Footlocking

[Thillmaine]

How do most of you guys footlock? With double rope and a prussic until you reach your TIP, then tie in with your typical setup or single rope, with a blakes tautline or whatever? I was workling todfay and saw one of my co workers footlock like 70 feet in a matter of sseconds with the Double rope and a prussic. I was impresse dand wonderinf if he is doing osmething others are not, or if I am just not aware...

 

[beowulf343]

Gotten lazy with the pantin, haven't footlocked in several months.

Usually just footlock Ddrt with my usual setup-that way i can limb or whatever on my way up the tree. But definitely slower than Srt or Dbrt.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I do both, it depends on the situation. I use a MarBar vs. a prussik cord, I'm too old and broke down to use a hitch, you sit down on it and you lock it up.

With the M/B I can sit and rest after 5 locks (ok very 3 ).

I'll footlock the tail on short pitches where my perch will be close to the TIP, or it would take more time to switch over to the VT then. Often both of them.

If you can get 4 feet with each lock, then it takes 15 to get up there. Even with the rests it's only less then 5 minuets to the top.

 

[Climb020]

I FL almost every tree. I used the KONG dual ascenders with static line. So fast and easy.

 

[Timberhauler]

I footlock nearly every tree as well..Keeps me in shape.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I footlock nearly every tree as well..Keeps me in shape.

I'm scared of ladders.

 

[Blinky]

I'm scared of ladders.

You and me both!

I go up (footlocking) on doubled rope with a couple of ascenders taped together and a prusik backup on each line. The strap (actually straps) from my harness to the ascenders is short enough to rest on between pulls if I want but I try to stay on my arms because I can lock onto the rope higher that way. It's fast until I tucker out and have to rest... went 60' non-stop yesterday, my personal best. I watched Bryan Kotwicka go about 60' in waaay under a minute once.

Used to use a Pantin and one ascender, firtst on doubled rope... very slow and exhausting; then same thing on SRT... much better but means using an extra rope. I like footlocking, builds muscles, looks cool, goes fast and doesn't take much gear. I've done it with just a prusik, race style, but that was a while back when I was out of shape and it made my forearms explode after about 25'.

 

[Pancake]

9,000+ posts is insane! We have invented a prussik cord specifically for FL, in part to respond to the TCC accident in which the female competitor had a fall and was being strangled by her prussik cord, and partly because I needed an edge to compete with my climbing partners (started for comps but used daily) that will not bunch up near your abdomen during ascent, and it is single strand. It's called the Bunn-G-String, and can be made to suit your height for $30. Break test Data included. My competition FL times have improved 10 seconds this year, and 20 over 2 years ago. We use it daily to ascend Ddrt in almost every tree. I feel that Fl is an efficient entry method, and there are practice techniques like positoin, counting picks, and breath control that can show immediate improvement.

 

[Timberhauler]

I'm scared of ladders.

OK I'm having a blonde moment...I didn't get it...

 

[clearance]

9,000+ posts is insane! We have invented a prussik cord specifically for FL, in part to respond to the TCC accident in which the female competitor had a fall and was being strangled by her prussik cord, and partly because I needed an edge to compete with my climbing partners (started for comps but used daily) that will not bunch up near your abdomen during ascent, and it is single strand. It's called the Bunn-G-String, and can be made to suit your height for $30. Break test Data included. My competition FL times have improved 10 seconds this year, and 20 over 2 years ago. We use it daily to ascend Ddrt in almost every tree. I feel that Fl is an efficient entry method, and there are practice techniques like positoin, counting picks, and breath control that can show immediate improvement.

Strangled by her prussic? WTF? Competition FL times now, and breathing control. I see. This is a funny post, thanks.

 

[Timberhauler]

Strangled by her prussic? WTF? Competition FL times now, and breathing control. I see. This is a funny post, thanks.

I was starting to wonder where you were clearance.

 

[Pancake]

Having a hard time seeing how someone being strangled is funny, warped sense of humor maybe? Most prussik cords for footlocking are doubled, some get taped or bandes to keep them together. She fell and her head went between the cords- is that funny? I like to look at it like this, if you can ascend quickly and efficiently into the tree, you have more energy to work safely. I have used the polyester coated prussik cords in 8 and 10 mm in the past and they're fine. I am short and make short picks when footlocking so I typically get the cords bunched up near my saddle potentially hanging a biner and generally being a nuciance. The doubled cords bet hung up in thick brusk easier also. I guess some people can't see how work and competitions can mirror each other.

 

[Tree Machine]

Competitions are more about speed. Work is about efficiency.

 

[Pancake]

I agree, many competition events are about speed, but others are about skill and efficiency or productive usage of time, energy, and equipment in the tree. There is a connection with speed and efficiency. Good technique and skill equals speed and efficiency. Energy conservation can make long days feel shorter. Every piece of gear and each skill I use at work with the exception of a port-a-wrap and some rigging, I use in competitions. Our company doesn't employ a bucket, we do use a crane as necessary. Therefore, climbing quickly any efficiently is a must. Being efficient to me means energy conservation through productive technique. Vision of the task at hand and being able to look at the job, identify the challenges and overcome them through skill and ingeniuty. Back to the footlock, if the line is placed properly it can also remain to serve as an access line for Aerial rescue or secondary workers aloft. This is also true for SRT as long as the rescuers of co workers have the means to use SRT.

 

[Tree Machine]

How do most of you guys footlock? With double rope and a prussic until you reach your TIP, then tie in with your typical setup or single rope, with a blakes tautline or whatever? I was workling todfay and saw one of my co workers footlock like 70 feet in a matter of sseconds with the Double rope and a prussic. I was impresse dand wonderinf if he is doing osmething others are not, or if I am just not aware...

In ascending 1:1 on a doubled line (I'm assuming this is what he was doing) with a prussik you are best to get to where you want to be in a contiguous motion. You're not really using the prussik, just your hands and feet. The prussik is there if you slip, you're not going back down. Rest your weight on it and you have the problem of it locking down, as John Paul says, which is what it's supposed to do. The problem is getting back in motion, unlocking the thing while suspended to where enough friction is relieved so that it's not clamping down and slowing you down while you continue your journey against gravity.

Now, you can do the exact same thing with dual ascenders, but you can stop and rest, put your full weight on the ascenders between strides and choose your pace. Much safer. You should, for safety's sake, not overwork yourself and be out of breath. Stop, rest, keep your composure and continue safely.

'Prussik' is also a general term for any of the rope-coiling-around-another-rope hitches, so in saying 'prussik' we can only speculate on what exactly he was using.

 

[Blinky]

[...]

Now, you can do the exact same thing with dual ascenders, but you can stop and rest, put your full weight on the ascenders between strides and choose your pace. Much safer. You should, for safety's sake, not overwork yourself and be out of breath. Stop, rest, keep your composure and continue safely.
[...]

You can build a lot of hand strength quickly that way too so footlocking gets easier and easier and you have to rest less often. When I first started footlocking with ascenders I could go about 25' between rests. Even with ascenders I prefer to stay on my arms because I can get my feet higher on each stride that way but it's nice to hang on the ascenders some too.

That was a month ago. This week I figure I averaged 120' a day and was going up to 60' between rests and doing most of my ascents in well under 5 minutes... a couple of times in under a minute. Today I was footlocking on my off side because my left foot was sore from the rope wrapping around it... turned out to be just as easy as on-side.

Things I've learned so far...You have to make sure your attachment to the ascenders is adjusted just right and you have to back the ascenders up, I use a single piece of beeline laced through the top attachment holes to form a 4 finger prusik above each ascender. Twigs can force the cam open. Take your rests before you desperately need them or you will end up taking much longer rests... and breathe.

 

[Jim1NZ]

Footlocking is all about technique not strength. When you are using your strength your going to get tired and tired quickly. Smooth and efficent is what its all about as it has been said earlier.

Many different situations call for different systems but genrally i will set a access line, footlock to the top and then set my DRT system exactly where i want and work.

 

[CoreyTMorine]

How do most of you guys footlock? With double rope and a prussic until you reach your TIP, then tie in with your typical setup or single rope, with a blakes tautline or whatever? I was workling todfay and saw one of my co workers footlock like 70 feet in a matter of sseconds with the Double rope and a prussic. I was impresse dand wonderinf if he is doing osmething others are not, or if I am just not aware...

***Can someone please double-check to make sure that I got Ddrt and Dbrt right Ddrt = doubled rope technique, which is to say "old school" throw yer rope over a crotch, tie it to yer saddle, then use the tail to tie a friction hitch. Dbrt = double rope technique, just like SRT (single rope tech) cept with 2 lines in front of you.***
------------------------:monkey: ------------------------
Thillmaine,

Rubber coated gloves like “uglies” help immensely with grip. It also takes a lot of experimentation to get your prussic cord just the right length, diameter, hand, etc. And nothing helps so much as practice; perhaps your co-worker has all three going for him. Ask him to critique your style, some of the best climbers out there were mentored by some of the best climbers out there.

I think one of the best forms of strength/muscle memory training for footlocking on a double rope (Dbrt) is to footlock your tail (that portion of the rope that hangs below your friction knot in a doubled rope system Ddrt). You only have to lift half of your body weight, but the friction up top is a lot to overcome. If it is too much then set your climbing line off of a pully, you still must pull twice the rope as that distance you climb, but you only have to work with half of your body weight.

Also don’t use the rubber coated gloves for a year or so, your grip will be much improved for the effort! I like the “golden gripper” type gloves, they don’t grip rope as well but I use them anyway (unless I am climbing on rope)as they breath much better. Cleaves sells them in different sizes by the dozen.

Best of luck.

 

[beowulf343]

Can someone please double-check to make sure that I got Ddrt and Dbrt right Ddrt = doubled rope technique, which is to say "old school" throw yer rope over a crotch, tie it to yer saddle, then use the tail to tie a friction hitch.

Note-also called Ddrt even when you use a splittail. Better definition below thanks to TM

The more common doubled rope technique (DdRT) involves the use of a friction hitch, cambium saver, micropulley, and connecting hardware. It's a 2:1 system where friction comes from the tie-in point, the friction hitch itself and anywhere else the rope touches a limb above you. One end of the rope goes up while the other comes down. Every foot of rope that passes through the hitch allows you a half a foot of advance. It is a rope-on-rope system of friction control where friction is distributed between the tree (and/or the friction saver) and the friction hitch.

 

[moray]

Once again these lousy acronyms rear their ugly heads. Only SRT is clean and (nearly) unambiguous.

I know this has been discussed before, but it is crazy to live with such semantic misery. I propose the classical technique be called MRT for moving rope technique. The other two could be called SRT and SRT2.