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1 Sticking bridge length preference?

Shapeshifter

Shapeshifter

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Sep 22, 2022
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For you guys that have been 1 sticking for a while now. What is your preferred bridge length while climbing? Do yo prefer a short or long bridge and why? Pros and Cons?
 
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Shapeshifter said:
For you guys that have been 1 sticking for a while now. What is your preferred bridge length while climbing? Do yo prefer a short or long bridge and why? Pros and Cons?
Click to expand...

I keep mine short always. For me, a short bridge is less encumbering for some shots.
A shorter bridge keeps the climbing device at chest height. I have yet to find a benefit of lengthening the bridge.


Semper Fi,
Mike
 
Shapeshifter said:
For you guys that have been 1 sticking for a while now. What is your preferred bridge length while climbing? Do yo prefer a short or long bridge and why? Pros and Cons?
Click to expand...

I like a short bridge. Easier to manage tether and keep it above me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
That's the issue I'm encountering . I sometimes forget to shorten my bridges before I start climbing and don't realize it til my Maddock starts to bang or gets hung up on my stick. I guess I just haven't ingrained that habit of shorting my bridge before climbing yet.
 
Yep. If I had a hard time climbing, it was usually because my bridge was long. Tighten that thing up. But not to tight it hurts to hang there when setting your stick.
 
When y’all think of a long bridge, how long is that? How far up is your biner? I’ve been using a second short bridge for rappelling but mostly for streamlining the transition. It’s NOT as comfortable as my longer bridge….hip pinch came in quick in the Hawk. My new Buzzard Roost has an adjustable bridge so I’m about to have to learn all about bridge length all over again. I’ve been climbing on my longer main bridge and do clink against my stick sometimes if I’m not paying attention. Thanks for the question OP!
 
I climb and rappel on a shorter bridge (~30"). It puts the control for the Safeguard at the perfect height for me to use and also allows me some extra length for the screamer I put in my tether while one sticking.

Setup to hunt I prefer a longer bridge (~36") for a couple of reasons. First, it reduces the pinch effect at the waist as the increased angle reduces the horizontal force components on the bridge loops. Second, and proably more important for me, I'm a sitter and I lean forward and rest my head on the bridge while hunting. A 30" bridge puts the carabiner right in my ear or forehead. Going to 36" keep the carabiner off my face.

I swap to my adjustable lineman's belt as my bridge once at height and back to the shorter fixed length bridge when I get ready to rappel.
 
My Cruzr XC has an adjustable amsteel bridge . You have 34 inches adjustability. I normally run mine all the way out when I'm hunting because of the reduction of hip pinch. It's just climbing with it all the way out where the problem comes in. I just need to remember to shorten it before starting the climb.
 
My Drey is on an RCH so I don't deploy my bridge until I'm at height. Friction hitch on rappel line is on my belay loop, backup/hunting tether is on a 2' sling girth hitched to my belay loop. When I install my figure-8, it goes on the same sling as the tether. So, "short bridge" to climb and long bridge to hunt.
 
For hanging I run my XC adjustable bridge almost all the way out, which eliminates any hip pinch. Like to climb on a short bridge, but got tired of having to loosen the prusik to adjust it so I tied a second short permanent bridge onto my bridge loops and I climb on that. Best of both worlds.
 
Shapeshifter said:
For you guys that have been 1 sticking for a while now. What is your preferred bridge length while climbing? Do yo prefer a short or long bridge and why? Pros and Cons?
Click to expand...
Short on the climb. Once at height I adjust according to the tree and its angle etc. until my hips are comfortable and then adjust again as I practice different shot angles. I have marked with a sharpie on my amsteel bridge where I have preferred lengths for certain trees and sets.
 
Horn said:
Short to climb. I'll second that a second short bridge is very little additional clutter. Handy to have should you ever get in a pickle too
Click to expand...
I'll point out that while there aren't all that many scenarios involving clipping in or out at height, it's not unheard of. Having two separate bridges prevents what I consider "carabiner confusion", where you mean to unclip one 'biner but instead remove the wrong one. Also, less likely for them to clang off each other if they're on separate bridges.
 
On my ESS I have the bridge at 16 inches for hunting. I have a second bridge on the ESS which is from Cruzr and it's ajustable which I keep very short for one sticking. The strap bridge on the ESS is set and I never ajust it.
 
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