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Amsteel tether

Stevey220 said:
Good call Dan. Maybe a sleeve will help prevent or slow down the fray.
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I like this idea! I think If it’s good enough for a bridge why wouldn’t it be for a tether? I’m definitely no expert on Amsteel just my opinion. Like the wrap on it seems like it definitely cut down on snagging it on bark. I personally wouldn’t go this route tho. I don’t fiddle with Amsteel. Mainly bc this is what I would be doing lol. Making everything out of it ha ha.
 
I made one as well and have been testing on it for about two weeks. The full burry just gives the amsteel different properties. It holds the amsteel continuous loop well. I also tried it with a beal jammy. The jammy is a no go! It doesn't lock under weight. I haven't noticed any rope fraying, but it's only been a couple weeks.
 
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I think the full berry is what allows this thing to work. It's filling in the hollow core and making it more like a traditional braided rope. I'm not an expert though so I could be totally wrong.

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I got to play around with the amsteel tether again this morning. I wanted to try it out with a mechanical hitch. Tried a Ropeman 1 and a Kong Duck. At ground level of course! Both bite and release well. However they leave bite marks on the amsteel. The marks do rub out easily, but I do not recommend either! I Say again, I do not think a kong duck or ropeman 1 are safe to use on amsteel!


However the simple continuous loop prusik knot is a dream to work with. I would really love to hear from a professional "rope guy". Is there a "rope guy" out there?
 
Nugget said:
I got to play around with the amsteel tether again this morning. I wanted to try it out with a mechanical hitch. Tried a Ropeman 1 and a Kong Duck. At ground level of course! Both bite and release well. However they leave bite marks on the amsteel. The marks do rub out easily, but I do not recommend either! I Say again, I do not think a kong duck or ropeman 1 are safe to use on amsteel!


However the simple continuous loop prusik knot is a dream to work with. I would really love to hear from a professional "rope guy". Is there a "rope guy" out there?
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Please do NOT use any hollow type rope for a tether. It's not the amsteel that will fail, it's the friction hitch that will. Same with mechanical hitches. They are not built to be used on hollow rope such as amsteel. It's simple physics. Use a good quality climbing rope and live another day.
 
chi0082 said:
Please do NOT use any hollow type rope for a tether. It's not the amsteel that will fail, it's the friction hitch that will. Same with mechanical hitches. They are not built to be used on hollow rope such as amsteel. It's simple physics. Use a good quality climbing rope and live another day.
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Totally understand the "don't use hollow rope" statement. However this is amsteel with a full bury (amsteel inside of amsteel) just like the Tethrd utillibridge. So, it's no longer hollow. Have you seen the utilibridge working with the continuous loop prusik?
 
So, exactly what is it that you do not like about a full bury bridge? There are alot of saddle companies going this route. H2, Cruzr, Tethrd to name a few. Tethrd has load tested their saddle and bridge. Can't say I would put a well established company in the "just DIY guys like us" category. Not trying to be disrespectful but what is your background with rope?
 
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I personally do not and would not trust my life to amsteel. It wasn’t long ago on this forum that the idea was shunned. I’m not sure what changed.

I will admit to doing things that aren’t recommended once in a while but I’m not chancing something that holds me from taking a long ride in a pine box. I’ll stick to proven climbing rated rope.
 
Let’s stick to why you feel amsteel is unsafe for this purpose........ leave all the personal stuff out of this & stay on topic. I also don’t like it for that purpose but that’s b/c I’ve not seen where it’s deemed acceptable by the mfr & there are other lightweight climbing rated lines.
 
chi0082 said:
Please do NOT use any hollow type rope for a tether. It's not the amsteel that will fail, it's the friction hitch that will. Same with mechanical hitches. They are not built to be used on hollow rope such as amsteel. It's simple physics. Use a good quality climbing rope and live another day.
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I understand those that choose not to use it due to being out if spec by the manufacturer, but calling BS on the hollow rope statements due to this specific design. Physics also state that if the prusik slipped on the bridge in use, it will come to a complete stop when it hits the stopper knot and there will not be a failure. If folks leave off the stopper, well, earth is overpopulated anyway and we can stand to lose a few.
 
Bwhana said:
I understand those that choose not to use it due to being out if spec by the manufacturer, but calling BS on the hollow rope statements due to this specific design. Physics also state that if the prusik slipped on the bridge in use, it will come to a complete stop when it hits the stopper knot and there will not be a failure. If folks leave off the stopper, well, earth is overpopulated anyway and we can stand to lose a few.
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Do you worry at all about heat in this application? If it’s an adjustable bridge (still not for me ) I could make the case that the prussic has less to travel on & could expect to see less failure..... as a tether the prussic could possibly melt if not grabbing, given the wrong circumstances. That’s what bothers me about this application out of spec. I know it’s not rappelling but could you generate enough heat to comprise the amsteel prussic in a few feet?
 
how about a daisy chain instead of a friction knot for adjustability? would that work?
 
In my opinion, to say something can't be used in a certain way simply because the manufacturer doesn't say it can be is a complete contradiction to the essence of DIY. If that were the case then we should never use a sit-drag or fleece saddle. What about the scooter or LW handclimber platforms? Amsteel was also never intended to be used as a rope mod on climbing sticks. Sometimes DIY exists for the purpose of repurposing something it wasn't originally intended to be.

As for the topic on hand, by no means an I going to claim this is completely safe and everyone must do it. I, on the other hand, do feel comfortable playing with it for the purpose of research to see if this is a viable option for ME.

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Stevey220 said:
In my opinion, to say something can't be used in a certain way simply because the manufacturer doesn't say it can be is a complete contradiction to the essence of DIY. If that were the case then we should never use a sit-drag or fleece saddle. What about the scooter or LW handclimber platforms? Amsteel was also never intended to be used as a rope mod on climbing sticks. Sometimes DIY exists for the purpose of repurposing something it wasn't originally intended to be.

As for the topic on hand, by no means an I going to claim this is completely safe and everyone must do it. I, on the other hand, do feel comfortable playing with it for the purpose of research to see if this is a viable option for ME.

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Spot on, most of the applications of parts/materials that are now commonplace are/were pushing the edge. Just want people to contemplate possible safety issues....... a lot of this forum is fairly subjective. We get a lot of our safety standards from the climbing/arborist world but we are still applying some of it differently.
 
Nugget said:
I got to play around with the amsteel tether again this morning. I wanted to try it out with a mechanical hitch. Tried a Ropeman 1 and a Kong Duck. At ground level of course! Both bite and release well. However they leave bite marks on the amsteel. The marks do rub out easily, but I do not recommend either! I Say again, I do not think a kong duck or ropeman 1 are safe to use on amsteel!


However the simple continuous loop prusik knot is a dream to work with. I would really love to hear from a professional "rope guy". Is there a "rope guy" out there?
Click to expand...
In your original post you said you have 20 feet of Amsteel for tether. Are you planning on rappeling with this? Friction hitches for rappeling are mostly made of heat resistant rope and are used with a device which reduces friction further to enable the hitch to be manageable. Amsteel has a VERY low temperature at which it becomes unstable. A sliding friction hitch made of Amsteel would be dangerous, IMHO. For a fixed hitch, OK, I guess.
I was going to try SRT with 3/16" Amsteel but would have to upclimb and downclimb with toothed ascenders. I tried it in a Madrock Safeguard and it would not hold. I didn't have anything buried. I am scared to try it. Maybe you should be very scared. There are safer alternatives.
 
Starting with 20' of 1/4 inch Amsteel nets down to about 9' after the full berry

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I bought 2 adjustable amsteel bridges from Cruz saddles to use on my Kestrel and Flex and the prusik works fine . I haven't see any issues.
 
This thread seems to have migrated from Amsteel tether to Amsteel bridge. The saddle manufacturer Tethryd OKs it for a bridge. With the tether you are on your own.
 
bj139 said:
In your original post you said you have 20 feet of Amsteel for tether. Are you planning on rappeling with this? Friction hitches for rappeling are mostly made of heat resistant rope and are used with a device which reduces friction further to enable the hitch to be manageable. Amsteel has a VERY low temperature at which it becomes unstable. A sliding friction hitch made of Amsteel would be dangerous, IMHO. For a fixed hitch, OK, I guess.
I was going to try SRT with 3/16" Amsteel but would have to upclimb and downclimb with toothed ascenders. I tried it in a Madrock Safeguard and it would not hold. I didn't have anything buried. I am scared to try it. Maybe you should be very scared. There are safer alternatives.
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I full buried 20' of amsteel into a 9' tether with a 5" spliced eye and a stopper knot. The prusik is made from a full bury continuous loop. It's amsteel inside of amsteel. Similar to the utillibridge and not interested in repelling.
 
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