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Why don't yall 2TC?

as I continue practicing more, I more and more suspect it will replace one-sticking. i'm not as fast getting up, but always being tethered is a big safety bonus for my peace of mind.

I do still find that the sensation of being unbalanced/disposed to fall is greater when 2TC than one-sticking... the difference though is in an actual fall scenario, you'd just eat some bark. better than falling to the ground...

I tied two rope handles on my main tether to help move it up the tree w/o putting my fingers under it and that made a big difference, though I plan to re-do each with a prusik knot (I used blake's hitches which got close to un-doing themselves). i also think my foot tether is way too long - I'll probably shorten it from 15 to 12'.
 
I want to love this but there is still a big suck to it. Changing footloops almost entirely eliminated foot discomfort. I'm feeling more stable during the climbs. But this morning I did 2 climbs to 20 moves and was soaked with sweat (it was only 65°). I got 16.5' in 10 mins and then 17' in 8 mins. I want to hit 20' in fewer moves in 6-7 minutes without needing a change of clothes at hunting height.

I think I need to tweak my tethers a bit. I'm burning a lot of time fishing my foot into my floppy footloop every move. Maybe adding some rubber hose to keep it open like @NMSbowhunter did could help. But also I think I'm straining to advance my top tether. I tied a figure 8 in the tail to redundantly clip into my bridge biner but it eats up too much rope. Even sliding down my main hitch as I far as I can forces it to be a little higher than it should be to have comfortable slack to advance the tether; I can do it but it feels like I'm fighting against my bridge. I'll try to retie the tail into a stopper knot. (In future, I'll get 13' of rope instead of 11' for a tether.)
 
Marmuzz said:
I want to love this but there is still a big suck to it. Changing footloops almost entirely eliminated foot discomfort. I'm feeling more stable during the climbs. But this morning I did 2 climbs to 20 moves and was soaked with sweat (it was only 65°). I got 16.5' in 10 mins and then 17' in 8 mins. I want to hit 20' in fewer moves in 6-7 minutes without needing a change of clothes at hunting height.

I think I need to tweak my tethers a bit. I'm burning a lot of time fishing my foot into my floppy footloop every move. Maybe adding some rubber hose to keep it open like @NMSbowhunter did could help. But also I think I'm straining to advance my top tether. I tied a figure 8 in the tail to redundantly clip into my bridge biner but it eats up too much rope. Even sliding down my main hitch as I far as I can forces it to be a little higher than it should be to have comfortable slack to advance the tether; I can do it but it feels like I'm fighting against my bridge. I'll try to retie the tail into a stopper knot. (In future, I'll get 13' of rope instead of 11' for a tether.)
Click to expand...
@Marmuzz when I started I had a foot loop made of seat belt webbing and put a rubber band around the webbing above my foot so I could keep some tension down on my foot. The loop had the material doubled on the bottom to kind of hold it in a triangle shape. This worked well to keep from sliding off but was still something to fiddle with at the start and end of my climb.
This past year the rubber band had dry rotted off but I never replaced it. I found I was smoother if I always kept a little tension down with my foot in the foot loop. As I raised my lower tether, I raised my whole leg with it, keeping the line semi taught. Then I could immediately shift all my weight to my foot, step up, and be into the next move with my top tether.
Occasionally my foot slips out, but something like every half dozen climbs or so, and the. It’s an easy slip back into the loop.
 
Marmuzz said:
I think I need to tweak my tethers a bit. I'm burning a lot of time fishing my foot into my floppy footloop every move. Maybe adding some rubber hose to keep it open like @NMSbowhunter did could help. But also I think I'm straining to advance my top tether. I tied a figure 8 in the tail to redundantly clip into my bridge biner but it eats up too much rope. Even sliding down my main hitch as I far as I can forces it to be a little higher than it should be to have comfortable slack to advance the tether; I can do it but it feels like I'm fighting against my bridge. I'll try to retie the tail into a stopper knot. (In future, I'll get 13' of rope instead of 11' for a tether.)
Click to expand...
one thing you can do is keep your foot in the footloop while you advance your bottom tether; plant your non-looped knee and toe against the tree and raise your looped foot as your advance it. as shown here:


my main tether is 10'6" with an end loop (not a quick link) and it is plenty long for a main tether around even large trees in my area. you likely don't need the redundant figure 8.
 
I guess I need to post this a couple times per page.

It really does work great. I snap it to the Prusik with a carabiner.
Buy it here for $20.
 

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I took some time at lunch today to get comfortable with my new Sidewinder and then did my first bit of 2TC practice. I'm just using my tether and lineman's with my adjustable versa aider as short as it will go and clipped to the lower tether's carabiner. On a slightly leaning tree with no branches it was very easy to get up 10-12' and not bad coming down either. I've got stuff to try rappelling but that can wait, one new thing at a time.

For me, it didn't seem bad at all leaving my foot in the loop, although if I had a stiffened loop that was easier to get back into that might be enough to sway me in that direction. I'm 40 and reasonably height weight proportional, and also neither really tall nor really short which probably all helps.

Balance-wise, I'm sure a leg loop would help, but I did not find myself wishing I had one. Maybe it's one of those things where once I try it I won't want to go back, but I should be fine.

My sidewinder came with a little self rescue amsteel whoopie sling that stays attached to my saddle, so even if I manage to drop my foot loop I still have a way to get down. If I end up rappelling I'll have 2 ways. We'll see where I land.

Overall I found it very doable and the idea of leaving sticks at home (and potentially even platform if I can make sitting/ROS work) is pretty exciting to me.

The only thing standing between me and ditching stick this fall is climbing some trees with lots of branches. I have quite a few of those. For trees with a lot of extra branches I could see using a leapfrogging tether system where I climb limbs until the hitch/ascender is basically up to where the tether girth hitches to the tree, then getting my second tether up as high as I can get it and repeating the process til I'm either past the branches or at height. I don't foresee it being a huge obstacle.

I did find that my knees, especially on the leg that wraps around the tree, did feel some pressure on the inside of the leg right below the joint, but that was after going up and down multiple times, and it wasn't pain, moreso just a feeling of tension that was gone within 15 minutes or so.

I've already written a book here which is more than I'd want to read, but I'm glad this thread is here.
 
boxerboxer said:
I took some time at lunch today to get comfortable with my new Sidewinder and then did my first bit of 2TC practice. I'm just using my tether and lineman's with my adjustable versa aider as short as it will go and clipped to the lower tether's carabiner. On a slightly leaning tree with no branches it was very easy to get up 10-12' and not bad coming down either. I've got stuff to try rappelling but that can wait, one new thing at a time.

For me, it didn't seem bad at all leaving my foot in the loop, although if I had a stiffened loop that was easier to get back into that might be enough to sway me in that direction. I'm 40 and reasonably height weight proportional, and also neither really tall nor really short which probably all helps.

Balance-wise, I'm sure a leg loop would help, but I did not find myself wishing I had one. Maybe it's one of those things where once I try it I won't want to go back, but I should be fine.

My sidewinder came with a little self rescue amsteel whoopie sling that stays attached to my saddle, so even if I manage to drop my foot loop I still have a way to get down. If I end up rappelling I'll have 2 ways. We'll see where I land.

Overall I found it very doable and the idea of leaving sticks at home (and potentially even platform if I can make sitting/ROS work) is pretty exciting to me.

The only thing standing between me and ditching stick this fall is climbing some trees with lots of branches. I have quite a few of those. For trees with a lot of extra branches I could see using a leapfrogging tether system where I climb limbs until the hitch/ascender is basically up to where the tether girth hitches to the tree, then getting my second tether up as high as I can get it and repeating the process til I'm either past the branches or at height. I don't foresee it being a huge obstacle.

I did find that my knees, especially on the leg that wraps around the tree, did feel some pressure on the inside of the leg right below the joint, but that was after going up and down multiple times, and it wasn't pain, moreso just a feeling of tension that was gone within 15 minutes or so.

I've already written a book here which is more than I'd want to read, but I'm glad this thread is here.
Click to expand...
New muscle usage that you're not used to using regularly! It'll definitely get better!
 
mschultz373 said:
one thing you can do is keep your foot in the footloop while you advance your bottom tether; plant your non-looped knee and toe against the tree and raise your looped foot as your advance it. as shown here:


my main tether is 10'6" with an end loop (not a quick link) and it is plenty long for a main tether around even large trees in my area. you likely don't need the redundant figure 8.
Click to expand...
2883.jpg2752.jpg
Foot loop with an elastic top band to hold it on your foot.....i make my own...of course2908.jpgforgive me if i have posted these picks befor but it realy works so simple.
 
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Practiced again this morning. Seems like small adjustments makes climbing smooth.

@mschultz373 Tried the knee-toe-to-tree and kept my foot in the loop. Didn’t speed up my transition time but it did help save energy.

Also I didn’t tippy toe max out my tether every move. Buys an extra inch or two but it costs a lot of sweat.
 
Marmuzz said:
Practiced again this morning. Seems like small adjustments makes climbing smooth.

@mschultz373 Tried the knee-toe-to-tree and kept my foot in the loop. Didn’t speed up my transition time but it did help save energy.

Also I didn’t tippy toe max out my tether every move. Buys an extra inch or two but it costs a lot of sweat.
Click to expand...
Once it clicks, it's incredibly easy
 
Marmuzz said:
Practiced again this morning. Seems like small adjustments makes climbing smooth.

@mschultz373 Tried the knee-toe-to-tree and kept my foot in the loop. Didn’t speed up my transition time but it did help save energy.

Also I didn’t tippy toe max out my tether every move. Buys an extra inch or two but it costs a lot of sweat.
Click to expand...
i think you'll fare better with smaller, maneagable moves actually. the big positive to 2TC is slack management and keeping it to a minimum. trying to get as much distance on every move ends up introducing more slack = more risk of injury in the case of a fall.
 
Zakly...stretching out to try and make less moves is counter productive with 2 tethering...just relax and make easy moves mindlesly like walking without counting steps.you dont stretch out your steps to make less moves and cout your steps walking to the tree.that will make you sweat.just like the way some trees ar farther from the truck some trees you need to be higher in and some lower.once you learn your adjustments you just walk up the tree like you are walking to it.
 
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