Bulldog OAR ascender/descender

[Old Mill Tree Care]

That looks really really good now. Top marks to you Surveyor.

[surveyor]

Thanks Old Mill.

 

BenR, it self tends well with some rope weight below. The spring is actually just strong enough to make it "stick" when transitioning from ascent to weighted. I have machined rope size grooves on the inner edges of each arm which helps ease the rope through the OAR, of course it depends on the rope size and stiffness. The rollers are 1/2" wide, so it is made to accommodate that size rope, but works for me on Rocket line, KMIII, Imori, Tachyon, and Yale XTC. It creeps with Velocity on a doubled rope with my weight. Because the top two arms swing down to the bottom release arm, it manually tends slack quite well, and advances nicely when pulled along on ascent.

 

Perhaps Bing! can comment on how his two arm OAR is working out on a doubled rope.

 

Here is a video of the two arm OAR tending slack with a bit of weight below.

[Bing!]

Hi all,

 

Long time no post.

Apologies to Surveyor for the Very Very slow response to the emails, sooo little time.....

I have had the pleasure of using an OAR/Bulldog since mid late 2012 and it has been in use ever since. It is easy to set on the rope and easy to use with minimal changes to my technique. The only change was pulling slack down as opposed to the side/away with my HC, this was changed again at a later date with the addition of a roller (which I don't always use as I keep misplacing the thing), as seen in one of the photos, back to tending slack like a HC if you wish.

I have used it on Tachyon and Tachyon Teufelberger with no creep and it is currently in use on Yale blue tongue and another rope who's name escapes me (orange with black fleck!!!). These 2 ropes required a slightly larger diameter roller on one arm (approx .2mm larger). The photos show what I have done to modify my Bulldog to suit me, what can't be seen is that the rollers each have two bearings internally, no huge improvement on the original but it gives me a warm glow! I have also added another link hole to allow me to clip on a sling which moves the whole thing out to arms length, this allows a full arms length pull on the rope for long ascents. The Bulldog slides and holds EVERY TIME. It has been used in this configuration on an almost daily basis, it works a treat having put a line in then pantin/ascender/frog walked my way up, clip in then move it all back down closer to you. It's not adjustable under tension like a true "O" rig but does the job.

 

Very pleased with the kit, original and the modded version.

There is still room for improvement I feel, but, the actual bare bones basic job it has to do, which is hold you, let rope slide and hold it then let it feed out again under control, it does very well. As with all climbing kit the set up is a personal thing, this works for me.

[surveyor]

Thanks Bing! for the pictures and review. The OAR can be dissembled and cleaned with a wire wheel if so desired.

 

This video shows my latest OAR with a spring on the lower arm to make it "stick" on rope when transitioning from ascent to descent (applicable mostly SRT), because the top two arms use 5/8" rollers, it will likely release on a DdRT setup with all three arms engaged with the Imori, by pulling the bottom arm all the way down (disengaged). One of the very nice features of the OAR is the very negligible sit back when ascending.

Bing!, do you work in sappy conifers much? Is the OAR sticky on release if it gets pitchy?

 

Thanks to my son Dean for helping with the video.

[Bing!]

I find that sticky conifers, pines etc don't make that much difference to the catch and release from the bulldog, you do notice it on descents, you get a slight pause as you run a gummy rope through the rollers. Otherwise it behaves as normal.

Most sticky conifers would be leylands as hedges where the bulldog is of less use, I would be on strops rather than a main line, proper trees such as pines, firs etc I would be trying to use a cambium saver, both for the tree and to keep sap off the rope.

 

Bing!

[surveyor]

I continue to build ascender/descenders. This one I call a Bulldog Bone and it seems sweet, with many nice attributes. Here it is in action with my 165 lbs. on Imori.

[Old Mill Tree Care]

I continue to build ascender/descenders. This one I call a Bulldog Bone and it seems sweet, with many nice attributes. Here it is in action with my 165 lbs. on Imori.

 

That looks good too and a but like a Rope Runner.

How does it compare to the OAR?

[surveyor]

Well, the two arm OAR that Bing! has, self advances. The Bulldog Bone tends slack better without an added pulley and is more of a SRT device, although it works fine DdRT as long as the standing part of the line is clipped into the bridge, but you have to advance and then manually take up slack. At 12 oz. the Bulldog Bone is about 10 oz. lighter than the three arm OAR. The Bulldog Bone also does not use rollers, however a small 1/2 inch roller can be added to the top arm to make it a bit grippier.

[mtt.tr]

Can you put a fix pulley with oar in between the cheeks would make it more friendly

[surveyor]

Yes you can put a pulley on the bottom arm.