• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

Dual Tether Ropes

W

white03

New Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2024
Messages
26
I'm very new to saddle hunting, actually only had my setup a week now. So forgive me please if this is a redundant or stupid question.

I've been practicing in the backyard and reading voraciously on this site, a whole lot of good and helpful info.

Saftey is important to all of us, as I have read repeatedly. With all the saftey devices and backup saftey devices (methods), one thing that seems to me to be overlooked is the tether rope. To me that it is a single point of failure, if it breaks then you're going down.

Tell me if I'm over reacting?? Does anyone use a second tether??

Again, please be kind. :) Thank you
 
Last edited by a moderator:
white03 said:
I'm very new to saddle hunting, actually only had my setup a week now. So forgive me please if this is a redundant or stupid question.

I've been practicing in the backyard and reading voraciously on this site, a whole lot of good and helpful info.

Saftey is important to all of us, as I have read repeatedly. With all the saftey devices and backup saftey devices (methods), one thing that seems to me to be overlooked is the tether rope. To me that it is a single point of failure, if it breaks then you're going down.

Tell me if I'm over reacting?? Does anyone use a second tether??

Again, please be kind. :) Thank you

By the way...does anyonew have a Ropeman 1 that they want to sell?
Click to expand...
A ropeman 1 seems like a less mitigated point of failure over a properly fixed friction hitch.

Make sure to tie a stopper knot and then you can also make a figure 8 at the end of the tether to clip back into. I would do a secondary bridge before a second tether. Stay safe!
 
If it makes you more comfortable go for it, I’m sure somewhere someone else is doing it. My guess is that as you practice with your new equipment from the ground and then practice some more and then practice at hunting height you’ll likely realize how safe it is when used properly and you won’t want the extra getting in the way.

I am not very good with heights, like don’t even like hanging my Christmas lights on the roof in a slight breeze, but I can hunt all day in a 15-20 mph wind with the tree swaying from a saddle and am 100% comfortable being on the edges of the platform to make different shots. For me, once I had practiced a lot and gotten used to the feel, I have never felt more secure in a tree at height.
 
Nothing wrong with using two tethers to start out if that makes you more comfortable and confident. If you aren’t confident in your setup and gear you’ll never progress or settle in the tree. Once you get more comfortable you can switch to one tether. But running two is gonna be a chore as you’ll constantly be trying to manage them. Just run a bit longer linemans belt to give you that sense of security. Practice a foot off the ground till you get super comfortable then profess higher. Functionally there is no difference between a foot off the ground and 20 feet off the ground just have to get your lizard brain to accept it.
 
Don't feel bad for asking this question, it gets asked quite a bit. In my opinion its a good thing that you're evaluating the potential single point failures of your system. Tether and bridge (and connections) definitely fall into that category. Here are some older thread on the topic.

Tether Redundancy

Been reading lots on bridge safety and backup but how about backup to the tether itself?? In a one in a million chance a tether broke does any one have a backup other than leaving linesmans attached loosely or maybe growing feathers and gliding down???
saddlehunter.com

Back up tether?

Howdy, I'm running a Kestrel saddle that I bought before the 2018 season. I couldn't get my system down in time so I shelved it for the 2018 season and kept on with my lone wolf hand climber. I'm practicing again and I'm confident I'll be ready for this season. The saddle is unbelievably...
saddlehunter.com
 
Last edited:
Thank you guys! This site is SO helpful.

Leaving the linesman rope attched is a good idea, at least until I get comfortable with hanging from one rope.

I started 1 foot off the ground as suggested. Then went to one stick off the ground. Yesterday went to two sticks off the ground. Think I'll stay at two sticks for a while as I get more faith in the setup

I practice several times a day in the backyard, can't wait to try it actually hunting next week. Really like the idea of using a tree to hide myself from a deer and of increased mobility (always hunted from heavy Summit climbers), should increase the odds of getting a shot.

Thank you Mr Admin for correcting my post...sorry for the mistake

Again thanx to everyone and good hunting!!
 
It's all about what makes you feel more comfortable. As long as something isn't a huge pain with downsides (like actually making you less safe), then I say go at it.

Here's what I do. My saddle has a Cobra buckle and so the waist belt can take my full weight. I climb with my tether and my lineman's lanyard both on the tree and only go down to one of them when going around a branch. Once on the platform, with tether and lineman's both in play, I take a nylon webbing loop (called a climbing sling) out of my pack and I girth hitch it onto my saddle belt to the right hand side away from the buckle. I have carabiners on both sides of my lineman's. I disconnect the left carabiner and hook it back to the lineman's rope. This girth hitches it around the tree, similar to the main tether. I then disconnect the right carabiner of the lineman's and connect it to the climbing sling on the belt. I take a nite ize gear tie and use it to keep the lineman's carabiner near the tree tight to it (so it doesn't get loose and slide down with no weight on it). I then adjust the length of the lineman's using my friction hitch so that this backup tether is slightly loose no matter how I move.

Like this, the only single point of failure I have is the back of the saddle. The actual saddle would have to tear in half for me to fall.

Having a backup like this means you have to screw up twice or 2 things have to fail for you to be in trouble.
 
white03 said:
I'm very new to saddle hunting, actually only had my setup a week now. So forgive me please if this is a redundant or stupid question.

I've been practicing in the backyard and reading voraciously on this site, a whole lot of good and helpful info.

Saftey is important to all of us, as I have read repeatedly. With all the saftey devices and backup saftey devices (methods), one thing that seems to me to be overlooked is the tether rope. To me that it is a single point of failure, if it breaks then you're going down.

Tell me if I'm over reacting?? Does anyone use a second tether??

Again, please be kind. :) Thank you
Click to expand...
The tether rope is strong enough to pull a car. If you maintain your gear redundancy is not needed. Rock climbers put orders magnitude more stress on gear and do not worry about redundancy as much as some saddle hunters.
 
jphillips97 said:
The tether rope is strong enough to pull a car. If you maintain your gear redundancy is not needed. Rock climbers put orders magnitude more stress on gear and do not worry about redundancy as much as some saddle hunters.
Click to expand...

You're applying your personal risk assessment and values to other people with different internal emotions. I don't think it makes sense to do so so long as the person is not obsessive and making himself less safe.

Despite ropes being ridiculously strong, we are also contending with knots, sewn connections, carabiners, and an imperfect human operating the entire thing. So, you're also backing up your own ability to make mistakes or have something truly rare happen.

Lastly, rock climbers are a different breed and applying their personal risk assessment to perhaps an accountant with a family that also saddle hunts also doesn't make sense to me. Anecdotally, I asked a backup knot question on a rock climbing subreddit once, and it basically turned into a bunch of young guys mocking me for having a safety concern ("you gonna backup your backup.....ddduuuuddddeeee?"). If I recall, I asked about putting a stopper knot on the tag end of a scaffold knot. Also, rock climbers climb on twin ropes at times, and that is climbing with a backup rope (2 ropes).
 
Last edited:
I'm not against redundancy.

Does it make sense to apply your " safer" emotions/values to someone else? We ALL make our own decisions. All gear should be plenty strong, you'll break long before any reasonable gear in the event of a bad fall
 
raisins said:
You're applying your personal risk assessment and values to other people with different internal emotions. I don't think it makes sense to do so so long as the person is not obsessive and making himself less safe.

Despite ropes being ridiculously strong, we are also contending with knots, sewn connections, carabiners, and an imperfect human operating the entire thing. So, you're also backing up your own ability to make mistakes or have something truly rare happen.

Lastly, rock climbers are a different breed and applying their personal risk assessment to perhaps an accountant with a family that also saddle hunts also doesn't make sense to me. Anecdotally, I asked a backup knot question on a rock climbing subreddit once, and it basically turned into a bunch of young guys mocking me for having a safety concern ("you gonna backup your backup.....ddduuuuddddeeee?"). If I recall, I asked about putting a stopper knot on the tag end of a scaffold knot. Also, rock climbers climb on twin ropes at times, and that is climbing with a backup rope (2 ropes).
Click to expand...
Oh you can be certain I am not applying my risk assessment. You can all do what you want. You can have 6 tethers for all I care. The statements I made are ones of verifiable fact. Climbing ropes ARE strong enough to pull a car. Sewn connections are as well. Rock climbers DO put more stress on gear. The OP asked if he was over-reacting. I think he probably is, but that is ultimately up to him. I provided factual information about the gear and its use. YMMV
 
jphillips97 said:
Oh you can be certain I am not applying my risk assessment. You can all do what you want. You can have 6 tethers for all I care. The statements I made are ones of verifiable fact. Climbing ropes ARE strong enough to pull a car. Sewn connections are as well. Rock climbers DO put more stress on gear. The OP asked if he was over-reacting. I think he probably is, but that is ultimately up to him. I provided factual information about the gear and its use. YMMV
Click to expand...

Then all we need in life is a list of facts....proper framing of them be damned.
 
raisins said:
Then all we need in life is a list of facts....proper framing of them be damned.
Click to expand...
How did I improperly frame the facts? I answered the OP's question. What did I say that was not accurate or improperly framed? I am a saddle hunter and I used to be a rock climber, all while being deathly afraid of heights. As a result, I have learned a lot about the gear.
 
jphillips97 said:
How did I improperly frame the facts? I answered the OP's question. What did I say that was not accurate or improperly framed? I am a saddle hunter and I used to be a rock climber, all while being deathly afraid of heights. As a result, I have learned a lot about the gear.
Click to expand...

Because you're backing up yourself as much as you are backing up the gear. You are backing up your own human ability to make mistakes. Also, although rare, knots and gear do fail.

I could tell people they probably don't need to use anything while climbing with sticks because the sticks are strong enough to hold you. But there would be an obvious issue there. Of course, we're discussing a less extreme example.

My view on it is that you probably don't need to back anything up. However, it's cheap, easy, and doesn't make you any less safe. So, if it makes a person feel even slightly more comfortable, then there's literally no downside. That argument works whether the rope is rated for 1,000 lbs or 100,000 lbs.
 
raisins said:
Because you're backing up yourself as much as you are backing up the gear. You are backing up your own human ability to make mistakes. Also, although rare, knots and gear do fail.

I could tell people they probably don't need to use anything while climbing with sticks because the sticks are strong enough to hold you. But there would be an obvious issue there. Of course, we're discussing a less extreme example.

My view on it is that you probably don't need to back anything up. However, it's cheap, easy, and doesn't make you any less safe. So, if it makes a person feel even slightly more comfortable, then there's literally no downside. That argument works whether the rope is rated for 1,000 lbs or 100,000 lbs.
Click to expand...
And you might get struck by lightning walking to the tree..... Statistically speaking, properly maintained gear does not fail. It is Significantly more likely that you will get in a car accident driving to the woods than you gear failing. If you are worried about human error, then rather than tying a second rope, just use that step to double check the one you already tied.

If you or anyone else wants to add redundancy, then do it. No sweat off my brow. I do take a little offense to you insinuating that I was projecting values because I answered the OP's question.
 
jphillips97 said:
And you might get struck by lightning walking to the tree..... Statistically speaking, properly maintained gear does not fail. It is Significantly more likely that you will get in a car accident driving to the woods than you gear failing. If you are worried about human error, then rather than tying a second rope, just use that step to double check the one you already tied.

If you or anyone else wants to add redundancy, then do it. No sweat off my brow. I do take a little offense to you insinuating that I was projecting values because I answered the OP's question.
Click to expand...

Well, and here I thought we were just two guys having a friendly disagreement on the internet.
 
Yes, 1st year saddle hunting here.
Takes a bit to build trust in your set-up at just a foot or so off the ground... just wait until you're 20 up and take that first lean away from tree... still sketchy to me until I have some weight on it.
I'm fine once settled in though.

As said above, that bridge (mines 5/16" ? Amsteel) may be where you want to add/double ?

ALWAYS inspect your saddle and ropes BEFORE using and EVERY use...
 
If you're using the proper rope for your tether, and if it's in good condition, I totally trust a single tether. Just inspect it every time to make sure it hasn't been accidentally cut or anything.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top