Is product development technically effective or unecessarily complex?

[hesslemount]

So for the v.t. what are the best attachment knots on both ends of the cord forming the v.t. as I am not using double eye spliced friction cord?

[Rupe]

fishermans, anchor hitch, buntline whatever. I guess fishermans is most common.

[Rupe]

MOre pics.

 

VT tied with two fishermans (not the same as double fishermans) using a hitchclimber pulley.

[Rupe]

Or cheaper options using petzl fixe pulley (need bigger krab!) or gold isc pulley and clip off of a horse lead.

 

Notice how far away from the hitch the gold pulley is! Not good.

[Rupe]

While I was taking pics I knocked up a helical, showing the other way of attaching the pulley. The small micro clip thingy just fits over the rope and sits right up under the hitch.

[Dean Lofthouse]

That helical lokks quite scarey Rupe, I'd feel much safer on the VT, I take it that the Helical is a modified VT ?

[Peter]

The helical is a caving knot. It does turn into something that looks like a vt, but it is different.

[Dean Lofthouse]

The helical is a caving knot. It does turn into something that looks like a vt, but it is different.

 

So you can put another braid on if required as you do with the vt ?

[Peter]

You put as many wraps on as you want, and then depending on how loose you've tied it, some of the wraps will pull down into braids. Same as the Machard Tresse, or french prussik.

[Rupe]

Yep I guess so. Just wrap it 4-5 times and tie it back on itself with a bowline, drop one wrap to make a cross over, stopper knot in the end and off you go!

 

I used it for a while cos I never really got the hang of tieing a VT! It never seemed right. Helical is easier but you must remember that you are now only tied on with one leg of your friction cord instead of two, which just makes it a bit more scary!

 

BTW it does not come up in any tree climbing books as far as I know! Its really not recomended!