hitchclimber?

Hi there. Have been reading up on hitchclimber and vt system. Have found lots of pictures of the set up and things but still a bit confused about how you actually climb with it:blushing:

No more need to body thrust up?

Do you pull down with one hand and pull up with the other so that the rope runs round the pulley wheel or just pull down.

Sorry if I am being thick, just a bit confused:confused1:

I currently use a blakes hitch and thrust everywhere:001_rolleyes:

if you can get it to self tend.....then all you have to do is climb hand over hand and move your feet(think bat man climbing the side of a building) if u cant then climb hand over hand for a bit then pull the slack through the system by pulling on the tail end of the rope. can always make things easier by connecting it to your system with a sling and using a pantin to help pulling the rope through.....useful on longer assents

I find mine difficult to self feed, i always end up pulling lots of slack through, not a massive problem, but i would love it to self feed, i have tried lots of diffrent vt set ups but no luck:confused1:

i couldnt get the vt to self tend no mater how hard i tried. changed to a diff hitch in the end. have to get weight in the rope then it tends.called a Schwabisch

Guess it's down to experimenting with it, it's clearer now, cheers:thumbup1:

its all bout getting the length of the legs right. you wont go back when you get on it. what setup have you got? need a spliced eye because a knot will interfere with your hitch.

Yeah I'll have to get one and have a mess with it. Just use a blakes hitch on a split tail, lots of thrusting, gets a bit tiring sometimes!

I like the simplicity of it though.

i couldnt get the vt to self tend no mater how hard i tried. changed to a diff hitch in the end. have to get weight in the rope then it tends.called a Schwabisch

Any pics of your setup mate?

hey tree tomass,

just a quick note to say i have a friend who has been thrusting for years and the other week when i was working for him i lent him my rig because i was fustrated to see him working hugely hard body thrusting when he could use my rig and save effort and time. after a 2 min play on it he started his next tree and after the next day of him using it he loved it and is now bying a system, and for a man who isnt a gear head i was happy to see him enjoying the advancements.

there and many different variants and many different additions you can put in the system to do other things with it. i think the best thing is to start by keping it simple so you can understand what is going on. then tinker it to your needs.

the self tend issue is as stated above it is a real job to get it right, my hitch doesnt self tend and im not to bothered about it. there is a good book you can buy on knots and is really good to use for many knots and hitches in many applications. have a look at my rediculous link the tree climbers knot book is the one and worth every penny.

good luck with it

Literature - Treeworker.co.uk

ok great thanks, yeah lots of people are saying it's better than the old way!

When you say self tend, is this when the rope slides through the knot and pulley when you are climbing with both hands above the set up and pull down and walk up?