Any recommendations for good, online resources for Foot-Locking tutorials?

[eye.heart.trees]

So I've put this off for long enough and, realizing that it'd have saved me a lot of headache on a recent climb, it's become pretty "front row & center" for me (just like foot-stirrup lanyard usage which, thankfully, is self-explanatory enough that I don't think I'll need help til I've had real experience, if ever )

Was looking at "Foot-lock prussiks" at Wesspur, clicked on the video and realized that, no, these lanyards are not meant attach to the foot (ROFL I have probably seen a cumulative, I dunno, two or three minutes of online footlocking and that's it, never seen it irl) In fact it seems the height of the footlock prussik is (at/above?) the height I'd have my hand-ascender..

I've googled & checked Youtube and realized quickly I could spend 10hrs to find all the details I need, or get linked to a good article/video or two that someone can recommend as a comprehensive, beginners' guide that presumes you're starting this from ground-up (lol unintended pun) Thanks a ton for any&all recommendations!!

(PS- For context I should mention that I'm picturing this "tool"/technique to be useful to me, not for climbing/ascension of any normal sort, but for certain "up and onto a limb" situations where I can't "reach" where I need, for instance the ^tree I alluded to earlier was a thick Oak, first union/fork at ~25', had my rope through the fork but as I got near the fork there was a ~2' or 3' span of my climbline that, due to me putting weight on it, was so tight to the trunking that i couldn't get my ascender any higher, but was still way too-low to just "He-Man" myself up into the crotch......if I could've just wrapped my feet//rope and propelled myself that way I'd have been in it in no time, instead of ending up setting a 2nd climbline[through a choked anchor above the union] and fighting my way into the crotch, was the most inefficient climb of my life lol)

 

[benjo75]

This is about as beginner as it gets.

 

[benjo75]

It says advanced. Footlocking is footlocking to me.

 

[derwoodii]

dig about the ISA ITCC footlock competition vids see how its made look easy & its not

 

[Silmaril]

Nice vids!
Not helpful with footlocking, but I've always preferred a foot ascender. They aren't too expensive and work great.

 

[eye.heart.trees]

Awesome links guys thanks a ton, GG watch & enact

Nice vids!
Not helpful with footlocking, but I've always preferred a foot ascender. They aren't too expensive and work great.

Seeing your signature I've gotta ask--- What are your thoughts on people advancing the ignition timing on the Echo 355t?

Re ascension, oh yeah, foot ascender & hand ascender (with a ~5' dangling foot stirrup, for my left-foot) lets me fly upwards as fast as I can move my hitch (really need to dust off the CMI micropulley and figure out tether length so I don't continue tending my hitches manually....used the plural because I'm climbing 2-system-SRT more often than not recently)

I don't expect footlocking to be easier but for instance that scenario I mentioned in my OP where your rope is up&over a large crotch and you cannot get to it, if I were to use my foot on the rope to 'push off', almost 'jumping up' at the crotch, if I only wrapped my foot around the rope I could've tried - and would likely have landed - that type of move, however w/ my foot ascender I wouldn't have dared because it could've pulled me back, in fact once I'm near the top of my rope and ready to transition into the tree, removing my foot ascender is one of the 1st things I do.....one time I was in a situation where I realized that, if I'd leaned back too much, I could've ended up "sideways" with my foot stuck and it would've really sucked so since then I've relegated the foot unit for pure ascension only, and wouldn't replace it with footlocking in such scenarios, but whether it's specific scenarios like I just mentioned OR my foot ascender breaking mid-job*, seems it's wise to know footlocking (oh who am I kidding, it's less "seems wise to me" and more "I've been told it's wise, everyone from Mark Bridges to Reg to etc etc all say that it should be known by the climber, despite not being the chosen default for ascension" )

Cool job being an echo/shinny tech, gotta ask something else of you--- any idea if a 60V lineup is coming? Saw a shind string trimmer w/ a 60V pack, am hesitant to buy into a lithium lineup til I can get polesaw/top-handle/blower in 60V configs, really hoping it's Echo that drops it first (surprised stihl&husq put out 40V lineups, like Ryobi's, TBH!)

 

[Silmaril]

Seeing your signature I've gotta ask--- What are your thoughts on people advancing the ignition timing on the Echo 355t?

I'm not a fan of the idea. I've heard of it going wrong when done wrong but more so just because I've used the 2511, 271, 303, 355s for Echo and the 355 didn't seem what I would consider poor enough performance to make it worth the risk either. To be fair, for my business I don't run a 355 though, I have a 2511, 271 and 3000 (old version of 303) and I tend to use the 271 most. The single bar stud bothers me but that's a different discussion lol.

The 60V thing, there is nothing in the 2021 spring program so definitely not early year at least. That wouldn't be the kind of thing they would roll out for the fall program so I'd say not this year. If it is going to happen, it will be on the Shindaiwa side. They are marketing the LI stuff for Shindaiwa as commercial driven where as Echo is more residentially driven. To be honest though, I dont have a whole lot of confidence in their LI program yet. We also deal with other outdoor power brands that are trying to get a foothold in the battery market but the biggest issue is they all source from China and keep switching manufacturers for one reason or another. Echo has done this once (maybe twice) as well. I know that Echo/Shindaiwa has more pressure to get this right being a major handheld company but they have to establish with their dealer base that they are all in before I would feel comfortable buying.

 

[old CB]

When I learned to climb, DDRT, I found the body thrusting bit didn't work for the way I'm made. The way I capture progress as I go up the tree is with a footlock that's not your conventional two-footed maneuver--mine works on one boot alone. With my rope looped over a limb above, the termination carabiner is clipped to my saddle and my french prussic to a carabiner is clipped to my saddle, keeping me suspended on a loop of rope from which the free end of the rope dangles. I bring the inside edge of my right boot to the free rope below me, then loop the rope under my boot and up over the top of my boot so the free end of the rope is behind the upper portion of the rope I started with (actually I just make that loop and feed my boot into it, but the above description should make it more clear). When I put weight on my boot, the forward part of the rope grabs and holds the rear part. For each part of my climb I slide my boot up the rope and lock it in place, push down on my boot to gain whatever length I can, then slide my french prussic up.

For the first 10--15' this is an awkward maneuver until there's enough weight of free rope beneath me to pull itself over my boot as it advances up the rope. There's a way I manually compensate for that, but it's difficult to describe. Just understand that once I'm up a ways, the weight of the rope will slide it over my boot and I can lock by tipping the toe of the boot forward a bit if needed.

For what it's worth, I used this same footlock procedure when I first started out with a Blake's hitch as my friction hitch. I much prefer the french prussic (I forget it's proper name), as I keep it permanently made on my climb line and don't have to re-tie every time I go up. Same with my work positioning lanyard--permanently made french prussic with tending pully that adjusts with a simple pull or two.

I avoid any use of ascenders in my rig because I like to keep things simple and this work is gear-heavy already. So I like my footlock. Don't know if it's clear from my description--I suppose I could provide a photo or two--but not today. Did my climbing this morning and don't care to get off the ground again today.