ascenders?

[FBerkel]

Thanks, Tom

Tom,

Appreciate your sharing your knowledge/srt system. The fact that the climber can be lowered down gives it a significant safety edge over Ddrt.

Thanks.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

You're welcome. It took me many itterations of the system to get it to where it is now. I sure hope that no one ever has to call on the rescue but if they do, they'll be able to get out of harm's way easier than with any other ascent system.

Tom

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Tom, I've heard you mention sending the SRT line up sinched in a running butterfly, so you have both ends on the ground but the line secured at the top. This sounds good, but how would a rescue go? I'm thinking you lose the ability to lower the victim.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Mike,

That isn't the variation that I wrote about in the TCI article.

By choking the limb you loose the rescue part but you would only load the limb with your weight [plus bounce load]. The only time that I use this style is when the access crotch is small and I know their aren't nasties in the tree.

Tom

 

[hillbilly]

Tom, would that be the latest modification of your Butterfly, that
we can see in the pictures you posted ?
It looks like you switched the yellow webbing for some
steel wire, correct ?
The pulley with swivel seems like a nice move, minimum friction,
how is that working out, might it be too little friction, i.e. it's
hard staying still ?

 

[Tom Dunlap]

I made up that unit from stainless steel rod and shackle ends. The SS that I used would kink in the middle because of bouncing on my rope. A friend of mine gave me a piece of SS that is a different alloy. This stuff can be bent and heat treated to eliminate the kinking. Haven't got around to doing that yet. The swivel pulley worked nice. A bit heavy though. With the rod, there was absolutley NO crotch pinch. The slide and swivel made for a comfy climb.

Before I made up the bow bridge I talked with a machinist and engineer to make sure that the material was strong enough. I didn't do any testing but both assured me that I had a good safety margin. Since I don't wear Teflon clothing, I take full responsibility for any of my modifications. I don't recommend that anyone copy what I made up for the saddle. Don't care for the liability. Like Scotty said to Cap'n Kirk, "I'm and arbo, not an engineer!"

Now I have the bridge made from a 12"x5/8" Spectra webbing loop. I have a bow shackle that slides on the webbing and a biner attaced to the shackle. This is a nice setup too.

Tom

 

[hillbilly]

"I don't recommend that anyone copy what I made up for the saddle"

Rest assured Tom, I'm not trying to backwards engineer
your setup. I'm quite happy with my Butterfly the
way it is, just interested in your inovative setups.

"Since I don't wear Teflon clothing, I take full responsibility for any of my modifications."

Anyone care to explain this to the swede ?
Is it some kind of saying?

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Teflon is a non-stick coating that's used on cookware to make cleanup easier. Sinc enothing sticke to Teflon, if people wear clithing made of Teflon, they don't allow responsibility stick to them. Here in the States we have a culture of expecting someone else being held responsible for our own actions. If I were to advocate that anyone modify their saddle like I do and they got hurt, I could possibly stand some liability.

Tom

 

[hillbilly]

Yes, those liability issues is one of the great differences
Sweden-USA I would guess. From what I've heard
people can sue each other for rediculious sums of
money over rediculious issues and succeed !

I bought a Black and Decker heat gun (the thing you remove
paint with, right word?) a while ago.
This thing produces 800 deg. Celsius of hot air.
But mind you, in the (American) manual it clearly states
that you shouldn't use it as a hair dryer, and B&D can't
be held responsible if you do !

And yes, I like teflon in frying pans.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Our chipper has a warning not to put your head in the infeed.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

So now your the Teflon Tom.

They called Mob boss john Gotti The Teflon Don, because they took so many times to finaly convict him.

Mr Reagan was called the teflon president, because we beleived in him no mater what was said.

 

[Stumper]

By all reports Teflon Tom is a pretty slick climber.
Re. The pretty part, wasn't it JPS who identified Tom by a photo of his backside and referred to it as his best side!

 

[treeclimber165]

I just re-read the June '02 TCI article on ascenders written by Tim Walsh and I'm reconsidering my choices in ascenders. Several of the toothed ascenders will shred a rope with as little as 800 lbs force, not anywhere NEAR enough margin for me!

The MiniTraxion I was looking at in the Sherrill catalog is supposedly rated at 20 Kn, better than the 15.57 Kn of the Gibbs microcender. I will need to look at several of these in person rather than looking at pictures to figure out which will be best for my style of climbing.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I guess if your going to body thrust on them it would be bad. At no tome do I see my actions dynamicly loading the ascender enough to worry.

Had my eyes dielated this morning. Shades closed and I can barely look at the monitor. But too much caffine in my system to take a nap.

 

[treeclimber165]

Pantin

I gotta tell you guys, this Petzl Pantin is the coolest little energy-saver I've ever used! Hard to imagine that a month ago I dreaded long ascents on trees without scaffolding limbs. Now, with my BigShot and Pantin, I've started ascending on my rope instead of climbing the tree wherever possible. After more than a decade (almost two) of climbing I have drastically increased my speed in a few short weeks. I need to buy another one for backup because I'd be lost without a Pantin on my foot!

The instructions say to place it low on the ankle for speed, or high for comfort. I'm finding that placing it high causes it to dig into my ankle and is extremely uncomfortable. Lower is better, it puts the load closer to the bottom of your foot and feels more like 'walking up rope'.
As long as I don't jam on it, I'm not seeing any signs of it tearing up my rope. As long as I step into the rope smoothly the teeth just slide right into the rope without tearing fibers. Jamming on it like I were trying to kick-start a motorbike would surely tear up my rope.

 

[budroe69moni]

that's awesome brian!!!! i used my pair of cmi ascenders
yesterday to ascend a big live oak that was on a slight lean.
i set my line and tied in. i set both ascenders high on the line
and walk right up the tree!!!! it was so awesome!!!! i've been
climbing everyday and i can't get enough!!!! thanks again for
all of your help!
budroe

 

[Tom Dunlap]

The Maxi-traxion is a nice tool but it does have teeth. If you're looking for a multi-use tool, check out the Rocker. Made by Denny Moorhouse of ISC. He's called the Wizard of Iron. If you have the opportunity to meet him at TCI, you'll nejoy his company. Check out the Rocker:

http://iscwales.com/
or http://www.yatesgear.com/
The Rocker can be used as a gear hauler and rope grab. Denny tells me that it can be used as a rap device but I haven't spent the time figuring that out yet.

If you want a cammed tool, check out a Micro Cender, Micro Grab or a Footlocker. All of them are shelled ascenders with nice, rope friendly cams.

Tom

 

[kf_tree]

climber165, check out this site. http://storrick.cnchost.com/VerticalDevicesPage/VerticalHome.shtml he gives an in depth description of almost every ascender out there. there might be some newer stuff on the market. but its a very informative site.

 

[Tree House Dan]

Mechanical Friction Hitch

After reading the many posts I think I can now describe my DRT style of climbing as SRT with the anchor tied to the top ascender. This self-advances the top ascender and has the least amount of friction. That rocker looks and acts a lot like the USHBA Basic that I use for my top ascender. Don't blame me it was made of titanium I am a junkie for neat hardware. With a dual footloop on the lower CMI ascender I can pull down with both hands and both feet and the top ascender advances its self and locks with less than 3 inches of "bridge loss". To descend I hand rock the Basic with a little twist as I feed the rope thru a biner at my waist.
Seems that nobody has ever seen this before but I like it.