Learning about new fangled gear.

[DrewB]

id say the advantage of the HC pulley is its size, the bearings and the rounded edges around the pulley. All these combine to make the pulley work better than any other when it comes to fairleading the rope into it-this doesnt sound much but its what makes it a very very slick bit of kit. Plus all the other things it does....

[Taupotreeman]

Pantin is a cheap piece of gear you will never regret buying on some jobs.

 

Couldn't agree more. Spent several years in management and 4 years self employed by myself climbing on Blakes hitch. Joined the Council and got slam dunked into the modern world. Massive learning curve but having council pay for top notch gear and now being in a position to buy some of my own gear I'm slowly having a crack at everything (in very small steps admittedly). Bought myself a spiderjack and love that to bits. Just so effortless as far as tending slack etc but it's a lot of money (until you weigh up the cost of replacing hitch cord). Tried my mate's Pantin and that got me all excited again when I realised that all those years I'd spent hauling myself up by the small muscles (biceps) could have easily been replaced by using the big (glutes and quads) muscles (designed for the job) to actually do the job so I went and got one of those. Using the two together is just so different and so much easier than the old way of accessing a tree. Then there's the whole rope wrench argument which looks like it's going to make life easier again. I doubt I'll go back to the hitch climber but it depends how mcuh you can afford. Most of the modern spanky shiny gear actually does make the job way easier on the body.

[DrewB]

Jangle jangle cross load jangle jangle... Funny pic bro:)

[David Goss]

for a bit of an experiment, i knocked this up, vt not perfect, but works, only worry is steel on alloy.

 

just in my head when i went to bed:confused1:

 

your determined to use those mallons these days... did you get a bag of them on the cheap or something:001_rolleyes:

[WorcsWuss]

your determined to use those mallons these days... did you get a bag of them on the cheap or something:001_rolleyes:

 

Christmas crackers!

[Al Baker]

You can find some horrible mallions around that people have picked up from B&Q and the like.... M&S... dunno about that but Mallions without kilo-newton markings shouldn't be used for PPE.

[Marc]

 

what i'm saying is there any mechanical advantage with the HC? or is just for ease of use when moving around the canopy?

 

body thrusting with the HC system would look like there is some loss in gain with increased effort, compared to a lockjack or prussic.

 

HC helps do away with the need to body thrust, in fact for me to body thrust is very rare, look at Joe's spiderjackery videos where he is climbing a large open crowned Euc he is never body thrusting in the traditional sense to get around the tree, a good pulley type saver also helps.

I think if body thrusting is something you do a lot of you can't really beat a prussik probably.

[PhilBeech]

Ginja, if you want to have a play on a Spiderjack, I have just got one so give me a shout via PM.

[arbogrunt]

I climbed a blakes hitch for 10 years after moving on from a prussic. The biggest improvement for me was starting to use cambium savers and now a rope guide. I started getting problems with my wrist, elbows and shoulder, just old injuries and wear and tear from daily climbing. I occasionally use a hitchclimber with a knut, but for pain free climbing a lockjack used with a ropeguide and on occasion, a petzl pantine is the most ergonomic way for me to get up there and do my stuff. However, when it comes to working in the rain, taking down vertical stems or anything in conifers...I revert to steam climbing!...back onto a blakes with a Willans with as little on it as possible!

[Ginja]

I climbed a blakes hitch for 10 years after moving on from a prussic. The biggest improvement for me was starting to use cambium savers and now a rope guide. I started getting problems with my wrist, elbows and shoulder, just old injuries and wear and tear from daily climbing. I occasionally use a hitchclimber with a knut, but for pain free climbing a lockjack used with a ropeguide and on occasion, a petzl pantine is the most ergonomic way for me to get up there and do my stuff. However, when it comes to working in the rain, taking down vertical stems or anything in conifers...I revert to steam climbing!...back onto a blakes with a Willans with as little on it as possible!

 

Body thrusting on a prussik or blake isn't difficult if your 9.5 stone, I'd happily carry on a few more years, and I understand your rain reasoning! But at 33 its time to start thinking of career longevity, so I reckon HC or Spiderjack may be the way to go. Thankyou for your down to earth, easily understandable answer.