Simple SRT video

[Tartan]

If you really want a ropeman, the ropeman 2 has some teeth like the hand ascender and I bet it would do the trick. What size rope do you have?

It’s Samson predator. 11mm. Same thing aero hunter sends with their kit. I specifically went with it instead of a 9mm bc I already had extra Ropeman 1s which are rated for 10-13. It works great on predator as a tether and linesman’s belt.

I could save a little bit of weight and size with a smaller rope. But honestly I carry my elk pack whitetail hunting. I’ve got plenty of room and the weight is negligible.

I’ll probably just upgrade to a hand ascender. Not that much more than the Ropeman 2 and a little more specific for this use. The Petzl hand ascender only weighs 5.8 oz and will work with 8-13 mm rope. Teeth are similar to the Ropeman 2. Maybe test the 9mm rope to see if it’s smoother on the rappel.

 

[HardBall]

I would be comfortable tying it off in the same manner as Petzl suggest on the GriGri. They suggest doing that in case of a mechanical failure or an inadverent bump of the cam release.

I agree with this. It's basically a marlinspike hitch through your carabiner with another carabiner stuck through the rope. I don't think it would be possible to slip through.

 

[donnieballgame]

I would be comfortable tying it off in the same manner as Petzl suggest on the GriGri. They suggest doing that in case of a mechanical failure or an inadverent bump of the cam release.

I think it will work with any ABD they just dont recommend it because they dont want folks self belaying

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[donnieballgame]

It’s Samson predator. 11mm. Same thing aero hunter sends with their kit. I specifically went with it instead of a 9mm bc I already had extra Ropeman 1s which are rated for 10-13. It works great on predator as a tether and linesman’s belt.

I could save a little bit of weight and size with a smaller rope. But honestly I carry my elk pack whitetail hunting. I’ve got plenty of room and the weight is negligible.

I’ll probably just upgrade to a hand ascender. Not that much more than the Ropeman 2 and a little more specific for this use. The Petzl hand ascender only weighs 5.8 oz and will work with 8-13 mm rope. Teeth are similar to the Ropeman 2. Maybe test the 9mm rope to see if it’s smoother on the rappel.

I'm with you on the rope, I was thinking maybe it was sliding because you had a smaller rope.

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[Tartan]

Well I walked into rei to get a couple small wire gate carabiners... and walked out with a Petzl hand ascender. That thing is much lighter than it looks. Noticibly easier to pull up using the handle as compared to the Ropeman and carabiner.

Got home with barely any light left. Threw a line up on a tree in my yard to test climb.

So far the hardest part of srt for me as been keeping my throw line from tangling while I try to prep it and flake it on the ground to throw. Really liking this more and more.

 

[BFI]

Climbers just back up your belay device with a prussik above it. I like the V.T. wrap the rope around your butt then tend the prussik with your left hand hold the rope in your right hand to help control belay speed.
Also would be a good idea to buck in the trunk then you have 2 points of safety.
Your belay device has a prussik back up. im not sure how the grigi works but Im also not sure if it was meant for self belay.
Once you start to SRT, first tie a alpine butterfly in the lifeline about 4 ft above ground, if by any chance your back ups fail you will stop just before you hit the ground. its fun to belay but it can also kill you the key is go low and slow to start.

 

[Squirrels]

Climbers just back up your belay device with a prussik above it. I like the V.T. wrap the rope around your butt then tend the prussik with your left hand hold the rope in your right hand to help control belay speed.
Also would be a good idea to buck in the trunk then you have 2 points of safety.
Your belay device has a prussik back up. im not sure how the grigi works but Im also not sure if it was meant for self belay.
Once you start to SRT, first tie a alpine butterfly in the lifeline about 4 ft above ground, if by any chance your back ups fail you will stop just before you hit the ground. its fun to belay but it can also kill you the key is go low and slow to start.

Seems is would be difficult to tie a back up using a mad rock safeguard or lifeguard since it requires a hand for operation.


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[donnieballgame]

I think the backup makes sense for going up and anytime you're hooked up, but I would take it off to rappel. I've been thinking about a prusik above with a small pulley to tend it, might need a chest harness to do that.

Oh I've been meaning to show the fellow SRT folks a little trick I learned last year. Put a small 550 cord loop on the tail end of your rope. It can come in real handy when sliding rope through a rough notch or through your delta screw if you're rope isn't long enough to go from the ground up to your notch and back to the ground. If you tie to that tail end you can pull your rope right through your delta screw without having to reach it. It's also nice for hooking to gear!


Hope that makes sense. I used a torch and a nail to make the hole.

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[pesqimon]

I think the backup makes sense for going up and anytime you're hooked up, but I would take it off to rappel. I've been thinking about a prusik above with a small pulley to tend it, might need a chest harness to do that.

Oh I've been meaning to show the fellow SRT folks a little trick I learned last year. Put a small 550 cord loop on the tail end of your rope. It can come in real handy when sliding rope through a rough notch or through your delta screw if you're rope isn't long enough to go from the ground up to your notch and back to the ground. If you tie to that tail end you can pull your rope right through your delta screw without having to reach it. It's also nice for hooking to gear!


Hope that makes sense. I used a torch and a nail to make the hole.

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Could you tie the paracord with a prusik or would that make it too bulky and you might lose the loop? I like that the rope can be used as a gear hoist if needed.


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[donnieballgame]

Could you tie the paracord with a prusik or would that make it too bulky and you might lose the loop? I like that the rope can be used as a gear hoist if needed.


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I'm sure you could try a prusik I wouldn't want to get my 550 cord in the right spot and risk it coming off, this works great and in my experience goes right through the notches where the delta screw often gets caught. I like using the rope to pull up my backpack.

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[pesqimon]

And you’re mainly climbing up with hand climber and then rappelling down?

I’m still not sure about SRT on the way up but I am getting more and more on board with rappelling down.

And not using my annoying pull rope would be nice. Though you still need it to recover the rope from the ground!


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[okccj]

It definitely can be done this way. The reason I don't use this method is that I use my rappel rope as my tether and if I tie off to an autoblock on my hip the loose tag end of the rope is hanging away from the tree trunk straight down off my hip and moves when I do. Then if I swing around the tree the rope swings near the ground. Using the Madrock Safeguard I just tie a slip knot under the Safeguard and loop it through my bridge carabiner. It can't go anywhere if I do something stupid while hanging there. Additionally the rope drapes really close to the tree trunk and I route is behind my hanging pack limiting its movement when I move.

During descent if I need to stop to take off my platform or climbing device, the Safeguard is always fully loaded so I have faith it won't release on its own there so I don't back up for those occasions. It's when I'm on platform and may take load for some reason that I want to be sure it can't inadvertently slip. This was my biggest issue with the Madrock Lifeguard because the cam spring was strong enough to uncam it and it didn't always recam simply by loading it.

View attachment 7378View attachment 7379

To be clear, with the Safeguard you feel completely comfortable taking both hands off the rope as you descend without any sort of back up or added safety measures?

 

[boyne bowhunter]

Absolutely @okccj . Do it everytime I hunt. I hang from it during the hunt and as I'm rappelling after the hunt I have to stop twice, once to take off my Predator platform and once to remove my climbing stick. Both of these are two hand operations that I do while just hanging in the saddle suspended from the Safeguard. No worries, it holds great.

 

[donnieballgame]

And you’re mainly climbing up with hand climber and then rappelling down?

I’m still not sure about SRT on the way up but I am getting more and more on board with rappelling down.

And not using my annoying pull rope would be nice. Though you still need it to recover the rope from the ground!


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I carry both most days, if it's a pre-set I SRT if not I use the hand climber and I always try and carry extra 550 so if I find a good tree I set it up for SRT for next time. I dont always rappel down, hand climber down isn't all that bad.

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[donnieballgame]

Absolutely @okccj . Do it everytime I hunt. I hang from it during the hunt and as I'm rappelling after the hunt I have to stop twice, once to take off my Predator platform and once to remove my climbing stick. Both of these are two hand operations that I do while just hanging in the saddle suspended from the Safeguard. No worries, it holds great.

Just be careful! I would at a minimum hook your ascender up with a daisy chain or runner to ur harness/saddle above ur ABD, takes 5 seconds, the petzel knot takes almost no time as well, remember these devices are not recommended for that type of use. Be safe!

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[boyne bowhunter]

Just be careful! I would at a minimum hook your ascender up with a daisy chain or runner to ur harness/saddle above ur ABD, takes 5 seconds, the petzel knot takes almost no time as well, remember these devices are not recommended for that type of use. Be safe!

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As always, I appreciate the emphasis on safety and I for one recommend all take the best safe practices when climbing. For the record I was referring to the Safeguard, not the Lifeguard. The Safeguard was designed as a work positioning device without a return spring on the cam. The following is from Madrock's website.

"By constructing the Lifeguard without the internal spring, the Safeguard is a great tool for rescue and rigging work. It will lock onto the rope with very little force giving you the confidence that once the position of the rope is set the device will not creep or slide.
For rescue / rigging use: 8.1mm to 11mm rope diameter. For climbing use: 8.9mm to 11mm rope diameter"

Also for the record I do tie a slip knot which loops back into my bridge carabiner when hunting and only my partial weight in on the cam (see post #75 of this thread). However, once the cam is fully loaded with my weight when rappelling I have no fear of the cam releasing on its own. This season I have used the Safeguard on many occasions with a wet/icy rope and it always binds well.

 

[Adamcincy]

As always, I appreciate the emphasis on safety and I for one recommend all take the best safe practices when climbing. For the record I was referring to the Safeguard, not the Lifeguard. The Safeguard was designed as a work positioning device without a return spring on the cam. The following is from Madrock's website.

"By constructing the Lifeguard without the internal spring, the Safeguard is a great tool for rescue and rigging work. It will lock onto the rope with very little force giving you the confidence that once the position of the rope is set the device will not creep or slide.
For rescue / rigging use: 8.1mm to 11mm rope diameter. For climbing use: 8.9mm to 11mm rope diameter"
.

Tried the safeguard for the first time tonight. I liked it a lot. Thanks for posting about it on the forum. Do you carry a backup rappel device in case you drop the safeguard while up in the tree?

 

[boyne bowhunter]

You're welcome @Adamcincy. I do. I carry an ATC sport and a length on prussic in my pack. I sometimes use this to rappel if I have obstacles in the way to navigate around, i.e branches. The ATC and a prussic will let you control your decent with one hand leaving the other free to push your way around branches.

 

[okccj]

Absolutely @okccj . Do it everytime I hunt. I hang from it during the hunt and as I'm rappelling after the hunt I have to stop twice, once to take off my Predator platform and once to remove my climbing stick. Both of these are two hand operations that I do while just hanging in the saddle suspended from the Safeguard. No worries, it holds great.

That's great to hear. I think I'm going to try out the Safeguard.
One other question, why do use a climbing stick if you're a SRT guy?

 

[boyne bowhunter]

That's great to hear. I think I'm going to try out the Safeguard.
One other question, why do use a climbing stick if you're a SRT guy?

I would SRT every tree if I could, it is the easiest way up a tree. The biggest downside to SRT is getting the rope in the tree. Where I hunt there aren't many low branches to throw over and I only preset a couple of spots I can SRT. I do a lot of run gun so I use a single stick climbing method a lot.

One thing I should point out regarding the Safegaurd (or any similar device), if you commonly grab your tie in point to pull yourself up always grab the carabiner under it. If you grab around the top of these devices where the rope enters it will uncam and release indvertently.