BenR

I have the same problem when on the wrench Joe.. Being lighter its hard to get enough weight into it to get things moving. Although you are not really supposed to, I tend to just depress the wrench into the hitch and move like that if I dont have a lot of weight in the system. Then when descending with my full weight on it, I will operate it normally.

Stiffline by french touch concept! Its a stone cold killer but it does kink if left folded up. So just spin your cubes flat into a square rather that folding them up fully into a triangle. Or get some of the circular pop up containers

They can be tightened with another maillon of the appropriate size.

I believe Treekit had some of the Quickies.. give them a buzz

Nah I cant get the akimbo to work nicely on any of my cougars. But it may be better on new cougar that isnt a dirty and fluffy.. who knows. Im gutted because the old style cougar is awesome rope.

The old cougar is not nylon core.. the new one is I believe. Old = pretty static. New = less static. Kernmaster = bouncemaster

It seemed bouncier when I had a bob up and down on it. The new stuff is not polyester core and cover like the old. I think its poly cover and nylon core.. no doubt someone will let me know if I've got that wrong.

Bolam with have to pay in G+T's or Rum if he wants some dirty old portland splice.. payment prior to splicing and if you want it whipped it's an extra shot of tequila (silver label for straight whip, gold for spiral whip)

To my knowledge that part is not available as a spare

Snapp!! Yes its a great bit of kit.. the more you use it the more you realise its potential to make rigging jobs easier!

I don't know if you noticed Matty but I think your akimbo is the wrong way around Hah, I couldn't resist. My HTP is still milking a little bit too but it's not a problem now:thumbup:

It kind of evolved into most people suggesting you just got a rope wrench though Can the majority be wrong? if it wasn't worth doing why would we do it? Plus it's a hell of a lot safer being able to descend without having to change over onto a descender in case something goes pete tong.. or you know, just carry on as you are because you've been doing that 30 years and it works. 3 strand works too but you're not using that still.... ARE YOU?!

Hey Twig.. I've been doing a similar thing today in a woodland of 25/30m pines.. I don't see the drama? My process today has been throwline into one tree as high as possible. Clear it on the way up, advance my rope if neccessary, traverse across to the tree next door with my epple hook and work that one on the way down. Two trees one ascent. I'm not hot on maths but that seems fairly efficient to me. Even if I then went back up the same tree and went across to another it still wouldn't be that much hardship. That is the joy of 1:1 SRT work positioning.

HAHA The same reason people don't travel by horse and cart still.. Saying that I would love to give it a go some day just for the fun of it. Trouble is, I don't know anyone that even has any 3 strand rope, let alone 3 strand prussics... thankfully:001_rolleyes:

We all know it's because Im such a fat fook Rich but it was kind of you not to point it out.. All you 6ft4 whippets need to put some weight on if you want to milk ropes like a pro like me

Why don't you just get a hook and traverse across then?

Don't be giving away my secrets Wastlator!! Now I get Q to put all my lines in and I smoke a vape pen so i don't have to roll!! Get with the times bro.. you're thinking so DDRT. You gots tah SRT it up. Just kidding Marc.. Yeah I'm not the best but I did get a 25m shot into woodland pine riddled with deadwood on my 3rd go today I feel like throwline is 1)mentally calm with it 2)nobody watching me and 3)concentration Practice makes perfect thats why I'm so crap! Not enough practice and too much talking shiite:blushing:

I wouldn't bother if you don't like/can't use a throwline. You may aswell carry on DDRT if it works for you, but then I guess it doesn't always otherwise you wouldn't have made this thread.. If you suck with a throwline, get a bigshot. As Bolam said, even if you just use it to get up then switch back to DDRT to work, it will make your life physically less demanding. Especially if you are working on tall trees. As Marc said, you only need a few extra bits to supplement your current kit. My minimum would be some throwlines, a wrench and tether and a foot ascender.

Before I changed the spring I found that it would only self tend with about 20 metres of rope hanging below me. Mainly because that top cam was just jamming itself into the rope constantly because the spring was so damn strong. You can take it apart and just bend the current spring that is in there into a tighter V shape. That should help quite a bit. Glad you liked the HTP, shame it's just so hard on the hands.

Yeah the works, all lovely Matty! To be honest I'm not sure how much is the cam and how much is the fact that I bent the spring so far it basically does nothing and may aswell not be in there... The cam is only ever so slightly different in size. It just wasn't anodised. Jaime can probably better explain how it is different. I also seem to be having less trouble with rope drag with the tail deflected away now too. Maybe that's just the akimbo wearing in.. James you will probably find that the new HTP milks like billyO, but once it is done milking it is great. I milked mine off both ends working out from the middle so I got about 1ft excess cover each end. I did that so I could do a little cover only straight bury splice. Gives me a nice little eye each end for pulling the line in and attaching retrieval balls etc.. plus I'm OCD Good to hear it's getting better for you on the cougar Rich. Amazing what a difference a spring and some dry weather makes haha..

Hey guys, just thought I would let you all know that the akimbo was amazing today on HTP 11mm, It's got so much better with more wear and changing up the spring/new cam. Still not had to heart to try it on cougar again seeing as it's now a dream on the HTP. Must try the cougar tomorrow!! Maybe the anodising is a factor Jaime as of course the new cam you sent me for the top wasn't anodised at all. Nice to be able to post some really positive feedback. Fingers cross for tomorrow..

Yes but it's more fun to make yourself a challenge sometimes Mark! JEEZ:lol:

Hey Jaime, good to see you over here. Although we limeys often seem a grumpy bunch, please don't take any of the criticism as rude/destructive. I for one am really hoping to be a beneficial part of the improvement process. It's a good device, lets make it great:thumbup1:

As steve mentioned, keeping the eye of the alpine as tight as possible helps. Pinto rig also seems to have a bit more room as Rich said.. If to pay close attention and watch as the pinto anchor retrieves you will see that if the lines come down different routes, the eye of the alpine and the other line can never touch. If it comes down parallel and it has been tied poorly then indeed there is a lot of rope passing the one point on the eye. I dont often use this anchor much these days but when I do, I tend to go up on a base tie and install it in there canopy. I also retrieve it with a slight redirect in, only if its a small deflection from halfway down. And don't race to pull it out.. slow and steady think tortoise when sending them up and pulling them down. Or use an alternative anchor. To be fair 13mm rope is probably always going to rub with this anchor. 11mm not so much

See that's interesting to hear Dave because I have absolutely no trouble with that on the BDB. Furthermore, with the tail deflected directly above me on the BDB I have full control over descent and slack tending back up. However, with the Akimbo if the tail is deflected above, even on the smallest diameter, low friction branch, I am completely unable to move unless manually pull slack through.. to me that is a problem because I do not want to be constantly managing my tail unless I absolutely have to. Edit: I guess it just goes to show that everyone is having completely different experiences due to weight, climbing style, rope choice etc. Also Dave, Ive looked at clipping into the bridge ring to negate the bottom cam issue, however it seems like that will just tip the pivot point behind the top cam straight into the rope and again ruin any self tending. Im planning to make a special "loosy goosy" neck tether for the akimbo, but I will try it on the bridge ring too.