One Sticking - Tips and Tricks Needed

[yoda4x4]

I've jumped into the saddle/one sticking world and I was finally able to make it out and try my hand at it. I did 3 climbs with 1 and 2 resets of my one stick. As you can probably imagine, some things went well and others went not so good. The biggest issue I kept having was moving my rappelling rope up and having it stay in place. When the rope loop was loose enough to move, the weight of the Mad Rock Safeguard and the carabiner kept pulling the loop down. And when it wasn't that loose, I just couldn't get it to move up I'm using an Ohm Tether Locker for your reference.

The second major issue I noticed was when I was rappelling down using my Mad Rock Safeguard, it was kind of jerky; either too fast or not fast enough. There didn't seem to be any middle ground.

Lastly, everytime I would screw the quick link open or closed, it squeaker like crazy. There's got to be a way to quiet it.

Any tips or tricks you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

David

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[Spartan]

I'm also new to one sticking, but a couple tips I've picked up that you have asked about:

Your safeguard will get smoother for you to operate with practice. You'll start to develop muscle memory for how much pull to apply to that handle and it will become much smoother for you after maybe 8-10 rappels.

I use clear mineral oil for any squeaking metal on my hunting equipment. Also sometimes called sewing machine oil. Works great and is about as odor free as an oil can get. Just the tiniest little drop on the threads should do the trick on your quick link.

Good luck! One sticking is awesome!

 

[Exhumis]

For the first, practice. There is a sweet spot to how high to put your tether. Also, make sure to load your tether. What I mean is while standing on top your stick set your tether how high you want it, lock your ohm in place and then slide your Madrock up to the height you want and keep holding on to the trailing end of your tether. As you do sit down. This will “load” your tether and provide tension which will keep your tether in place on the tree and it won’t slide. I hope that made sense. Garrett from Diysportsman demonstrates it pretty well I’ll see if I can find the video.
Second, practice. Takes practice to find the sweet spot of the Madrock.
Third, for squeakers gotta break them in. Generally once they’re broken in they don’t squeak as bad. If it still squeak use graphite or dry wax based lube.

 

[Plebe]

Anyone mention dynamic rope yet

I've never tried this, but it's kind of interesting:

If it interests you, he's on the forum and real responsive to questions.

 

[goody94]

Hold the tag end of your rope when you use the safeguard firmly (don’t let it slide through) and ‘walk’ it down. Once your hand on the tag end gets close to the safeguard, then stop the rappel and slide the tag end hand back out. I love this method much more than letting it slide through.
1. It controls the descent better because I have a firm grip on the tag end
2. It doesn’t burn my hand.

credit goes to @Red Beard..I saw him do it first.

 

[yoda4x4]

For the first, practice. There is a sweet spot to how high to put your tether. Also, make sure to load your tether. What I mean is while standing on top your stick set your tether how high you want it, lock your ohm in place and then slide your Madrock up to the height you want and keep holding on to the trailing end of your tether. As you do sit down. This will “load” your tether and provide tension which will keep your tether in place on the tree and it won’t slide. I hope that made sense. Garrett from Diysportsman demonstrates it pretty well I’ll see if I can find the video.

This part I can sort of get. Where my issue rears its ugly head is when I climb up my stick and need to raise the rope up. I hope this makes it clearer.

David

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk

 

[bfriendly]

I put a touch of never seize on my oval and it’s quiet now, but any thick lube should work. I use an ATC to rappel, but once you get he hang of your madrock, you’ll probably love it. Lots of different tether keepers out there and I’ve tried several. I can’t seem to find a big fender washer so I’m using a keeper pin I can slide up and down to cinch and loosen my tether. I also added handles to my tether to keep my fingers out from underneath it! Moving and controlling the tether when it’s not loaded is probably my biggest challenge. Just be safe and go slow and smooth …..welcome to the addiction!

 

[Exhumis]

This part I can sort of get. Where my issue rears its ugly head is when I climb up my stick and need to raise the rope up. I hope this makes it clearer.

David

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk

Yup.
this is the part that takes practice. What I do is climb my aider and once I get my boots on the bottom step of my stick I pull the slack out of my tether. Not so much that I’m hugging the tree but enough that it’s not in my way. Then I climb the rest of the way up. Some trees your tether will hold better on, slick bark take more practice.

 

[BTaylor]

Anyone mention dynamic rope yet

I've never tried this, but it's kind of interesting:

If it interests you, he's on the forum and real responsive to questions.

Works awesome. I actually set it on the steel pipe for the roof on a buddy's sxs this weekend to show him how this system works. It held my body weight just fine.

 

[Nohvah]

I use a rubber wire tie to wrap the tether line. NiteEyz 12" secured directly behind my quick link. Move the tether up, then wrap the line, sit into my saddle and put full weight into tether so it sits, then prepare my height for my next one stick move.

It's kind of hard to see, but you can see the black wire tie wrapped around the tether