Rope Wrench feedback

[Mark Bolam]

Got to work on my srt frog walk but like this method of scaling some of the larger trees & ones that have little scaffold until near the top. Have given the rw a go on a few thins & reductions.

As I climb both the tree & rope in probably equal measures in ddrt I use foot locking ddrt alot through mid air fork drop through re directs I have found the concept of using small sling & crab a little further out from the fork easy to get my head around. However I don't find it any quicker (at the mo) or any less physically demanding (all gives have a take hidden some place). Limb walks are much the same apart from longer higher ones where I will use my rope to support my weight on return which is alot harder in srt because of the mechanical advantage loss in ddrt (I have a simple crab & lock bit to create a mech advantage in srt) this takes time to install & most of the time I would have been out, cut & back in.

Assents on the pantin for re direct retrieval is ok now & then but I can see my right leg becoming as big as my waist in the long term. I know foot locking strains other parts & it's a good habit to change feet but I feel I am using more muscles than just one leg with this method.

For a congested crown & simple re directs within the srt rw combo is great. Some dismantles its great, but I am not yet converted to this as my sole system & cant see me doing so. The rw like many other gadgets out their has its place in the right place & is up to the individual using them to find what that is & how it suits their style.

I am still enjoying this new world of srt though & any hints & help that any one could give is much appreciated (oh & I have read most of the previous posts & found them very useful) If I see the light I too will share:001_smile:

 

[Ian Flatters]

The use of hand ascenders for coming in off a branch walk I should have said, the method that's described for those more delicate branch walks.

So Ian you'd actually rather do little footlocks over a pantin. I thought we were moving away from foot locking. Could you put an ascender below the rw, or a double one to make it more comfortable

 

I use it mostly because the trees recently it has made more sense to footlock up to the first branches then climb away. I will use a pantin but rarely need to use a hand ascender. I mainly used the hand ascender at first and after honing in on posture for climbing i found i didn't need it. The same goes with everything else in any system it does take a bit of time to adapt and learn what works and what doesn't.

 

Personally i feel much, much more at home on the RW system than i do on DRT but thats because i've worked out how the redirects work best for me. Now i know a lot of people will use srt Vs drt compariason type thingy quickly but i will stress to people that your learning 50% of a climbing style so you will find it harder.

 

As for energy expenditure i find i use my core muscles, legs and chest in srt rather than my biceps in drt of which they are a stronger muscle group.

 

I love using srt on everything and cannot see myself personally moving back to drt.

[Dan Curtis]

I made a breakthrough today. I'm using the rw in conjunction with my lockjack, with a short link/cut away strop as the tether. I've found that when you're returning from a limb, you can almost use the system prussik style, one hand placed between the rw and lj, the other on the wrench to tend it. It means the wrench stays engaged the whole time and slack self tends through the lj ie; no sitback, no minor descent to engage the wrench.

 

I find this much less demanding than trying to pull myself up from above the wrench then holding myself while one hand tends slack. I don't know how well this would work with a hitch as I doubt there would be enough distance between the hitch and tether to get hold of the rope, unless you use a rather long tether.

 

I'm also tending to go for a top anchor after the last few days of woodland grown trees not going well with a base anchor. I've repeatedly found that if you take all the weight off your line near the top of the tree, the weight of rope between the TIP and anchor tends to cause a bit of creep in the rope, meaning lots of sitback when you put your weight back on the system

[Ian Flatters]

Also i've been playing with setup (types of pulleys and cord)

 

So i've been using the Stein Skywalker instead of the Hitchclimber and found it a better pulley as there are only two holes. The reason is i use a dmm thimble on the tether if in need to use LOTS.

 

Dmm or isc oval crabs work great and imo best.

 

So i've rated the cord out of 10 (1=rubbish 10=great)

 

Ocean poly = 5 - can struggle to bite but flows on the line easy

Armour Pruss = 8 - Very good but can be a little hard to get moving from the off

Beal regate = 7 - Very good but wears quickly due to its build quality (heat)

Silverstreak = 7 - Same as reagate

Bee Line = 8 - Very good but does need a wet day to break in.

(some purple stuff of which i cannot remeber the name) = 6 - Works well but has a short lifespan.

 

 

I hope this is of some help or interest to some but thought id share my testing.

[Ian Flatters]

I made a breakthrough today. I'm using the rw in conjunction with my lockjack, with a short link/cut away strop as the tether. I've found that when you're returning from a limb, you can almost use the system prussik style, one hand placed between the rw and lj, the other on the wrench to tend it. It means the wrench stays engaged the whole time and slack self tends through the lj ie; no sitback, no minor descent to engage the wrench.

 

I find this much less demanding than trying to pull myself up from above the wrench then holding myself while one hand tends slack. I don't know how well this would work with a hitch as I doubt there would be enough distance between the hitch and tether to get hold of the rope, unless you use a rather long tether.

 

I'm also tending to go for a top anchor after the last few days of woodland grown trees not going well with a base anchor. I've repeatedly found that if you take all the weight off your line near the top of the tree, the weight of rope between the TIP and anchor tends to cause a bit of creep in the rope, meaning lots of sitback when you put your weight back on the system

 

Are you using the alpine/crab or multisling configuration for you anchor or just a bowline or something?

[Dan Curtis]

Mostly just a bowline, got some experimenting yet to do with anchors, I've had a look at your setups. I don't know if it's one you've tried but I was thinking of trying something along the lines of a hitch tied to a bridge ring, similar to how the ce lanyard works in srt. Thats how I use my grillon when I want more length or I'm above my main anchor. I'd normally clip into it with a krab but got to work something else out for main line. I don't like the idea of leaving them alone, you never know what they're rubbbing on!

 

I did have a dodgy top to piece down today, didn't like the look of it to attach to. I ended up tying off 4ft below the dodgy bit, then a sling redirect above as my top tip, with another sling between the two to put a better line angle on the top attachment, and load the timber straight through the compression. Worked like a treat, and though it meant a double loaded anchor point, it was loaded in compression, rather than ddrt pulling it over, lever style. IMO the safest way to do the job, and an impossible configuration to have tried with a doubled rope!

[Ian Flatters]

Mostly just a bowline, got some experimenting yet to do with anchors, I've had a look at your setups. I don't know if it's one you've tried but I was thinking of trying something along the lines of a hitch tied to a bridge ring, similar to how the ce lanyard works in srt. Thats how I use my grillon when I want more length or I'm above my main anchor. I'd normally clip into it with a krab but got to work something else out for main line. I don't like the idea of leaving them alone, you never know what they're rubbbing on!

 

I did have a dodgy top to piece down today, didn't like the look of it to attach to. I ended up tying off 4ft below the dodgy bit, then a sling redirect above as my top tip, with another sling between the two to put a better line angle on the top attachment, and load the timber straight through the compression. Worked like a treat, and though it meant a double loaded anchor point, it was loaded in compression, rather than ddrt pulling it over, lever style. IMO the safest way to do the job, and an impossible configuration to have tried with a doubled rope!

 

Not tried that one and im struggling to build a mental image Im thinking of giving the cambium saver one a test for a week starting next week. I've also been suing the lower choke then higher clip in and it does work well i got to platy with it on a smaller removal and just to see how it went bowlined it off at a fell-able height then used a few slings and crabs up the tree to create a top anchor. Worked well and used a bit of rope but made chogging down quite easy as i loosened the sling re-choked then re tightened it. I do prefer top anchors mainly because of the pressure exerted from a base anchor im not a huge fan of. Im also a huge fan in fact i use this anchor setup the most. Any multi-stem or section of the tree im working on i'll setup a new top anchor with a sling and a crab for that section. Even if it ends up higher than your original top anchor, which with friction would of been a pain in drt.

[Dan Curtis]

If you imagine a single piece of rope, at one end you're tied in on the rw, at the other a krab. Put a prussik loop on the rope near the krab end, with a bridge ring tied into it, either larks foot or two fishermans. Run the krab around your anchor and clip it into the ring, adjust the length of the prussik so the loop is as short as possible, but without the krab cross loading or bending round the anchor. Only works with a fork, you can't cinch it up tight on a pole as the krab will bend. If thats the bit you meant?

 

I too have done a few take downs the way you were saying, choking slings then releasing them on the way down, works lovely and conforms with current IBP

[Ian Flatters]

If you imagine a single piece of rope, at one end you're tied in on the rw, at the other a krab. Put a prussik loop on the rope near the krab end, with a bridge ring tied into it, either larks foot or two fishermans. Run the krab around your anchor and clip it into the ring, adjust the length of the prussik so the loop is as short as possible, but without the krab cross loading or bending round the anchor. Only works with a fork, you can't cinch it up tight on a pole as the krab will bend. If thats the bit you meant?

 

I too have done a few take downs the way you were saying, choking slings then releasing them on the way down, works lovely and conforms with current IBP

 

Ahh got it:001_smile:. Yeah can't wait for IBP to move forward and include srt work positioning. Seems to always be the problem with moving forward you need people working srt and showing the pluses to get it in the IBP or it gets left out and they re-print the old edition.

[Dan Curtis]

Ahh got it:001_smile:. Yeah can't wait for IBP to move forward and include srt work positioning. Seems to always be the problem with moving forward you need people working srt and showing the pluses to get it in the IBP or it gets left out and they re-print the old edition.

 

Rumour has it the last version was a re-print despite it being widely known to contain errors!

 

It'll get there though, and there seem to be more srt users every week. On the plus side,i start a new job in a week and my new boss has no beef with srt work positioning.