Pitch+Prussik=FAIL

[DIY climber]

Being internet taught , I am quite fortunate I only had one piece of gear I selected not work out for my situation .
I saw the Treestuff.com Youtube video praising the virtues of the 2-in-1 lanyard with the hip prussik .
So I bought a 12' 2-in-1 lanyard with Tenex blue hip-prussik and beautiful blue aluminum rope snaps as my second tie-in to back up my wire core flipline .
It worked marvelously in the garage but less than an hour of climbing my VERY pitch coated trees the prussik was rendered utterly useless , becoming incredibly difficult to release .
So I bought a second Climb-Right mechanical adjuster like my wire-core flipline came with , cut the prussik off and attatched the pretty blue rope snap to the mechanical adjuster with a tri-lock carabiner .
My trees are covered in pitch wich bled from previous limbing years ago before I bought this property . So bad it literally looks like someone dumped a 5 gallon bucket of pitch down the trunk of the tree .
The mechanical adjusters are immune to pitch related problems , they still lock/release as well as ever , pitch coated or not .
I still clean up my gear with mineral spirits regularly , not the lanyards themselves I just let them stay semi-coated with pitch .
I spoke with a sales rep. at Treestuff and he said he rarely hears of climbers having this difficulty with prussiks and my problem was very "situational" ... just wondering if any of you have dealt with this "situation" like I did ??

 

[Neem]

So I bought a second Climb-Right mechanical adjuster like my wire-core flipline came with , cut the prussik off and attatched the pretty blue rope snap to the mechanical adjuster with a tri-lock carabiner .
My trees are covered in pitch wich bled from previous limbing years ago before I bought this property . So bad it literally looks like someone dumped a 5 gallon bucket of pitch down the trunk of the tree .

You should have changed your trees

 

[treemandan]

Being internet taught , I am quite fortunate I only had one piece of gear I selected not work out for my situation .
I saw the Treestuff.com Youtube video praising the virtues of the 2-in-1 lanyard with the hip prussik .
So I bought a 12' 2-in-1 lanyard with Tenex blue hip-prussik and beautiful blue aluminum rope snaps as my second tie-in to back up my wire core flipline .
It worked marvelously in the garage but less than an hour of climbing my VERY pitch coated trees the prussik was rendered utterly useless , becoming incredibly difficult to release .
So I bought a second Climb-Right mechanical adjuster like my wire-core flipline came with , cut the prussik off and attatched the pretty blue rope snap to the mechanical adjuster with a tri-lock carabiner .
My trees are covered in pitch wich bled from previous limbing years ago before I bought this property . So bad it literally looks like someone dumped a 5 gallon bucket of pitch down the trunk of the tree .
The mechanical adjusters are immune to pitch related problems , they still lock/release as well as ever , pitch coated or not .
I still clean up my gear with mineral spirits regularly , not the lanyards themselves I just let them stay semi-coated with pitch .
I spoke with a sales rep. at Treestuff and he said he rarely hears of climbers having this difficulty with prussiks and my problem was very "situational" ... just wondering if any of you have dealt with this "situation" like I did ??

I just recently switched to a friction hitch on my lanyard after using a mechanical adjuster for years and am anticipating the problems I will have climbing sticky trees. I suppose if I am going to be in it deep I will use the mechanical adjuster on those and that gets stuck up a bit itself.
The worst is when your hands are so sticky you can't let go of stuff. Its like a sit-com where the guy glues himself to something.

 

[puzzledmonkey]

You should have changed your trees

Lol:biggrinbounce2:

 

[deevo]

I just recently switched to a friction hitch on my lanyard after using a mechanical adjuster for years and am anticipating the problems I will have climbing sticky trees. I suppose if I am going to be in it deep I will use the mechanical adjuster on those and that gets stuck up a bit itself.
The worst is when your hands are so sticky you can't let go of stuff. Its like a sit-com where the guy glues himself to something.

Why the switch Dan, you going "Old School" on us!

 

[treemandan]

Why the switch Dan, you going "Old School" on us!

Just wanted to give it a try, seems to work well.

 

[deevo]

Just wanted to give it a try, seems to work well.

Yeah I use one as well on my secondary, try and keep the pine juice out of it though as well!

 

[fireman]

On the prusik are using a double rap or triple rap if you are triple rapping go to a double rap instead try it.

 

[2dogs]

I don't like the hip prussik. I have a hard time releasing it any time. It might work well on 3/4 or 7/8 rope but that is just a guess. I would rather use manila and a flip line knot. I climb some white firs during the summer and have to fight the pitch blisters. I wear blue gloves and wrap the first 3' of the flip line with tape. When I'm done with the job I tear off the tape and the pitch with it. I keep the first 18" permanently wrapped on all my flip lines anyway, I like the extra stiffness it adds.

I was looking at a new 18' flip line 2 days ago. It was $132.00 plus tax! It will be for big redwoods my son is learning to climb.

 

[treemaninmo]

wash the pitch off

take your rope and lanyard daisy chain them put them in a mesh bag,use a tiny bit of laundry soap and wash em.
If u have a high efficiency washer it will come out clean as heck and almost dry then hang it out in a room for about 8-10 hrs good as new.
and the rope manufacturers recommend this when rope gets dirty

 

[fireman]

That is the only way to clean ropes mild soap and water daisy chain in the washer you got it right on the money.