Ascentree rope friction

[David Humphries]

Well it looks like you have not used the single ascender much in time you may notice the same wear on these to, and maybe not depending on how you push up the ascendor.

 

Theres not the same gap on the singles (between where the krab and handle are) as there is on the double.

 

The rope doesn't get squeezed against the plastic on the single.

 

 

 

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[nathan marshall]

Not enough to retire the line/fail Loler examination, but enough (from the perspective of this semi retired climber) to warrant investigating a potential design issue that places the rope against an abrasive surface & puts wear on the life line of my teams climbers.

 

 

 

 

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a very good point it as this thread also progresses you may see that other are having similar problems with use of such device.

 

how old are they?? and are they used every day to gain access into the crown of said tree?

 

i dont use my one all that much prefer just using a pantin.

[David Humphries]

a very good point it as this thread also progresses you may see that other are having similar problems with use of such device.

 

how old are they?? and are they used every day to gain access into the crown of said tree?

 

 

 

So far i know of one other climber that has noticed similar wear on the ascentree.

 

A few years in service but not used every day.

 

 

 

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[nathan marshall]

So far i know of one other climber that has noticed similar wear on the ascentree.

 

A few years in service but not used every day.

 

 

 

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very strange. but a intresting design fault

[Ian Flatters]

David, i know you were talking about using the 2 side points as attachments. If the cam failed where would you stand from a legal point? Because you werent using the recommended attachment point. Also and excuse me if im wrong but does your dual hand ascender in its manual speak of single rope use and double or just double?

[Nick Harrison]

David, i know you were talking about using the 2 side points as attachments. If the cam failed where would you stand from a legal point? Because you werent using the recommended attachment point. Also and excuse me if im wrong but does your dual hand ascender in its manual speak of single rope use and double or just double?

 

Hi Ian, I'm one of the climbers on David's team so thought it worthwhile chiming in here. It's a good question re legal stand point if something went wrong and we were attached to the 2 side holes, because as you say the manual cleary shows the central hole as the attachment point to be used, however, it's using this central hole (whether with a single or a double rope system) that we've found is causing the rope(s) to be pushed into the plastic molding on the handle which then causes the friction on the rope as you ascend....so bascially still not sure which is the best/safest way to attach to the ascender??

 

someone else on here has asked the question of how bad is the glazing on the rope...i took a close look at the rope once David noticed the damage to the ascender and it didn't seem particularly excessive in my opinion, (i'm not LOLER qualified but the rope is in for a LOLER check this weekend so it'll be interesting to see what gets picked up there). There certainly is wear to the rope, whether that is from general usage or not we can't be sure. However you look at it, unnecessary friction on a rope isn't great, so for that reason alone it would make sense to find a way around the issue.

 

What was a little worrying was that both myself and the other 2 climbers on the team failed to notice the damage to the ascender, despite checking our equipment on a weekly basis. I think this might be due to the fact that the ascender has been seen by us as a climbing aid and not part of our life line equipment, since i've been on the team we've always used the ascender with a backup friction hitch.

 

Hopefully this thread will at least give a heads up to other ascender users and may even lead to some refinements further down the line, whether that be from petzl or simply how us climbers set these systems up....it's all progress:thumbup1:

[High Scale]

Has anybody talked to Petzl?

[David Humphries]

Has anybody talked to Petzl?

 

Not yet, wanted to get a consensus first.

 

Fully intend to.

Will report back if and when I hear.

 

 

Would be interested to hear from people either here or by pm if they have witnessed any wear associated with this issue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[David Humphries]

David, i know you were talking about using the 2 side points as attachments. If the cam failed where would you stand from a legal point? Because you werent using the recommended attachment point. Also and excuse me if im wrong but does your dual hand ascender in its manual speak of single rope use and double or just double?

 

Not entirely sure regarding your first point Ian, something I shall raise with Petzl.

 

Shot below is how we have used it set up when utilising double rope.

 

The manual (link on post 2) doesn't say you can use the ascentree as single rope use, but then again it doesn't say you shouldn't.

Certainly no illustrations of the ascentree set with a single line with a cross over the image.

 

 

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[slack ma girdle]

Why not just cut of the bottom part of the plastic handle, it wont effect the structural integity, and wont cause the glazing on your rope. Are you sure that it is this that is causing the glazing ? Unless you are going for world records in accent surely you will not be generating enough friction and heat to cause the glazing ?