Zigzag woes

[mikedrums69]

I am not liking my zag. I played with mates back in November and it was smooth as butter. So decided to buy one for myself. However since I’ve had mine it’s been more jerky then a pervert in a strip club. Tried it on two different, brand new ropes (vega and Drenaline) and it’s been same. It looks like I’m disengaging all the top links and the bottom link before the pulley is holding all the weight. Anyone else had this problem? It’s a piece of kit I want to like, but obviously I don’t at the minute

[Treerover]

“It looks like I’m disengaging all the top links and the bottom link before the pulley is holding all the weight.” 

 

Do you mean when you’re tending slack or descending ? 

I’ve found them infinitely smoother laterally branch walking than when on full on nuts to the air descending , but I guess this is a bit of a cert given the loading differences .

i did notice mine got better and smoother the more I used it though , and I found just grabbing the rope above it and nudging it with my monkey mitt was way more controlled than a direct Trumpesque fanny grab type technique. 

That said, I love it but there’s definitely room for a fair bit of improvement ?

[skyhuck]

Are you using a Ropeguide or similar cambium saver with pulley?

[TTownsend]

I use Drenaline with my ZigZag and I think it runs a dream. May come with experience with using it more. I always descend with my fingers between the links. Gives you more control and then just gently putting pressure on the top link with you thumb

[stihlmadasever]

For full on smooth as a babies arse you really need less than 13mm rope,11.5mm is best and run it with a pulley saver or at very least a cambium saver.Been running a zz for over 2 years now and its magic.

[mikedrums69]

On 06/03/2019 at 20:33, Treerover said:

“It looks like I’m disengaging all the top links and the bottom link before the pulley is holding all the weight.” 

 

Do you mean when you’re tending slack or descending ? 

I’ve found them infinitely smoother laterally branch walking than when on full on nuts to the air descending , but I guess this is a bit of a cert given the loading differences .

i did notice mine got better and smoother the more I used it though , and I found just grabbing the rope above it and nudging it with my monkey mitt was way more controlled than a direct Trumpesque fanny grab type technique. 

That said, I love it but there’s definitely room for a fair bit of improvement ?

It’s when I’m descending with my weight in it. I do like it for branch walking and in some cases prefer it over using srt.

i have been sticking with it for the past few days and It has been getting smoother. Just not as fast or controlled as I would be on a hitch. 

[Coletti]

It’s when I’m descending with my weight in it. I do like it for branch walking and in some cases prefer it over using srt.
i have been sticking with it for the past few days and It has been getting smoother. Just not as fast or controlled as I would be on a hitch. 

Just a little pointer...when descending, press down and hold down the spring loaded top plate and feather the rest of the links. I always found that it was jerky cause the top plate sprung up engaging the rest of the links on descent. If you have a long descent to do, just press down on the links and run down open, there's enough friction in the rope running through the "opened" links to steady you meaning you can brace the descent with your legs when you reach the floor without much fuss or stress

[mikedrums69]

2 minutes ago, Coletti said:

14 minutes ago, mikedrums69 said:

It’s when I’m descending with my weight in it. I do like it for branch walking and in some cases prefer it over using srt.
i have been sticking with it for the past few days and It has been getting smoother. Just not as fast or controlled as I would be on a hitch. 

Read more  

Just a little pointer...when descending, press down and hold down the spring loaded top plate and feather the rest of the links. I always found that it was jerky cause the top plate sprung up engaging the rest of the links on descent. If you have a long descent to do, just press down on the links and run down open, there's enough friction in the rope running through the "opened" links to steady you meaning you can brace the descent with your legs when you reach the floor without much fuss or stress

I’ll give that a go. I usually boom out. Hence why I got the zz to stop burning though so many hitches ?

[Coletti]

I’ll give that a go. I usually boom out. Hence why I got the zz to stop burning though so many hitches [emoji26]

Just have a play around but depressing the sprung loaded top plate completely doesn't make you move anywhere but it will soon stop you if you release it. Having fingers between the links is good advice as it gives you more controll, albeit a little steadier. As had been suggested, thinner rope works well, the sweet spot seems to be around 11.5/11.7mm. Just take it steady bombing out to start with as it releases quick when the lincs are depressed and can be a shock but like I say, there's enough residual friction to keep you steady enough