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Ropeman Safety

Fyi
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redsquirrel said:
You are correct. The ropeman is not intended to be used as a sole life support device. The original ropeman1 from just a couple years ago was only rated for 4 kN! This one came out a year or 2 ago.

To answer your question as to why is it acceptable.... basically that is something that is up to each user to decide on their own. The 22 kN recommendation is intended for arborists, rock climbers, etc. Do they do the same things as us? Not exactly, but they are the closest thing that we have to look to for guidance. Some of the gear used in the hunting industry is rated way below that number. In fact if you look at some of the stuff they are selling, it is pure junk. With just a little bit of knowledge you can make something of higher quality and safer for often much cheaper.

Safety comes first and I do try to stick to that 22 kN number as often as I can. You can also build redundancy into your system. If you put a prussic below your ropeman it would allow you to use the ropeman for the easy adjustment but have the prussik as a backup. If you search around you will find users who are doing this.
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Just found this. Thanks. I just ordered a Ropeman 1...is there a way to tell if the one i receive is the older version?
 
BenG said:
I don't know a lot about climbing gear but the ropeman 1 is rated at 15 kN. I just started using one and I like it, I just always thought the standard to stay above was 22kN or 5000 lbs. I realize it is highly unlikely I would ever generate this force in a fall, but if I did fall 6 ft for some reason I wouldn't have the 2x safety factor. So why is it okay to accept a lower rating in this case if your setup is only as strong as your weakest point? I'm still getting used to the saddle so I'm still a little nervous about some things when I'm 25 ft in a tree, so I just want to make sure I'm being safe.
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Don't ever get that much slack in your ropes. If you have that much change your technique or adopt an entirely new ascent method. You can look it up the human body can only take a 8kn fall without sustaining very serious injury. How are you ascending?
 
IslandStorm62 said:
Just found this. Thanks. I just ordered a Ropeman 1...is there a way to tell if the one i receive is the older version?
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I bought 2 when I put my saddle stuff together last September ish. They are like the one in the pic above. I’ve used them on several ropes from 8-11mm. It doesn’t slip but not the easiest to release either. You have to unweight and then release it. Then it’s an all freeing release. A madrock with the handle or or even my favorite which I’m not sure what it’s called, will gently release and let rope slowly glide through(see pic below) There are lots of options, but I also think the ropeman 1 would be about the safest device to use out of spec, if that’s possible. This hawk device is a perfect design but just not real tight. If this device was made with the same material and quality that is the ropeman, boy would it be sweet! You can feel the quality of the ropeman when you hold it. I like a device that smashes the rope, not puncture it with a bunch of sharp teeth. Then again a friction hitch is probably the most rope friendly option of anything.
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This was my first deer season hunting from a saddle, so call me a newbie and consider my experience as limited. However I did work in the arborculture world for quite some time. All
That said:

im not a fan of using a ropeman to adjust my tether or lineman’s ropes. For me, the safest and most reliable choice is a prussic loop. I understand why lots of hunters like the ropeman,and I recognize I’m probably in the minority. But I find the prussic to be fool proof and silent.
 
Jammintree said:
This was my first deer season hunting from a saddle, so call me a newbie and consider my experience as limited. However I did work in the arborculture world for quite some time. All
That said:

im not a fan of using a ropeman to adjust my tether or lineman’s ropes. For me, the safest and most reliable choice is a prussic loop. I understand why lots of hunters like the ropeman,and I recognize I’m probably in the minority. But I find the prussic to be fool proof and silent.
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Use what works for you, gives you confidence, and makes you comfortable bro.
certain things are not for everyone and people tend to really think that thier own way is the only right way to do things.
 
Robert loper said:
Use what works for you, gives you confidence, and makes you comfortable bro.
certain things are not for everyone and people tend to really think that thier own way is the only right way to do things.
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No doubt this^^^ as soon as you think you’ve tried them all, there is another few ways that’ll pop up.
Tough part for me is changing anything that’s working well……even though I know I can improve on it. I am trying new things, but trying to focus on the one or two things I struggle with, or that slow me down.
 
cjr4497 said:
Here are a few videos showing what will happen if you fall on an ascender such as a ropeman, kong duck, hand ascender, or pretty much any other. It is not a good idea to use these for one sticking.



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I dont one stick and i out a constant pressure on my king duck.
Its fine for a tether for saddle hunting.
i couldnt tell you how it is for clibing.
 
Jammintree said:
This was my first deer season hunting from a saddle, so call me a newbie and consider my experience as limited. However I did work in the arborculture world for quite some time. All
That said:

im not a fan of using a ropeman to adjust my tether or lineman’s ropes. For me, the safest and most reliable choice is a prussic loop. I understand why lots of hunters like the ropeman,and I recognize I’m probably in the minority. But I find the prussic to be fool proof and silent.
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Nope...I prefer a rope adjuster as well. I run a Distel with an tender. I find I can easily manipulate that with one hand, under load or unloaded, where a Ropeman/Kong require 2 hands and typically having to unload the tether to make a safe adjustment. One handed operation of the distel leaves me one hand to hold onto the tree with...which is safer feeling for me. Plus my ropes are rated for dynamic operation, where the ropeman/kongs are not.
 
I don’t know where anyone came up with the 15kN thing about ropeman’s but rope grabs (progress capture devices, ascenders whatever you wanna call them) are only tested to 1000 lbs (4kN) in any dynamic event that exceeds 1000 lbs of force (which is a lot but can be achieved in a fall as short as 28” on a static line) ascenders either slip to failure or damage the rope to failure. This is very visible in the above videos. While I don’t have an issue with using them, you must be positive that there is no slack in your system. They cannot catch you in a fall even a short one. Don’t use them on your lineman’s rope because if a stand off bends, you’re going to produce a dynamic shock load to some degree even if your system is tight. Don’t use them to one stick. Honestly a Schwabisch hitch that is proper rope to cord ratio and a hitch tender adjusts (shorten your tether or LR) almost as easily as a ropeman even after tightly tensioned and it adjusts (lengthening) your tether or lineman’s rope even easier than a mechanical. While also being lighter and stronger. Just some food for thought for new guys.
 
Robert loper said:
I dont one stick and i out a constant pressure on my king duck.
Its fine for a tether for saddle hunting.
i couldnt tell you how it is for clibing.
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I use a ropeman on on my lineman's belt and tether. I actually slipped of a stick last year and my belt caught me instantly. No damage done to my rope. I was just posting a warning for those that use these to one stick which puts enough slack in the system to for one of these devices to cut or desheath a rope.
 
cjr4497 said:
I use a ropeman on on my lineman's belt and tether. I actually slipped of a stick last year and my belt caught me instantly. No damage done to my rope. I was just posting a warning for those that use these to one stick which puts enough slack in the system to for one of these devices to cut or desheath a rope.
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Ahh. Gotcha. Good tips man
 
Fl Canopy Stalker said:
I don’t know where anyone came up with the 15kN thing about ropeman’s but rope grabs (progress capture devices, ascenders whatever you wanna call them) are only tested to 1000 lbs (4kN) in any dynamic event that exceeds 1000 lbs of force (which is a lot but can be achieved in a fall as short as 28” on a static line) ascenders either slip to failure or damage the rope to failure. This is very visible in the above videos. While I don’t have an issue with using them, you must be positive that there is no slack in your system. They cannot catch you in a fall even a short one. Don’t use them on your lineman’s rope because if a stand off bends, you’re going to produce a dynamic shock load to some degree even if your system is tight. Don’t use them to one stick. Honestly a Schwabisch hitch that is proper rope to cord ratio and a hitch tender adjusts (shorten your tether or LR) almost as easily as a ropeman even after tightly tensioned and it adjusts (lengthening) your tether or lineman’s rope even easier than a mechanical. While also being lighter and stronger. Just some food for thought for new guys.
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That's why I back up my Ropeman.
 
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