Please, sell me your hitch!

[OutOnaLimb]

80% of the time I still use the Blakes hitch on the old end of the rope method. I have tress cords and split tails but to be perfectly honest with ya, I have tried all of the assorted hitches, and the Blakes is still my favorite. I guess it is all user dependant, but I really dont see the point in re-inventing the wheel.

Kenn

:Monkey:

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Originally posted by OutOnaLimb
I have tried all of the assorted hitches, and the Blakes is still my favorite.

Did you really give any of them a chance?

I'm another one who as soon as i tried the VT I never looked back.

If i forget a second tress cord on the saddle. I'll use a blakes for a double crotch, and maybe for a quick small tree where I'm using the rope more for descent then anything else. Double halfhitch to the center D and blakes with the tail.

I hate it though when i climb on a blakes, cuse I forget that i cannot onehand-advance the hitch.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I'm really with Kenn on this one.
They went from cassettes to CDs, now on to MP3, and I still like 8-track tape the best! Why try to improve on music storage, the 8-track is perfect.

 

[OutOnaLimb]

Originally posted by John Paul Sanborn


I hate it though when i climb on a blakes, cuse I forget that i cannot onehand-advance the hitch. [/B]

Thats why I like to attach a micro pully right under my Blakes, and clip it into the bowline that I secure my tail to my floating D to. I have never tried the VT. Any one got any photos or a thourough explanation??? I wouldnt mind giving it a shot.

Kenn

:Monkey:

 

[Nathan Wreyford]

Just FYI, the #1 hitch I see here daily is a prussick loop with just 2 wraps.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I've tried the blakes w/ slack tender, but having my attatchment points on each hip, I did not like the slop in it.

Xian Hunter has some hitch pic's on his site.

http://community-2.webtv.net/acutabovetree/RopesSplicingKnots/

 

[OutOnaLimb]

I have found that there is more slop in a Distle or Swabish using a minder pulley. With the end of the rope Blakes I can adjust the amount of play so that I do not have more than 2 inches of slop when I mind my hitch. Thanks for the link though, I will check it out and do some playing around with new techniques.

Kenn
:Monkey:

 

[Bradley Ford]

To those that have shared or will share "why", thank you.

Originally posted by RockyJSquirrel
Based on Bradley's other thread last month, I think this has been beaten to death and he is simply rephrasing an unanswerable question.

I believe, "Why did you pick your hitch?" is a question everyone who has climbed on a hitch can answer. What do you think is my "unanswerable question"?

Originally posted by John Paul Sanborn
Any knot is as safe as the person operating it.

We choose our hithces on performance first.

(This question is asked of everyone, not just JPS. I quoted JPS's post because it succinctly provided context.) Would you still select your hitch based on performance first even if you could rank the hitches relative to their intrinsic safety (because you feel all climbing hitches are safe enough)?

 

[NickfromWI]

Originally posted by RockyJSquirrel
But you aren't asking anybody why they picked their hitch....

The way I read the initial post in this thread, that is ALL he was asking. The first thread was more, "Which is the "safest." Now this thread, according to the very first question on his first post is "Why did you pick yours."

There is a difference. A group of people might be able to agree which is the safest, but some of those people might say, "even though the "X" hitch is safer, I choose "Y" because it's faster, easier to tie, doesn't burn the tress cord as much"...and so on.

Rocky, chill.

love
nick

 

[NickfromWI]

Brian, my good buddy ol' pal, yes, he keeps using the word "safer" but he is also asking WHY DID YOU PICK YOUR HITCH....what are all the things that go in to you deciding to use what you use?

It just seems that there is not reason to jump down his throat.

love
nick

 

[MasterBlaster]

Nick is right, and Rocky's wrong.

 

[OutOnaLimb]

There is a big difference between safety and efficient performance. I kinda gotta back Rocky on this one. Whats the point in using a super safe hitch if its gonna cause you to flounder around in a tree all day long? Its kinda like pounding sand.

Kenn

:Monkey:

 

[Gord]

on a lighter note, here's a pretty picture of my hitch

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Gord,

You might consider a change in your system. If you swap the biners side to side you'll have a bit better stystem I think. By using the HMS with your split tail you'll have a bigger space to put the wider load. With the cord and the pulley on that small space, the load is shifte towards the gate leg which is weaker.

Putting the single rope on the smaller biner keeps the load centered better on the main spine.

I've stopped using any d-shaped biners where more than one rope is connected. The ISC Mongoose and its kindred or Petzl HMS get used in their place.

Tom

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

You could shorten up the system by chaning out the pulley and tying to the biner instead of the fair lead, which will help with performance, along with taking one less turn on the VT.

 

[rb_in_va]

FWIW, I believe Bradley Ford is a rec climber. From that perspective, his ultimate goal may be the safest hitch, rather than the most efficient. He's not concerned with how many trees he can get up and down in a day, likely wants to enjoy the experience and be safe about it. Bradley, correct me if I am wrong on this.

 

[murphy4trees]

Putting a spliced eye in that climbing line will make you a happy man...

 

[rborist1]

:Eye:

 

[Tim Gardner]

I have tried the two biners thing and did not like it. Seems like there was one of them always side loading. The only time I untie my hitch is to change the cord or wash the rope.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Tim,

Email me, I have something that I'd like to talk with you about.

rborist1,

If the cord is between the cheeks of the pulley, how much clearance is there between the cord and the rope? If they rub, is that a concern?

Tom