Srt

[miko0618]

so... I have a hand ascender and a rope man. I was thinking if I put the hand ascender to my saddle and 1 foot and the rope man to my other foot and have a bungee advance the rope man when I slack it. it doesn't work. the bungee just flips my biner. I really just wanted to play until I decided on a system and I wanted the rope man for other purposes. what I am envisioning is another hand ascender for the other foot. would this allow me to just walk up the rope? would I be better with a foot ascender?

thanks!

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Hey mike, glad to see ya switching over to srt, you'll love it once ya get used to it. I've never heard of a rope man, though. Gotta pic or a link? Jeff

 

[miko0618]

I sure do
Wild Country Ropeman MK 1F Blue (Aluminum) |Ascenders | BackcountryGear.com

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Hmm, just watched their video. Interesting little gadget. Cheap, too. Seems to kind of take the place of a croll. I would try attaching the rope man to my saddle with a neck leash for advancement, using the hand ascender and footloop on one side, and a foot ascender on the other. One potential problem I seems like the rope man almost relies on the biner rolling up to advance, which would lead to a good deal of setback. I don't like the idea of tying in to your hand ascender because it can kind of become a one-way trip up, and can be tough to transition out of mid-climb. Definitely a low and slow proposition til ya get the kinks worked out. Keep us posted, Jeff

P.S., don't know which model you have, but there was a voluntary recall on the rope man 3 on their website. Good luck

 

[miko0618]

I have the original ropeman but thanks for the heads up. I didn't buy the ropeman to ascend but as a separate gadget for when I am limb walking. i don't trust a VT and just tending a line with a pulley can be tough after the hitch is loaded. or even impossible when covered in sap. I am wanting to get whatever I need to make SRT as simple as possible. I bought the hand ascender so I would be 1 step closer. so i am not really asking how to make what i have work but more what do i need to complete a good system. i can SRT with the hand/ropeman ascender by sit/stand. its slow but not difficult. i can easily install an 8 and come down. and yes....its less physical than my trusty ol hip thrusting i am ready to get what i need to be an official SRT climber.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I've used quite a few systems, and always go back to my petzl rads, easy to set up, easy to switch over, and easy to climb with. If I'm not doing much limb walking I'll just work right of the RIG. Keep in mind, though, since I left Houston and came to the land of easy trees,:biggrin: I hardly ever have to go more than about 40-50' up. More than that and I'd probably use another system. Not sure why you don't like the vt, I'll never go back, so smooth. Good luck, Jeff

 

[beastmaster]

I would be carefull using that piece of equipment. If you had even a short fall those teeth could easily cut your rope. I think its best to stay away from any sharp tooth ascender. I experimented with a Rockman which is similar. I set it up for a Rads but ran a line through the little cable to my belt so it would descend with me with out having to touch it. It showed some promise but over all was to small. I like the had grip ascenders to much, just wish I didn't have to remove it to come down.
There are a lot of systems out there, but if your working off of a SRT system day in day out, you need it as labor free as possible. I use the RAD's also. I can ascend up and work off it moving up or down pretty easy. I rarely use the foot sling, except when ascending really tall trees or in spikes. I normally just footlock the rope, It's not as fast(still faster then air humping) but it doesn't use any muscle power its so easy. I can get up in the canapy then snake the rope out over the end of branches and go down there to trim the tips of lower ones, then come right back up and move to another area.
The rope wrench works really good to with a foot ascender. I haven't tried the hitchhiker but it looks like it might be pretty good to. I still carry a other climbing line and often switch back between double rope and SRT as needed, lots of time I use both.
I also carry a biner with a prussic on it to set mid line on my srt rope allowing me to really get in some interesting areas and back again.
If you don't use it for nothing but ascending up into the trees, it's worth it's weight in gold.

 

[kyle goddard]

You said to make Srt as easy as possible. Try looking into the rope teck hitchhiker, or a rope wrench.

 

[miko0618]

that's my first goal. get into the tree with less effort. I haven't seen a great video explaining the rads system.

 

[miko0618]

I found a good youtube video and using the ropeman and hand ascender. I set up a rads. I just climbed a rope in my house but it seems slick. I would need a grigri to maximize the system. but, I get the idea. I would switch to drt to work for now. if I would need to get down mid climb, I can switch to an 8.

 

[kyle goddard]

I found a good youtube video and using the ropeman and hand ascender. I set up a rads. I just climbed a rope in my house but it seems slick. I would need a grigri to maximize the system. but, I get the idea. I would switch to drt to work for now. if I would need to get down mid climb, I can switch to an 8.

That sounds like alot of extra work.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I think that's one reason to have a full bag of tricks. Every tree is different, every job is different. Being proficient in multiple techniques and setups just makes a climber that much safer and productive. At this point though, in my opinion if you aren't set up for at least some form of srt you're just missing the boat. Jeff

 

[CanopyGorilla]

I have a ropeman sitting on the back of my rock climbing harness and thats where it stays. I view it as a back up "oh crap" rescue ascender and not an everyday tool. It is an inefficient and kind of scary little device. Many other mechanical ascenders inspire more confidence and provide a much greater level of functionality for everyday use.

 

[pinecone g]

ya could try a frog system, here is a vid

ATRAES MicroFrog SRT System - YouTube

 

[Saw Dust Smoken]

Most effeicent and least amout of sit back. Equals less energy lost thru day. Rope on rope is not efficient. Its hard to get away from rope on rope for most of us. We used it for years. Blakes hitch. We like the feel-touch. Never was a e-to-e prussic user. To much energy \ sit back lost. Lot of mechanical things to choose from. Experiment with them.

 

[monkeylove]

For non-toothed SRT usally use my Petzl shunt with a leg loop that has an extra hand loop in it. I throw my Grigri on and head up. If I am staying put for a while I will add a friction hitch when I get there just for a 3rd contact point.

 

[sgreanbeans]

I would be carefull using that piece of equipment. If you had even a short fall those teeth could easily cut your rope. I think its best to stay away from any sharp tooth ascender. I experimented with a Rockman which is similar. I set it up for a Rads but ran a line through the little cable to my belt so it would descend with me with out having to touch it. It showed some promise but over all was to small. I like the had grip ascenders to much, just wish I didn't have to remove it to come down.
There are a lot of systems out there, but if your working off of a SRT system day in day out, you need it as labor free as possible. I use the RAD's also. I can ascend up and work off it moving up or down pretty easy. I rarely use the foot sling, except when ascending really tall trees or in spikes. I normally just footlock the rope, It's not as fast(still faster then air humping) but it doesn't use any muscle power its so easy. I can get up in the canapy then snake the rope out over the end of branches and go down there to trim the tips of lower ones, then come right back up and move to another area.
The rope wrench works really good to with a foot ascender. I haven't tried the hitchhiker but it looks like it might be pretty good to. I still carry a other climbing line and often switch back between double rope and SRT as needed, lots of time I use both.
I also carry a biner with a prussic on it to set mid line on my srt rope allowing me to really get in some interesting areas and back again.
If you don't use it for nothing but ascending up into the trees, it's worth it's weight in gold.

Beasty, u should make a short vid of how you set it up, I have been looking at the stuff, but like I said before, its so much gear and so many options, that I would get lost just trying to get right stuff that works together. I still like doing it the old way, but I would like to try SRT and check it out, just don't want to buy a bunch of stuff that will sit next to the other stuff that I thought I would try, didn't like it and put it away!

 

[imagineero]

I started climbing (mountains, caves, industrial access and rescue) as a teenager and spent more than 15 years doing it, and most of it was SRT. When I got into tree climbing I started out using the techniques and equipment that were familiar to me, I was so against the friction hitch! I eventually realised that friction hitches were so much better for this sort of work though, at least for most types of trees. If you're doing residential, and mostly removals, and most of your trees are under 60', then the standard DdRT friction hitch setup is the way to go. Even with a lot of pruning thrown in, a foot ascender is all you need to make your current system easy and workable. SRT starts making a lot of sense when you're doing mostly trim work, and a lot of trees in the 100'+ range. But I'd buy a wraptor if that was me anyhow. On most jobs it's just not worth the effort to setup the gear. Even when I get those bigger trees and setup SRT, I switch out to DdRT when I get in the canopy. I've retired/given away a lot of my older gear, but I still have a huge bag full of different types of ascenders, specialised camming pulleys, shunts, gri gris, couple different rope wrenches etc etc.

Everyone has their own opinion though. I'm pretty sure I remember Kevin Bingham once saying the exact opposite; that he'd ascend DdRT and switch out to SRT to work the canopy! He looks very slick on that rope wrench though, and I can see the options it opens up with redirects. I carry a small double sheave pulley on a webbing sling on my harness for a similar effect but you only get one shot whereas the SRT allows you endless redirects. I've given the rope wrench a go and never really got the hang of it, I'm probably too fat. It's regional too, but for most guys I think a well tuned DdRT setup and maybe a foot ascender is going to be efficient and easy to work off.

Shaun

 

[beastmaster]

Today I was trimming a big wide multi leadered liquid amber. It was so thick, I didn't have to srt up it, I just throw my rope up over the next branch in line tell I was at the top. It had really long heavy limbs that looked ready to snap, then the wind kicked up to add to the fun.
I trimmed the highest leader, then switched over to SRT. I used branches that normally I wouldn't trust with my weight, but because I was over multiple ones they shared the weight allowing me to get way out there close to the tips, then I dropped down, easily reaching those over grown tips.
I wasn't all the way down yet at quitting time, so tomorrow I'll Srt up to where I left my pole pruner tied off and finish. I will do this two more times I think to get the complete tree. Going back up is so easy and labor free its not an issure. I'll just go up and redirect to the side I want to do next.
I'll take some video if I can figure out how to post it. On smaller trees like this I just foot lock the rope. Even if you don't foot lock, you can foot lock on the yo yo(RADs). I think I read its 3 to 1, not real fast but easy. On a long ascend with a foot strap off the hand ascender, your climbing 1 to 1, and you move up fast.
Even when I do use the footstrap(I just use a sling)I toss it when I get to the top. What you have to be really carefull of is cutting that rope. Hanging on a single 11mm rope with all your weight on it, you only need to nick it with a hand saw and it'll pop like a guitar string. I did this when I was learning, Thank God I had a second tie in

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Today I was trimming a big wide multi leadered liquid amber. It was so thick, I didn't have to srt up it, I just throw my rope up over the next branch in line tell I was at the top. It had really long heavy limbs that looked ready to snap, then the wind kicked up to add to the fun.
I trimmed the highest leader, then switched over to SRT. I used branches that normally I wouldn't trust with my weight, but because I was over multiple ones they shared the weight allowing me to get way out there close to the tips, then I dropped down, easily reaching those over grown tips.
I wasn't all the way down yet at quitting time, so tomorrow I'll Srt up to where I left my pole pruner tied off and finish. I will do this two more times I think to get the complete tree. Going back up is so easy and labor free its not an issure. I'll just go up and redirect to the side I want to do next.
I'll take some video if I can figure out how to post it. On smaller trees like this I just foot lock the rope. Even if you don't foot lock, you can foot lock on the yo yo(RADs). I think I read its 3 to 1, not real fast but easy. On a long ascend with a foot strap off the hand ascender, your climbing 1 to 1, and you move up fast.
Even when I do use the footstrap(I just use a sling)I toss it when I get to the top. What you have to be really carefull of is cutting that rope. Hanging on a single 11mm rope with all your weight on it, you only need to nick it with a hand saw and it'll pop like a guitar string. I did this when I was learning, Thank God I had a second tie in

Good point on the ease of limbwalking with multiple redirects. By the time you're out there on four or five redirects, it's like you're weightless, everything is sharing the load