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George Hayduke · 12th February 2008, 08:06 AM

I sure wish that I could site chapter and verse on all of the slip grab friction hitch testing but I can't. Most of the downloads poofed when my pc choked. Now that I use a Mac I'm so much more confident that these bits of research will be archived.

I've been on the Internet for close to 20 years. Spending time researching rope use outside of the tree industry has given me many insights that tree climbers need to know. I posted the google results for backing up a rappel so that people can learn all that they need. When I was in high school a lterature teacher would fail us if we ever walked into his class with a copy of Cliff Notes. it didn't make a difference if it was for something that we were studying in his class. Not doing extennsive reading on your own and just basing what you do with your life support on someone's opinions on a discussion forum can lead to failure, meaning your death.

If you want to see one of the slip/grab drop tests get hold of Ken James in Australia. His students did some tests and showed that the prusik was much more likely to slip to failure rather than slip/grab to declerate a fall. Cavers, search and rescue, mountaineering have all done similar tests using their typical rope and gear configurations. In ALL of those tests there is a trend to see that a prusik is NOT a choice that anyone under my supervision will use. There are many more hitches that work better. The klemheist has been my favorite for decades...not years. I have 40 years of production climbing under my boots. And I still climb, FWIW.

I thought that I re-read the thread again. Did I miss the explanation of the becket pulley?

The addition of the slack tender above your extended bridge has some real dangers. Anything could snag the tether and down you go. That PMP up top is a big target for a branch snag too.

The system has some merit but I'm not at all comfortable with your gear combination.

12th February 2008, 08:06 AM	#35 (permalink)
George Hayduke Banned Join Date: May 2007 Location: Slickrock, USA Posts: 92	Re: New prussik technique... I sure wish that I could site chapter and verse on all of the slip grab friction hitch testing but I can't. Most of the downloads poofed when my pc choked. Now that I use a Mac I'm so much more confident that these bits of research will be archived. I've been on the Internet for close to 20 years. Spending time researching rope use outside of the tree industry has given me many insights that tree climbers need to know. I posted the google results for backing up a rappel so that people can learn all that they need. When I was in high school a lterature teacher would fail us if we ever walked into his class with a copy of Cliff Notes. it didn't make a difference if it was for something that we were studying in his class. Not doing extennsive reading on your own and just basing what you do with your life support on someone's opinions on a discussion forum can lead to failure, meaning your death. If you want to see one of the slip/grab drop tests get hold of Ken James in Australia. His students did some tests and showed that the prusik was much more likely to slip to failure rather than slip/grab to declerate a fall. Cavers, search and rescue, mountaineering have all done similar tests using their typical rope and gear configurations. In ALL of those tests there is a trend to see that a prusik is NOT a choice that anyone under my supervision will use. There are many more hitches that work better. The klemheist has been my favorite for decades...not years. I have 40 years of production climbing under my boots. And I still climb, FWIW. I thought that I re-read the thread again. Did I miss the explanation of the becket pulley? The addition of the slack tender above your extended bridge has some real dangers. Anything could snag the tether and down you go. That PMP up top is a big target for a branch snag too. The system has some merit but I'm not at all comfortable with your gear combination.