Valdotain Tresse problems

oldsouth

I am new to the climbing world and I am looking to try different friction hitches. I have been using a B-53 (a modified blake's hitch I am told) it is just not that responsive and alot of times it needs work to loose up. I have been online looking at what yall are using and I have tried the VT hitch but having no luck with it securing. I am using a 1/2 line (spark) and a 10mm Bee-Line. any info or advice would be great. thanks

D Mc

Welcome, you're going to love this site.

If you are a new climber you shouldn't be messing with the VT. It's a good knot but not for beginners.

Try the Distel. It's more advanced than the Blake's but not as fussy as the VT.

If you click on the Sherrill banner (above), go to their Helpful Hints, then Know Your Knots, then Distel Hitch. They have a bunch of knots listed there.

D Mc

Vector Tree

welcome oldsouth

oldsouth

hey thanks for the welcome can that knot be used with a micro pulley

D Mc

Yes it works great.

Sean Freeman

Hello and welcome oldsouth, I think DMc is correct that the VT is a hitch to be tried after developing your wider climbing skills, it is at times in ceertain configurations very unforgiving, not a characteristic suitable to the steep learning curve we have al faced and continue to face in tree climbing.

I climb on a VT sometimes, on an auto block or "loose french prussik" 90% of the time....I think the distal is a great hitch, also one to practice with is the schwabisch prussik if your beeline is short and has two eyes. Always remember when changing to a new friction hitch practice climbing with the new knot in a low tree with care and no work or $$ pressures.

oldsouth

thanks for the info I have tried all the hitches and still trying to figure out what I am comfy with

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TREEMONKEY

Welcome Oldsouth

I started with the blakes and know use a distel this is my set up.

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Pro Nemus

That's a good looking setup - the pulley looks nice.

letigre

i used to use that setup with the cmi mouse pulley (two holes) and the distel, but found my figure 8 would loosen the top of the prussick, hence an unexpected decent. i found the only way you could get that set up to work was with a splice, as it doesnt interfere. however, recently i went to an arborcamp in brissy aus and a young arborist from perth botanic gardens named jordan, showed me a far superior set up. it consists of a petzel fixe pulley, spliced posion hi-vy, 8mm beeline prussick and a carabiner of your fancy. what he showed me was that you could feed one end of your prussick rope through the back of the fixe pulley and tie a stopper knot to prevent it from coming out. this allows you to have one end of the prussick attached to the carabiner, making room for your splice! very neat indeed! i also found that clipping on a throwbag with a one (or two) stage carabiner to your splice when relocating high points, saves heaps of time, and my carabiners which i do tend to bash around a bit much!

also i do use the vt now which i find to be marvelously slippery and responsive!

TREEMONKEY

letigre

your right i had my first unexpected decent very slow and only a couple of feet yesterday. I don't have a spliced rope but i will try to adjust the set up appropriately. i might get a longer prussik cord and use a micro pulley to mind the hitch

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letigre

haha yeah pretty exciting that unexpected decent!

another thing to try treemonkey, is a shoelace prussick set up (this is the only name i can think of). again its with one carabiner (or two if you prefer but not necessary), and you tie a shoelace in a prussick knot(any will do but normally english) on the figure 8 end of your rope and attach a carabiner to it with a micro pulley crossing onto the 'real' prussick end of your rope. if you can visualise this your doing well!

basically it allows you to have a lengthy prussick and to ascend without pulling slack through (as you pull from underneith the pulley you are tending the slack). the shoelace prussick, allows you to adjust your 'throw' sliding the micro pulley up and down the 'real' prussick end of the rope. for ascension, i think this system is superior, but when your branch walking or in a strange position, it is near impossible to grab the prussick to loosen it because of the length it is required to be. therefore i have stuck to my vt and use the 600mm rule, only have 600mm of slack max before you tend your slack, or else footlock the tail if your away from the trunk which tends the slack anyway!

MTS247

Yeah i saw a guy using it at the vic arb camp a few years ago, it looked flash.
i think, is it the one that you can adjust the distance from the harness D by using an extra prussic. in sounds complicated, but its not.
hey maybe it was you
good luck drawing that sucker, i think you will need a pic

quercus

hmmm that sounds a lot like my tech....
see the pics at the thread "new prussik technique"

newguy18

I started useing the vt 3 days ago.I like it alot.

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old schooler

dannyboysfc

I just recently started using the Vt also, honestly I don't understand why it is said to be somewhat dangerous. So far that knot has worked flawless for me, with the micro pulley I can ascend pretty quick, it doesn't jam up and need to be adjusted, and decending on DdRT it is super smooth and easy.

Can someone tell me specifically what to watch out for with the Vt.

PTC

I've been using the VT ( or some variation of it) for some time now. It sometimes slips when you think its locked off. If you step cut and then snap a branch, the extra weight and the jerking can cause it to slip

Also it wears out quickly, needs to be inspected and replaced often.

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quercus

Have you ever tried ocean polyester or spliced bee-line on a blaze climbing line? Those lines don't glaze or burn at all..
That works great for a VT... I climb about 3 months or even more on my piece of ocean polyester.
I've been thinking about buying a 100 foot blaze sometime to try it out and use it on those light pruning jobs... But I haven't spoken to anyone about it yet. What's the core mantle ratio? Very light? Elongation? Ever used it on a lockjack? How about when you grab it? easy or slippery?

newguy18

I need to get some bee line since i got a climb line today thanks to treevet you rock man.

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old schooler

TREEMONKEY

NICE WORK TREEVET

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PTC

Quercus

I havnt worked out the quote function yet

I found beeline flattened out alot and the friction hitch got very tight. Perhaps ill try it again.

O.P. was very nice especially with the stitched ends, but $100 a pop Also it had a significant memory effect if the hitch was untied and then retied slightly different.

Any way this is my fav set up:
the black stuff is 10mm double braid, its thick enough that your fingers dont heat up

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PTC

"I've been thinking about buying a 100 foot blaze sometime to try it out and use it on those light pruning jobs... But I haven't spoken to anyone about it yet. What's the core mantle ratio? Very light? Elongation? Ever used it on a lockjack? How about when you grab it? easy or slippery? "

Quercus I like using the blaze on bigger trees because it is light!

I dont know about that core mantle ratio stuff?

Elongation I guess is less than other treditional climbing lines but I have no figures for you. I dont usually ascend on it anyway.

I have never used a lockjack.

Its not slippery, but its not the easiest rope to grab because of the thin diameter, ok with gloves. Works better through a cambium saver or pulley as it can bite quite hard into branch forks.

Bermy

Ditto! I tried the distel with bee line on my XTC Plus (12mm), the knot tightened up badly, even with my small butt in the harness!
I got an ice tail cord, WAY better...no binding at all, smooth up and down.

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hartley

I too have only recently started using the VT with pulley, no real probs here other than being mindful of a quick dressing of he knot every time you load it. This was odd to start with(since ive been climbing on a very old school prussic for 10 years!) but got used to it after a day or so and its aleady second nature!

Ive been aware of these newer systems for years but always figured "if it aint broke, dont fix it..." where it came to my ability to move around a crown, but you guys inspired me to try!

Thanks!

jim1nz

I have been using the VT for 4 years now, got onto it early and NEVER regretted it.

Ill agree its not exactly a beginners knot.

Its soo temperamental, when conditions change, your knot changes. With every different size, braid, construction, age, length, of rope and prussic its very different.

I now tie mine different to most people to get the best self tailing, friction control and non rope twisting capabilities possible. I think i have tried pretty much every combo out there and i reckon i have the ultimate set up for ME. Im different to everyone so you have to come up with your own system that works best for YOU.

Im not even going to show pictures.

Best of luck, remember low and slow to start off with!!!

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Sean Freeman

Good post Jim says it all with regards to friction hitches like the VT. It is a very very useful hitch but adopting it like any new hitch demands care and attention as you learn its limitations and benefits.

quercus

The beeline flattening out is so true. That's exactly why I stopped using it. Im on a piece of ocean polyester now and that works great. If the rope has "memory" try washing it a bit. But like Jim said... the VT is not a beginners knot.

masterarbor

i didn't read the whole thread, but has anyone mentioned the knut hitch. i've been using it for years now. it grabs great and the hitch breaks easily when slack tending. i can include pics if a google search doesn't yield satisfactory results. the down side is it sometimes tightens and needs to be adjusted, but it works well even when loose. the VT can be dangerous. i'm not real keen on the on and off nature of it's grab. even when i broke in a cord on the VT and didn't use it for anything else i had problems. but i use the sherrill footlock prussik for my cordage and it doesn't have much memory.

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tall can t

Here is a question for anyone willing to answer. I am experimenting with split tails. I recently tried the schwabisch hitch using a 30" eye to eye Samson ice with a Cmi micro pulley on 11.7mm diameter Poison Ivy rope. Being unfamiliar with closed systems, I expected the hitch to advance itself by pulling down on the rope, then removing the slack every five feet or so. Things didn't go as planned and I was unable to ascend without a ground belay. I'm stumped! What am I missing? Maybe the tails are too far from the pulley?? the schwabisch doesnt break easy enough? Do you pull down with one arm and pull the slack with the other? If so, i need to hit the weights! Ultimately I'd like to rig the VT, but i am unsure of what diameter is appropriate for Poison Ivy. I am also confused by Cord lengths. Ive heard length is determined by the amount of wraps which in turn is based on the climbers weight. I am about 190lbs. Hope this is a clear enough explanation.

Weta

Not wanting to hijack this thread - but could you please tell me what sort of gloves you are wearing in your avatar, Quercus?