Wow, that's a stud, well done and well deserved.
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JRB Ascender Hitch
- Thread starter John RB
- Start date
Man that’s an awesome buck! If you would of just led with a picture of a buck like that you would have everyone on this site JRB climbing! Lol congrats!'Appreciate the comments boys. I tagged my buck last weekend, sitting in a tree i never climbed b4, which i quietly snuck to at noon in a known doe travel corridor, and used a throwball to get into, and sitting on a mismatched pair of JRB Ascender Hitches (cuz i am testing a variant and the side by side test is such a good test). I was only halfway up when the first buck walked by. He saw me but i froze and waited him out. And when the gang came back 5.5 hours later, it happened very fast, in just a few seconds, and glad i was holding and ready. There were 3 bucks chasing a doe on a full run. I timed my 2 fast dog barks pretty well and brought the last and biggest down to a walk, broadside 7 yds. Was an excellent day. My streak of 4+ year olds continues. And so I am gonna use my planned vacation days this week on a grouse hunting event in the deep woods of PA for a few days. Internet reception will be sporadic to rare in case anyone is expecting a response to anything here. Good luck hunting and be safe.
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I tried the JRB Ascender again last night, and still couldn't make it work as well as a Double Michoacan. I'm sure it wasn't too tight this time, and it looked identical to the pair @John RB showed in the post on page two of this thread. Looks like it's double meech for me.
And it's got me wondering if there's a causal correlation between body weight and preference between meech and JRB Ascender. Maybe the meech is better for higher body weight? For the record, I'm 280lbs, and using 10mm rope with 7mm cord. Anyone else prefer the meech or JRB Ascender willing to share?
Photo? Two hitches in a JRB system or one in SRT? SRT is the stress test, not the recommended configuration. Think about it: every DRT system in the world puts only half of your weight on any one friction hitch. And yes, breaking force is likely and largely proportional to load. That's not a bad thing necessarily. If you're SRT, take your double meech, and make the bottom one at jrb Ascender. Now you have the best of both worlds. You got the handle for pushing it up and you've got two hitches to break.
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I didn't bother taking a photo since the result was pretty clear. I am using SRT because of the trees, so that's definitely a factor. I also tried making additional turns in the bottom and top of the JRB Ascender, but it still bound up tight regardless. I'm sure it's a great hitch, it just so happens that the Double Michoacan is more suited to my particular application.
Not to steal your thunder, but I think I know what you might be up to as since I have started 2TC and didn't have any presets and only have 1 40' rope(due to my financial officer's restrictions) I haven't been able to try the JRB climbing method, but do now use your saddle hunters hitch (because it's easy to attach without a steel quick link and holds tight when load is released unlike a girth hith and is very easy to undo when going around branches) with my rappel rope as my top tether and climb up with it along with my foot tether, then at height I simply turn the saddle hunters hitch into a jrb hitch(with a carabiner lock while hunting) and have a alpine butterfly on the release end( which only sticks out a foot) that I clip my paracord pulldown line to, then rappel down on the JRB hitch and release is soooooo much easier than a regular girth hitch, and if I've passed branches I dont have to pull my entire rope through!
All that to say, thanks for sharing your designs!
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I'm replying from a red light and so I can't attach a link, but if you do a YouTube search for jrb hitch climbing, you will see the method that I am seeking to improve
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Ok, I have seen that video and am interested in seeing how you improve it. I do really love that jrb hitch! I was more just letting you know how I incorporated your stuff into 2 tether climbing.
I like this idea of using a saddlehunter's hitch to hold my stuff at hunting height. That will get rid of more stuff to find when I get to the top. I already got rid of my Doyle's gear hoist by using the ends of my climbing line (one for the bow/one for my gear). I have not tried the new hitch as of yet. I am currently using the double mich. I have NEVER felt safer in any other climbing situation as I do with this method. I love my BEAST sticks, but last year, I slipped and the sharp step tread left me with a scar in the middle of my chest. LM belts will give you a scare with a slipup.If you saw the video where I rigged up a new climbing rope, you know that I have a small brass boats clip on one end. On the other end, I make a small poachers not and put a small carabiner. And so before I start climbing, I will clip one of the lines on my bow and the other one on any gear that I might want to bring up with me. I started carrying a small bag instead of using my saddlebag. And so when I get to hunting height, I just bring up my stuff. I will make a saddle Hunters hitch with the one end of rope which has a beaner and use it to hold my rope. And I can clip my gear bag into that or put an S hook on it to hold my bow.
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After 2+ weeks of gathering feedback, i published a 2nd video. Publishing a new knot for Life Safety applications at this level of complexity and variation requires some planning from me in terms of the right border to present the information. So far it's going really well. Next I will do short videos on tying a specific variant. And then I will demonstrate climbs on them. I really prefer the 423, or 523 if on Oplux .
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Haven't progressed to the ascender hitch yet, but finally got around to trying the JRB method using the dbl mish this morning. Already had a set line in an old oak I was pruning a few weeks ago so ran my 8mm resc tech up there and did 3 climbs/descents to about 20'. Took a few tries to get my foot loop and short and long bridge lengths worked out to my bone dimensions, but once I got it tweaked the climbs were relatively easy. Easy enough that I would be comfortable switching from 4 years of SRT to this method tonight. 
ftr, I just turned 64 last week with a bad right shoulder, so anyone thinking this technique requires studly athleticism think again...
The mish's are tied with 5 wraps of 7mm vt. I used a mini 8 with and without autoblock to rappel. With a 4 wrap autoblock I could rappel very slowly just touching the mish's without any pressure on the autoblock. I did this to simulate holding a gun or bow in one hand and working the mish's in the other in a very slow and controlled descent. With 5 wrap autoblock I was locked on the two ropes regardless of whether the mish's were loaded or not and had to release the autoblock pressure with my left hand to proceed.
I'm running 100' of resc tech from EWO and show the left over rope pile on the ground, which I measured to apprx 20'.
Very cool and safe climbing methiod, mucho kudo's to John for sharing this.
Now that I can tie the mish's with my eyes closed, I'm not gonna lie, the ascender hitch gives me headache to look at and think about tying, but i will give them a try and report back soon
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ftr, I just turned 64 last week with a bad right shoulder, so anyone thinking this technique requires studly athleticism think again...
The mish's are tied with 5 wraps of 7mm vt. I used a mini 8 with and without autoblock to rappel. With a 4 wrap autoblock I could rappel very slowly just touching the mish's without any pressure on the autoblock. I did this to simulate holding a gun or bow in one hand and working the mish's in the other in a very slow and controlled descent. With 5 wrap autoblock I was locked on the two ropes regardless of whether the mish's were loaded or not and had to release the autoblock pressure with my left hand to proceed.
I'm running 100' of resc tech from EWO and show the left over rope pile on the ground, which I measured to apprx 20'.
Very cool and safe climbing methiod, mucho kudo's to John for sharing this.
Now that I can tie the mish's with my eyes closed, I'm not gonna lie, the ascender hitch gives me headache to look at and think about tying, but i will give them a try and report back soon
....Hey. It's really nice to get positive feedback and to see that others are having success. Because I am not selling this, and merely representing it, I like to think of it as something that is alive: It is something that is growing over time and it will live longer than we will. We just are fortunate to be here at the start of the journey. If anything is unclear in any of my videos, or you have any suggestions for improvement, please let me know.Haven't progressed to the ascender hitch yet, but finally got around to trying the JRB method using the dbl mish this morning. Already had a set line in an old oak I was pruning a few weeks ago so ran my 8mm resc tech up there and did 3 climbs/descents to about 20'. Took a few tries to get my foot loop and short and long bridge lengths worked out to my bone dimensions, but once I got it tweaked the climbs were relatively easy. Easy enough that I would be comfortable switching from 4 years of SRT to this method tonight.
ftr, I just turned 64 last week with a bad right shoulder, so anyone thinking this technique requires studly athleticism think again...
The mish's are tied with 5 wraps of 7mm vt. I used a mini 8 with and without autoblock to rappel. With a 4 wrap autoblock I could rappel very slowly just touching the mish's without any pressure on the autoblock. I did this to simulate holding a gun or bow in one hand and working the mish's in the other in a very slow and controlled descent. With 5 wrap autoblock I was locked on the two ropes regardless of whether the mish's were loaded or not and had to release the autoblock pressure with my left hand to proceed.
I'm running 100' of resc tech from EWO and show the left over rope pile on the ground, which I measured to apprx 20'.
Very cool and safe climbing methiod, mucho kudo's to John for sharing this.
Now that I can tie the mish's with my eyes closed, I'm not gonna lie, the ascender hitch gives me headache to look at and think about tying, but i will give them a try and report back soonView attachment 57615View attachment 57616View attachment 57617View attachment 57618View attachment 57619View attachment 57620View attachment 57621....
I'm not sure if this point came through in my videos, but I don't ever tie any knots at the climbing location. My friction hitches are pre-tied and on the line and they go up and over the crotch. As so please consider that as you experiment with the new hitch. Just in case you haven't seen this video, I will attach the link. 1 boat clip on the end of the Rope, or ideally to as I show here will ensure that the friction hitch doesn't get lost in the crotch.
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Thanks John, yeah, I didn't miss your boat clip process in the videos. Been doing similar thing on my ropes for a few years now. I heat up a wire and burn a hole in the end then thread high strength cord to form a loop to attach a small clip. Lately, I've been using 200lb kevlar cord, very supple and super strong and abrasion resistant. Probably unnecessary, but I'll generally put a piece of heavy duty heat shrink over the whipped part for a little added protection too.
In terms of the knot tying, I'm kind of old school and won't use a knot I can't tie proficiently on demand. Tying and dressing my knots is part of my prep psyche too, don't care about the extra minute or two it takes. - eric
In terms of the knot tying, I'm kind of old school and won't use a knot I can't tie proficiently on demand. Tying and dressing my knots is part of my prep psyche too, don't care about the extra minute or two it takes. - eric
Attachments
That's really nice. Fish fingers Morgan Freeman got to look through my photo gallery picture, but one of the other reasons I use the boat clip is because the clip is so small and strong, it never seems to get caught on any kind of branch. With enough time and ugly trees, the clip-on yours might get caught on something. The day that happens, we practice all of our curse words!
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maybe so, but I use this stuff on slow pitch jig assist hooks and it survives toothy fish like mackeral and kingfish. Haven't had any issues yet pulling climbing lines. Point taken tho.
That was the funniest Voice to Text screw up I've ever read! Sorry. I am in a tree! That's the ascender hitch in bridge mode.
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Just ordered some 6mm Excel Racing Dinghy Control Line... I have some of the 5 mm for a different project, and it's pretty impressive. I'm just looking for a new favorite 6 mm cord for my 8 mm ropes.
www.knotandrope.com
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Excel Racing Dinghy Control Line
This rope has a braided polyester cover over a braided Dyneema® core (except for the 3mm size in which the Dyneema® core is NOT braided). High strength, lightweight with 100% Polyester cover and Dyneema® core for all round use on halyards, sheets and control lines. Holds well in cleats. Excel...
www.knotandrope.com
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That 6 mm cord is working out great. I have it on all of my 8 mm systems now. I am using the 523 variant of the jrb Ascender hitch.
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Ok so this is a 423 JRB Ascender, closed with a sliding triple fisherman's bend, using every bit of 5ft of 6mm Sterling cord on a 9mm rope. The purple traces the descending leg. If it's too tight, we jam. If its too loose, it might not hold. Here's what i learned: Most friction hitches including Michoacán, Distel, Blake's and others have this tendency: If you rappel on them, even short distances, the vibration causes the descending leg to tend to get pulled down, slack coming out of the hitch, causing jamming. Thats why we typically need to unbind them a little bit after a Rappel. If we don't do that, we will be fighting them the entire Ascent on our next Climb. And if we're just moving around during the course of a hunt, it's just annoying that the friction hitch gets jammed. What i noticed is that the sliding Triple Fisherman's knot will reduce this tendency. The additional friction imparted on the descending leg will reduce the amount that gets pulled out of the hitch and make it more stable. I've noticed this for all friction hitches, not just my ascender. This technique would not be available to climbers using an eye to eye, for example, in a "hitch climber pulley MRS system". But it is of interest to JRB system users and Texas Style SRT climbers. I have no problem recommending this to anybody and their jrb climbing systems on any friction hitch. Of course, it's going to consume more cord to build it and so if you've already cut your cord for hunters bend, that probably won't work. And if ya use it on a JRB Ascender, you will not be able to use it in bridge mode. And so i will not use this on my systems i use for JRB Hitch Climbing. But if ya strictly use the doubled rope JRB system on presets, this may decrease jamming and increase security as i am sure its stronger than Hunters Bend. I will attach the new Utube for Sliding Triple Fisherman's.
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