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Tether / Rappel System with remote rel

John RB

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2021
Messages
848
Location
Fort Washington, PA
Friends, You don't need a mechanical device or any metal except a spare beaner to create a remotely retrievable tether and rappel system, which can be operated with just one hand and which allows you to rappel without ever coming off of your tie in. In this demonstration, I am using my JRB Hitch on the trunk and my Double Michoacán jig as the friction hitch. I add a munter on The Descent to control it better.



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I got the saddle hunter hitch, double micho and hunters bend down to memory, could probably tie in a dark room. Guess I need to take another whack at the JRB hitch, could not seem to grasp it easily when I first seen it.
 
Pretty cool stuff. I have been dabbling.

Off topic a little but is a single Michoacán acceptable as my primary means of connection to tether? I have a second backing me up on secondary bridge anyway but I’m just curious.
 
This looks very interesting, I have one question though. @John RB how much rope would I need for this system? It kind of looks like enough rope for DRT is that correct? What does that look like in feet?
 
If I were to apply this rope system to one sticking would it look like:

Saddle hunter hitch on ascent
Last hitch to tree would be JRB hitch
Tie munter then rappel down
Remote release to spill knot and collect rope

Is that the correct process? I think the above would be trading delta link and safeguard for some extra rope.

Edit: I believe I would need an extra snap for the transfer from one SHH to the next. And a secondary means to tie off (second bridge or snaps on bridge loops)
 
@Wirrex, @oldsouth and @smcchevy
I am gonna answer the questions in one reply. The video attached shows me rigging a brand new rope.


1. Length. For a full climbing system, not just a tether, I use the same length of rope that a DdRT/MRS system would have. Most use 75ft. I carry 96 to 100 just because I occasionally need more than 75 and the extra length makes me feel like i can do anything. See vid. A 50ft crotch is doable. Or getting in-between 2 crotches that are 40ft up and 15 ft apart in a giant tree.

2. Michoacán. Yes we can put our full weight on a single meech. I prefer to have one of these: 1. half my weight on a Meech on each side of a balanced double system like MRS/DdRT or JRB. 2. The "Double Michoacán", see video on my channel.

3. How to use these concepts WITH sticks. Full disclosure: I have an old set of sticks that i haven't touched in a year, with preference for the JRB HITCH Climbing method. However, you are not the first person to ask. But when we work on it, my plans are to use the Saddle Hunter's Hitch (SHH) placed above each stick set. And at the top, use a JRB HITCH like this. I will be working on this for next season. Let me know if u wanna help. I have a couple of guys lined up for peer review. Send me a PM.



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Great video! One other question though. You may have a video of it, just haven't found it yet. Once you get to hunting height, do you transition to a tether system around the tree (trunk)? Or do you hunt just from the ropes around that limb? Maybe I'm confused or missing something, go easy on me.
 
Great video! One other question though. You may have a video of it, just haven't found it yet. Once you get to hunting height, do you transition to a tether system around the tree (trunk)? Or do you hunt just from the ropes around that limb? Maybe I'm confused or missing something, go easy on me.
I stay on the climbing rope. At the end of minute 4, i say that. This was my most recent demonstration climb. I am using a double Michoacán on both sides.


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I have been messing around climbing with my lwhc, the shh, two separate Michoacán’s, and the jrbh to rappel from. It makes passing limbs a breeze and gets rid of that caribeaner side loading that I shamefully never got out of my system until now.
 
JRB, in the video on rigging a new rope, why the extra long garda hitch?
One of my top priorities is a new video on the footloop construction. When I introduced the climbing method a year ago, I was recommending two friction hitches on each side of the Rope. The lower one was connected to our redundant bridge and as we moved up, we needed to advance two sets of friction hitches. I was challenged by my team to figure out a way to eliminate the second set of hitches because it was too busy. And I did that by attaching our redundant bridge to the Garda hitch directly. Okay now, if you were to get in that system and you had a really short foot Loop, and you intentionally put slack and both of your primary friction hitches to simulate them not holding, you'd get all jammed up. You need the ability to have your foot in the foot Loop and your weight on the best friend at the same time. And the only way for the geometry to work is to have a longer foot Loop

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ok got it. I just recently built a garda hitch so think I was watching the older video, where you had set it above the knee. I got 14 feet of webbing so plently to work with. Looks like maybe make it about belt level (standing up and the foot loop around your foot).
 
One of my top priorities is a new video on the footloop construction. When I introduced the climbing method a year ago, I was recommending two friction hitches on each side of the Rope. The lower one was connected to our redundant bridge and as we moved up, we needed to advance two sets of friction hitches. I was challenged by my team to figure out a way to eliminate the second set of hitches because it was too busy. And I did that by attaching our redundant bridge to the Garda hitch directly. Okay now, if you were to get in that system and you had a really short foot Loop, and you intentionally put slack and both of your primary friction hitches to simulate them not holding, you'd get all jammed up. You need the ability to have your foot in the foot Loop and your weight on the best friend at the same time. And the only way for the geometry to work is to have a longer foot Loop

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@John RB - I've been hoping you'll post the new video on footloop construction because I want to make a new one that's longer. I know you're into your hunting season now, so maybe you can just tell me if the construction method is the same (hopefully it is) and what length of webbing to use?
 
@John RB - I've been hoping you'll post the new video on footloop construction because I want to make a new one that's longer. I know you're into your hunting season now, so maybe you can just tell me if the construction method is the same (hopefully it is) and what length of webbing to use?
I just replied with all the information that I could come up with, but I did so on the separate thread for the jrb climbing method.

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