ATC Guide Questions

[Dmathews87]

Currently climbing and hunting on my rappel line. Climb and hunt off a prusik which i move to my lineman loop as an autoblock for my figure 8. My concern at the moment is if i do drop something (especially my stick) and need to rappel down, i wont be able to connect my figure 8 while im hanging with tension on the line. IM not ready to pull the trigger on a madrock and like the idea of using an ATC. Could i climb and hunt off the ATC and keep an autoblock connected to my loop? If not, is there an alternative to the madrock that i can climb and hunt off of?

 

[gcr0003]

This video great place to start, lots of way to do it so the answer is yes you can. There are a few ways to do it with a figure 8 as well that do work, but may not be the best option or most efficient.

 

[Marmuzz]

Currently climbing and hunting on my rappel line. Climb and hunt off a prusik which i move to my lineman loop as an autoblock for my figure 8. My concern at the moment is if i do drop something (especially my stick) and need to rappel down, i wont be able to connect my figure 8 while im hanging with tension on the line. IM not ready to pull the trigger on a madrock and like the idea of using an ATC. Could i climb and hunt off the ATC and keep an autoblock connected to my loop? If not, is there an alternative to the madrock that i can climb and hunt off of?

This is essentially what I do but using a Mammut Smart 2.0, which as I understand it works functionally very similar or same as an ATC. The video @gcr0003 is a great place to start. I plan to climb, hunt, and rappel with my Smart device as my bridge connection to my rappel/tether and back it up with a friction hitch on my lineman’s belt loop. Haven’t hunted with it yet but I’ve liked this set up during practice this summer. I used the same figure eight method you described and it works but like you said, I want a way to instantly rappel if I need to, without a Madrock.

 

[Dmathews87]

This video great place to start, lots of way to do it so the answer is yes you can. There are a few ways to do it with a figure 8 as well that do work, but may not be the best option or most efficient.

I watched this briefly, i know he covers the ATC but i must have missed any points that applied to me (watched at work with subtitles lol). Ill go back and re-watch it.

 

[fawnzy]

Here’s an informative link

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[Brocky]

One way to be able to instantly descend, pull up on the rope, like tending slack, until the ATC is right under the hitch, and then pull down on rope to take the weight off of it to easily break.

 

[Marmuzz]

One way to be able to instantly descend, pull up on the rope, like tending slack, until the ATC is right under the hitch, and then pull down on rope to take the weight off of it to easily break.
View attachment 71388

Let me get technical here- is this a Michoacan? Armor Prus cord on Oplux?

 

[Dmathews87]

One way to be able to instantly descend, pull up on the rope, like tending slack, until the ATC is right under the hitch, and then pull down on rope to take the weight off of it to easily break.
View attachment 71388

forgive my climbing equipment ignorance, but can you explain what the hitch above the device is doing? Is there a reason you have it there vs below?

 

[Marmuzz]

forgive my climbing equipment ignorance, but can you explain what the hitch above the device is doing? Is there a reason you have it there vs below?

It’s doing the same function as a hitch below, but because it’s on the rope above the device it doesn’t restrict your movement.

You may find with a hitch below on a lineman’s belt loop, say on the right loop, if you try to twist to the right for a look or a shot, you will have to let out some slack on the hitch to afford extra rope up to the device to let you swivel. It’s not as much of an issue going left. The hitch above eliminates that problem.

With a hitch below, tending up the device to take out slack or to pull yourself closer to the tree has to be a two step motion- first pull rope through the device, and then pull that slack out between the device and your hitch (i.e. moving up the hitch again to be closer to your device). With a hitch above, the device can tend the hitch for you in the same motion.

@Brocky has been suggesting this configuration for a while for setups like this and I think it’s a great idea but I haven’t found out which hitch, cord, etc. works best. I’ve been struggling to get it right and so have thus far stuck with the lower hitch.

 

[Dmathews87]

It’s doing the same function as a hitch below, but because it’s on the rope above the device it doesn’t restrict your movement.

You may find with a hitch below on a lineman’s belt loop, say on the right loop, if you try to twist to the right for a look or a shot, you will have to let out some slack on the hitch to afford extra rope up to the device to let you swivel. It’s not as much of an issue going left. The hitch above eliminates that problem.

With a hitch below, tending up the device to take out slack or to pull yourself closer to the tree has to be a two step motion- first pull rope through the device, and then pull that slack out between the device and your hitch (i.e. moving up the hitch again to be closer to your device). With a hitch above, the device can tend the hitch for you in the same motion.

@Brocky has been suggesting this configuration for a while for setups like this and I think it’s a great idea but I haven’t found out which hitch, cord, etc. works best. I’ve been struggling to get it right and so have thus far stuck with the lower hitch.

makes perfect sense, thanks for the explanation!

 

[Brocky]

Michoacán on Oplux, but it’s Beal’s 5mm Back Up Line, a little longer legs than needed. The cord and hitch aren’t as important as other methods, because the load can easily be taken off the hitch.
Not real ideal for a rope walking system of climbing the rope, but okay for a sit-stand, like RADS, where an ascender is placed above the hitch.

 

[Marmuzz]

Michoacán on Oplux, but it’s Beal’s 5mm Back Up Line, a little longer legs than needed. The cord and hitch aren’t as important as other methods, because the load can easily be taken off the hitch.
Not real ideal for a rope walking system of climbing the rope, but okay for a sit-stand, like RADS, where an ascender is placed above the hitch.

Do you think having sewn eye-to-eye cord helps to tend the hitch because of the stiffer legs than a tied eye-to-eye? An issue I’m having is when pulling out slack through the device, the device will contact the hitch but the hitch will sometimes bunch up and not slide up the rope, making everything jam up and not move. Not a safety issue, but annoying for one handed adjustment.

@Dmathews87 not trying to hijack your thread here, I think this question is relevant to your question and possible setup.

 

[gcr0003]

makes perfect sense, thanks for the explanation!

The downside is the hitch is holding all your weight instead of a percentage of it.

 

[Marmuzz]

Yes, which can be hard to break depending on your hitch.

 

[Brocky]

If you can’t put the load on the device before trying to compress the hitch, use a hitch that doesn’t bind, Sticht, Synergy X, JRB, and a few others.

 

[Dmathews87]

Here’s an informative link

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I like the look of this setup. Has anyone rigged this up with that schwabisch on top and played around with it? I would like to see how its rigged...the video isnt super clear how he has the hitch ran to the carabiner (through the loop of the ATC or through it like the hitch Brocky showed)

 

[Marmuzz]

That’s interesting that he used a schwabisch on top AND an autoblock below. I’ll have to try that. I think it’s unnecessary from a safety standpoint but I can see that by working the autoblock it would allow you to release pressure on the upper hitch to start bringing things down. That’s another problem I’ve had with the hitch above the device, is it can be a bear to unload.

 

[bfriendly]

W

Here’s an informative link

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

it looks like he stuck an ATC inside of this knot. I think it’s a shwabish(sp). I tied this knot to use instead of a prussik. But it’s working so well I got rid of the ropeman and use this alone……But then I’m still putting a prussik below for back up on my secondary bridge.

I’d like to add the ATC as this knot does get tough to tend after a few loads. The ATC should make it tend easier and be ready to come down with less friction and no changeover.

 

[Dmathews87]

Update:

Here are my specs for reference..black diamond ATC, 9mm HTP rope, 8mm prusik loop for top hitch, 6mm autoblock

right off the bat I acknowledge the 8mm loop might need to be smaller...for some reason i thought i had 10mm rope...I first tried a michoacan hitch above the ATC. It tended well but i could never get it to catch under tension (either due to its brand new rope or a size too big). Next up, schwabish above the ATC....tended well and also held rock solid once it set in. When i would hang free to adjust or remove stick, i would keep my autoblock slid up just for added safety. Every now and then if i adjusted, the schwabish seemed like it needed a bit more before it would bite (again either new rope or too big??) If at anytime it made me uneasy i could just keep the autoblock up. overall its not a bad setup and i feel like it will work. You guys with experience with ropes and hitches feel free to chime in and tell me im being an idiot and unsafe.

 

[Dmathews87]

@Brocky would appreciate your input on this setup. I have a 6mm prusik on the way but i want to make sure the 8mm prusik is safe\ok to use as it does seem to bite well enough....or maybe get a 7mm?? I did add an extra wrap on that schwabish to help