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Preferred tether length

DC10

DC10

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2017
Messages
457
Location
North Carolina
Would like to know what is an average tether length? Mine came with the standard 12ft when I ordered my Kestrel and I’d like to go ahead and shorten it some.

So, what is a good length that would still allow you to hunt some larger than average trees?
 
Mine is 8ft. I've never got up a tree and wished it was longer, and I've climbed trees where I could barely strap stepps and lone wolf sticks. I don't hunt a lot of leaning trees. I usually tether just above head height, and sit most of the time. 6ft, 170lbs.

I give you those details because I think they all factor in.
 
Nutterbuster said:
Mine is 8ft. I've never got up a tree and wished it was longer, and I've climbed trees where I could barely strap stepps and lone wolf sticks. I don't hunt a lot of leaning trees. I usually tether just above head height, and sit most of the time. 6ft, 170lbs.

I give you those details because I think they all factor in.
Click to expand...
Thanks!
 
Most guys are using a finished length of 6-8 foot. Mine is 7'. I've used it for 5 or 6 seasons now and I've never been in a situation where I needed a longer one.

Sent from my Galaxy S8.
 
I made my linesman belt/tether combos with 10 feet of rope. After knots, they are about 8.5-9 feet long. I have never had an issue with them not being long enough to act as a tether.

I have had them come up a bit short as a linesman belt on a couple huge cottonwoods. But, I found I couldn’t flip the belt on a tree that size anyways.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
IkemanTX said:
I made my linesman belt/tether combos with 10 feet of rope. After knots, they are about 8.5-9 feet long. I have never had an issue with them not being long enough to act as a tether.

I have had them come up a bit short as a linesman belt on a couple huge cottonwoods. But, I found I couldn’t flip the belt on a tree that size anyways.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I haven't found a good mobile climbing method for HUGE trees. I'll preset those and look for something smaller if I'm mobile.
 
IkemanTX said:
I made my linesman belt/tether combos with 10 feet of rope. After knots, they are about 8.5-9 feet long. I have never had an issue with them not being long enough to act as a tether.

I have had them come up a bit short as a linesman belt on a couple huge cottonwoods. But, I found I couldn’t flip the belt on a tree that size anyways.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I usually grab my SRT gear on the big trees but it can be done with the spurs and a regular rope. Key is to swing and roll it up the tree rather than swing and flip it up. I can climb trees over 30 dbh with a roll.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
Yikes...my knees got weak and shaky watching that...I must be getting old...lol, and I use to skydive
 
DC10 said:
Would like to know what is an average tether length?
Click to expand...

I ordered the 12' too. That's certainly too long, but I'm having a tough time convincing myself to cut it. I just suspect a situation will eventually come up where I want the extra length, and on top of that I have issue with the fact that the remnant would be so short that it's essentially high-quality rope going to waste.

To deal with much of the excess length, I just added a couple of knots- a figure 8 on a bight and then a double overhand another foot or two up. Those don't seem to get in the way of feeding it through the other end, and I've found the loop to be useful to hoist up my second stick when climbing. The overhand serves as a stopper, but mainly exists just to shorten the total length.
 
g2outdoors said:
Most guys are using a finished length of 6-8 foot. Mine is 7'. I've used it for 5 or 6 seasons now and I've never been in a situation where I needed a longer one.

Sent from my Galaxy S8.
Click to expand...
Is it best to cut straight across? And do you simply burn the end with a lighter to get it to close back up? Just wanting to make sure I do things correctly the first time :)
 
You should really cut it with a hot cutter. I've heard of guys heating up a knife before cutting to seal it. Burning the ends won't work as well as with something like 550 cord. You could whip the ends or use shrink wrap?

Sent from my Galaxy S8.
 
DC10 said:
Is it best to cut straight across? And do you simply burn the end with a lighter to get it to close back up? Just wanting to make sure I do things correctly the first time :)
Click to expand...
How you finish your cut depends a lot on the type of rope. I usually wrap the rope with electric tape before I cut it. The electric tape keeps everything tight and uniform. If I am cutting a piece off a long rope I will wrap about 2-3 inches and cut through the middle of the electric tape. Melting the ends with a propane plumbing torch works really well. I leave an inch or so of electric tape on the end.

If it is a rope for SRT that I will be pulling through branches and limb crotches I heat up a nail and burn a hole through the rope and electric tape about an inch from the end. I thread some throw line through the hole and tie a loop. I can hook my throw line to the loop at the end of the rope and pull it through the tree without it snagging.
 
DC10 said:
Would like to know what is an average tether length? Mine came with the standard 12ft when I ordered my Kestrel and I’d like to go ahead and shorten it some.

So, what is a good length that would still allow you to hunt some larger than average trees?
Click to expand...
I would go out and find the largest tree you are going to hunt. Set up on that, determine your excess line, add another foot and then cut.
 
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