sidekick

[rmihalek]

I was quick enough at the keyboard to be able to take Old Dude up on his offer of comparing the retreever to the sidekick:

Guys--
I am the creator of the sidekick rope retieval device. As such I believe the sidekick to be a supperior tool to the re-treever. Therefore I would like to make the following offer: To the first two arborists that contact me to request that I send them a sidekick---I will do so at absolutely no charge.
The only conditions are that they must currently own and use a re-treever and that after a short period of 'up-use'(of the sidekick) post their most objective thoughts vis-a-vis the two tools on this web-site for all to see.

[email protected]
PS: should I fail to respond it simply means that I have already given the units away

Well, I got the sidekick in the mail on Friday and immediately opened up the tube to check this thing out. My first impression was "wow, this thing is stout!" It is a much beefier device than the retreever. A little longer in the un-opened configuration and with a dog leash clip directly on the handle. I think I'll put a piece of 2mm cord between the handle and the clip.

There were no instructions sent (other than the strong warning on both devices NOT to use near wires). It turned out that instructions aren't needed. In about 30 seconds I figured out how to untwist each section, extend and then twist to lock.

I was in my living room on the couch when I was checking out the sidekick. Once it was extended, I reached up to the ceiling with my arm and the device at full extension and pulled the chain on the ceiling fan. The pull chain requires a pretty strong tug, and the sidekick was easily able to turn on the fan! I gave up trying such a feat with the retreever since the hook could not be bent in such a fashion to grab the pull chain.

I didn't get a chance to go climbing this weekend (and I was having SO much fun cleaning the garage out...) that I didn't get a chance yet to compare the sidekick with the retreever while aloft. However, both tools will be on my belt for the next several climbs and I'll be sure to report my findings. Also, whenever the next rec climb is in Boston, I'll bring both tools for all to try.

Bob

 

[Fireaxman]

Congratulations on the Free Sidekick! I didn't get back to the post for a day or so, and now I can't even buy one. He needs 10 orders before he goes back in production and only has 5.

Such is my luck in the small conveniences of life. I would not doubt the Lord is trying to teach me patience, and I doubt He was too pleased with my tantrum concerning the ReTreever.

Oh well. Still Greatly Blessed in all things that are really important. Praise the Lord!

 

[woodchux]

Mark me down for one.
I've been considering the purchase for quite a while.
I'm sure that we can find another 4 climbers who want one.

 

[rmihalek]

Sidekick comparo

I mistakenly posted this in the retreever thread. Sorry.

I finally got a chance for a side-by-side comparison using the sidekick and the retreever to scale a 90 foot hickory. The foliage is extremely dense in this tree and it is surrounded by other trees so I had a tough time even hitting the first crotch at about 30 feet with my throw bag. So, needless to say, my first tie-in point (TIP) was rather lame. However, having both of these "reach" tools on my saddle, I figured this would be a great test to see how easy they are to use in dense trees and, particularly, how easy they are for advancing the TIP.

Once I got up as close as I could to my first TIP, I secured my lanyard, got good footing on a branch, then detached the carabiner on the fixed end of my DdRT set-up. I pulled enough line through the Blake's to make it up to the next crotch, which was a full arm extension plus a full tool extension reach away (~13 feet higher). I tried for about 10 minutes to configure the flexible hook on the retreever to hold the carabiner and the weight of the rope up to the crotch and drop it off on the other side. I finally got it through the crotch, but then couldn't get the hook to pull it back down to me! So, even with considerable effort, the retreever got only half the job done.

Now what? Since I needed this 'biner back down to me, I either needed to push it back through the crotch or use the sidekick to pull it down. Well, I knew from another climb before to forget about using the retreever to PUSH anything. It just collapses on itself and the flexible hook distorts and you get nothing. So, out comes the sidekick. I extended the sections, locked them into position, grabbed the carabiner and pulled it through the tight crotch and back down to my saddle. Child's play! The tool is much, much stronger than the retreever and the hook is rigid metal, it doesn't deform.

So, as I am advancing up to the new TIP, I see a couple small dead limbs (~1/2 inch diameter) hanging out over my yard. I extended the sidekick, grabbed the limbs, pulled them down/over to me and tossed them to the ground. Again, super easy to do with the sidekick yet close to impossible with the retreever.

I lanyard-in at the next TIP and look for a new TIP. There's a good one that's again about 13 feet up which will be the full extension of my arm and the tool. With my lanyard secure, I take the carabiner off my saddle and pull enough rope through the Blake's to get up through the crotch. I tried just sitting the carabiner on the sidekick's hook, but with other little branches in the way hitting the carabiner off, that didn't work. I then tried to insert the hook into the triple fisherman's knot on the carabiner, but it was too tight to fit in and I figured if I jammed the hook in there, I wouldn't be able to get it out up at the crotch. Then I realized that I had enough of a tail in the knot to tie a loose overhand knot; just to get a loop of some sort to put the hook in. I tried that and it worked great. The hook has a small piece of velcro on the top of it to help grab the rope. The hook easily carried the weight of the 'biner and rope up to the crotch and the sidekick is strong enough to push the assembly through the crotch and out the other side. Then, I just reached around, grabbed the 'biner, pulled the line down to me and I was all set.

So, now I had a process. Lanyard-in, detach carabiner, tie overhand knot, extend sidekick up to crotch, grab on other side and pull down. At the next TIP, I did this exact process and my guess is the total time to advance the TIP was about 3 or 4 minutes. Before I knew it, I was at the crown of the tree. There were no more limbs above me that I could confidently tie into, so I stretched out a bit, drank some water, had some food and enjoyed the breeze and the view from 75 feet up.

The sidekick is really a great tool. It's very easy to use and makes climbing much more fun. If you just want to grab a hank of rope (that has very little weight on it) and pull it towards you, both the sidekick and the retreever are fine. For every other manipulation, the sidekick easily outperforms the retreever in rope positioning.

 

[moss]

Great review Bob! I'm convinced

 

[B-Edwards]

How much is that thing? i may want 1!!!

 

[Fireaxman]

As I said, I got in too late for the (new) free sidekick, but Tim sent me a used one (free of charge) to hold me over until he makes another production run. All to the good. Since I have a new one ordered, and never being one to leave well enough alone, I felt free to risk a little silver-solder work on the hook.

Maybe it looks a little "Pinochio", but this works extremely well. Just hang a throwing knot on the nose and push it up through the branches and over the crotch. The Sidekick will even "Throw" the knot a few extra inches over a crotch if you cant quite reach over it, kinda like shoving a billard ball with a pool cue. The modification does not impair the hook at all.

I was careful in the silver-solder work not to heat the hook up so much I melted it out of the plastic base. The copper tubing made a pretty good heat sink. But even if I had melted it out I am confident I could have put it back in with a little JB Weld.

Those of you who saw my tirade against the ReTreever (Bob's earlier thread)will not be surprised to learn how pleased I am with the Sidekick. Tim's "Sidekick" has the cure for all my earlier maladies.

 

[Fireaxman]

How much is that thing? i may want 1!!!

$45.

 

[rmihalek]

sidekick update

I was swinging around in a hickory tree the other day, repositioning some rope and practicing with some new knots. I used the sidekick to grab a 'biner that was tied to some 1/2 inch line and pull it towards me. All went well until I let go of the lanyard holding the sidekick to my saddle. Normally, I let the lanyard rope slide through my hand in a controlled fashion so that the line doesn't snap when the weight of the tool is caught. Well, this time, I let go too quickly and the sidekick did somewhat of a freefall on the 5 foot length of lanyard and when the rope caught the weight, the clip in the handle popped out and my sidekick did a 60 foot free fall to the ground. The hook on the end bent a little bit, but other than that (and the clip coming out), there was no major damage.

However, this leads to a recommendation: perhaps this tool could have a stronger clip to attach it to a lanyard. I'm thinking some type of expanding screw that can be inserted into the ~1/4inch diameter hole in the end of the handle and then tightened to expand an internal crush washer that would then secure an eye to the back of the handle so a small lanyard line could be tied on.

 

[old dude]

re: sidekick update

Bob-
Sorry to read that the spring-like/snaphook attachment pulled from the handel of your sidekick and appreciate your suggestion of some kind of expanding screw-like device as a possible alternative. I test each handle fastener for strength when creating these devices by grabbing it by the snap-hook and, (holding it upside down), shake it a few times as if bouncing a basketball. Since the desighn is intended to be attached 'directly' to the climbing saddle as opposed to the end of a 5 (or) 6 foot lanyard as you describe; I suspect that the excess stress involved in the decribed free-fall exceeded the original design strength-limit of the fastener. However, as stated earlier I will try to create an even stronger fastening system for future units.
Should you be unsuccessful at re-attatching the handle fastener let me know, and upon return of the compromised unit I will attempt to repair it myself and return it to you as soon as possible.
Thanks for the feedback. The sidekick like any tool is not perfect in all respects but a work in progress. Am currently considering two adjustments to the design that I hope will increase the overall utility. I consider the unit on my saddle to be my test unit and it has been with me now in daily operation for better than a year. I still love it.
Tim