# friction knot of choice for hitch climber



## jimmy shannon (Mar 18, 2013)

Hey guys, Ive been climbing for twenty years but for the past five have been out with an injury.Back into it now and am going to try one of these hitch climber set ups. Whats your preference for the friction knot.Some better than others?Im going to be using an ocean polyester 8 mm at 30 inches.French prussic seems to be popular. What are your thoughts or suggestions.


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## climb4fun (Mar 20, 2013)

i recently started climbing with the valdotain tresse. ive been up and down on it a dozen times now and im pretty happy with it. course the first time i reached up and grabbed the knot on accident and started sliding down was a lil exciting but it only took that one time to learn that lesson lol. easy to tend the slack. works well with the sit stand method, foot locking or just using your arms to pull you way up if your a freak like me.


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## Iustinian (Mar 20, 2013)

I agree, a VT will probably work best with a cord that length and diameter -- with a cord that long, the distel will have too much travel in it, too much distance from the pulley in my opinion. I dont care for Ocean as friction cord, I use it for other things because it wears quickly, but thats mainly because I've been using Armor Prus which lasts and lasts and lasts. You should try some.


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## simpleiowaguy (Mar 20, 2013)

i've been using the swabisch and a pulley lately and really like it.


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## jimmy shannon (Mar 20, 2013)

*prussic*



climb4fun said:


> i recently started climbing with the valdotain tresse. ive been up and down on it a dozen times now and im pretty happy with it. course the first time i reached up and grabbed the knot on accident and started sliding down was a lil exciting but it only took that one time to learn that lesson lol. easy to tend the slack. works well with the sit stand method, foot locking or just using your arms to pull you way up if your a freak like me.



Thanks man.Ill give it a go.


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## jimmy shannon (Mar 20, 2013)

*friction knot*



Iustinian said:


> I agree, a VT will probably work best with a cord that length and diameter -- with a cord that long, the distel will have too much travel in it, too much distance from the pulley in my opinion. I dont care for Ocean as friction cord, I use it for other things because it wears quickly, but thats mainly because I've been using Armor Prus which lasts and lasts and lasts. You should try some.



Armor prus...good to know.Where did you get it...length? diameter? thanks.


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## Iustinian (Mar 22, 2013)

jimmy shannon said:


> Armor prus...good to know.Where did you get it...length? diameter? thanks.



I bought mine from treestuff.com, I usually buy 30" eye to eye already spliced or splice my own when I have time. If you're using a distel I would order one shorter; also I use 8mm, because I generally climb on 11mm climb line or 11.7mm. It works very very well with the hitch climber pulley. and srt, etc. I dont care for ocean polyester though, it seems to wear out faster


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## jimmy shannon (Mar 22, 2013)

Iustinian said:


> I bought mine from treestuff.com, I usually buy 30" eye to eye already spliced or splice my own when I have time. If you're using a distel I would order one shorter; also I use 8mm, because I generally climb on 11mm climb line or 11.7mm. It works very very well with the hitch climber pulley. and srt, etc. I dont care for ocean polyester though, it seems to wear out faster



Thanks man.Ive been using the hitch climber Having received it promptly from treestuff.Those guys are great.Fast delivery,great selection and well informed staff.So far ive only tried the Vt knot and the distel.Ive got a new line,luna 7.11 and the 8 mm ocean prusik,took awhile to start grabbing but once it did it seems pretty good.Ill check out this set up your suggesting here. This is a whole new world to me with seemingly endless possibilities.you suggest like a 28 inch 8mm eye to eye if im using the distill?


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## simpleiowaguy (Mar 23, 2013)

Been using the armor prus 10mm on a lava 11.7 mm line and it was grabbing good on the very first climb (schwabisch hitch) but i weigh 225 so there is plenty of downward pull. I like bee line black but sometimes it bites to hard for my liking.


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## Adamgaspo (Mar 24, 2013)

*Hitch climber*

I initially used a distel with the hitch climber but it would bind extremely tight when sitting in the saddle. My eye to eye cord of choice is HRC I don't even bother buying spliced lengths, just tie a scaffold knot and that way you can adjust the length to your preference oh and the VT is the way to go high performance hitch! Just be sure your wraps and braids don't unravel


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## Chappas (Mar 24, 2013)

I like the Distel with a hitch-tending pulley. Binding occurs rarely and is only a slight inconvenience when it does. The VT and XT are both good choices as well, I've just never implemented a change to either after testing them out. Mainly because I am really comfortable using the Distel as I have used it for the last 2 1/2 years. Try them all, use what feels most comfortable to you. I use a 30" ocean double eye splice in my climbing system.


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## Iustinian (Mar 25, 2013)

Chappas said:


> I like the Distel with a hitch-tending pulley. Binding occurs rarely and is only a slight inconvenience when it does. The VT and XT are both good choices as well, I've just never implemented a change to either after testing them out. Mainly because I am really comfortable using the Distel as I have used it for the last 2 1/2 years. Try them all, use what feels most comfortable to you. I use a 30" ocean double eye splice in my climbing system.



when I first started using e2e's I was running 10mm beeline, and switched to "ultratech" or technora, which is a stiffer, or harder cord; when u switch to a softer cord like 8mm beeline or armor prus, I noticed I had to spread the knot or push it up the climb line a bit when it was new. I'm not a fan of distel really bc it can tighten up pretty quick, and also if one of the legs crosses over the other -- I wouldn't waste my time getting a 28" cord for a distel -- just get the 30" and use either the VT or XT -- XT works great as well, great knot. Ocean wears out really fast compared to armor prus in my opinion. Really really fast. 30" armor prus VT or XT is boss over ocean poly, imo. 

for drt -- I have a 120' luna, and a 200 blue moon. Great climb lines. easy to splice, lightweight, and very little stretch. I'm ordering a donaghys cougar 11.7 for my next line though just to try it out -- didn't really care for rocket -- I did splice up a long flip line out of rocket though, and the long tail bounced off the bar of my 200 and it didn't fray at all though -- probably just luck.


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## jimmy shannon (Mar 28, 2013)

Iustinian said:


> when I first started using e2e's I was running 10mm beeline, and switched to "ultratech" or technora, which is a stiffer, or harder cord; when u switch to a softer cord like 8mm beeline or armor prus, I noticed I had to spread the knot or push it up the climb line a bit when it was new. I'm not a fan of distel really bc it can tighten up pretty quick, and also if one of the legs crosses over the other -- I wouldn't waste my time getting a 28" cord for a distel -- just get the 30" and use either the VT or XT -- XT works great as well, great knot. Ocean wears out really fast compared to armor prus in my opinion. Really really fast. 30" armor prus VT or XT is boss over ocean poly, imo.
> 
> for drt -- I have a 120' luna, and a 200 blue moon. Great climb lines. easy to splice, lightweight, and very little stretch. I'm ordering a donaghys cougar 11.7 for my next line though just to try it out -- didn't really care for rocket -- I did splice up a long flip line out of rocket though, and the long tail bounced off the bar of my 200 and it didn't fray at all though -- probably just luck.



Dynamite feed back guys.this has been really helpful and should keep me busy for awhile. thanks.


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## Nemus Talea (Mar 29, 2013)

Use the chimpanzee fudge finger knot, climbers in the Sahara say it advances real slick. Preparation is key, burritos and bacon the night before.
:msp_tongue:


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