Keeping hold of the lowering rope

[daveindales]

make yourself a telescopic hook thing. I use a extendable metal clothes prop with a hook on the end. attach with crab to harness. costs a couple of quid and is very useful not just for retrieving lowering rope but for getting your climbing rope back to you.

[Stephen Blair]

That would drive me mad lugging that about a tree lol

Each to their own tho

[Will Ayers]

good idea Steve but not for me, i dont fancy getting pulled out the tree and hung up on my strop and line because a wee branch has tangled in my line:laugh1:

 

i use a similar method, but not trusting that i wont get pulled out of the tree i use a separate line, clipped above the attachment of the working line, this way i have a spare pull line in the tree if the groundies need it etc. i usually run it through a fork nearby so there is no friction on me at all.

 

i have nasty visions of getting in a tangle and having a big ol' branch hanging from my hip if i were to use the end of my line!

[daveindales]

That would drive me mad lugging that about a tree lol

Each to their own tho

 

it sometimes drives me mad, but it's only about 3ft long, and I find the benifits outweigh the problems it causes.

[Pedroski]

How many of you do what my mate does..... he uses the end of his climbing line as a lowering line...... a turn around the bit of branch that's staying, then a loop and ties the free end around the bit to be dropped, cuts the branch halfway between the turn and the tie, then lowers it down.... seems dead safe to me not

[Le Sanglier]

How many of you do what my mate does..... he uses the end of his climbing line as a lowering line...... a turn around the bit of branch that's staying, then a loop and ties the free end around the bit to be dropped, cuts the branch halfway between the turn and the tie, then lowers it down.... seems dead safe to me not

 

I do, and I suspect I am not alone.

[Mesterh]

get the groundie to clip it onto your climbing line, then you just pull it up

 

 

And errr what I thought everyone does but apparently not!

 

Although lassoing it with the 020 sometimes works.

[Grandad]

Please don't be offended but I really can't believe the problems you guys have these days. It seems to me that all these gadgets make as many problems as they solve. An awful lot of the posts on this forum are about how to rig this gadget or that pulley. Then the problems that arise around climbing gadgets such as lockjack or spiderjack and the merits and demerits of each. How to retrieve the lowering rope? As many have already said: get groundie to tie it on your climbing rope and pull it up again; what could be more simple?

None of these "problems" used to arise, none of these gadgets existed, life was simple. If we wanted to lower a branch we would rig it appropriately having chosen a suitable anchor point and just lower it. If it was very heavy we would pass the lowering rope around the trunk as many times as was thought necessary. never had a problem, never got launched through the air. I think a lot of these gadgets are like the Vincent motorcycle: a collection of ingenious solutions to non existent problems. I am yet to be convinced of the true worth of any of the gadgets thought of as indispensable today. We had it easier and cheaper.

Again: no offense intended to any individual, just my view...

[Le Sanglier]

Please don't be offended but I really can't believe the problems you guys have these days. It seems to me that all these gadgets make as many problems as they solve. An awful lot of the posts on this forum are about how to rig this gadget or that pulley. Then the problems that arise around climbing gadgets such as lockjack or spiderjack and the merits and demerits of each. How to retrieve the lowering rope? As many have already said: get groundie to tie it on your climbing rope and pull it up again; what could be more simple?

None of these "problems" used to arise, none of these gadgets existed, life was simple. If we wanted to lower a branch we would rig it appropriately having chosen a suitable anchor point and just lower it. If it was very heavy we would pass the lowering rope around the trunk as many times as was thought necessary. never had a problem, never got launched through the air. I think a lot of these gadgets are like the Vincent motorcycle: a collection of ingenious solutions to non existent problems. I am yet to be convinced of the true worth of any of the gadgets thought of as indispensable today. We had it easier and cheaper.

Again: no offense intended to any individual, just my view...

 

lot of valid points, especially that one.

[Steve Bullman]

except they really arent valid. Anyone who has used a proper lowering device wouldn't want to go back to wrapping round trunks, neither the groundy or the climber. Its slow, inefficent and more laborious.

As for the problems...well I dont really think they are problems. Most of the things brought up in discussion are by inexperienced users who havent been shown to use the devices properly.