How do you all climb?

[tree md]

I was working with a guy I met from this site yesterday. He uses a Blake's and was watching me climb on the VT. I had to go up and down this tree a few times in the removal, roping process. He saw how well my setup tended slack and how well it bit when I set back that he said he plans to go to this setup. If you ever get it dialed in you'll never use another friction hitch.

 

[ozzy42]

You've got to play around and tweak the VT to fine tune it for your personal weight and climbing style. I wasn't crazy about it at first either but I kept playing with it, adjusting the length of my prussic cord, trying different slack tending devices and trying different combinations of coils and braids before I got it dialed in. Another factor is the prussic cord needs time to break in before it really starts to work optimally. That has been my experience with HRC anyway.

I am sure glad I stuck it out with the VT because it is absolutely the sweetest friction hitch I have ever used. After I got mine dialed in it is super responsive. I am using 8mm HRC on Poison Ivy and using a boat swivel snap to tend slack. Works great for me.

This is the only pic I have of my climbing knot. Can't really inspect it closely but you can get an idea of what I use.

Thats pretty much what I'm using .
on the swivel snap too .
I use the same thing.A fraction of the weight and not as bulky either.And a fraction of the cost.

 

[tree md]

Yeah, the swivel snap works great. I have Treeco to thank for that idea. He's the one who advised me to try it.

 

[fishercat]

tried them.

You might want to try a knut or a distel.

me no like.

the problem i think is the small diameter rope.yes it takes up less room in the bag and is lighter.those are the only pros.the later being a con as well as a pro.

i am going back to Arbormaster 1/2 soon.

 

[WolverineMarine]

Alot of the guys I used to work with at PennLine used alot of different prusiks..I tried the VT, the taughtline, and the swabish..I like the blakes hands down..its easy to tie once you get the hang of it..its easy to adjust, doesnt jam..I cant complain..I'm sure different knots work better in different circumstances..but for what I'm doing..I'm sold on the Blakes..I just cut about a 4-5 hunk of climb line..tie on a snap..and I'm good..

 

[treeclimber101]

Two over two , always good fast reliable knot that rarely walks and easy to tie in a pinch also it doesn't glaze the rope as fast as other knots .. Or so I"M told lol..... Hey MTG are you climbing for Bartlett or a greenery mover , cause there gonna train ya there way and atleast you'll learn some really good info from some climbers who aren't drunks or meth heads so pay attention a free education is often tough to find ..

 

[jefflovstrom]

this ain't the boy scouts.............Tautline is 2 up and 2 down. been that way for 30 years in the tree business as I've seen it.

I was always 2 up- 1 down. Sometimes 3 up but always 1 down.
Jeff

 

[soiset]

Single rope technique. 11 mm static line, Petzl RAD with grigri. Start with a high central ascent, remove ascender and pulley, and get around. Steel core flipline used when advancing anchor point or cutting. Getting quite fast with it, and can anchor from what would otherwise be too weak a stem by routing line back to central anchor to provide countering moment.

 

[worthaug]

Big canopy tree pruning access with petzl rads (LH ascension, grigri, fixe pulley) limbwalk with i2i ice in distel on 7/16 velocity cool.
Shorter climbs with redirects i2i ice in distel with 2 attatchment Cmi pulley tending, left foot ascender or on belay. Shorter climbs within reach of trunk single eye ice in blake's hitch with tending pulley hip thrustin. Sometime footlock it for fun on hrc prussic on 1/2" arbormaster brw, oh yeah I sit in a sequoia.

 

[outofmytree]

Use the same rig for everything. 12mm XTC fire, terminated with a triple fishermans and a schwabisch (3 over 1)prussik tied in 10mm beeline.

I started with the same rope but using an English prussik, upgraded to a VT and settled on the "swab". I have found if you are having trouble with advanced hitches slipping that shorter lengths of cord with the same number of turns, which gives you shorter "legs" below the hitch, make it easier for the hitch to grab after it is advanced.

 

[talltreeclimber]

Blakes hitch but cganging over to a split tail.. i have a PETZL Sequoia with a floating bridge with a hitch climber micro pully. i have used Mikecutstrees split tail with my blakes hitch setup to double crotch... my pully is set up perfect for it because of the three holes for carabiners.

 

[B-Edwards]

Split with a double eye spliced prusik.

 

[Mass tree guy]

can someone explain to me what a VT is and where to find good info on it.

 

[ozzy42]

It's a state in new england.
Can probably find it on google earth.

















Just kidding .
It is a friction hitch that terminates both ends back to the caribiner,a combo of coils and X braids around the main line.
Probably find pics here somewhere.

 

[jefflovstrom]

Damn, how much spreading around to rep someone?
Jeff

 

[ozzy42]

Here's A pic Treemd posted.

 

[tree md]

can someone explain to me what a VT is and where to find good info on it.

Here is a link to TreeSpyder's site which has tons of info on just about any knot pertaining to tree work that you can think of. It also has step by step instructions to tie the knots .

http://www.mytreelessons.com/index.htm

Might want to bookmark his site. It's an excellent resource to keep handy.

 

[tree md]

Here's a better pic of my VT. You can inspect it a little closer. Plus you can see the swivel snap:



Here is an old split tail setup I used to climb on a few years back. It's tied with a Blakes but I went back to a 5 coil prussic not long after I tried it out. I never was crazy about the Blakes hitch:



One of the biggest differences in climbing on the VT is that you will never have to break your knot again. The braids bend your line when you work it and keep the coils from ever binding.

 

[outofmytree]

Silky sugoi, MS441 and a Petzl sequoia. Did you steal my climbing kit!!!!!!

 

[tree md]

Well, you got the Sugoi right. But the saddle is actually a Petzl Navaho Mini Boss and the saw is an 044... As well as a 260 and 361.