Self tending setup

[Lancstree]

I've been playing around with this setup and tried it out on a medium size oak reduction today. The knut advanced pretty smoothly and was set so that it would lock on should I let go (tried it out near the ground first). I climbed hand over hand above the knot then advanced it with the pulley. Going to try it out some more but up to now I prefer this setup to the VT because it locks out more reliably without compromising ease of advancement.

[Dean Lofthouse]

Bloody hell mate, what sort of spliced eye is that ?

 

I could drive my landrover through it!

[Lancstree]

Samson true blue - pretty old rope I fetched back from America some years ago

[Red.Squirrel]

Thanks for the photos, always love seeing different set-ups. May try that friction hitch sometime, I gotta get out the habit of using the same on for everything.

[bill]

when you say you 'advanced it with the pulley' what does that mean? did it self tend or did you pull the slack through?

[Lancstree]

I pulled the slack through but it is self tending because no hands need touch the friction hitch. I know what you mean bill, true self-tending requires no persuasion but to do that you have to distance the hitch from your central life support quite considerably.

[Marc]

I love the knut its my prefered hitch over the fussy vt, ok it rarely if ever self tends over a vt, but to me its other advantages outweigh that benefit, its performance is more reliable and longer lasting always remaining easy and consistent to advance, easy to tie, and it hardly twists the line. You can also tie its legs short to make a more positive hitch with minimal sit back.

 

In this pic i've tied it with 10mm op to 11.5mm tachyon i like this set-up as the thicker hitch cord doesn't generate so much heat.

 

Lancstree i'd shorten the length of the cord and switch to a 2 karabiner set-up, put the petzl pulley between the legs of the hitch for a more positive action, and use the second biner for the splice. Alternativly get a hitchclimber.

Edited June 7, 2009 by Marc

[bill]

I pulled the slack through but it is self tending because no hands need touch the friction hitch. I know what you mean bill, true self-tending requires no persuasion but to do that you have to distance the hitch from your central life support quite considerably.

 

 

self tending seems to mean different things to different climbers. for me self tending means you pull your rope down and advance up the rope with the slack passing thro the knot and the pulley. ive never managed to do it and i guess its only possible with a hitch that collapses when its not under tension and you have to be so high the weight of the rope pulls the slack through.

[Lancstree]

That looks like a neat setup marc. I've still got reservations about climbing hand-over-hand then tending the slack though. From my point of view this could lead to a drop of a couple of feet until the knot grips (should you let go for any reason). Once your body weight has been placed on the knut it grips reliably but with the VT you still have to manage the knot by re-setting it periodically, hence there is a potential free fall. I think this might be the reason why colleges still only instruct with the traditional prussik setup - there is always one hand below the knot.

 

Having said all this I climbed hand-over-hand on a job yesterday and enjoyed how easy it was in comparison to thrusting. The longer legs on my knut allows me to easily remove the pulley and use it in a traditional thrusting fashion

Edited June 7, 2009 by Lancstree
to add detail

[slack ma girdle]

If you foot lock the slack through, it almost becomes self tending. Or If you like toys then a panten strapped to your foot. Of if you want one handed self tending, then put the trailing rope through a pully near your top anchor, and then back to you. This makes branch walking easier, particularly when dismantling

Slack ma girdle

I can spot a tree at 100 yards