MasonW

Awesome work . Looks like it will make slack tending and returning from branch walks a breeze. Look forward to the tutorial.

No offense intended gents, but when Petzl says don't use... Thats enough for me to go back to tying a hitch.. Oval carabiners and rubber rings aside.. IMO..

Happy to have the wrench and srtwp in the tool kit. Always wanted to run the uni but cost was prohibitive. I too would like to see it more readily accepted as an energy efficient means of climbing by the governing bodies as opposed to a sketchy fringe fad. All srtwp practitioners know the benefits and i wouldn't say it replaces ddrt entirely but I wouldn't be without srtwp. How about that awesome looking rope runner.. Go Kev !!

I too apologise for de-railing.. So what your saying softbank is the RW should come with a preferred length tether and hitch cord with instructions on how to tie the recommended hitch? My ZK 2 came with all that information, just not the physical tether or hitch cord ..or instructions on how to tie a vt. As for melted hitch anyone with a spare crab can munters hitch their way out of that.. Have you seen a drop test on a footlock prussik?

The RW is not for primary life support any more than a prussik minding pulley. Although it would be great to pick up a certified, pre-packaged RW climb pack, ie hitch, wrench and tether I don't know how relevant that would be. I've met plenty of arborists who all use different climb styles, harnesses and gear and its very rarely a one size fits all equation. Its also not a certifiers job or kevins to make sure a climber can configure their RW or tie their friction hitch. If anything I would say SRTWP is going off, not in a rut?

Imo that's worse. If it failed from slight jolting what would it do in a decent fall? I can't see how a side loaded crab would rip the splice attachment point off and the d attachment point failing at 15.6 is enough for me to be back on a hitch.. At least for now anyway..

I thought all life support equipment had to be a minimum of 24 Kn breaking strain.? If the zz splice attachment point is taking half the load (reported to have been loaded at 15 Kn for 3 minutes) and the friction plates are taking the other half of the load (presumably 15Kn) does that not mean the bridge attachment point should be 30 Kn? The zz tested today failed at 15.6 Kn at the bridge attachment attachment point. I think the rough math for a climber falling is your (the) weight doubles with every meter fallen.. Ie. My weight 87 kg falls one meter = 87 X 2 = 174 kg 174 kg falls two meters = 174 X 2 = 348 kg 348 kg falls three meters = 348 X 2 = 696 Kg 696 kg falls four meters = 696 X 2= 1393 or almost 14 Kn.. Theoretically, If an 87 kg climber fell 4-5 metres onto a slack system whilst climbing on the zz you can't expect it to save you. (If you fall 4 meters onto a slack system the zz would be the least of your problems) Rant over... This Maths lesson was bought to you by Macho man Randy Savage.

In the interest of science, Treetools will be break testing a ZZ tomorrow to see how many Kn it takes to fail at the splice attachment eye. I think they are re-creating 15 Kn as Petzl claimed to have loaded the eye at 15 Kn for 3 minutes. Look forward to the results ..

Would be great to see a brand new one strength/drop tested, seems to be none on YouTube. Comparing my zz to the picture made me realise how thin the gold cheeks are and how little surface area there is between that and the curvature of the swivel housing.. Ha.. Gold cheeks.

I have tried numerous brands and have found Bolle to be the best for anti scratch and longevity. In saying that they claim anti fog but all brands seem to fog up.. I have a yellow pair for cloudy days and a black pair for sunny days. I wash them in warm water when dirty to avoid scratching and store them in an old work sock per pair when not in use. Go through 2/3 pairs annually. Beats having a scratched eye ball.. Thats for sure..

Some poignant questions asked on this Treetools blog about the certification (?) of the Zigzag.. Treetools Blog | life in trees - hell yeah!

Makes you wonder if the device was configured correctly. Haven't had a problem with mine so far. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Hey Paul, the 6mm ocean polyester is threaded through the thimble and girth hitched so its about 12 mm away from the wrench, so no metal on metal that ive noticed.

With this....6mm Ocean Vectran Loop with stainless steel DMM thimble Like this..... The Ovi O is girth hitched between the wrench and the top ultra o krab on the HC pulley. I find its a good length as a tether as its short ,compact and pretty hard to get snagged or wrapped around the top of the wrench. Thanks to Cary for this one. Hope that helps..

What does the krab with the hitch clip into to stop the climbing line slipping? By having the CS in the system must mean you have to isolate the limb. One of the reasons I use SRT is so I don't have to do that! Big shot out, rope in tie off, job done!! Just had another look, its not a hitch. Hey Deer Man its an alpine butterfly with a krab through, krab as back up in case the knot pulls through. I usually throw as high as i can from the ground, tie one end off at the base and ascend to that point with LOTS alone or with a hand ascender above all that with a foot loop for my left foot if the rope is in mid air. Once i reach that point, i lanyard in ,get the groundie to untie the base and if it isnt a dismantle i would select my TIP as per DRT and set up the CS system previously pictured. I like the lines running through the tree as opposed to one side of my life line tied to the base.. Scarfed off a large Poplar scaffold branch when i first got the wrench, tied off to the base. The leader compressed on the foliage end and like a spring pushed the butt end back towards the trunk where it missed my base tie by about an inch. The other reason i started using this system was quite often im pruning and i wanted it retrievable.