SAR/ISC/Troll Rocker

[Pedroski]

But the ASAP / rocker etc doesn't allow for real quickly movements within the tree, the wrench does.

 

Why not? With the Rocker you can hold in the lever to stop it grabbing which can't be much different from keeping the RW in neutral. Or does the RW stay in neutral with hands off?

[DrewB]

i think its to do with the grab reflex, if you were falling you would stay grabbing onto it and not let go. with hitch cord, the heat will make you let go. The rw adds enough friction to arrest a fall but leaves enough movement to allow big jumps,drops, swings when the friction hitch is open-all one handed. to open a hitch and a rocker would require 2 hands. at least that how i see it bro.

[skyhuck]

I hate bumping my own threads..... but, I've been reading up more about the SAR/ISC/Troll Rocker and it is clearly the best device in terms of arresting a fall without wrecking the rope, and it runs so freely up and down the line if you're just using it for fall arrest, and holds tight on the line when using it for ascending, and locks on the line when used for work positioning. I'll hopefully get a chance to take pics of it in use this weekend. Just wondering why it seems to be so overlooked by arborists, while being one of the best rated devices out there.

 

Tree work is supposed to be carried out using "rope positioning" not "fall arrest".

 

I'm not familiar with this device, but generally speaking if something is not being used by the majority or even a minority there is good reason.

[Pedroski]

Tree work is supposed to be carried out using "rope positioning" not "fall arrest".

 

I'm not familiar with this device, but generally speaking if something is not being used by the majority or even a minority there is good reason.

 

It's also specified as being used for work positioning.

[Steve Bullman]

Steve, I'm trying to get my head around all this at the moment, but surely even the "rope wrench system" incorporates more than one device - the rope wrench and the hitch. And the rope wrench on its own doesn't work as fall arrest. With a Rocker, the device will provide the back up and proper fall arrest while descending on the hitch (in the same way as descending on the hitch with a HC set up) or descending on a proper belay device. The Rocker also enables you to ascend and it grabs the rope for work positioning. Just thinking aloud....

 

yes you are right, the wrench works in conjunction with the hitch. What i meant to say was that they work together and there is no need to add or remove any pieces of hardware once they are set.

[Pedroski]

Used the SAR Rocker yesterday afternoon with 5m lanyard to carry out pruning of five trees along a walkway. Only about 30ft tall so nothing major - they're pollard jobs and every year we remove new growth to maintain them as required by the company that owns the land. Moving around was dead easy. Held fast for positioning, with the lever in the lock position the rocker can be dragged along the rope when you unload it, when the lever unlocked it moves freely yet still grabs when you load it. Also, when loaded you can release it with the lever (which is recessed so you can't accidentally grab it). And if you hold the lever in you can move at a fair speed without it locking, so moving around in the tree was a proper doddle.

[kevin bingham]

Can it work as a descent device?

[Swampster]

Can i throw another into the mix?? the DMM Buddy, from their pro range. it's another back up device that does the same job.

[Pedroski]

Can it work as a descent device?

Well, I descended on it by pressuring the release lever and back of the rocker. It wasn't as smooth as coming down on a figure 8 or ATC type device, but it worked and felt safe. Certainly no worse than when I see me mate coming down on his rope grab, but would be better to use it as back up for a Fig8 or a friction hitch. Actually, you could just leave the rocker attached, shove a prusik on the rope and come down on that with the rocker in the unlocked position. If prusik fails or you grab it and prevent it gripping then the rocker will stop you.

 

 

For the record, I didn't pay full whack for the SAR rockers I've got. They're over £60 normally, but I paid about a £15 for shiny unused ones. I've also got a lovely Anthron DSD-30 descent device......just need a big canyon to play with it!

[Pedroski]

Can i throw another into the mix?? the DMM Buddy, from their pro range. it's another back up device that does the same job.

 

I think a limitation of the Buddy is that the 100 is for use on 11mm rope only, and the 200 for 12mm rope only. The SAR is approved for use on 10.5 to 11.7mm so it's not critical to match rocker so specifically to rope. I know people have used it on 9mm rope, and it grabs well but the manual lock device won't hold it in place so well. And I'm using it on 12mm Kingfisher Kingbraid and it still runs smoothly on that.