Friction hitches for climbing lines

jim1nz · 16th September 2007, 06:12 AM

Using your hitch climber, you can make an extendable climbing prussic system, this simply moves the entire climbing system to exactly where you want. For example you would extend your system out from you so you can hip thrust or streight pull below the prussic advancing the system without disconnecting or changing the prussic.

Dont suppose anyone gets that do they? Its hard to explain! Ha sorry i cant promice a pic either, not in the position at the moment to beable to do that.

TreeCo · 16th September 2007, 02:07 PM

I was using a gibbs ascender is a similar configuration in the late eighties! It's a great idea and it self advances the hitch. It's even better with someone pulling on the tail of your rope. We would sometimes tie a redirect pulley to the base of the tree and put a couple of men on it to help the climber ascend. If the climbers rope happens to be in a pulley ascention rates can be really rapid......like 50ft. in ten seconds or less.

Sean Freeman · 16th September 2007, 02:29 PM

I agree with both Dan and Jim about the advantages of the extended bridge set up, but one note of caution...if youre climbing on a friction hitch be sure to double check the hitch befre you go to the extended mode and pay attention to any close branches or limbs on the way up...remember in this configuration if the hitch doesn't grab you are some distance from it

and manually tending it will be pretty hard. But aside from this added attention it is a very very quuick way to ascend into the tree.

fatkoala · 8th November 2007, 09:11 PM

Can some one show us a picture or diagram of the extended bridge

cheers confused ?

Sean Freeman · 8th November 2007, 09:50 PM

There are so many different variations on the theme, but here's a couple...NB these are not mine but the setups others are using I have used an extended rig, and found it yes to be very quick to ascend on but my own set up left a lot to be desired when reaching the upper canopy!!

Here's one set up as normal in close...working setup if you like

And here it is extended out....ascending setup

The pics can be a bit confusing perhaps so here's another set up using a quick draw arrangement as the bridge with the climber in shot to help illustrate the advantage of the extension during ascending.

newguy18 · 9th November 2007, 12:16 AM

I use a distel to.I just haven't bought the slack tender yet.

treekiwi · 15th November 2007, 07:01 AM

Use french prussic for main climbing line:

Knut with no pulley for lanyard:

Use rope lanyard for most small takedowns and rigging and climbing, flipline is heavy and catches on everything, also the fact that its no flexable and always seems to counter balance you when limb walking or general work.

Makes you be more careful when your rigging aswell because its easy to cut.

lol

newguy18 · 15th November 2007, 02:23 PM

can you post a pic of the knut?

Sean Freeman · 15th November 2007, 02:33 PM

okay now this caused some friction (sorry!

) over at TB a while back but as i remember it this is the correct method of tying the self tending version....the pic is from Kenny's site btw.

newguy18 · 15th November 2007, 02:40 PM

Thanks I'm gonna have to give that one a try tommorrow.Even when i'm not climbing for pay I rec climb in the 50' pine tree out back.

B rad · 15th November 2007, 11:48 PM

I finally grabbed the ice and hitch climber out of the box on Sunday. I had to pull a creeper out of my Erythrina AND Lagunaria for verge pickup (i was still scratching the itch on Monday!). Anyway, I used a fairly standard french prusik however the combination of the technora and high cheek plates resulted in the best friction experience I have had to date.

jim1nz · 16th November 2007, 12:39 AM

I have been trying therma shield prussic lately;

New England Ropes - Product Details

And found it excellent, much better that the Ocean polyester, pitty they only make it in 8mm! Its soft so its best on harder/tightly braded ropes.

jim1nz · 16th November 2007, 12:44 AM

Who has found their prussic getting caught on the deadend carabiner of their hitch climber set up!?

Its been pissin me off, the knot gets stuck open under the top carabiner if you dont manage your system. Its because the DRT ropes are so close together + i have been trying a modified VT thats a bit shorter...

Anyone found this...

B rad · 16th November 2007, 12:53 AM

Is the therma sheild (eye) spliceable, as with 8mm beeline - a locked brummell inside the whipped cover?

Mrb_Eti · 8th June 2008, 07:26 PM

hey i was just wonderin what climbng hitches people use?? i use a magners with a pully before that i was using a prussik or a blakeshitch and since i have started using the magners climbing has become much more easier and if there is any friction hitches for differnt types of jobs that people use? thanks Eti

Pomie Backpacker · 12th February 2009, 10:00 PM

Ok so a lot of that was mostly french to me, I'm sitting here feeling confused and alone.
I've been climbing with a few different companies and have always used the standard prusik 4-coil which is fine for someone of my standard but I feel I want to progress in the industry, so knowing as much as possible is my main objective.
The VT for example looks like a good one to know. How do you use it? How do you tie it? Do you use a micro pulley with it? All questions running through my mind.
Really I need someone teaching me all this but since I don't have that I will just have to stick with you guys.

in advance.

Galbee · 13th February 2009, 08:33 AM

just read through this thread from the start you will find more information than you need, then if you get stuck put up some pictures and we will see if we can get you some more knots to use.

pomie · 13th February 2009, 11:27 AM

what about an art lock jack good for old gits like me set your line up through a pulley then no friction saves my shoulders only use it on prunings and when time permits or when i am feeling my age

pomie · 13th February 2009, 11:31 AM

i do climb on both blakes and prussick and find the blakes better to use they are the only ones i have climbed on other than the method merristwood used to teach with the single length of rope but u end up with a prissick hitch so does that count as a different method

newguy18 · 13th February 2009, 11:00 PM

I only use the prusik for footlocking and on my flipline,is there any advantage to useing it while climbing?

Pomie Backpacker · 14th February 2009, 11:07 AM

Ok, so I have read through the thread again and your right there is a lot of info and after looking at a few knot websites i'm starting to understand a bit more about the different knots etc.

I fancy trying a few of these out especially the VT but nowhere have I found a website that tells you how to tie it. If one of you could point me to a website that tells me step by step or even if you could explain it I will give it a go.

Galbee · 14th February 2009, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TreeCo

I use a Vt for my lanyard tied directly to my D ring. I use this same hitch for all of my rope climbing. The small double swivel is tied into fisherman's knot which holds it against the D for taking up rope with one hand.

fourth post on this thread just follow the picture,
I use a klemheist and find that it works really well for me it is easy to tie easy to dress and maintain, and here is another example from this thread,

Martin · 16th February 2009, 10:56 AM

Hey, I'm relatively new to using the VT, I like it alot, but it seems to be twisting my rope on the longer rappels. I use 4 wraps and 2 twists with Tachyon double braid rope. Any suggestions?

letigre · 16th February 2009, 05:11 PM

tachyon is the beez kneez martin. i had the same problem myself. a couple of big trees and milking with a prussick (tie to tree and walk the length of the rope) make all the difference.also i use 8mm beeline prussick with 2 wraps and three tresses. works for me. give it a try and let me know.

FlashD · 19th February 2009, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pomie Backpacker

Ok, so I have read through the thread again and your right there is a lot of info and after looking at a few knot websites i'm starting to understand a bit more about the different knots etc.

I fancy trying a few of these out especially the VT but nowhere have I found a website that tells you how to tie it. If one of you could point me to a website that tells me step by step or even if you could explain it I will give it a go.

This should shine some light on the subject for you.

Fairfield · 23rd February 2009, 01:57 AM

Hey Martin,
The reason your line is twisting on long descents is due to the rope going through the crotch. I dont know if you have ever done a long decent on a 8 before but same thing happens only the 8 is acting the same as the crotch (when rope goes past crotch it twists it's self).
Just do as was mentioned before and walk the rope out before a long decent and you should be able to take a great deal of twisting out of the rope.

Martin · 24th February 2009, 11:30 AM

thanks for the info, I'm not sure exactly what you mean by the crotch, I'll look it up on the web tonight. Is there a way to tie the VT without this happening. Also, what do you mean by walking the rope out. Often, I'm moving from tree to tree without hitting the ground (we use a claw on the west coast to move up to 50ft. between trees while windfirming clearcut edges so we dont have to continually go up from the ground through the limbs on every tree.) So if its flaking the rope loose each time (I also use a rope bag) for its full length (200 ft) this unfortunately for me would not be feasible production wise. Thanks again for your help with this problem of mine.

Cheers

newguy18 · 24th February 2009, 12:10 PM

crotch,as in crotch of the tree.

FlashD · 24th February 2009, 12:27 PM

I believe they're referring to just tying the rope to a tree then tying a prussic on it and, with tension on the prussic walking the length of the rope. This gets all the milking out of the line as well as the natural twist. I can tell you from experience, coming off a spool, rope has a lot of natural twist, which can be pain. Just try it, it should fix your twisting issues.

bstewert · 24th February 2009, 01:37 PM

Martin, when I first got my Tachyon I spent two weeks tying different variations of the VT. Sometimes it would twist badly, sometimes not so bad, but I couldn't identify a pattern. Then I said, my Fig8 was twisting the rope anyway, how about rig it so it would counter the twist from the VT and come out straight. That sorta worked, well, not really, it was way too complicated and not consistent.

Then one day I figured it out, I could literally twist the top of the knot right or left to force rope twist in one direction or the other, or keep it straight.

16th September 2007, 06:12 AM	#61
jim1nz Mature tree Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: International, In Tauranga NZ now Posts: 438	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines Using your hitch climber, you can make an extendable climbing prussic system, this simply moves the entire climbing system to exactly where you want. For example you would extend your system out from you so you can hip thrust or streight pull below the prussic advancing the system without disconnecting or changing the prussic. Dont suppose anyone gets that do they? Its hard to explain! Ha sorry i cant promice a pic either, not in the position at the moment to beable to do that. __________________ SPEED ALWAYS FOLLOWS TECHNIQUE

16th September 2007, 02:07 PM	#62
TreeCo Mature tree Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Georgia, USA Posts: 294	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines I was using a gibbs ascender is a similar configuration in the late eighties! It's a great idea and it self advances the hitch. It's even better with someone pulling on the tail of your rope. We would sometimes tie a redirect pulley to the base of the tree and put a couple of men on it to help the climber ascend. If the climbers rope happens to be in a pulley ascention rates can be really rapid......like 50ft. in ten seconds or less.

16th September 2007, 02:29 PM	#63
Sean Freeman PDF King & Arborist Extrodinaire Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Townsville Nth Queensland & Gold Coast Sth Queensland Posts: 2,129	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines I agree with both Dan and Jim about the advantages of the extended bridge set up, but one note of caution...if youre climbing on a friction hitch be sure to double check the hitch befre you go to the extended mode and pay attention to any close branches or limbs on the way up...remember in this configuration if the hitch doesn't grab you are some distance from it and manually tending it will be pretty hard. But aside from this added attention it is a very very quuick way to ascend into the tree.

8th November 2007, 09:11 PM	#64
fatkoala Semi-mature vigorous tree Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Mildura Posts: 71	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines Can some one show us a picture or diagram of the extended bridge cheers confused ?

9th November 2007, 12:16 AM	#66
newguy18 Part of the Furniture Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: orlando,fl Posts: 5,206	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines I use a distel to.I just haven't bought the slack tender yet. __________________ Have your say join us today. I ship USA saws out of the USA old schooler

15th November 2007, 07:01 AM	#67
treekiwi Certificate in Horticulture (Level 4) + Diploma in Arboriculture (Level 6) Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: New Zealand Posts: 269	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines Use french prussic for main climbing line: Knut with no pulley for lanyard: Use rope lanyard for most small takedowns and rigging and climbing, flipline is heavy and catches on everything, also the fact that its no flexable and always seems to counter balance you when limb walking or general work. Makes you be more careful when your rigging aswell because its easy to cut. lol

15th November 2007, 02:23 PM	#68
newguy18 Part of the Furniture Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: orlando,fl Posts: 5,206	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines can you post a pic of the knut? __________________ Have your say join us today. I ship USA saws out of the USA old schooler

15th November 2007, 02:40 PM	#70
newguy18 Part of the Furniture Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: orlando,fl Posts: 5,206	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines Thanks I'm gonna have to give that one a try tommorrow.Even when i'm not climbing for pay I rec climb in the 50' pine tree out back. __________________ Have your say join us today. I ship USA saws out of the USA old schooler

15th November 2007, 11:48 PM	#71
B rad Sappling Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Scarborough Posts: 7	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines I finally grabbed the ice and hitch climber out of the box on Sunday. I had to pull a creeper out of my Erythrina AND Lagunaria for verge pickup (i was still scratching the itch on Monday!). Anyway, I used a fairly standard french prusik however the combination of the technora and high cheek plates resulted in the best friction experience I have had to date. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Eric Frei; 15th November 2007 at 11:56 PM. Reason: Embedded pic and resized

16th November 2007, 12:39 AM	#72
jim1nz Mature tree Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: International, In Tauranga NZ now Posts: 438	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines I have been trying therma shield prussic lately; New England Ropes - Product Details And found it excellent, much better that the Ocean polyester, pitty they only make it in 8mm! Its soft so its best on harder/tightly braded ropes. __________________ SPEED ALWAYS FOLLOWS TECHNIQUE

16th November 2007, 12:44 AM	#73
jim1nz Mature tree Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: International, In Tauranga NZ now Posts: 438	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines Who has found their prussic getting caught on the deadend carabiner of their hitch climber set up!? Its been pissin me off, the knot gets stuck open under the top carabiner if you dont manage your system. Its because the DRT ropes are so close together + i have been trying a modified VT thats a bit shorter... Anyone found this... __________________ SPEED ALWAYS FOLLOWS TECHNIQUE

16th November 2007, 12:53 AM	#74
B rad Sappling Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Scarborough Posts: 7	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines Is the therma sheild (eye) spliceable, as with 8mm beeline - a locked brummell inside the whipped cover?

8th June 2008, 07:26 PM	#75
Mrb_Eti I'm new here so be nice Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: UK but adelaide for now Posts: 2	what Friction hitch do you use?? hey i was just wonderin what climbng hitches people use?? i use a magners with a pully before that i was using a prussik or a blakeshitch and since i have started using the magners climbing has become much more easier and if there is any friction hitches for differnt types of jobs that people use? thanks Eti

12th February 2009, 10:00 PM	#76
Pomie Backpacker Sappling Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Melbourne Posts: 5	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines Ok so a lot of that was mostly french to me, I'm sitting here feeling confused and alone. I've been climbing with a few different companies and have always used the standard prusik 4-coil which is fine for someone of my standard but I feel I want to progress in the industry, so knowing as much as possible is my main objective. The VT for example looks like a good one to know. How do you use it? How do you tie it? Do you use a micro pulley with it? All questions running through my mind. Really I need someone teaching me all this but since I don't have that I will just have to stick with you guys. in advance.

13th February 2009, 08:33 AM	#77
Galbee Veteran Heritage Status Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Brisbane Aus Posts: 1,328	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines just read through this thread from the start you will find more information than you need, then if you get stuck put up some pictures and we will see if we can get you some more knots to use. __________________ In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is king

13th February 2009, 11:27 AM	#78
pomie Semi-mature vigorous tree Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: brisbane Posts: 57	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines what about an art lock jack good for old gits like me set your line up through a pulley then no friction saves my shoulders only use it on prunings and when time permits or when i am feeling my age

13th February 2009, 11:31 AM	#79
pomie Semi-mature vigorous tree Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: brisbane Posts: 57	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines i do climb on both blakes and prussick and find the blakes better to use they are the only ones i have climbed on other than the method merristwood used to teach with the single length of rope but u end up with a prissick hitch so does that count as a different method

13th February 2009, 11:00 PM	#80
newguy18 Part of the Furniture Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: orlando,fl Posts: 5,206	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines I only use the prusik for footlocking and on my flipline,is there any advantage to useing it while climbing? __________________ Have your say join us today. I ship USA saws out of the USA old schooler

14th February 2009, 11:07 AM	#81
Pomie Backpacker Sappling Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Melbourne Posts: 5	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines Ok, so I have read through the thread again and your right there is a lot of info and after looking at a few knot websites i'm starting to understand a bit more about the different knots etc. I fancy trying a few of these out especially the VT but nowhere have I found a website that tells you how to tie it. If one of you could point me to a website that tells me step by step or even if you could explain it I will give it a go.

16th February 2009, 10:56 AM	#83
Martin Semi-mature vigorous tree Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Duncan, BC, Canada Posts: 51	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines Hey, I'm relatively new to using the VT, I like it alot, but it seems to be twisting my rope on the longer rappels. I use 4 wraps and 2 twists with Tachyon double braid rope. Any suggestions?

16th February 2009, 05:11 PM	#84
letigre Semi-mature vigorous tree Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 164	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines tachyon is the beez kneez martin. i had the same problem myself. a couple of big trees and milking with a prussick (tie to tree and walk the length of the rope) make all the difference.also i use 8mm beeline prussick with 2 wraps and three tresses. works for me. give it a try and let me know.

23rd February 2009, 01:57 AM	#86
Fairfield Semi-mature vigorous tree Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bucks county Pa USA Posts: 136	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines Hey Martin, The reason your line is twisting on long descents is due to the rope going through the crotch. I dont know if you have ever done a long decent on a 8 before but same thing happens only the 8 is acting the same as the crotch (when rope goes past crotch it twists it's self). Just do as was mentioned before and walk the rope out before a long decent and you should be able to take a great deal of twisting out of the rope. __________________ Hi yes you know me I am B.A.M.F nice to meet you

24th February 2009, 11:30 AM	#87
Martin Semi-mature vigorous tree Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Duncan, BC, Canada Posts: 51	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines thanks for the info, I'm not sure exactly what you mean by the crotch, I'll look it up on the web tonight. Is there a way to tie the VT without this happening. Also, what do you mean by walking the rope out. Often, I'm moving from tree to tree without hitting the ground (we use a claw on the west coast to move up to 50ft. between trees while windfirming clearcut edges so we dont have to continually go up from the ground through the limbs on every tree.) So if its flaking the rope loose each time (I also use a rope bag) for its full length (200 ft) this unfortunately for me would not be feasible production wise. Thanks again for your help with this problem of mine. Cheers

24th February 2009, 12:10 PM	#88
newguy18 Part of the Furniture Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: orlando,fl Posts: 5,206	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines crotch,as in crotch of the tree. __________________ Have your say join us today. I ship USA saws out of the USA old schooler

24th February 2009, 12:27 PM	#89
FlashD Semi-mature vigorous tree Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Kansas Posts: 198	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines I believe they're referring to just tying the rope to a tree then tying a prussic on it and, with tension on the prussic walking the length of the rope. This gets all the milking out of the line as well as the natural twist. I can tell you from experience, coming off a spool, rope has a lot of natural twist, which can be pain. Just try it, it should fix your twisting issues.

24th February 2009, 01:37 PM	#90
bstewert Sappling Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 36	Re: Friction hitches for climbing lines Martin, when I first got my Tachyon I spent two weeks tying different variations of the VT. Sometimes it would twist badly, sometimes not so bad, but I couldn't identify a pattern. Then I said, my Fig8 was twisting the rope anyway, how about rig it so it would counter the twist from the VT and come out straight. That sorta worked, well, not really, it was way too complicated and not consistent. Then one day I figured it out, I could literally twist the top of the knot right or left to force rope twist in one direction or the other, or keep it straight.

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