Tauntline Hitch Appreciation Thread

[Ax-man]

Were getting away from MB 's thread and going off topic with this wood splitting but it is Christmas so what the hey.

I agree with Murph's and Guy's statement about wood splitting being good for all around conditioning. I used to it all by hand too with an over sized Missouri Maul.

But do you really think you can keep up with a splitter ALL DAY LONG and do it again the next day, I hardly think so. At the end of the day the guy with the splitter is going to have a much bigger wood pile of" desireable" "finer" split wood, than you guy's will have by knocking some logs in half with your mauls and calling it split wood.

Using Red Oak ( probaly straight grained ) as an example, that a man with a maul can beat a splitter in a race, that really isn't much of a comparision, IMO. Let's see who comes out on top when you start throwiing in Elm or Hackberry wood, also let's not forget those crotch pieces, especially those crow feet crotches. My money would be on the guy with the splitter.

It takes about 2- 3 hrs to produce a standard cord with a splitter, depending on the lengths of wood and the type of wood being split. I don't think a guy with a maul and some wedges could do that even on his best day.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Blakes

The blakes is a better hitch and it's easy to tie.
Hold the tail of your rope and do two wraps around it and your thumb.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Then do two more wraps.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Pull out your thumb and put tail in.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Snug it up and add a stopper.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

The advantage besides working better, is it does not lock down, you can pull slack through the hitch with little effort.
This sets up the next logical step, adding a fair lead.
Now you can pull slack out with one hand, this works poorly with a tautline because they lock up and can not be advanced easily.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Now we need to solve Guy's problem. We shouldn't have to tie and untie knots all day, thats what carabiners and snaps are for.
So we add a split tail and snap or carabiner.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

You can see things are getting bulky, so the next step will be to use a smaller rope for the split tail and a VT attached in a clever way to the pulley.

 

[Ax-man]

Is that pulley your basic fixed side plate pulley??? Or is something special with an eye to recieve the dbl. fishermans. Clever though saves some room on the carabiner so it isn't so crowded.

 

[Davidsinatree]

I have been useing the blakes, like it alot but I have been trying the distal . I'm not yet ready to switch to it though. I think I'm going to try the tauntline just for fun I'v never tried it. I do know 4 other climbers that use the tauntline. Weather you like like it or not I would bet it's the most used friction hitch in the tree industry. It would be interesting to know, but its clearly in the minority in this group. :angel:

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Ax-man,http://www.petzl.com/petzl/SportProduits?MotRecherche=Quick+Search&pays=0&Langue=en&Activite=26&Famille=11&Produit=351&Conseil=&ProduitAssocie= It's nice because the carabiner and pulley are tied together so you can't drop a piece when you're tieing it or untieing it.
When I'm done climbing, I tend to just leave the hitch tied to the rope, bend over my rope bag and pull it back through the hitch, into the bag. When it's time to climb again, it's all tied and ready to go.

Are all these guys climbing on Tautline hitches not using a fair lead? That would totally suck to need two hands to adjust your climbing line.

 

[kf_tree]

it must really suck to use 2 hands on a saw too.........

 

[MasterBlaster]

Mike, those step-by-step pics were outstanding! I've seen the Blakes before in my collection of 'books', but I never really experimented with the various hitches all that much.

I DO remember trying the BH and kinda liking it, but I never got into the habit of using it.

Your MOST EXCELLENT POST has piqued my curiosity. I will try out the BH this monday with a more positive frame of mind.

Thank you, sir.

 

[rahtreelimbs]

Glad to see the Outlaw Zen Climber has taken one more step up the progression ladder!!!

 

[MasterBlaster]

Originally posted by Rich Hoffman
Glad to see the Outlaw Zen Climber has taken one more step up the progression ladder!!!

One more, eh?

I didn't care AT ALL about the other hitches.

Maybe later.

But probably not.

I did like that little pulley-thingy.

 

[NeTree]

Hmm... I use a Blake's 60% of the time, a tautline the other 40%.

Dinosaur knot maybe, but it works.

The Blake's doesn't tend to roll out of lock down as much, but if you don't get it exactly right, you're in for a surprise.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Day-um Erik, ya just coming outta the closet?

Do you use the little pully-thingy?

 

[NeTree]

Naw, I'm a dinosaur.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I'm gonna try it.

What the hay?

 

[Ax-man]

MB,, Didn't you know Mike is really Santa. That is his Christmas present to you, mine was the link on that pulley, Thanks Mike.

Mike,, Your set - up and mine are basically the same,, I noticed you went with the light weight rope snap, and termination knot combo. Mine has a spliced eye, with twist lock carabiner, instead of a snap.

When you advance the working side of the line with the snap, does it get hung up if the throw is off a little and goes off target??? I usually take the splice off the biner and use a light throw ball or the biner itself if the the throw is short and easy. The light snap would be enough weight as opposed to a heavier snap. to advance the line, and I could save a step or two for line advancement. The Fisherman's knot is the one concern I'd have, other than that your set-up is very