# Ascender



## PTS (Dec 28, 2005)

I climb traditional style. However I am always trying new things. I just got a new Ascender (a right hand blue Pentzl) and really like it. It greatly increases my vertical ascend time. However I am not sure I am using it right. I tried ascending only using the ascender but then needed to tie in while hanging and then needing to take the weight off the ascender and transfer it back to my Blakes hitch. Then I tried setting up with the Blakes hitch and putting the ascender above it also attached and moving myself up a ways and then moving my blakes hitch. That works but I feel like I am waisting a lot of time trying to catch my blakes hitch up.

The disadvantage I find (which may be caused by improper use) is that I don't just ascend to the top and then come back down I may go up and then come back down a few feet and then up some more. I find with the ascender that I have to hook it up and then un-hook it and back and forth. Yesterday I decided to just take it off. I reached that point of frustration. The perfect tool would allow you to ascend and descend effortlessly. The Blakes hitch is just that but it isn't effortlessly. It doesn't advance on the ascend anything like my new ascender. Maybe this tool it is out there and I just don't know about it.


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## skwerl (Dec 28, 2005)

I was taught to always back up an ascender, so your method of using both the ascender and hitch is correct. I've moved on to the advanced friction hitches and they advance much easier so it no longer slows me down trying to advance my hitch. I have the same ascender and I typically only use it on my initial ascent to the top of the tree. I use a 30" loop runner and locking biner to attach the ascender to my center D ring and my friction hitch is below the ascender, self tending. Once at the top I unhook the ascender and clip it on the back of my saddle out of the way, working only on my friction hitch.


BTW, the 'perfect tool' you are looking for is called a V.T. hitch.


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## Tom Dunlap (Dec 28, 2005)

Using an ascender in a DdRT or traditional climbing system works but it does need to be fine-tuned for maximum efficiency. Tie your friction hitch with a short bridge and use a slack tender with a short tether. My preference for a slack tender is a swivel snap only. This works at about 90% of the efficiency of a pulley and keeps the whole system snug and responsive. 

Next, tie in with your climbing system while on the ground. Snug things up so that you’re hanging just like you would when you’re climbing. Now clip on the ascender above your climbing hitch. Slide the ascender up until it’s about an inch short of your full arm’s extension. This is the position that you want the ascender. Adjust the bridge/tether to this length. If you have a longer bridge you’ll be putting much more wear and tear on your shoulders. You’ll wish you hadn’t done this years from now when you start to ache.

There is a climbing tool that works on either SRT or DdRT as an ascender or a descender. Take a look:

http://tinyurl.com/89gbn

http://tinyurl.com/9v9zw


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## John Paul Sanborn (Dec 28, 2005)

I tried the ascender in the Trad system, then went to two ascenders on doubled rope to enter a tree. I was using the Petzl, but I was not using both arms evenly with one on the ascenders and one on the rope.

I bit the bullit and bough Mar-Bars, and they work much better for me, though i found that the bottom is good only for very long pitches. Takes too much rope to start to self-tail.

I find that when footlocking my tail to muve up in a tree, the VT is effortless to advance.


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