imagineero
Addicted to ArboristSite
I was going to do this as a video review, but the thought of putting the various devices side by side sounded like it would need me to go downstairs, plus I can't stand the sound of my own voice.
I climbed on the standard wirecore clipline for years, with a petzl micrograb. Everyone knows what they look like, and how they work. I climbed on the 1/2" line, and generally went for 10'. The wirecore is great for its stiffness - you can really whip it which helps a lot on larger trees. None of that flip left/flip right stuff! The grab is pretty annoying though. It's ok at taking in, but you can't release it under pressure, and there's no control on release - it's all or nothing. You can climb around it, and most do.... but it limits your flipline to being used only as a flipline.
So last year (or the year before?) I got tempted by a CE lanyard after trying one out. The demo video is very good and worth watching.
I climbed on it and loved it. There was a real hesitation going to rope after wirecore for so long, but you get over it pretty quick. Wore the rope out in no time and made up another longer one (about 15' or 20') which I kept mostly daisy chained. The becket on the pulley is not as useful as they make out in the video, and the thimble which I thought was quite a drawcard ended up being something I never use. I took it off after a few months. You could use it for a mechanical advantage/rescue or whatever, but pretty unlikely. The whole revelation though, was having my flipline as a second tie in point. It really changed the way I climb, especially for trim work. The 20' daisy chained line stays nicely stowed but it's there when you need it. The rope wears faster than a wirecore, but it's cheap and easy to just make another one yourself and works out cheaper in the long run than wirecores. Being able to easily lower yourself off in a controlled way with your flipline is a practical useful feature which comes in handy every day. The thing is you go through e2e's, which are about $60/pop in aus, and I was going through 2 or 3 a year. Not a huge expense, but still would be nice to not have to. I'm not a huge fan of the carabiner at the end of the CE lanyard either... I prefer the old style double locking steel clips you find on most wirecores.
So I bought an ART positioner 2 a couple months ago. I thought this would be it. No prussiks, nice and tidy, has the swivel etc.... and if it lasted a couple years I'd be well ahead vs the prusiks. Plus you can replace the cam for less than the price of a prusik when that wears out. Unfortunately, the thing ended up being nothing like what I expected. The biggest downfall of it is the downfall. There's no friction control, so it behaves basically like a grab with only on, or terrifying freefall. So pretty much just an expensive grab. But wait; it gets worse! It self feeds super easy. That might sound like a good thing, but lets imagine you're in a tree, doing tree work. You climb up past your TIP, and you want to flipline in so you can pull your rope out and progress further. Not so outlandish. You reach down and pull up the end of your flipline with one hand (because the other is holding on to the tree) and as you pull it up all the slack peels out and now the line is too short to clip in. Which means you'll need both hands (one on the device and the other on the rope) to pull the slack back out so you've got enough. Sound annoying? It is.
So I'm back to the CE lanyard style. It doesn't self tend (which is good!) and has silky control. You don't need to go for the CE lanyard, it's kinda overpriced in my opinion. The thimble and the becket are a gimmick, you can use any pulley, any prusik and any rope you like. Be sure and tie a stopper knot in the end of your rope. Enjoy
Shaun
I climbed on the standard wirecore clipline for years, with a petzl micrograb. Everyone knows what they look like, and how they work. I climbed on the 1/2" line, and generally went for 10'. The wirecore is great for its stiffness - you can really whip it which helps a lot on larger trees. None of that flip left/flip right stuff! The grab is pretty annoying though. It's ok at taking in, but you can't release it under pressure, and there's no control on release - it's all or nothing. You can climb around it, and most do.... but it limits your flipline to being used only as a flipline.
So last year (or the year before?) I got tempted by a CE lanyard after trying one out. The demo video is very good and worth watching.
I climbed on it and loved it. There was a real hesitation going to rope after wirecore for so long, but you get over it pretty quick. Wore the rope out in no time and made up another longer one (about 15' or 20') which I kept mostly daisy chained. The becket on the pulley is not as useful as they make out in the video, and the thimble which I thought was quite a drawcard ended up being something I never use. I took it off after a few months. You could use it for a mechanical advantage/rescue or whatever, but pretty unlikely. The whole revelation though, was having my flipline as a second tie in point. It really changed the way I climb, especially for trim work. The 20' daisy chained line stays nicely stowed but it's there when you need it. The rope wears faster than a wirecore, but it's cheap and easy to just make another one yourself and works out cheaper in the long run than wirecores. Being able to easily lower yourself off in a controlled way with your flipline is a practical useful feature which comes in handy every day. The thing is you go through e2e's, which are about $60/pop in aus, and I was going through 2 or 3 a year. Not a huge expense, but still would be nice to not have to. I'm not a huge fan of the carabiner at the end of the CE lanyard either... I prefer the old style double locking steel clips you find on most wirecores.
So I bought an ART positioner 2 a couple months ago. I thought this would be it. No prussiks, nice and tidy, has the swivel etc.... and if it lasted a couple years I'd be well ahead vs the prusiks. Plus you can replace the cam for less than the price of a prusik when that wears out. Unfortunately, the thing ended up being nothing like what I expected. The biggest downfall of it is the downfall. There's no friction control, so it behaves basically like a grab with only on, or terrifying freefall. So pretty much just an expensive grab. But wait; it gets worse! It self feeds super easy. That might sound like a good thing, but lets imagine you're in a tree, doing tree work. You climb up past your TIP, and you want to flipline in so you can pull your rope out and progress further. Not so outlandish. You reach down and pull up the end of your flipline with one hand (because the other is holding on to the tree) and as you pull it up all the slack peels out and now the line is too short to clip in. Which means you'll need both hands (one on the device and the other on the rope) to pull the slack back out so you've got enough. Sound annoying? It is.
So I'm back to the CE lanyard style. It doesn't self tend (which is good!) and has silky control. You don't need to go for the CE lanyard, it's kinda overpriced in my opinion. The thimble and the becket are a gimmick, you can use any pulley, any prusik and any rope you like. Be sure and tie a stopper knot in the end of your rope. Enjoy
Shaun