# Beranek lanyard



## DeanBrown3D (Jul 30, 2006)

I had a question on the Beranek lanyard - it uses a Prussik knot to attach to the flip line, but from what I have been reading there are other knots better and safer than the Prussik. Do people here rely on Prussiks / Prussik knots to hold in a fall?


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## Ekka (Jul 30, 2006)

Well, prussik's are an adjustable hitch, you slide it along to position yourself.

It's not a terminating knot.

With a lanyard you dont really take a fall, you put weight on it and lean back.

In fact, you shouldn't be taking a fall on any of your climbing gear, you should be taking the slack out of it.


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## DeanBrown3D (Jul 30, 2006)

ok I meant to say gaff out, and take a bit if a slip. I guess the prussik is quite easy to tie in that way.


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## Ekka (Jul 30, 2006)

Oh yeah, if you gaff out it'll be OK.

They may slip a little before they grab but you wont really notice it.

Do you have a camera?

Coz if you do you should take a pic of your gear and set up, we'll be able to straighten out any bumps in the system. You are right handed aren't you?


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## DeanBrown3D (Jul 30, 2006)

Yes, right handed. What I am trying to decide now is whether to get a pretzl stop lanyard (or 2) or to try out something with a blake's hitch or prussik loop, which I have been playing with (seems great!) Cheaper too.

I have on my list now climbers + pads, new tribe pro gear saddle, couple of lanyards, and a chainsaw bungee. I would really like to find a class in NJ too.

I have camera, will post here as soon as I get anything.


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## Ekka (Jul 30, 2006)

OK, so your saw will hang on the right side of your harness.

Then make sure the adjuster for your lanyard is on the left, it's a cleaner way to climb.

When cutting always try to finish the cut on your RH side, that way you plonk the saw straight down onto your hook/biner/whatever.

The problem you might encounter using a blakes hitch on the lanyard is pulling in the slack one handed. Do you have a micro pulley or something there to make it happen?

I also prefer the Gibbs over the Pretzl as a mechanical adjuster.


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## DeanBrown3D (Jul 30, 2006)

Cheers for the tips!

Um, I didn't know I needed anything with the Blakes. Are you talking about if I need to take in some slack as I go up the tree (where it's narrower)? Seems to make sense though. Is this different from the prussik loop?


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## fishhuntcutwood (Jul 30, 2006)

DeanBrown3D said:


> Is this different from the prussik loop?



Yes, the Blake's is different from a Prussik, but they're similar in that they're each an adjustable hitch meant to bind around a rope and hold the weight.

And yes, prussiks are meant for life support. Constructed properly, it'll hold a freight train. They're used in rock climbing, mountaineering and mountain rescue all the time.

Jeff


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## moss (Jul 30, 2006)

A prusik will work for the lanyard, it will certainly hold your weight as long as the cord is strong enough. A problem with using a prusik is that it tends to seize up on the rope when you put load on it. You can always loosen the prusik but that can be a pain since it requires two hands and you have to take your weight off of the lanyard. With a Blake's or "advanced" hitch you can lengthen the lanyard when your weight is on it with one hand (it is wise to put your other hand on the tail of the lanyard when you are pulling down on the hitch). With a pulley just below the hitch you can shorten the lanyard with one hand. Take a close look at the illustrations in Jepson's showing how the slack tender pulley that Ekka describes works.

Here's my lanyard with a Knut for the hitch, works nice:
Lanyard with notes

Here's a PDF that shows all the major climbing hitches, the Knut is on page 6 and 7:
Overview of Climbing Hitches

However you rig it, try it on the ground around a tree to make sure everything on the lanyard is secure and you understand how to shorten and lengthen the lanyard while you're leaning back on it.


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## clearance (Jul 30, 2006)

I climb with two steel core fliplines, one is a 18' with rope snaps at either end, made by Yale. It is held to my belt with a steel core prussic, works great. I rappel using a blakes hitch split tail. I would not use the blakes hitch on a flipline, it can slip if not pulled up tight, the prussic is more of a choker. I am right handed but I have my fliplines on my left hand side, that way my saw, which hangs on my right doesn't get tangled with and cut on my fliplines.


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## moss (Jul 30, 2006)

clearance said:


> I would not use the blakes hitch on a flipline, it can slip if not pulled up tight, the prussic is more of a choker.



Good point, Blake's is not good for a short lanyard, a prusik is bulletproof for that pupose. It can be slacked and then loaded without worry of slipping. Prusik is a good place to start, after you use it you can then decide if you want to try any of the closed hitches or advanced hitches as they're called. Go basic and solid first then figure out if you need to change based on your climbing style as it evolves.


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## arboralliance (Aug 1, 2006)

*Safety first...*

Hey all thank you for allowing me to post here…

First time posting, all help would be appreciated...

I have been reading through this site for a while now and am in humbled respect of all that goes on here and hope more Aussie tree workers will contribute to this site, certainly we have an inspirational lead in Ekka's continued posting... 

So, another great thread, yet again... 

I have some grave concerns for Dean though as he takes the advice set forth on this site…

Firstly it was and is my understanding that the tail trailing out of ALL knots needed to be AT LEAST a minimum 5 times longer than the diameter of the cord/rope being used to tie the knot/s… 

This being to avoid the tail working its way back through the knot body or final/last bend in the knot… Therefore avoiding the knot unexpectedly coming undone when the knot continues to tighten/cinch up under load (when climbing/hanging/loading etc)…

Please correct me if I am wrong but having the tail AT LEAST 5 times longer than the diameter of the cord helps in preventing a knot failure and/or potential fatality, YES, also allowing for the tail to potentially be “finished” in a stopping knot of its own as necessitates?

When I clicked on the link/s in MOSS's post, in particular: 

"Here's a PDF that shows all the major climbing hitches, the Knut is on page 6 and 7: Overview of Climbing Hitches" link, 

this PDF file, which I assume to be a formal publication AND which “quotes/references” some extremely lofty publications, with what appear to be some excellent examples of varying knots/hitches and their uses however not UIAA or ISA or any other standard regulation tails that I have ever seen or read about, APPEARS to have numerous knots clearly showing tails that are extremely short and certainly not 5 times the length of the diameter therefore IMHO unworkable and EXTREMELY UNSAFE!?

On a further note, relating back to Dean’s initial posting, I would point to one of Ekka’s post’s in this thread where Ekka mentions Gibbs and Petzl “mechanical adjuster” and in that suggest hardware be used in the lanyard/flip line system for a newbie because, as I see it, when beginning climbing, using hardware further eliminates the need to continually check the system for the extra knots of Prusick’s and such as should be done by all climbers when climbing with knots in the system that potentially can come undone (the same principal and practice applies to carabiners, check often)… Once again correct me if I’m wrong…

I have climbed with (among many others but particularly these systems for extended periods of time) the Gibb’s on steel core pole strap/flip line and also with the GRI-GRI mechanical adjuster’s within a kernmantle flip line/pole strap system and was very comfortable with these systems however only recently (three or four years ago) have I converted to (and over a long time period of deliberation) a system incorporating kernmantle corded loop Prusick’s on kernmantle rope lanyards (followed with micro pulley’s) within my flip line/pole strap system…(both because I am older, they are lighter and I am not doing the rather large take downs and extended upper story southern tall tree climbing I used to these days).

(I really didn’t think it would be this complicated replying to a thread!)

It concerns me that someone is taking this all as gospel and then applying it to their practical climbing verbatim/in repertoire, so in this vain I am responding in detail as I do…

Clearance, I really do enjoy your contributions as it appears you seem to carry or encourage the humor within this site, so in the tone of jest and good humor I ask; how could your saw ever “cut on” your lines, ever, full stop? I would/could assume or better still envisage that if you were not applying your chain break or re-holstering your secateur’s or hand/pruning saw that this may occur, or is your chain so sharp that it cuts on your wire core kernmantle “sheath” at the slightest touch? Can you inform me/us as to HOW you find your saw (potentially) “cut’s” on your flip line’s so we can all become better and therefore safer at what we do, which is, as I see it, the primary intent of this site? 

Fishhuntcutwood, I agree with your point that the Prusick is strong and binds well and I have had lengthy debate and consideration as to switching to the “French” Prusick system within my pole strap/flip line/lanyard (because it doesn’t bind as tight as the Prusick standard loop configuration) but, after many lengthy debate’s and discussion’s, with many internationally recognized and accredited Arborist’s/Mountaineer’s and experiments with a vast range of configurations, I have decided to stick with the closed Prusick loop system as it can be more safely made shorter and therefore bind faster and be used in tighter and smaller diameter pole/limb situations and therefore also more secure than that of the French Prusick hitch which can be renowned for being tangentially long and thereby possibly slipping when in close-up proximity to branches and poles/trunks…

HOWEVER moss, I would like to say that they (closed loop Prusick’s) will and do slip dependant on so many factors the classic being new rope and cord…Once again, always continually check your systems by feel, visually and under test…


Dean, in response to your initial question, the Prusick hitch is only as secure and safe as the system it is tied into and the operator using it, the endless Prusick loop when tied or attached or “looped” to your harness carabiner should be done so with a clove hitch so if one side of the endless loop Prusick cord fails the other will still hold…Link below for clove hitch:

http://www.animatedknots.com/cloveb...ge=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com

Ekka, I would like to catch up and chat sometime as I admire and respect your contributions here immensely having watched many of your video’s and pictures and post’s, one point I would like to make is that within one of your videos you use an offsider/employee/ascosiate to demonstrate the choked safety line back up on pole climb flip line system BUT your choked safety line, with a running bowline which does not appear to be set fast or backed up with a stopper knot or better yet tied through as a Yosemite bowline? Also in demonstrating a “soft locked” alloy fig 8 descent/belay/rappel device I cant seem to see any Prusick or cramming device locking this system in place or backing it up, surely you of all people are not encouraging people to climb on a false back up system? (Made false by ONLY using a soft lock on a non locking/camming rappel device)…Surely by leaving in above the fig 8 the Blakes this would be a far safer and therefore appropriate system?

http://www.palmtreeservices.com.au/video/lanyardtechniques.wmv

As I understand it all systems need to or should pass the “rescue” parameters (can I safely rescue someone, be rescued or self rescue on this system) and the parameters or rigor of a court room (if this system were to fail or someone were to be injured or die whilst using this system whether related to the system or not, how would I go about defending the system in a court of law) same with the consulting Arborist’s reports and recommendations, therefore when assessing the viability of a system would it not make sense to attempt to theoretically undermine each system in every possible manner so as to determine how “bullet proof” the system actually is? 

Bowlines on new rope/cord are highly prone to untying due to the slippery and “no-memory” nature of “new” rope…

Ekka, I’m right handed and prefer to have all my gear on my RHS as I am both comfortable with this set up and now very used to it being this way… As I have, in the past, used a 2 x 10 foot (linked, creating 20 foot) steel core pole strap system with heavy auto locking closed eye snap’s, which, fully extended, hurt if not thrown with the favored hand and therefore not following a known trajectory as is the case when thrown from the un-favored therefore un-coordinated hand (obviously around largish trunks and branches), which I see as being both critical and safe; that we use the system we are familiar with and feel safe and comfortable with as when we change our system or climb on another’s system or another’s suggestion for a system we risk making fatal errors as we don’t know this NEW system we are trialing, therefore Dean, PLEASE, find a system you feel safe and comfortable with and then stick to it as is safely practical, yet always be open to learning and debate but make changes only over extended periods of time with deliberation from discussion as to the rhyme or reason you are changing your system and with your own safety foremost and therefore, in turn, the safety of all around you, in mind…

Think safe, climb safe, live safe…

(Hey Ekka, your name’s sake coincides with the QAA Climb Comp’ in Bundy this w/end don’t it?)

And some pic’s just taken showing meaning of the clove hitch attachment on the 'biner and the short Prusick loop and it then turned into a two wrap prusick knot followed with a micro pulley (hope you guys can pick the jeepers out of these pics as there are heaps of safety issues with the rigging in them):


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## arboralliance (Aug 1, 2006)

*Safety first...*

another pic showing the three wrap Prusick/micro pulley pole strap system:

(Dean a fall no greater than 600mm or approx 24inch is the max allowable within a static climbing system, therefore constant adjustment should be applied to the system to keep it taught at all times...If the slack in the system becomes greater than this you are looking at a break in the system if a fall were to happen, one could go on...)


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## Ekka (Aug 1, 2006)

Hi to Arboralliance and welcome to the site.

Great to have another Aussie on here, now we have 6 I think.

Many good points there and I got busted a bit hey, oooh, I got to be careful.

Most of the time I simply have my hitch up hard against the choke and dont have an eight in. And I will admit that most of the time I dont back up the running bowline as I leave a significant tail.

On palms, which I do a lot of, I mostly take 2 wire core lanyards and just choke one. But sometimes on a real hairy one I'll take my lifeline instead in case I have to escape from a snake or something up there. It's that getting back to the ground that you want.

Now, about your sig, tree lopper? Damn I hate that word but it's what 90% of people up here call you. Some dont even know what an arborist is. 

Oh guess what too, I write with my RH but throw with my LH, so it works our great for me. 

That last pic in post 13 says it all for a cheaper way out, you can use that on wire core too. After looking at the price of Gibbs adjusters today I'll be doing that before buying another, $127 here!


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