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single sticking tricks to lessen tether slack and/or use a linemans?

Well if you are climbing with multiple sticks you typically dont hook up your tether at all. Slack in your tether is far safer than falling with only a lineman belt, unless you are crossing it like Flingingarrows showed years ago. Its a pain to climb with a crossed lineman, so most dont do it. As for single sticking, dont take up slack, move the tether up once you get on bottom solid step. Then step up onto top step and move it up again.

I agree with you. A little slack in tether is better then none at all lol
 
Here’s what I do:

I pull down on the tag end of the rope as climb up the aider and stick.
063c97a4eca279cce55872f487dc4078.jpg



Semper Fi,
Mike
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When you rappelling down do you disconnect roll n lock and bring distal down with you?
 
So even guys using ladder stands have some slack. As a hunter safety instructor we preach- EYE LEVEL OR HIGHER! The redbeard video below is using a no-stick method, but he demonstrates some good techniques.

1. The sliding stopper knot to keep your tether up high while unweighted. Ive used that for years in my climbing stand.
2. Im stealing his Zip tie handles trick for moving the rope.
3. The linemans belt is huge in all of this. The key is having a tender or ropeman on it so you adjust as needed.

Add a shock absorber like a screamer or Kong Kisa...pretty solid system.

8 minutes in for shortcut to the actual climbing
(2) Solo Scout climbing - YouTube
 
So even guys using ladder stands have some slack. As a hunter safety instructor we preach- EYE LEVEL OR HIGHER! The redbeard video below is using a no-stick method, but he demonstrates some good techniques.

1. The sliding stopper knot to keep your tether up high while unweighted. Ive used that for years in my climbing stand.
2. Im stealing his Zip tie handles trick for moving the rope.
3. The linemans belt is huge in all of this. The key is having a tender or ropeman on it so you adjust as needed.

Add a shock absorber like a screamer or Kong Kisa...pretty solid system.

8 minutes in for shortcut to the actual climbing
(2) Solo Scout climbing - YouTube

Thanks for posting that. I'll have to stop typing and go try it. In my head, I imagine with both feet in an aider and my hands on a lineman's (and not on the tree or stick) that I would have a strong tendency to rotate to one side or another. I have a CAYG aider and Helium sticks cut to 23" step span. I'll use those to try.
 
This is what I do. I can tend out all slack AS I step into each aider step and hard step on helium. Then “rappel down to stick for next move. Might be easier with the type of saddle I run but it works none the less. No idea if the safeguard should be used way.


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This is what I do as well.


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This is what I do. I can tend out all slack AS I step into each aider step and hard step on helium. Then “rappel down to stick for next move. Might be easier with the type of saddle I run but it works none the less. No idea if the safeguard should be used way.


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By rappel down to stick for next move, what do you mean? I'm guessing let out slack (if needed) so that you can grab your stick and then move it up?
 
By rappel down to stick for next move, what do you mean? I'm guessing let out slack (if needed) so that you can grab your stick and then move it up?

I do this as well. I go to top step and set my tether as high as possible. I then rappel down far enough to grab the stick. By having tether that high I can tend all the slack with my safeguard while I’m on my aider steps. I don’t move my tether until my feet are off the aider and onto solid steps.


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Am I the only one who sees the One-stick method....as unnecessarily dangerous and unneeded? It seems as tho people are purposely trying to make climbing a tree more complicated and risky. And what happens when/if you accidentally drop the stick while your 3/4 of the way up the tree??

Sticks are getting lighter and smaller...and with the use of aiders.....just about anyone can get to 20ft easily with 4 sticks.

I don’t see how the hassle(and risk) of One-sticking......is easier than just carrying 3 more sticks. This is especially true since saddle hunters arent also lugging a tree stand around.

jmo. Ymmv.
 
Am I the only one who sees the One-stick method....as unnecessarily dangerous and unneeded? It seems as tho people are purposely trying to make climbing a tree more complicated and risky. And what happens when/if you accidentally drop the stick while your 3/4 of the way up the tree??

Sticks are getting lighter and smaller...and with the use of aiders.....just about anyone can get to 20ft easily with 4 sticks.

I don’t see how the hassle(and risk) of One-sticking......is easier than just carrying 3 more sticks. This is especially true since saddle hunters arent also lugging a tree stand around.

jmo. Ymmv.

Yes, there is a good chance that you are either the only one, or one of very few. If you drop your stick, simply repel down and pick it up. Not sure what so dangerous about that.

Being secured to the tree with a tether, instead of a linemans belt as you are setting multiple sticks, is much safer.

Semper Fi,
Mike
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Yes, there is a good chance that you are either the only one, or one of very few. If you drop your stick, simply repel down and pick it up. Not sure what so dangerous about that.

Being secured to the tree with a tether, instead of a linemans belt as you are setting multiple sticks, is much safer.

Semper Fi,
Mike
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Maybe I’m out of the loop. Hadn’t realized that the majority of hunters who climb using sticks.....use just one stick.
 
Am I the only one who sees the One-stick method....as unnecessarily dangerous and unneeded? It seems as tho people are purposely trying to make climbing a tree more complicated and risky. And what happens when/if you accidentally drop the stick while your 3/4 of the way up the tree??

Sticks are getting lighter and smaller...and with the use of aiders.....just about anyone can get to 20ft easily with 4 sticks.

I don’t see how the hassle(and risk) of One-sticking......is easier than just carrying 3 more sticks. This is especially true since saddle hunters arent also lugging a tree stand around.

jmo. Ymmv.

When one-stick climbing I am using my tether the entire time I’m climbing. Most multi-stick climbers are using just their lineman’s rope. A fall on the lineman’s rope has a much greater potential for harm than one on a properly moved tether.

As for dropping the stick, it could happen. To prevent it I have a piece of rope from me to the stick. Worse case scenario, if I drop the stick then I rappel down get it and climb back up. On the other hand, what if a mult-stick climber was stepping up to their next stick and the one below kicks out and drops? What do they do? By using my rappel rope as my tether, I can rappel down at any point in the climb.

Although the actual climb may take a few minutes longer, I have much less to fiddle with at the base of the tree before or after the climb. I also carry much less in bulk and weight. So, for me the little bit extra hassle while climbing greatly outweighs the bulk and weight of multi-sticks for climbing plus it is in all reality much, much, more safe than multi-stick climbing with a lineman’s rope. One final advantage to one-stick climbing is that I’m not limited in height to the sticks I’m carrying. I can climb to exactly the height I need to be. My only limit is the length of the my rappel rope, which is surreally 36’.
 
Maybe I’m out of the loop. Hadn’t realized that the majority of hunters who climb using sticks.....use just one stick.

Either way, using one stick or using multiple sticks doesn’t change the safety factor of one sticking. Conversely, by using multiple sticks the question has to be asked, What happens if you drop a stick, when you are using multiple sticks?


Semper Fi,
Mike
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Either way, using one stick or using multiple sticks doesn’t change the safety factor of one sticking. Conversely, by using multiple sticks the question has to be asked, What happens if you drop a stick, when you are using multiple sticks?


Semper Fi,
Mike
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I find it near impossible to drop a stick when using multiple sticks, but maybe it’s just me. My First stick hangs at 7ft and the second stick hangs off the first stick. Once I climb the first stick....I attach lineman around tree and grab/hang second stick. The 2 other sticks hang from rings of bungee material on my rock climbing harness.

I’m open to seeing the merits of the one-stick method, but I’m more than a bit dubious. how does one use this method when a tree has multiple branches to get around on their way up the tree.
 
I’m open to seeing the merits of the one-stick method, but I’m more than a bit dubious. how does one use this method when a tree has multiple branches to get around on their way up the tree.

Most of us carry a lineman’s belt, or a second tether. Then we pass the branch the same way most multi-stick climbers would. I personally run my lineman’s above the branch, then move my tether up. We are attached to the tree at all times.

DIY Sportsman has an excellent video as well as G2 Outdoors to watch on the process. Once you understand it it’s really straight forward only really differs in that we are attached to the tree with the tether the whole way and instead of setting another stick, we move up the one we have already. The key is the rappel down. Some will one-stick their way back down but that is a bit sketchy to me.
 
Most of us carry a lineman’s belt, or a second tether. Then we pass the branch the same way most multi-stick climbers would. I personally run my lineman’s above the branch, then move my tether up. We are attached to the tree at all times.

DIY Sportsman has an excellent video as well as G2 Outdoors to watch on the process. Once you understand it it’s really straight forward only really differs in that we are attached to the tree with the tether the whole way and instead of setting another stick, we move up the one we have already. The key is the rappel down. Some will one-stick their way back down but that is a bit sketchy to me.
How do you move the tether around branches?
 
How do you move the tether around branches?

By using a quick link you simply unscrew the opening and move the rope up. Beats having to thread the entire rappel rope through an eye.

A78EC770-054E-4359-9853-1B1B10B84D0E.jpeg
 
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I find it near impossible to drop a stick when using multiple sticks, but maybe it’s just me. My First stick hangs at 7ft and the second stick hangs off the first stick. Once I climb the first stick....I attach lineman around tree and grab/hang second stick. The 2 other sticks hang from rings of bungee material on my rock climbing harness.

I’m open to seeing the merits of the one-stick method, but I’m more than a bit dubious. how does one use this method when a tree has multiple branches to get around on their way up the tree.

Ah, so we can agree that the likelihood of dropping a stick is nil. When it comes to dealing with multiple branches, one sticking and using multiple sticks is not much different. What do you do with your lineman‘s belt when you have to go around a branch? I carry a back up tether.And when I’m done hunting, I simply repel down, with no branches navigate. If I were using multiple sticks, I would have to also navigate those branches on the way down.


Semper Fi,
Mike
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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