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Talk me out of SRT

S

smcchevy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2018
Messages
738
Location
Central Kentucky
Background: rappelling experience prior to becoming saddle hunter, been one sticking for about a season and a half, always rappel down. Currently running canyon fire 8mm. Just did a phantis diy adjustable bridge.

I believe all I need is a lefty hand ascender with foot loop.

Will use progress capture ascender/descender device (I have a top secret plan for a non-mechanical but have to try it for progress capture). Still thinking about running an autoblock.

What am I missing? Do you need a short bridge? Is there reason to change for diameters? Does a pulley on hand ascender help/ worth it?
 
Ok how is your throw line ability? Do you know what trees you want to hunt? Are your trees in a crowded area? I thought I was pretty good in the backyard and then in the woods I didnt have the room to throw to get my rope in place. I even figured out how to use a figure 8 as a progress capture, which is super helpful for repelling.



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Maybe I should caveat:

I don't plan on giving up the one stick, but presetting a tree with 550 cord I single stick up in morning for a evening hunt sounds appealing.

I understand about the throw line, need to practice that. Thinking about adding srt as an option not a primary method.
 
Red Beard said:
Talk you out of it. Ok, easy... prior to buying any other gear or putting further thought into it, grab a 12oz throw bag and spend an afternoon trying to hit two crotches 24ft up. :)

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This . . . only I'll add do the trial the woods, not in the backyard. I managed to get it to work okay off the lawn, never could manage it in the undergrowth. Unless your presetting tress it can be a challenge.
 
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Please don't get me wrong. SRT is really cool when it works, but I've got a whole kit gathering dust because after messing around with SRT for five months (and desperately wanting it to work), I performed a simple test. I picked a tree in my yard to climb that had two branches stemming from the trunk in opposite directions. The branches were 24ft up and there wasn't another tree anywhere close. Well, it took me 17 minutes, and a lot of sweat/cursing to get my zing-it over both branches. Then it took another four minutes to pull my HTP up and over said branches because it got stuck in the first crotch. Once everything was in place, ascending the line was a breeze. Still, the evolution took 24 minutes and was LOUD AS ALL GETOUT.

I then came back down and ascended the same tree in 14 minutes with a single Helium and minimal sweat.

SRT is a wonderful method if you get to use gear like a Big Shot slingshot, or a pneumatic line launcher. But your frustration level with a throw bag and zing-it just might DRASTICALLY overshadow the peace you find with one sticking. At least it did for me :)
 
smcchevy said:
Maybe I should caveat:

I don't plan on giving up the one stick, but presetting a tree with 550 cord I single stick up in morning for a evening hunt sounds appealing.
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Now see... THIS is where SRT shines! You should've said this to start off with. ;)

If you're coming back in the morning, or even tomorrow night, just leave your ascending line girth hitched from where your tether was previously. Easy peasy to walk up to the tree the next day and start ascending! No fuss, no muss.

If you're going to do it this way, grab a foot ascender and you can literally walk up the rope.
 
I intend to leave para cord behind in the trees I one stick.
SRT next time I hunt. It is supposed to last years in a tree.


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Red Beard said:
Now see... THIS is where SRT shines! You should've said this to start off with. ;)

If you're coming back in the morning, or even tomorrow night, just leave your ascending line girth hitched from where your tether was previously. Easy peasy to walk up to the tree the next day and start ascending! No fuss, no muss.
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Hesitant to leave my main line on public (it's bright orange), that's why I was thinking of leaving some mason line or 550.
 
Preset is there way to go. I still have issues from time to time with the 550 snagging bark and getting hung up. But when it works it's awesome!!
 
Just do like me and mark everybody else’s preset paracord on OnX that I find while summer scouting. Just kidding. But not really.

As far as practicing the cheap $15 ish pulley on Amazon is def worth it as far as making the work easier but it adds noise. Not sure about the $50 ish Petzl clip pulley combo thingy.

An adjustable bridge is nice also. You are just able to get that much more distance per move when you can shorten in down.
 
smcchevy said:
Maybe I should caveat:

I don't plan on giving up the one stick, but presetting a tree with 550 cord I single stick up in morning for a evening hunt sounds appealing.

I understand about the throw line, need to practice that. Thinking about adding srt as an option not a primary method.
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yep, i agree with the others here, for doing a preset tree, it is awesome. I use srt to climb the tree in my backyard for shooting practice. Its just so much easier and quicker. I just leave the paracord hanging.

tbh even with a preset SRT line, i usually wind up resetting my tether line anyways, im not really a fan of having my tether attached to the crotch of a horizontal limb, i much prefer the girth hitch around the trunk itself. I feel like with it hooked through a crotch i wind up feeling pulled to a certain spot on a tree while hanging more so than when its girth hitched.
 
preset all the way! also SRT can give you a much quieter ascent over sticks & climbers. I would strongly caution against leaving your mainline in a tree overnight though. I had some 7mm utility line wrapped around for gear hangers - squirrels/chipmunks found it and had at it, not worth the risk of climbing on a line you cant inspect before it goes up.....

I'm w/ Disarray on the girth positioning, what i usually do is carry a much smaller section of tether and then set that wherever i like and that is what my bridge get's connected to, also allows me to keep the bigger line attached if i like, sort of a backup tether so i'm never disconnected
 
I went to the park one Sunday afternoon and spent a couple hours throwing a throwbag over crotches. I did this 2 or three times. How were you throwing a baseball or a football after doing it a few dozen times? I was pretty bad but after doing it a few thousand times it became easy. Practice makes perfect. Not really, but close enough. :D I wondered why most of the cool kids gave up on SRT back in 2016. Maybe this is the reason.
 
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The throw bag and line is the hardest part. However, it definitely becomes easier with practice! If you do decide to go this route, do yourself a big favor and get a good foldable throw line cube. Also, carry an extra throw bag; trust me on this lol.
 
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