Worn out bee line cord after 7 climbs?

[chad556]

Hey guys, first post here, so here goes nothing. I just started climbing this month. I was able to convince my boss at work to get me the ultra light tree climbing kit from wesspur, which came with an eye to eye spliced bee line prusik cord. Way back when I was in college I learned the basic closed system tautline hitch method so the split tail was a little new to me but I figured it out. after a little expermentation with the distel, schwabisch, and VT I stumbled onto the XT (or so i think that is what it is) and I like it a lot. Here is a picture:

View attachment 168810

Problem is, after only seven or so climbs (25'-50') my bee line cord looks like its getting ready to break. The outer braided casing looks fine just the typical signs of normal wear, however in the middle of the split tail, right where the four wraps of the hitch are snugged tight when it supports my weight, the cord has gone limp and skinny almost like the core of the rope has vanished. the 5 inches or so on each end near the spliced eyes is fine though, nice and round and firm. here is a pic that shows the difference:

View attachment 168814

I plan to climb again tomorrow. Is this a safe cord to use? If so how bad does it have to get before I get a new one? Did the core break/does it even have a core? Should they wear out after so few uses(at $36 each this could get expensive)? Could my choice of hitch (XT?) be to blame? Like I said I'm new to all this and I don't really have any fellow climbers to ask so any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[RacerX]

Your attachments didn't work. What size Beeline? I've been climbing the 10mm Beeline E2E for a long time and find the thing to be bomb proof. Have you made very long, rapid descents using only the hitch?

 

[chad556]

Wow what a mess. no attachments and a double post to boot. I submitted the thread and checked a day later and when I didnt see the first one I thought i somehow did get submit it and wrote a whole new one and now they are both up :embarrassed:. As for the pics IDK what happened they show up fine in my browser on this site. Let me try again and this time i will make the files smaller. View attachment 169210 View attachment 169211 And thank you for the advice so far, I just ordered 12' of beeline off wesspur along with various other odds and ends so now i will have enough to make 3-4 extra (to be honest I don't like the splices that much anyways, i would rather tie the knots myself). I just wish I had a better idea of when it is time to retire the cord I am currently using.

 

[climberjones]

Your attachments didn't work. What size Beeline? I've been climbing the 10mm Beeline E2E for a long time and find the thing to be bomb proof. Have you made very long, rapid descents using only the hitch?

where do you buy that brand at sherrill?

 

[CNBTreeTrimming]

Wesspur. They kill Sherrill on price.

 

[chad556]

Its the 8mm bee line. It does feel bomb proof to me but i'm just getting worried about it flattening out so much. I made probably one or two rapid descents on it before i adopted the practice of loosening up the hitch and descending on a munter hitch attached below on my leg ring. I also fell once and it caught me after about 3' or so of free fall so it got a little shock loading there but that should be nothing for a 8000 Lb rated cord to handle right?

Also I tried to repost my pics yesterday but that post hasn't gone up yet. Does it normally take about a day for posts with attachments to be posted?

 

[ddhlakebound]

Its the 8mm bee line. It does feel bomb proof to me but i'm just getting worried about it flattening out so much. I made probably one or two rapid descents on it before i adopted the practice of loosening up the hitch and descending on a munter hitch attached below on my leg ring. I also fell once and it caught me after about 3' or so of free fall so it got a little shock loading there but that should be nothing for a 8000 Lb rated cord to handle right?

Also I tried to repost my pics yesterday but that post hasn't gone up yet. Does it normally take about a day for posts with attachments to be posted?

I can burn up a split tail in a day if I want to fly on it. By the sounds of your first post, I wouldn't use it if you don't have confidence that both the core and sheath are in 100% working order. It's possible that you got it hot enough to damage the core, as it melts at a much lower point than the sheath.

If you want to burn down when rappeling, better to use a dedicated descending device. Or just buy lots of bulk beeline and replace as often as needed.

 

[climberjones]

wesspur. They kill sherrill on price.

thanks!

 

[ddhlakebound]

Now that I can see the pics, that doesn't look bad....But you're the only one who can feel the core. I'd expect to see much more glazing than that to cause a heat problem though.

 

[chad556]

Thanks for the advice guys. I did order it in bulk, got a nice 12 foot piece coming, so I will probably put that into service as soon as i get it sometime this next week. from what i have heard I dont think my first one got totally abused, it should still have good life left in it, i could have really really burned it if I had wanted to but its better to be safe than to find out first hand how bad it really needs to get before it breaks lol. Anyways thanks for sharing your expertise on the matter.

 

[Neem]

Problem is, after only seven or so climbs (25'-50') my bee line cord looks like its getting ready to break. The outer braided casing looks fine just the typical signs of normal wear, however in the middle of the split tail, right where the four wraps of the hitch are snugged tight when it supports my weight, the cord has gone limp and skinny almost like the core of the rope has vanished. the 5 inches or so on each end near the spliced eyes is fine though, nice and round and firm. here is a pic that shows the difference:

judging by the pics you've posted seems still safe to me.I'd still use that .Take care

M

 

[RacerX]

Anyone have a problem with the way this hitch is tied?

 

[Komitet]

Anyone have a problem with the way this hitch is tied?

I don't climb on a VT myself, but if that's what it's supposed to be it's definitely wrong.

 

[chad556]

Actually the name of the hitch is the XT, just like the VT except the upper end passes in front of the lower rope instead of behind it before braiding. It is supposed to work just as good as the VT but it holds together better and is therefore more forgiving and predictable.

That said the pic looks funny to me too now, like maybe i tied it backwards or wrapped it upside down or im missing half a braid? I didnt climb on this one but it still worked in the setup I was playing around with in the pic.

Anymore suggestions or comments on the hitch would be appreciated. Like I said before Im new to all this and I would love to learn all I can

 

[Komitet]

Actually the name of the hitch is the XT, just like the VT except the upper end passes in front of the lower rope instead of behind it before braiding. It is supposed to work just as good as the VT but it holds together better and is therefore more forgiving and predictable.

That said the pic looks funny to me too now, like maybe i tied it backwards or wrapped it upside down or im missing half a braid? I didnt climb on this one but it still worked in the setup I was playing around with in the pic.

Anymore suggestions or comments on the hitch would be appreciated. Like I said before Im new to all this and I would love to learn all I can

My mistake, haven't changed from a distel in forever, but use the VT / Machard in rigging, will have to look the XT up.

 

[freeweight]

yea it is ,take top and start braiding directly under the bottom ,braids under the bottom like you would a blakes ,cept u dont thread jus start the braid