# Blake's hitch binding up



## jack76 (Sep 9, 2011)

I bought a new 16 strand safety blue climbing line. I put a Blake's hitch on a traditional climbing system and proceeded to cut some branches off an oak too close to a house. When I went to descend the hitch would not release. I jostled it about up and down but it was frozen in place. Finally I had a leatherman on me and took out the screwdriver section and kept poking at the turns to separate them. After many tries I got to move the Hitch and then descended.
I have never had the hich bind up before on my old line.
Has anyone had this problem? 
I just do this work for friends not for a living but being stuck up a tree was a little nerveracking.
My neighbor was home and I had a cellphone to call so I did have an out.


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## Grace Tree (Sep 9, 2011)

Wow. Please don't dig on your hitch with anything. Learn to do a simple footlock on the tail of the rope and you can take enough weight off the hitch to loosen it with your free hand. I haven't used a blakes in a number of years but I can't ever recall one locking up that tight if it's tied properly.
Phil


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## jack76 (Sep 9, 2011)

Small wood I did the footlock to no avail. I used the phillips end but you are right I should not have dug anything in there. Once the hitch loosend everything was fine. I thought it might have been because it was a new rope.


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## lxt (Sep 9, 2011)

Never heard of that!!! are you sure you tied a blake####ch?


LXT............


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## jack76 (Sep 9, 2011)

*Blake's Hitch*

I Tied it according to Tree Climbers companion and used it earlier that day on my older climbing line. I switched to my new line and tied it the same way. I kept it down at the workshop so tomorrow I will check it out. After the footlock did not work for me I sat on a branch and that is when I worked on the knot with the phillips end. After it loosened it worked up and down fine but I will double check tomorrow. Seeing this doesn't happen to anyone else I must have screwed up somehow. Tomorrow I will go practice again at a much lower height like 3 or 4 feet .


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## RacerX (Sep 11, 2011)

When I used the Blake's in the past I did have it bind on me also but never to the point where I would need to pry it apart. Binding was one of the reasons that I stopped using it altogether.


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## jack76 (Sep 11, 2011)

racerx
I did come across another post on another site that experienced a binding problem but he weighed over 300 lbs. I 'm about 200 and have used the blake before and never had a problem.
I will experiment with other means of ascending now.


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## RacerX (Sep 11, 2011)

jack76 said:


> racerx
> I did come across another post on another site that experienced a binding problem but he weighed over 300 lbs. I 'm about 200 and have used the blake before and never had a problem.
> I will experiment with other means of ascending now.


 

If you've never had a problem then maybe it's your new rope. Maybe some else who climbs Safety Blue with a Blake's can chime in.


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## Tree Pig (Sep 11, 2011)

jack76 said:


> racerx
> I did come across another post on another site that experienced a binding problem but he weighed over 300 lbs. I 'm about 200 and have used the blake before and never had a problem.
> I will experiment with other means of ascending now.


 
I am 270 and when I did use a blakes I cant remember it ever binding bad, especially to a point like that. You tied or dressed it wrong, not sure how its pretty easy to tie.


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## tree md (Sep 12, 2011)

I used the blakes very briefly many years ago and although it didn't bind as bad as you described, it just didn't run slick enough for me. I climbed for a lot of years on safety blue with a 3 coils on bottom, 2 coils on top prussic. That ran a lot smoother than a blakes and worked very will with my safety blue and big blue ropes. Of course you need to make sure you use a stopper knot and dress and set the knot properly which goes for any knot.

If it is binding to the point that you are having to jab it with a screw driver then something is seriously wrong. Binding like that is indicative of being heavily loaded or else you are getting you blakes wrong and using a different knot.


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## sawinredneck (Sep 12, 2011)

I'm 275 and have had it lock on me, Arborplex on Arborplex. When I switched to Bee-line for a pursick life went a LOT easier! Arborplex is notoriously slick but for some reason two combined get sticky!
I also learned I had to tweak things on a VT going from Arborplex to Poison-hy-v to make everything happy. Added a twist and took a turn out.
It's about being able to fine tune your gear to you, what is written is a base line if you will, if it's grabby take a turn out, if it's slick put a turn in, just stay low and play with the systems until you learn what works for you!


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## jwp (Sep 13, 2011)

I am a total rookie but this is what I have found. A new safety blue has a coating or something on it that makes it sticky or to have more friction. I tried climbing with a new rope and wore myself out before I had gone up 5 feet. Once the rope is used and starts to fuzz and soften all this sticking problem will probably go away. I use a modified blakes hitch (sometimes called a B53) which gives a little more friction for grip but also seems not to load up so tight.


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## jack76 (Sep 13, 2011)

Picture of line.. Bailey's wanted a picture
hope attachment works


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## jack76 (Sep 13, 2011)

*Jwp*

From one rookie to another. maybe that was the problem because today it works much better.
But I will take the advice of the other replies too and fine tune my techniques.


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## Parrot Head (Sep 16, 2011)

Stihl-O-Matic said:


> I am 270 and when I did use a blakes I cant remember it ever binding bad, especially to a point like that. You tied or dressed it wrong, not sure how its pretty easy to tie.


What combo are using now? I'm about your weight at 250#. I'm using 3/8 beeline on 16 strand arbormaster tied with a klemheist. Works ok for 10 - 15 feet then locks up kinda hard.

Thanks,
Tom


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## troythetreeman (Sep 16, 2011)

i prefer a tautline hitch, you can tie it with one hand, tho i usually go under twice, over once unless i want to be sure it doesnt slip, then under twice over twice
it will slip a little occasionally, just give the tail a tug to prevent this but i havent ever had it bind so tight it left me hanging
there are pros and cons to any friction hitch i guess


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## Tree Pig (Sep 16, 2011)

Parrot Head said:


> What combo are using now? I'm about your weight at 250#. I'm using 3/8 beeline on 16 strand arbormaster tied with a klemheist. Works ok for 10 - 15 feet then locks up kinda hard.
> 
> Thanks,
> Tom


 
7/16th line with 8mm beeline and a distel hitch.


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## Parrot Head (Sep 16, 2011)

Stihl-O-Matic said:


> 7/16th line with 8mm beeline and a distel hitch.


 
Thanks stihl, I think I might try the distel again. Last time I tried it was with 5/16 ice tail and it locked hard. With the distel does it matter how long the hitch is?(the cord left over after the hitch is tied). The ice I was using probably had a foot of cord left over to hook to the biner.


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## Tree Pig (Sep 16, 2011)

Parrot Head said:


> Thanks stihl, I think I might try the distel again. Last time I tried it was with 5/16 ice tail and it locked hard. With the distel does it matter how long the hitch is?(the cord left over after the hitch is tied). The ice I was using probably had a foot of cord left over to hook to the biner.


 
To tell you the truth I use a very short prusik like maybe 22-24" just enough to do a four wrap distel and clip to biner and I use an williams ball lock with a micro pully between the legs of the distel for tending. The set up seems to run very smooth.


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## stoneland (Sep 18, 2011)

I climb with a blakes and and new england rope and i have had a similar experience. Now i take three turns on the top, and it slides nice and easy. Im also 210 Lbs.


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## jack76 (Sep 24, 2011)

*Stoneland*

I contacted new england rope and talked to steve the technical advisor. He talked to the in house arborists so they are aware of some problems. I don'tknow if they will tell purchasers to work the rope first and break it in or not. Thanks for the advice on one more turn


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## Greener (Oct 7, 2011)

I'm old school and have used blakes for years. They will bite from time to time, but I have found that you must use the highest quality rope. And are you using the same rope for the climbing line as on your tail (the one with the knot)? This is important too. If you rope climb frequently, I would consider changing to a beeline.


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## jack76 (Oct 7, 2011)

*greener*

Thanks for the advice. I never had a problem with the hitch before. I use a 16 strand safety blue. I switched from the old safety blue to a new one climbing a different tree on the same day. I do use the tail from the same line.
I started climbing five years ago and I am 65. I haven't had any problem since I worked the new line in. I called the factory just to inform them what happened, figuring maybe the coating was the problem. Trying new methods is something I should do


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## Greener (Oct 8, 2011)

jack76 said:


> Thanks for the advice. I never had a problem with the hitch before. I use a 16 strand safety blue. I switched from the old safety blue to a new one climbing a different tree on the same day. I do use the tail from the same line.
> I started climbing five years ago and I am 65. I haven't had any problem since I worked the new line in. I called the factory just to inform them what happened, figuring maybe the coating was the problem. Trying new methods is something I should do



Jack76, you are truly inspirational to me now that I know you are 65. I was hoping to continue climbing into my 50's. Now that seems like a definite possiblity. Happy climbing.


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## ozzy42 (Oct 8, 2011)

stoneland said:


> I climb with a blakes and and new england rope and i have had a similar experience. Now i take three turns on the top, and it slides nice and easy. Im also 210 Lbs.


 
I think you're on the right track.
I use an arborplex for small trees when I don't want to drag 130 ft of rope around.
A two two blakes seemed to slip on me .I tried a two on bottom and one on top and it works a lot better on that rope.

It's only a 50 ft rope that I use for small trees that I use the blakes.
My primary is 130 hi-vee with ice i2i with a VT and a brass swivel.So much smoother than the blakes,but I'm too cheap to buy a 2nd setup for the short rope.


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## CNBTreeTrimming (Oct 8, 2011)

I climb on velocity with a blue streak Blake's. When it binds which only happens for me srt you just have to take a lil weight off the hitch and pull the loop that goes around the blue streak. The coils on the rope don't cause the bite. When there is pressure from your weight on that loop it draws the coils tight. Similar to releasing a bowline.


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## freeweight (Oct 16, 2011)

try not to tighten up so much when pulling the tail through 

myself ,i use black/red/wh arbormaster ,with a blaze tail to tie a 6/2 blakes ,i havent had much of a prob ..i dont know what it is about this rope but it releases very adrupt with a 4/2 ,and a 5/2 blakes,will make the ol sphincter tightin up from time to time

anyway what works for others wont work for u (as well) u have to set everything up to YOUR preference


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## Iustinian (Nov 6, 2011)

For longer climbs I have a 200' Lava (spliced on both ends), using a Ultra-Tech eye-to-eye. 

For dirty trees like siberian elms and pines - I have a 120' Blaze, using a different Ultra-Tech eye-to-eye

For shorter climbs I have a 100' 10.4mm Bluewater, using a 8mm Beeline eye-to-eye.

I usually start out with a Valdotain Tresse until the cord develops wear and "memory"; then I switch to a distel or michocain until I get a new cord shipped.

None of these three knots ever have locked up on me, but you guys using Blake's would have to get used to reefing the line hand over hand and tend the slack, unless you use the adjustable system I have pictured below. You can still bodythrust pulling on your line (without hand over hand reefing) and then pull the system down closer to your bridge for rope walking etc. Its a good system, but works best with a end/eye spliced rope.


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## defensiblespace (Nov 7, 2011)

I've been climbing on safety blue with a blake's for 2 years and have never had a problem, but I am only 165 pounds. For the type of climbing I do, it is a great system. I would highly recommend using a split tail with a micro pulley if you haven't already. I also love using this system with a single line and pulley in the tree. It reduces the coefficient of friction while climbing and enables a ground person to lower you if you get hurt. It takes a little longer to set up, but is worth it for jobs where you will be pruning big, excurrent conifers. You can see an example of this system on page 50 of the Tree Climbers Companion. The other great thing about this system is it eliminates the need for a friction saver.


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## Iustinian (Nov 10, 2011)

defensiblespace said:


> I've been climbing on safety blue with a blake's for 2 years and have never had a problem, but I am only 165 pounds. For the type of climbing I do, it is a great system. I would highly recommend using a split tail with a micro pulley if you haven't already. I also love using this system with a single line and pulley in the tree. It reduces the coefficient of friction while climbing and enables a ground person to lower you if you get hurt. It takes a little longer to set up, but is worth it for jobs where you will be pruning big, excurrent conifers. You can see an example of this system on page 50 of the Tree Climbers Companion. The other great thing about this system is it eliminates the need for a friction saver.



post a pic. pleez


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