SRT is really not a big deal. It's just another method or technique and there's all different sorts of ways to go about it. SRT is a 1:1 system, which is why I climb it, but so is static DRT, which I climb even more frequently. Static DRT, where both ends of the rope are on the ground and you ascend and descend the two parallel lines is known as DbRT. I have a hard time remembering which is which DRT is which.
Our mainstay dynamic doubled rope technique, or DdRT, is a friction hitch-based system. One end of the rope is hooked to you, and the other end is on the ground With Static DRT (DbRT) and SRT, the friction hitch is optional and is really a poor choice compared with about a hundred other friction handlers (pieces, devices) you could choose from.
In SRT and static DRT (DbRT) the rope does not move in the crotch, thereby eliminating the need for a friction safer or a cambium saver. There is no wear in the tree's crotch, nor any wear on the rope. Either of these two systems are handled identically, frictionally speaking. Since all the friction is controlled in front of you, and not at the crotch, it is a consistent control tree to tree, rope to rope and weather to weather. The new 11 mm ropes the rope industry made for us allow us to use every device out there.
Even said, a hundred years of us collectively climbing on 2:1, using friction hitches doesn't convert overnight. I love the history of our profession, but DdRT on half inch line, no matter what the hitch is so much more difficult, time-consuming, cumbersome and can be hard to learn.
It causes me pain to watch the noobies slowly learning the ropes, just to learn within a self-limiting system. I guess it's a thing called 'convention' and it ain't all that bad, but three thousand posts ago I was saying the exact same thing, Why do they make it so hard??? Please pardon me while I :bang: :bang:
It's either friction hitch addiction or device-o-phobia.
BY DESIGN, in accordance with certain laws of physics, a 2:1 system (DdRT) is twice the work (motion) as a 1:1 system (DbRT or SRT). Add to that, friction from the tree's crotch or limb. Then add in the friction from the friction hitch. I come up with slow, frictiony and a lot of extra motion. 2:1 systems, in my honest opinion, should be used for descending only.
SRT is a 1:1 system. But so is the static DRT (the third brother) DbRT. DbRT is like the poor bastard child of the three systems, where SRT is the 'exotic' one and our friction hitch system, DdRT, is the Steady Eddie. Eddie is slower than the rest, but very, very popular. I would bet my life that most would quickly find that the static 1:1 systems are truly faster than the friction hitch, 2:1, DdRT our industry knows and loves.
I know I'm a guppy in an ocean here, but physics don't lie and devices are so simple it's almost like cheating. Hope that helps some. Sorry to ramble :deadhorse: