Oh, so right about the cost differencial, Stephen. All the grabs go dear.
I am pretty much only in conifers, so the fouling of the hitch is a constant hassle. If you go back and forth from hardwoods to conifers I guess wear can take some of the pitch off, but I never get the chance. When you work up where the bark is thin and at the tips where pitch is extruded, you can't get through even one tree and still have a functioning friction hitch. I love the action of a clean hitch, but as a practical matter I just can't use them on lanyards as much as I'd like.