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DRT/DbRT

DRT or SRT

  • SRT

    Votes: 1 14.3%

  • DRT

    Votes: 6 85.7%
  • Total voters
    7
rabidd099

rabidd099

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2016
Messages
240
Location
North Carolina
I know a lot of folks out there like SRT for rope accessing their trees, but I'm a double rope fan and thought I'd share how I climb a rope while hunting if I'm not using bolts. Main reason I use it is simplicity, less metal parts making noise, mechanical advantage built in, and I can decend on the same system without removing a single thing. I leave the system on the rope for the next hunt I only have to make/remove one knot at the tree (wish I had a spliced eye).

Anyways, I use a eye to eye with a Knut which is a self tending knot, can be a little finicky with rope a prussik cord combos but beeline and poison ivy work alright. A short webbing runner keeps the two biners apart so they can't click together and below is a 7 or 8mm foot loop using a knut as well. I put one foot in the loop, one against the tree to stop from swinging about the knut at my waist self tends the foot loop must be moved by hand but the knut releases with ease. When descending the top knot pushes the foot loop down so it doesn't need to be removed.

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the knut
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Bee line for your friction hitch?

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I'm gonna try DDRT as soon as my saddle gets here. Seems like it would me a lot lighter and quieter than sticks while being about the same amount of work and time to set up. I'll be using a technora split tail with as little metal as possible...probably just a biner on each side.
 
I still use drt when working. But I also have a 120 foot rope then. This was just yesterday. My tie in was about 50 feet up.
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I don't have any actual numbers on it, but even though SRT is gaining popularity I'd guess 95% of the industry is still DdRT
 
brydan said:
I don't have any actual numbers on it, but even though SRT is gaining popularity I'd guess 95% of the industry is still DdRT
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I dont know about that, I know alot of arborists and they all do srt, 20 years ago Ddrt was big in the industry. But srt has taken over pretty much, its much more efficient than Ddrt.

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I'd like to hear your guy's thoughts. I can't see a lot of advantages to SRT for hunting purposes other than saving some rope length and some physical effort. If you only need to go 25 or 30 feet it seems to make a lot of sense. Maybe not as sexy with all the cool gear...
 
TheTracker said:
I dont know about that, I know alot of arborists and they all do srt, 20 years ago Ddrt was big in the industry. But srt has taken over pretty much, its much more efficient than Ddrt.

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Maybe its a regional thing but I don't know any arborist that uses SRT often, I've been out of the biz for about 5 years but I still look at climbers when I see them to see what they are running. I worked for Bartlett so I also figure that they saved a lot of money per climber using split-tails and eye to eyes as opposed to expensive hardware.
 
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rabidd099 said:
Maybe its a regional thing but I don't know any arborist that uses SRT often, I've been out of the biz for about 5 years but I still look at climbers when I see them to see what they are running. I worked for a Bartlett so I also figure that they saved a lot of money per climber using split-tails and eye to eyes as opposed to expensive hardware.
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Ever since my buddy introduced the rope wrench and rope runner systems srt has sky rocketed around me, it revolutionized srt climbing. Alot of guys will tell most people who start to use Ddrt as its the bread and butter of climbing but for arborists time is money and srt is just so much faster, just the ability to do multiple redirects alone is worth in my opinion.

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HardBall said:
I'd like to hear your guy's thoughts. I can't see a lot of advantages to SRT for hunting purposes other than saving some rope length and some physical effort. If you only need to go 25 or 30 feet it seems to make a lot of sense. Maybe not as sexy with all the cool gear...
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That's the main reason I wanted to start this post, saddle hunting to me is all about being simple, mobile, lightweight, quiet and cost effective. SRT gear gets expensive quick, requires different gear to descend (unless you spend a lot more for the fancy stuff, even the rope wrench is about half the price of another saddle), adds more weight, and maybe worst of all adds more metal to clink together. DbRT/DRT only needs one biner in its simplest form.

That is why I like the Knut for hunting, it eliminates a ring or pulley to tend the line. SRT can save you rope length but adds complexity at the tree in the dark. SRT can save you the need to isolate your line in the tree but if you pre-set trees post-season thats not a big deal, if you run and gun SRT has the upper hand. That being said, if your run and gunning you can use a set up similar to mine a bring a descender or better yet learn a munter hitch and go up SRT with a basel tie off and rappel down you can still leave you gear on the rope above you and when you set up again hold your hitch as you haul your line over the branch so it doesn't end up at the top.

Yeah, climbing SRT is a more efficient climbing system at 1:1 but some SRT systems add mechanical advantage like RADS so you lose the main reason to climb SRT (at least for hunting purposes, for rec and work purposes there are other reasons like redirects). Also, if your just going 20-30ft its not a huge advantage.

Note: if you leave your gear on the rope you need to periodically check your gear for wear and the like and retie your hitches so you don't glaze your friction hitches.
 
TheTracker said:
Ever since my buddy introduced the rope wrench and rope runner systems srt has sky rocketed around me, it revolutionized srt climbing. Alot of guys will tell most people who start to use Ddrt as its the bread and butter of climbing but for arborists time is money and srt is just so much faster, just the ability to do multiple redirects alone is worth in my opinion.

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Yeah I would love to play with a rope wrench some time but I don't do enough tree work anymore to justify it.
 
Ok I'm curious and in some respects an old dog. For tree work, I have always used drt, because it made retrieval that much easier. I'm not following your redirect comment, and I guess I'm not sure how you get your rope down in srt unless you are tieing off the non working end at the base of the tree. I assume you are setting your line with a sling shot or throw bag rather than climbing? I have always set my line buy climbing up to my tie point.

I've been out of the loop for a while and really only climb for friends and family anymore so I don't get to see all the advances.

Actually. When I left the industry, split tails with pulley tenders were just starting to get traction.

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rabidd099 said:
Yeah I would love to play with a rope wrench some time but I don't do enough tree work anymore to justify it.
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You'd love it, all the advantages of Ddrt and none of the cons. Do you do any recreational climbing?

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Erniepower said:
Ok I'm curious and in some respects an old dog. For tree work, I have always used drt, because it made retrieval that much easier. I'm not following your redirect comment, and I guess I'm not sure how you get your rope down in srt unless you are tieing off the non working end at the base of the tree. I assume you are setting your line with a sling shot or throw bag rather than climbing? I have always set my line buy climbing up to my tie point.

I've been out of the loop for a while and really only climb for friends and family anymore so I don't get to see all the advances.

Actually. When I left the industry, split tails with pulley tenders were just starting to get traction.

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When coming down from your TIP if you jump though a redirect crotch(es)... You will have more friction in your system on a drt... So that's something you'll have to get use to. (the drag on a limb walks) drt is a 2 to 1 rather than srt's 1 to 1.. So coming back in you'll be working harder on drt. (Tending more slack) On a srt system there is no additional friction because its a stationary system.

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TheTracker said:
When coming down from your TIP if you jump though a redirect crotch(es)... You will have more friction in your system on a drt... Soooo that's something you'll have to get use to. (the drag on a limb walks) drt is a 2 to 1 rather than srt's 1 to 1.. So comming back in you'll be working harder on drt. (Tending more slack)

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Ok I can see that.

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do you ever run into any problems with the rope getting hung up in the crotch of the tree when you are climbing

I am new to all this and interested in your experiences
 
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