So I have been playing with SRT for tree climbing a bit. I have RADS technique down but was wondering if a Texas Kick system would be viable and better.
The advantage of the Texas Kick system over RADS is that it is simpler with less gear requirements.
My results were simpler and better than I expected. The only major pieces of gear are two ascenders, such as Ropeman 1 or Duck. These items are less expensive than the items needed for RADS, and many saddle hunters will already have them. I also incorporated a double foot loop and a bungee over the shoulder. The bungee pulls the top ascender up as you stand up.
This method is very quiet. With RADS you have to manage some carabiners so that they don't clink against other metal components. Here you just have to be careful not to bump the bottom ascender into the top one.
Another neat thing is that this uses your regular bridge and ascender in the same position you'd have normally when hunting. So no need for a short bridge or to transfer over (assuming you like to hunt with the 45ft tether). You can also leave the bottom connection on as a backup.
You can descend without changing anything, but it is not as nice as descending on a GriGri2, an ATC or just about anything. So I would probably switch over to my GriGri2 for coming down.
Now for the bad news. It seems the bungee can interfere with the top ascenders effectiveness at biting the rope. In the video you can see that my climb starts fine but at about 35 seconds the Duck doesn't want to grab. I concluded that the rope (9mm Sterling HTP) must be a little thin there, and combined with reduced effectiveness of the ascender resulted in not grabbing quickly. Once I climbed above this region it was fine again. The second video shows me climbing without the bungee and I could tell that there was something different about that section of rope but the device grabbed.
Climbing without the bungee was not too bad, so maybe the answer is just to leave it out. However, the bungee does reduce the effort a bit and frees up the hands more.
First video shows me climbing with the bungee, shows me dealing with the top ascender not grabbing, and climbing down. Second video is climbing with the same system minus the bungee.
Looking forward to all your comments, questions, suggestions or concerns. I'd really like to get the bungee to work!
The advantage of the Texas Kick system over RADS is that it is simpler with less gear requirements.
My results were simpler and better than I expected. The only major pieces of gear are two ascenders, such as Ropeman 1 or Duck. These items are less expensive than the items needed for RADS, and many saddle hunters will already have them. I also incorporated a double foot loop and a bungee over the shoulder. The bungee pulls the top ascender up as you stand up.
This method is very quiet. With RADS you have to manage some carabiners so that they don't clink against other metal components. Here you just have to be careful not to bump the bottom ascender into the top one.
Another neat thing is that this uses your regular bridge and ascender in the same position you'd have normally when hunting. So no need for a short bridge or to transfer over (assuming you like to hunt with the 45ft tether). You can also leave the bottom connection on as a backup.
You can descend without changing anything, but it is not as nice as descending on a GriGri2, an ATC or just about anything. So I would probably switch over to my GriGri2 for coming down.
Now for the bad news. It seems the bungee can interfere with the top ascenders effectiveness at biting the rope. In the video you can see that my climb starts fine but at about 35 seconds the Duck doesn't want to grab. I concluded that the rope (9mm Sterling HTP) must be a little thin there, and combined with reduced effectiveness of the ascender resulted in not grabbing quickly. Once I climbed above this region it was fine again. The second video shows me climbing without the bungee and I could tell that there was something different about that section of rope but the device grabbed.
Climbing without the bungee was not too bad, so maybe the answer is just to leave it out. However, the bungee does reduce the effort a bit and frees up the hands more.
First video shows me climbing with the bungee, shows me dealing with the top ascender not grabbing, and climbing down. Second video is climbing with the same system minus the bungee.
Looking forward to all your comments, questions, suggestions or concerns. I'd really like to get the bungee to work!
