# Unicender options for adjustable tethers



## yoyoman (Jan 13, 2014)

I find adjustablity is a key element in my climbing system, here are some options for an adjustable tether used for the Unicender.

and formatted for better viewing on tall small screens such as your smart phone.


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## Hoowasat (Jan 13, 2014)

I don't use a unicender, but I have used an adjustable tether. I made my tether IAW the following video clip ...


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## yoyoman (Jan 14, 2014)

Hoowasat said:


> I don't use a unicender, but I have used an adjustable tether. I made my tether IAW the following



Nice.
That's a little like another option I played with in the past too.


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## yoyoman (Jan 15, 2014)

yoyoman said:


> That's a little like another option I played with in the past too.



Added note:
This was designed for the Unicender as the scaffold knot attaches to the base of the Uni and the side load still facilitates strumming. 
As the Blakes hitch is on a single line it will adjust best when it is not weighted, similar to the ABR tether used for the Uni but this is a very inexpensive tether option and will only cost the length of your cordage. 






.


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## imagineero (Jan 16, 2014)

That was unbelievably painful to watch. Forget about all the money you spent on that gear, even if it was 500% more efficient than just using a prussik it still wouldn't matter. The guy on the prusik would get the job done well before you'd adjusted, changed, added gear in, removed gear, set back up again etc etc... Tree work is too dynamic, we change between ascending, descending, and work positioning frequently. It needs to be a single device that does all, perfectly. There's no room for "yeah this device, plus this other device, and then this foot loop if i need to go up, and plus this pulley if I gotta go down, then I just simply add a hand ascender to limbwalk, then another pulley for slack tending, etc etc etc" In the mean time, grab a prusik and get in the tree ;-) There's no substitute for saddle hours. That gear all looks way too shiny.


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## yoyoman (Jan 16, 2014)

imagineero said:


> That was unbelievably painful to watch. ..................




So you watched the whole thing?


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## imagineero (Jan 16, 2014)

Start to finish. The most painful part was seeing you admit yourself that even with all the bells and whistles, it still ain't all that great.


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## yoyoman (Jan 16, 2014)

imagineero said:


> Start to finish. The most painful part was seeing you admit yourself that even with all the bells and whistles, it still ain't all that great.


So I have an idea.......I come "downunder" and you can show me how, we can take some of that shine off my gear and I'll buy you a few cold ones in those cool pubs you have down there and I can enjoy that warm summer weather you are having and get out of this 25°F stuff.

Cheeeeeers mate


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## imagineero (Jan 18, 2014)

Sounds great, the beer's on me. Don't expect to see anything fancy though, I'm just climbing on 8mm beeline prusik with a klemheist.

I've got all the same gear you've got. Got a big bag filled with microcenders, shunts, hand ascenders, chest ascenders, foot ascenders, all kinds of pulleys, some with progress capture, and all kids of descent devices like figure 8's, sticht plates, gri gri's, racks, don't have a whale's tale any more. I started out as a rock climber in my young teens and progressed on to caving, canyoning, then got work in industrial access and mountain rescue. All those tools have their place, and they do their job. 

When i first got into tree climbing, i couldn't believe people climbed on prusiks! I had prusiks of course, but in the industrial access world we'd never use them if there were other options available. They're more of a backup tool. So I had a go at using all my gear, which i was well familiar with and had used for over 15 years commercially already. It didn't take long before I realised this wasn't going to work, because the needs of treeworkers are so different from the needs of other rope users. I took the prusik up and never looked back. I'm not averse to new gear (I've got plenty of it!) and own a first and second generation rope wrench, and have climbed on the unicender, the hitch climber, and the spyderjack. haven't tried the petzl tool yet. Each one is slightly better than a prusik in some ways, and worse in others. I still haven't seen a tool that is overall better.


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