Hitch Climber alternative? ( cost £7.50 )

[Tom D]

Just came up with this, it appears to work ok and can be improved for ascending in the same manner as the hitchclimber by the addition of a loop between harness and bottom krab. Any thoughts or Ideas much appreciated.

[Steve Bullman]

good to see people thinking tom, however i dont like the way the krab sits right next to the top of the v.t, would highly recommend having a rethink mate. you could quite easily release your hitch with that setup

[Tom D]

Thats just the same with the hitchclimber though, I'll keep you posted on how it performs but the problem you mention has'nt happened yet. The webbing quickdraw has a lower profile than a spliced eye and seems to catch less than on the hitch climber.

[Steve Bullman]

hmmm would have to have a play with it....not sure how the sloppiness with the webbing would act. the top krab would sit a fair bit lower with a hitch climber.

[Tom D]

That webbing is a dmm one it has a rubber gripping section sewn into the bottom eye so even with the top krab disconnected it still sits in the same place. As you say it'll need playing with but I came up with this because I wanted a hitch climber on all the ropes that i have, the idea is to save a few quid.

[Will Hinchliffe]

I reckon a longer sling would work better.

[ecolojim]

noticed when i was playing with a hitch climber last week, that the eye of the rope at the top biner would be almost touching the friction hitch, just as in this case the bottom of the biner is. Perhaps where a shorter knot is desireable from an efficiency point of view, a longer sling is the way.

 

Might give this a go with my petzl quick draw sling, but not at work, as I keep that seperate for aerial rescue

[Rupe]

If you used a petzl fixe pulley then the dmm sling could go between the plates. Good thinking though so far.

[Tom D]

If you used a petzl fixe pulley then the dmm sling could go between the plates. Good thinking though so far.

 

I did think of that but i wondered if the rope would rub on the sling, although not under load it could still do dammage? I have not seen the fixe pulley in the flesh so it may not be an issue depending on where the rope runs.

[Rupe]

Good point, but one method of using a fixe is to have the friction tied off between the cheeks and the other end tied off to the becket (not sure its called a becket? bridge thing at bottom of pulley) so that would mean that the rope could run against the friction hitch. Hang on, the rope runs against the friction hitch all day long and we don't worry about it, we ispect and throw away as required but we don't worry about it.