What is the bes----I mean your preferred design for an amsteel bridge?

[HuumanCreed]

I am playing around with a 1/8 amsteel bridge. Fixed on one side and a prussik loop on the other side. Pretty simple design, but it seem to bite really well. But curious, is there a benefit to fully burring the amsteel into itself like what Tethrd does?

Also ropes recommend different diameter when you are knotting one rope to the other, is it the same with amsteel?

 

[Noonespecial]

Yes, Amsteel is basically hollow and if it’s not fully buried it will crimp down and loose it diameter thus allowing it to potentially slip.

 

[raisins]

@Fl Canopy Stalker 's woods hunting saddles have a blake's hitch on one side

it is the same diameter as the main line (1/4") and both are full buries

the prusik on most adjustable amsteel bridges is usually smaller diameter and they have to really twist it up to get it to work

the blake's seems cleaner and stronger...and might be easier to tie on too

 

[HuumanCreed]

@Fl Canopy Stalker 's woods hunting saddles have a blake's hitch on one side

it is the same diameter as the main line (1/4") and both are full buries

the prusik on most adjustable amsteel bridges is usually smaller diameter and they have to really twist it up to get it to work

the blake's seems cleaner and stronger...and might be easier to tie on too

So when you say 1/4 and fully buries. Does that mean that its 1/4 buried into 1/2 or 1/8 buried into 1/4?

 

[raisins]

So when you say 1/4 and fully buries. Does that mean that its 1/4 buried into 1/2 or 1/8 buried into 1/4?

no, @Fl Canopy Stalker can correct me if i'm wrong, but i believe he starts with 1/4 inch and does the bury within it

i just put calipers on it and mine is around 0.4 inches with the full bury

i'm guessing this is due to the weaves being variously expanded and contracted, so you can't just double the initial diameter to get the final after a bury

i wouldn't hang from 1/8" even if full bury

on this bridge, the loops that go around the bridge loops on the saddle are the original 1/4", i wouldn't want 1/8" in that critical area despite probably being strong enough (just too thin looking to my eyes if 1/8")

 

[Fl Canopy Stalker]

Yes, Amsteel is basically hollow and if it’s not fully buried it will crimp down and loose it diameter thus allowing it to potentially slip.

That is not true.. if you lock stitch the short bury or if you use a locking Brummell it will not slip out of itself. It only does that if the end isn’t secured.

 

[Fl Canopy Stalker]

So when you say 1/4 and fully buries. Does that mean that its 1/4 buried into 1/2 or 1/8 buried into 1/4?

If you splice 1/4” amsteel into itself it becomes approximately 10mm in diameter (a smidge larger than 3/8 but not as big as 7/16… the outer braid expands and the inner rope compresses some. The reason a “full bury” or longer length splice end is desirable, is to give the rope some extra structure so that it doesn’t pinch down and flatten. It is also stronger and doesn’t require a locked Brummell at the eye. As far as configurations go… I would never go any smaller than 3/16” for a bridge because amsteel does not shock load well. It has amazing tensile strength but because it doesn’t stretch, it’s better to go double the strength to make up for its loss of stretch in a dynamic fall. This has been well documented in rock climbing tests where 3000 lbs nylon straps have held better than 4500 lbs dyneema (amsteel) slings in drops of force between 3000 and 3500 lbs, the nylon often held past its tensile strength in dynamic shocks where amsteel often broke 800 to 1000 lbs weaker. Tensile strength is measured by using a slow static pull where the force slowly and evenly applies, dynamic shock loads often go from hardly any force to nearly full force in a split second. So amsteel is amazing for bridges but you want to account for shock loads, fraying, and potential weakening from long term use (season after season). For these reasons I would never go below 3/16 for a bridge

 

[Fl Canopy Stalker]

T

@Fl Canopy Stalker 's woods hunting saddles have a blake's hitch on one side

it is the same diameter as the main line (1/4") and both are full buries

the prusik on most adjustable amsteel bridges is usually smaller diameter and they have to really twist it up to get it to work

the blake's seems cleaner and stronger...and might be easier to tie on too

The Blake’s really isn’t any easier to tie than a prusik but definitely easier than a Schwabisch or distel hitch once on the saddle. The great thing about the Blake’s is it allows both sides of the bridge to be uniform diameter. This means even pull on your bridge loops as well as it being easier to adjust once weighted… every one knows how hard it is to get the prusik to slide on amsteel bridges once they have been weighted, the Blake’s is easier to get to break loose and slide but just as reliable on biting

 

[gcr0003]

I am playing around with a 1/8 amsteel bridge. Fixed on one side and a prussik loop on the other side. Pretty simple design, but it seem to bite really well. But curious, is there a benefit to fully burring the amsteel into itself like what Tethrd does?

Also ropes recommend different diameter when you are knotting one rope to the other, is it the same with amsteel?

The preferred Amsteel bridge is not using one.

 

[Fl Canopy Stalker]

The preferred Amsteel bridge is not using one.

Lol
Sounds like you haven’t used the right one. Technora is no better. It has similar stretch as amsteel aka it doesn’t handle shock load. It is weaker, it has to have some sort of core as well, and it is greatly effected by UV exposure where as amsteel is not. Oh and technora also absorbs water at a rate similar to nylon which both weakens it further and makes it heavier, and take longer to dry out. The only advantage technora (oplux, rescue tech, ect….) have over amsteel is a high melting point. Just some thought for guys rocking TRC, oplux bridge combinations….

 

[raisins]

The preferred Amsteel bridge is not using one.

i thought the same (removed my cruzr amsteel bridge) but i'm leaving the woods saddle one in place

 

[raisins]

T

The Blake’s really isn’t any easier to tie than a prusik but definitely easier than a Schwabisch or distel hitch once on the saddle. The great thing about the Blake’s is it allows both sides of the bridge to be uniform diameter. This means even pull on your bridge loops as well as it being easier to adjust once weighted… every one knows how hard it is to get the prusik to slide on amsteel bridges once they have been weighted, the Blake’s is easier to get to break loose and slide but just as reliable on biting

it seems wonky to take a continuous loop and then get a prusik on the bridge loop and a prusik on the bridge itself

haven't tried but it seems like you'd have to pre-twist up one side and keep it together (maybe wrapped around a sharpie and then held there with tape) and then do the other side and the remove the sharpie/etc and then slide the main line through

just seems like a headache

when i removed the amsteel bridge from my cruzr xc, the thinner loop of amsteel was twisted into a pretzel

 

[sojourner]

The preferred Amsteel bridge is not using one.

plus 1,000,000 on that one.

sampson predator, armor prus 8mm sewn eye to eye for friction hitch cordage, and a cheap hitch tender. ropes can be had at wesspur. cheap hitch tender at ewo.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Spartan]

Sorry, couldn't help myself. I know my brain is weird. I've been informed.

 

[Noonespecial]

That is not true.. if you lock stitch the short bury or if you use a locking Brummell it will not slip out of itself. It only does that if the end isn’t secured.

I was referring to using a Prusik knot on Amsteel that is not a full bury. That will slip!

 

[Fl Canopy Stalker]

I was referring to using a Prusik knot on Amsteel that is not a full bury. That will slip!

It can flatten out and slip. It is very slick inherently because of the urethane coating… interestingly a rope and material major out of the UK noticed rescue people using amsteel on rescue missions. He recognized arborist and tree guys claims that they cannot be used so he ran a documented lab testing dyneema against most other materials and the hitches held far better than people gave it credit for. The diameters need to be more drastic though. Normal double braided rope, you want your friction hitch between 60 and 80 percent for reliable grabbing. With hollow 12 strand amsteel it needs to be closer to 50% of main line diameter to account for flattening out. Personally I’d rather have it buried or with some core material so that it bites more reliably each time.

 

[Burk]

I used the TriAd bridge that came with my H2 saddle for the first couple of years and I was pretty happy with it but the schwabisch hitches would tighten up and were hard to break. Last year, I ended up making a short bridge out of 1/4" amsteel that opened so I didn't have to mess with adjusting the TriAd.

There was a thread earlier this year where @Fl Canopy Stalker showed how to make one of his adjustable bridges with a blake's hitch. I made one and based on the few climbs I've done with it I think it's what I'm going with this season. I wish that I knew he was selling them before I made it but either way I like how it works and the blake's hitch breaks a lot easier than the schwabisch hitches on the TriAd.

 

[bfriendly]

My Hawk came with an amsteel bridge and it took some time to trust it. Since the trust became a non issue, I made a secondary bridge out of 3/16” amsteel with simple looped ends, and a full bury. I now completely trust and love to play with it! I girth hitched one side and put a carabiner on the other side. Once I tether to the tree, I run that secondary bridge carabiner through a prussik that is attached to main line, below my ropeman. I don’t believe I’ll ever fall unless I really screw up! And It won’t be my equipment.