Brocky

On 01/02/2023 at 11:14, Mr. Squirrel said:

Yeah, with it’s intended use I’d feel like it was putting a little too much faith in the stitching though. You could do a straight bury, out for a locking brummel before going into the full bury perhaps. It would be a bit odd, but the locking brummel would be solid, and you’d still be able to milk a little slack into the eye to pop your ring out. That *might* work, but I’ve never seen it done or tested so no idea really…

The locked Brummell isn’t needed with a full bury splice, it would only weaken it some and not add any security.  The stitches are only so the bury can’t be pulled out when not loaded, they are also needed for a locked Brummell and bury splice.  Locked brummells are useful when a shorter bury is desired, like for hitch cords.

Good idea to be able to remove the ring!

You need to switch your weight, or center of gravity from the Prusik rope to the footloop rope when standing up. Hanging on the hitch rope while trying to stand up on the other rope causes your feet to swing out from under you.  

Another option is to use one rope, hitch above the Tibloc.

A couple other splicing options are Marlow’s Vega and NER’s Heavy Duty Kernmantel for the twisted parallel core ropes.

A diagram of how I did it on top, the middle just switches what gets passed through itself first to start the locked brummel.  The bottom is the typical Class I double braid splice.  The version I did is basically a Class II, extract the core just after the throat, skip a couple of strands and pass it through the cover tail.  The cover tail then passes through the core tail, which gets buried in the cover tail. The now combined tails are buried in the core and the cover is milked over it.

The second eye of a covered eye Class II can be done can be done by passing the tail through itself, unbraiding it, passing it around, rebraiding, and then burying.  Or much easier is to do a Samson’s Tuck Bury splice that doesn’t require access to the other end.  From left to right, Tuck Bury, locked brummel, covered eye Tuck Bury with cover whipped to the side.

Hard to see, but there is a knot that can be seen between the accessory cord  eye and the carabiner.  I wrapped the small cord around the eye and tied an overhand with both sections, as close as possible before tying each end to the thimbles.

On 07/09/2021 at 18:10, peds said:

Depending on what it's used for, I like to cross my cord over itself once before tying the fisherman's, giving an adjustable loop either side of the knot. One half is then cinched up tight against the biner, leaving the big loop to throw around the rope. This probably has a name, I'm sure someone with a bigger brain than mine can identify it.

 

That's the end of this story. 

Sliding Double Fishermens, or Grapevine bend, not a knot.

Adding a short double eye cord makes advancing the anchor in the usual way, the top left hitch needs hooking up when in use. Prusiks are shown to represent friction hitches, climber’s choice.

Edit: I didn’t use the friction hitch tending Prusik that crosses over, just as easy to push it up, and made advancing TIP one step simpler.

This is homework then?!!

Hitches can be compact by using just a piece of cord with a stopper knot at the end.  The friction, or tension can be adjusted to your liking each time, very helpful with the VT.  A 4-2 VT in the picture, the stopper also helps with tending, can be easily done without a pulley.  I first tie an overhand for the stopper, test it, then add another behind it.  The tether is 8” and still has room to not jam the hitch.

I’d say it’s a 4-2 VT with an overhand for the second braid. The eyes can be moved, with no untying, into two other variations.

On 11/03/2021 at 16:52, Mr. Squirrel said:

I’ve done a load of fiddling with db splicing for hitch cords and come up with a splice that works really well and breaks high. Definitely not in line with manufacturer or any other splicing instructions though...

My experimental db splice involved lock brummeling the core and cover using the standard bury lengths, and then burying this into the core.  It broke at around 92 percent of the rope’s break strength.

Thanks, here are a few more hitches  that are similar.

And a different way of tying a 4-2 VT, no preformed eyes, just a piece of cord with a stopper knot at the end.

The VT’s functionality is very dependent on the length of the legs, a work around for the longer legs is to bind them together, the closer to the wraps the more reliable the grabbing.

Mark, that hitch cord looks to be sewn not spliced.  Any idea who came up with the Fitch Hitch?

Usually best to follow the rope or cord manufacturer’s splicing instructions to know you’re doing the splices correctly.

Someone playing games?

Back in the good ole days that was one of the standard methods of getting the climber in the tree. But he had to rely on the hauler to not drop him at times, no hitch was used.

Needs to be more of a tube than a ring for running on the bridge for improved bend radius.  The tube should rotate 360 degrees for even wear 

No longer being made for many years.  Google search would show one for sale in NZ, but site wouldn’t process, due to a glitch I guess.  About a year ago someone from Treebuzz ended up contacting them and they had the one for sale. Good luck!

Looks like it was only attached to outside of the stem, with the branch collar still being attached.  Maybe not a “true” branch, but an epicormic?

Looks okay to me, make sure the reductions and the corresponding tapers in the two places that the cover and core match up are of a consistent diameter.

The total cover tail bury length is 700mm, the crossover point is 200mm from the end, and the taper is 200mm from that point, or 300 mm from the 700 mark.  For more details, there is a thread in the Splice Rack on Treebuzz about the splice.  Samsquanch appears to have done several and has added refinements on the procedure.

Coming out the side will reduce the strength by about 20% from what I’ve read.  Another way to make it adjustable would be to try a lock stitch splice, the right number of multiple passes through the rope might create enough friction.  And bury as much as possible, with a stopper knot at the end.

Where the tail exits at the bottom would seem to be the weak spot with the sudden change in diameter.  Five to seven locked brummels called a McDonald Brummel splice, with a short two inch bury would be a possibility.

Static and dynamic when needed.