Hate to disagree with you masiman, but that is the reason i like buckingham. Been climbing with pinnacles for many years now (with the large d's.) They are big and heavy but i carry alot of gear up a tree and they hold the weight well. Tried a newtribe for a couple weeks early this year. Put on a 357, a couple blocks, fliplines, a bull rope or two, assorted biners, etc, and it just didn't seem to carry the weight well even with a shoulder strap. I've dropped 395's on the end of a 10 foot lanyard hooked to the pinnacle and it seems to soak up the shock pretty well. (Still hurts a bit but not as bad as even dropping a 346 the same distance on the new tribe.) Besides, climb daily a couple weeks with a pinnacle, get it rained on a couple times, sweat through it a few times, and it breaks in nicely. And they wear like iron. I'm in my saddle 50+ hours a week and the buckinghams take a long time to wear out.
I may have skimmed past it but what saddle are you using?
Doh!! I am using a Buckingham Pinnacle. What I meant to write was that I found the WEAVER's to be heavy and stiff. The Pinnacle was a much nicer fit from what I felt in the Weaver. Although I have to say that I did not climb in the Weaver, only after trying it on and reading what others were using did I opt for the Pinnacle. I think I made a good selection. I do like the batten saddle. When I was first wearing it, I tried to wear it at my hips and got some pretty deep bruises. I know wear it buckled over my hips and have no hip bruising. I probably wear mine about 5 hours a week, 15 if I am lucky
. My load is my 10' steel core, zubat, biners, small pulley, ditty bag (some 8mm utility line, slings, scrench, figure 8, webbing),first aid kit. Depending on how I can set up and how high I have to go, I might trail my climbing line, bull line, whoopie and block. I almost always haul the saw up after I am ready to cut. All my tie-ins are to DMM steel biners. They are heavier but I have less worry during my learning stage about a biner failing from cross loading.
Well, hate to disagree again, but have been using beeline with xtc for quite a while now. True, not with the blakes, but other friction hitches work very good with this combo. Been using 8mm beeline in a distal on xtc for my fliplines for over a year now and 10mm beeline in a martin on xtc for my climbing line for six months. I love this combo. Never had any problems with xtc on xtc with a blakes either.
I was only trying to let CA know that without other first hand knowledge, he'd probably do okay using booboo's info to help him pick his rope combo. I have no experience using any of the higher tech eye-to-eye tails.
I am somewhat in the same boat as CA. I am currently using ArborMaster with a High Vee split tail. I was thinking of trying out some of the eye-to-eye hitches (VT, Schwabish, Distal). They look slick and apparently work a little smoother. If you have any recommendations, I'm all ears. It seems like Beeline or Ice is the way to go. Tenex is interesting stuff, but I am not a fan of how easily it snags. That Distal can't go both ways (2in1), can it? Why the different diameter Beeline on your flipline vs. your climbing line? I'm only about 145#.
I was just reading that other thread about the Martin/Mihochoan or however it is spelled. I guess that is another knot to learn.
I really need to hook up with someone local to move me on to that next level.
