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SRT Climbing - Anchors, Hitches, Configurations

@SRT Saddle Hunter I saw your username in another thread and wanted to see if you wanted to pop on in and share your gear, rope and climbing method on SRT
 
gcr0003 said:
You keep mentioning throwing to the next limb after you climb the first canopy anchor. My thought was why not
1. throw ball and get rope over short first crotch.
2. throw the ball over the higher crotch that you want to climb.
3. climb to first crotch. (I guess hang from a tether)
4. run your rope through your second crotch
5. transition to your main rope and climb to higher crotch using the first crotch as your base anchor.

I guess I am saying why try throwing the ball while in the tree? That seems problematic. If you hit the highest crottch you want to climb first and have the pull rope on it, then once you climb to the first crotch you can pull the rope up to the highest crotch without throwing while in the tree.

Does that make any sense?
Click to expand...
If that's the case, I've done a poor job in explaining this.

My feet are on the ground until everything is done. I am not climbing anything until the lower anchor is secured AND the climbing line is pulled through the peak height. Being a hybrid, the climbing rope is going through the peak without concerns of the lower limbs like a base anchor setup yet the actual anchor is girth hitched around a lower limb akin to how you'd do a canopy anchor.
 
I don’t get how you girth hitch the lower limb with your rigging ring and then in the next step tied the throw line to the rigging ring and pulled rope over the tall limb. It’s seems like by tying to your rigging ring, you would have undone your girth hitch from the previous step.
 
Last edited:
MNFarmHunter said:
If that's the case, I've done a poor job in explaining this.

My feet are on the ground until everything is done. I am not climbing anything until the lower anchor is secured AND the climbing line is pulled through the peak height. Being a hybrid, the climbing rope is going through the peak without concerns of the lower limbs like a base anchor setup yet the actual anchor is girth hitched around a lower limb akin to how you'd do a canopy anchor.
Click to expand...
OHHHHHHH x2 duh that makes sense. Canopy anchor low, then pull the line over your upper crotch and get to climbing. Easy. I’m sorry I didn’t understand multiple times. Done!
 
I freely admit that it makes perfect sense in my mind which also means I'm probably doing a crappy job of explaining it.

Step 1:
Get your throwline over the lower limb, then do a normal canopy girth hitch around that lower limb with your climbing rope. The black line is your climbing rope.
Step1.png

Step 2:
Get your throwline (shown in green) over your target height limb and connect it to your climbing rope.
step2.png

Step 3:
Using the throw line (in green), pull your climbing rope up and over the target height limb.
step3.png
 
MNFarmHunter said:
I freely admit that it makes perfect sense in my mind which also means I'm probably doing a crappy job of explaining it.

Step 1:
Get your throwline over the lower limb, then do a normal canopy girth hitch around that lower limb with your climbing rope. The black line is your climbing rope.
View attachment 51003

Step 2:
Get your throwline (shown in green) over your target height limb and connect it to your climbing rope.
View attachment 51004

Step 3:
Using the throw line (in green), pull your climbing rope up and over the target height limb.
View attachment 51005
Click to expand...
This was your best example yet haha
 
It's a solution to a problem.

Realistically, carry 75'-100' of rope with you, base anchor with a single throw of a throwball and be done. However, I don't want the extra bulk and carry 50' of rope that until this thread, my only option was a canopy anchor which limited me since I'm not that good with a throwball. This hybrid method, however, gives me more options with that shorter rope, albeit at a cost of more steps involved.
 
MNFarmHunter said:
It's a solution to a problem.

Realistically, carry 75'-100' of rope with you, base anchor with a single throw of a throwball and be done. However, I don't want the extra bulk and carry 50' of rope that until this thread, my only option was a canopy anchor which limited me since I'm not that good with a throwball. This hybrid method, however, gives me more options with that shorter rope, albeit at a cost of more steps involved.
Click to expand...

Your method does have another advantage. Since you are girth hitching the lower limb, you don’t have to worry about the possibility of your anchor walking up the tree if you didn’t do enough wraps using a traditional base anchor.

I have a 45’ rope and a 70’. This method will allow me to usually carry the 45’ and be confident I can get up the right tree.
 
Famous last words...I have my climbing method and am 100% satisfied with it.

I still have my sticks and 2TC with 2TC being my primary backup but did a full climb -n- setup today with just ropes and really like this setup. I have my pack setup the way I like it, makes sense to me and is intuitive. The rope setup worked well in the tree and the climb went without a hitch. Gear setup in the tree worked well with everything where I wanted it.

I do have a Method on order because I want to try a 2-panel but aside from that, I'm confident I can climb any tree that I want, hunt and get some venison.

Check back next weekend and I'll probably have different ideas.
 
I am in the same boat. I plan to SRT with either a canopy hitch or your hybrid method. If I need to be in a limbless tree I will probably use LWHC and then set a false crotch and paracord loop for subsequent hunts.
 
Another pic-heavy post.

Went out this morning and picked the most difficult try I could find. Probably not that hard for an arborist but I suck with a throwball.

Here's the tree in question. The circle is where I want the peak to be and the rectangle is my anchor point.
2.png

First throw was over the anchor limb, then pulled my climbing rope up and over. I didn't girth hitch it until I had my throwline over the peak.
3.jpg

Throwline over the peak, red circle is where it went over. Remember when I said I suck at a throwball? This took way too long to do and would've picked an easier tree if I were actually hunting but I wanted to see if I could do it.
41.png

Once tying my retrieval line to my rope (more on that in a minute), I girth hitched the climbing rope to the lower limb then used the throwline to pull the tag end of the climbing rope up and over the peak.
5.jpg

With my climbing stuff attached, this is all I had left of the 50' of rope.
6.jpg

Now for the lessons learned...

When I threw the peak throwline, I didn't pay attention to which side of the anchor limb the throwball came down on. As such, when I pulled the climbing rope up, it wrapped around the anchor limb with the retrieval line on the wrong side. I also didn't notice this until I was back on the ground trying to retrieve my rope. Therefore, I had to climb back up and get my retrieval line on the opposite side of the anchor limb.

Before:
7.jpg
After:
8.jpg

Once back on the ground...again...everything worked fine and packed up quickly.

Final thoughts.

If you carry enough rope, a base anchor is probably the quickest way to climb a tree if you don't have presets around or are able to throw around a single, isolated peak limb.
If you don't have enough rope or a single, isolated limb, this hybrid method can work. The downside is more prep time needed to get setup.
I wouldn't consider this my preferred or primary method to setup. This is more of a run-n-gun option if you find the perfect place to setup but not the perfect tree to setup in.
 
Here's a question for anyone, possibly @Brocky

I have a 40' C-IV rope which is now essentially excess since I have 50' of C-IV and 50' of Resc-Tech. If I were to cut it down to say 25' and tied a Figure 8 on each end, would this make an effective basal anchoring system? I'm thinking I could do 2-3 wraps around the trunk and connect a carabiner in a tensionless hitch setup on the trunk and connect my climbing rope rigging ring to the other end via a carabiner.
 
I agree that if you can hit your peak limb and have no obstructions, that is ideal. Your hybrid method is very realistic for typical hunting scenarios, though.
I have been messing around with it in the yard and here are my thoughts:
I prefer going over the peak limb first. That way, if I get lucky and hit my target limb and the throw line comes back down without going over other limbs, I can just girth hitch that limb and start climbing.

If I have obstructions, I proceed to throw over the lower, base anchor limb. I am using a quick link (also ordered a Notch Quickie), so I can still girth hitch the lower limb base anchor because I can open the quick link and pass the standing end through it. If you are using a rigging ring, you have to do the base anchor first.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Here's a few pics to show what I'm taking about. Ignore the x-loaded carabiner, this is just for picture purposes. I also didn't cut any rope, just marked it at 25' (seen as the blue tape on the rope).

Close-up of the setup:
20210815_124049.jpg

Done in another tree to see the actual lengths. The climbing rope is the same 50' C-IV. Best guess is the peak is about 32'-35' in the air.
20210815_130051.jpg
 
This method is used as a way of setting up rigging to cut that lower branch off, being able to do it from the ground, the climber only has to go up to the lower branch and cut off.

Your basal anchor idea is good, but instead of cutting just tie eye in one end and tie a cow hitch with a half hitch back up, this is used routinely in rigging, experiencing hundreds of pounds of dynamic force, very secure. Keeps rope whole and you could extend longer if needed.

That particular tree I would climb with short SRT and alternate lanyard to reach the higher point to isolate the branch union
 
mtsrunner said:
I am in the same boat. I plan to SRT with either a canopy hitch or your hybrid method. If I need to be in a limbless tree I will probably use LWHC and then set a false crotch and paracord loop for subsequent hunts.
Click to expand...

How do you set a false crotch?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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