Ultratech burn

[UNBforester]

I'm just starting to use the ultratech material (from Sherrill) for my VT or Swaybish. I'm noticing the material is melting quickly from some pretty quick decents. I'm not climbing any differently except before I used Mammut 8mm cord and it seemed to hold up better in the long run. I stopped using it because it was too stiff most of the time.
Does ultratech normally do this or am I just rappelling too fast?
Also, what's a good cord to use for the VT?


Dave

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I bought a 40' hank of Ultra Tech at a show for a buck a foot, so I have been climbing on it for about a year. I have had no problem burning through it at all.
The thrill of burning out of a tree wore out after 5 or 10 years of clmbing, kind of like squealing the tires on the car, it doesn't do a thing for me anymore.
Long decents can also burn up rope, so I tend to do a wrap on my boot or leg.
I find decending the canopy a good time to look up and do a final inspection and admire my work.

One last thought is reguarding the strength of polyester core ropes, although they are strong enough when new, what is the breaking strength after the sheath is compromised? I'm sure it's strong enough, but UT has that increased level of strength, which I find personally satisfying.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Often I will need the fast descent to get out from the flower beds or some thing, or get a good swing down to another limb. Yeah it's still fun too, maybe because I started rope climbing so much later in life.

oh, yeah, Mike's got 10 years on me too.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Brian, what if you weight 190 lb.s and carry 20 lbs of gear, then fall 12 feet on that throwline?

 

[rbtree]

I'm with Rocky on the double braid, although I prefer the next size up, 3/8, for characteristics as well as added strength. Mark Chisholm also climbs on the same stuff.

A 12 foot fall would apply at most 500 lb to each leg of the tress cord, still a safety margin of about 8-1.

 

[Gord]

I dislike the ultratech as well mostly for the way it flattens out against the climbing line when it is loaded, making it hard to grip. It is nice and easy to splice tho, but I made up a few cords awhile ago and I still use my 3/8" yale polyester double braid cause I like it much better.

btw What if a plane hits the tree that you're in? Or a beaver fells it? What then?

 

[NickfromWI]

If a beaver starts gnawing on your tree, and you stay up there until the tree falls, you deserve to die.

I may check the ground a few times tomorrow while up in the trees. Gotta keep my eye out for those raskily beavers.

love
nick

 

[Lumberjack]

Originally posted by RockyJSquirrel
... And why are you climbing on throwline?...

"Let's say the tensile is down to something comperable to throwline, about 250lbs."


You said it Rocky first and set the comparison.


I use the ultratech, mostly because I got 2 from Sherrill when I first started climbing, I liked the fact that it has a higher melting temp than regular climbing line. I am considering getting other cords to try out, but I am happy with the UT.

On a side note. I use a schwabisch with a 34" cord from sherrill ($28). I use it mostly for work positioning, not for long repels. If I am done then I go over to the eight and come on down, I use the schwabisch (what is the abrv.?) to move around in the tree while I am working. My problem is that the knot will roll or something and lock up, wich is a real PITA. I normally don't desend 10-15' normally and up to 30ish tops, at a time. What do I need to do to keep this from happening? Do I need to dress it tighter or what. Would the distel solve this? I climb on ArborMaster if that matters.

I was thinking would 3/8 Tennex or mabey even 1/4" Black Widow be a good corardage for tieing these knots? Just a thought.


Carl

 

[Stumper]

Carl, The Schwabisch does tend to lock-esp. for those of us who are relatively heavy climbers. The Distel behaves MUCH better. Once you get used to the look of the hitch spreading out on the host line you'll probably love it.

Brian, Your logic is impecable. I have no experience wit Ultratec-and probably never will. The polyester dbl braids work perfectly. I just replaced the tress cord I climbed on ALL summer. It is stilll fine (sheath is not burnt or excessively worn) but it is dirty and has a bit of normal wear fuzz on it. Since it only cost about $1 I thought I'd replace it.

 

[Gord]

Carl it seems that any hitch other than a VT will occasionally lock because they work themselves tighter as they are used. A properly set up VT will never lock up because it is more of a expanding/contracting sleeve than a knot.

I find that a cord that holds it's shape under pressure and has a soft hand works best. The softer the hand the quicker it grabs and the rounder it stays the easier it is to milk. Also a firm shape makes slack tending easier because cords that flatten when loaded tend to bind against the pulley. For these reasons most climbers use a double braided polyester cord for their hitches, it seems to be the best compromise.

Tennex can be made into a good tress cord if it is spliced and the tails buried back until they meet in the middle, so as to make the cord stay round. I think that Black Widow is very similar to a Yale cordage product that I bought and spliced a cord out of but it flattened out too much so was hard to move.

It also could be that you aren't using the best cord for your schwabisch. The s-hitch and the distel both can be made to work very well...but once you try and finely tuned VT it's hard to go back.

 

[Rob Murphy]

Iam still using 8mm 'spectra speed' very hard wearing outer sheath and extreme strength inner core....not cheap...but it lasts so long. I think they use it on winches for deep sea net hauling. Otherwise Iam with Rocky..use the cheap double braid.Ps Istich the knots as spectra is slippery.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I have my lanyard positioned in front, so it's set up exactly as my climbing line. On one I have UT on the other I have polyester double braid. If I don't lok at the different colors, I can not tell the difference, they feel and perform so close that I could not tell them apart.
Brian's logic is good, this time, but he can't take away my preference for the "feel good" thing. And I admit, if the cost of the rope came out of my own pocket, I might not use UT for hitches. I don't burn up my equipement, so the cost difference comes down to basically nothing.
Think of it like having a Pentium 3 vs. a Pentium 4 processor in your computer, there's no way to tell without looking, but some guys want the best.

Tell me this, how about for bridge replacement on the Butterfly or Glide? You could argue it's set up as a basket, so 2700 lb average breaking strength should be good enough, hey?

 

[TREETX]

UNB - good to hear you mentioned the Mammut. I have never heard it mentioned. I used it for a while on a distel set up. It melted like butter.

Now I use the NE Sta-set for a vt. Great!! Gets a little crispy it I am trying to jump out over a flower bed, etc.

I really don't chose to burn down a rope just for the sake of burning down and wasting line. Those lateral jumps while using my RG are a differend story.

 

[UNBforester]

TREETX: Had the same problem with the mammut, it liked to melt after a quick descent. I tried a 7mm version of the Mammut cord for a while. I believe it had a tensile strength around 2200 lbs (before anyone jumps on me I know that its a little low for climbing but I was experimenting).
For the short time I used it the only way I could get it to cook was to use a lighter on it. The stuff could not melt even no matter how hard I tried. Gave it up because my rubber coated gloves were getting caught in the vt and causing me grief. On the good side it makes a great hip prussik for my lanyard (extra smooth with the vt). I have to find my old 8mm and swap it out soon.

Glad to see other people have the same UT issue that I have.

Dave

 

[FBerkel]

Count one more for double braid on the VT.

Anyone have an opinion on coated vs. not? I'm tying some this week with coated 5/16's coated, wondering if there is any problem with the coating heating up, or anything.

 

[FBerkel]

Bushytailious floridensas

Won't know until next week, but will report back (if the computer still works).

 

[NickfromWI]

Coated are usually a bit stiffer at first. They might not grab right away each time. After it drops you to the ground one or two times, it should be broken in just fine!

love
nick

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

One of you guys with the technora core cords, If you melt the sheathm pull it off and see how the core climbs by it'self.

a manufaturer recomended that to me while I was looking for someone who was actually making one of those high heat sheath ropes that is allways "in the works".

 

[NickfromWI]

The materials in the core are usually braided very loosely so that the strands are running in as straight of a line as possible, making them very strong. Just be careful for snagging if using the core of say, T-900.

I've spliced an Eye-n-Eye sling out of 3/16th Vectrus...good for up to 400-600 degrees. It's not a super stiff rope, so should work well. I won't get a chance to use it until after Tofurkey-Day, so I'll keep you all informed.

love
nick

 

[rumination]

I have yet to burn through my first batch of tress cord, which is T-900. It handles fine for me ,but guaranteed I'll be switching over to sta-set, if only becuase of the price. Well, that and the general consensus seems to be that it handles better.

What's the deal with the Sta-set X?