm or better on a single, good footlock while advancing your ascender in a nearly frictionless manner. Dual static ropes lacing over your feet make footlocking very certain, much easier and straight-forward. Gaining vertical in a 1:1 manner is very gratifying, like, how it should be. Our goal here is to make tree climbing easier. Therein lies the joy.