slimjimvw

Hmmm. I have been climbing on the Howard/Knut combo which is a bit tempermentle to soften the transition to hitchclimber. Maybe the faithful Distel will be better.

Climbed on my splices for the first time today after finally being able to produce good , neat splices consistanly. Went well. I've still got confidence issues with it but i have made up a small rope to test to destruction vs a Bowline. Anyway , when i was right up by my anchor point my hitch wouldn't grip the rope over the splice , i'm assuming its because its slightly smaller in diameter ? Now i have been using the Samson instructions but i'm sure someone mentioned only removing 9 strands for the taper on XTC ? Also what length are people doing the crossover tapers on the cover and core ? The samson crossover is 11" and i've been doing around a 10" taper , i'm sure Samson say taper over 6.5" but i found that left a lump ? Any tips ? Jim

Spike of your choice with Caddy pads or Geckos. You won't get much comfier than that. Or if your on a budget one of the Buckingham pads with a steel insert.

There an invaluble piece of kit. It is just practise , you'll get the hang of it. I wouldn't do a dismantle without them tbh , so much safer and save so much time and effort. I do remember the first time i used them though , shat my pants , i'm not going to lie. And there were so uncomfortable (poorly adjusted) , i use caddy pads now and there like having a sofa strapped to your leg. Geckos are supposed to be very comfortable though. The only comfort tips i can give you is do the lower straps up as tight as you can , helps if you wiggle your ankle around to take up the slack then re-tighten. Top straps not to tight. Adjust the length so there close to your knee , around a couple of cms below and you'll be good to go. Jim

Ebay , Honey Bros , FR Jones etc Anywhere that sells rock climbing gear.

Can't knock it. Its what my work supply. I have a 45m , 30m , 15m and side strop all made from it in various colours. Piece of cake to splice to if thats your thing.

Got a call from a mate today asking a favour. "My cat Jimmy is stuck up that massive tree outside my house". I assumed the massive tree was a broad mature 50 foot-ish Beech i'd noticed driving past in the past. A piece of cake i thought. "No worries , i'll be over in 20mins" i say I get there and the little bastard has run 60 foot up a 80 foot Ivy covered Monterey Pine a little further over. "Bugger" i thought. Any way after fighting with my throwline and Ivy for half an hour i reached him and gently grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and posted him head first in to a rucksack. That was my good deed of the day.

Awesome video.

Get well soon dude.

Lego. Amazing.

Cool , i'll give some of that a whirl. But may aswell have a bash at this silverstreak. I've got a few questions for you more experienced splicers. Whats the best way to work out the fid lengths etc ? For example 10mm silverstreak. Is a fid length 14 x the diameter ? Short fid x 7 and long fid x 21 ? So i could make a measuring stick for the diameters as i'm using wire fids.

Thanks mate. I know that now , almost put me off tbh. For anyone that reads this and wants to learn . . . . . buy some new flippin' rope ! Hmmm ok. Aren't some of the Marlow offerings supposed to be nice and baggy ? Ooo err Bugger. I can get that from work for free. Oh well.

Sorry mods if i've done the wrong thing resurrecting this thread. Let me know if i have and i'll start another. Had a bash at splicing myself this week for the first time , went well even though it is was a steep learning curve and i now only wash up using Fairy. My first splice was with a old piece of XTC magma ice , i managed it but it was a horrible looking thing with a lot of mistakes. You ain't seeing it , i'd be a laughing stock Splice two was with the same rope , much better but me the crossover nearly killed me (samson 11"), i got it through with out any tecnique and pure brute force , a very rookie error quickly learned. At this point i decided i needed some new rope to practise on , i bought some XTC scorch after speaking to Hadleigh (old snake) and learned alot more splicing that. I've since done another 3 splices and each one has been better than the last imho (Especially my fifth attempt as the crossover taper is smooth , splices 3 & 4 not so much). After lots of reading online i've even seemed to learned a good tecnique for the crossovers with very little effort. Result ! I've just bought some Yale Silverstreak (its cheap) to try to and want to have a bash at 8mm Sirius to as i'd love to make some e2e's etc. Double braid looks like it will take a bit of getting my head around ??? Jim

Splice a line of hotties together to make some kind human centipede.

Seconed that. We got given one of the early ones to test/try. Its awesome. A few teething problems but they have rectified everything we didn't like or broke. Just waiting for my new one But , i tried most of the popular ones before i found that. Best to go and climb or least hang in a few.

Lovely looking bit of kit but pricey. I've just ordered a pinto for my current strop and could add a short prussic with ring if i felt i needed it. Would do the same job imho and you'd have enough cash left over for few private dances , but thats another story.

Google images my friend. I'd get in trouble if i started posting pics.

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I ordered a set from the states for this very reason. I'm lucky to have family there who are happy to post things over. Got a nice set of Caddy pads now.

Gianna Micheals

Dragging the Hilux out of muddy fields with the track chipper.

Fire Works once

Thanks alot. I'm sure that will come in handy.