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Ascending with a Grigri

gameflogger

gameflogger

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2014
Messages
1,370
Location
Texas
Has anyone tries ascending with an ascender and a grigri setup? It would save a lot of weight on the way in and with the single rope retrieval technique it may not be too bad if the carabiners have tape or shrink wrap on then.
 
That's my method of madness 75% of the time. It can be a little noisy if you go to fast, but with trees preset with cord in them its pretty efficient for me.
 
How long does it take to get up the tree and how hard is it to get up the tree?
 
It's literally seconds once the rope is set. I have the hand ascender with a foot loop and the grigri 2. Once you get clipped in, you can climb 20 feet in 30 seconds or less

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Yes the technique is called RADS. I haven't been doing it much lately, but when I switched over to the grigri2 from the petzl rig it worked much better for me. I'm also a short guy so that might be why.
 
Here ya go:


I personally use the Petzl I'D with a footloop+Ropeman attached to my tether above the Petzl. This really works for me and makes ascending trivial.
 
What are the cons to this type of climbing method? How did y'all silence your gear.
 
The cons are weight, noise, cost, getting ropes set.
Weight offsets itself if you are careful. Noise takes practice and caution. Cost isn't terrible if you don't also spend money on 10 other climbing methods

When I was considering rope climbing, I was put off by 100' of rope, throwline/throw bag, ascenders etc. it sure is fun though
 
gameflogger said:
What are the cons to this type of climbing method? How did y'all silence your gear.
Click to expand...
Yeah, you nailed it. It is noisy as hell.
All of my biners and the grigri (I use the ID) have hockey tape on them. This should help as well http://amzn.to/2gUbcv7.
The biggest thing is that you have to get that rope up there. For this method, you have to find a crotch, and prepping trees with paracord really helps a lot. Pro Tip : spend a couple bucks and get the reflective paracord, it really lights up a tree at night http://amzn.to/2h1YA9l

Also, in that video, it shows the guy using the tree. This is a big help. In my experience, you don't want to have that hanging too far from the trunk.
 
justsomedude said:
The cons are weight, noise, cost, getting ropes set.
Weight offsets itself if you are careful. Noise takes practice and caution. Cost isn't terrible if you don't also spend money on 10 other climbing methods

When I was considering rope climbing, I was put off by 100' of rope, throwline/throw bag, ascenders etc. it sure is fun though
Click to expand...
LOL "Cost isn't terrible if you don't also spend money on 10 other climbing methods". I think I've done them all now. I have 40' of rope with a sewn loop on one end. Look for posts from "Whispers Death" - he's the guru on this .

Weight - I'll double check later, but I think the weight of my RADS with SRT rope is right at 6#. Same for the spurs, and not far off from 3 lonewolf sticks.
 
I found with a pre set tree, sticks and RADS are about the same speed. With climbing rope you spend more time at the base of the tree. Sticks take more time setting up on the tree. Personally I think rope is quieter but both methods are pretty quiet with practice.

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boone0 said:
I found with a pre set tree, sticks and RADS are about the same speed. With climbing rope you spend more time at the base of the tree. Sticks take more time setting up on the tree. Personally I think rope is quieter but both methods are pretty quiet with practice.

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Also, your ability to hunt literally until dark is there. Rappelling out and pulling the rope down (you remembered to hook up that line to the top, right? ) is 5 minutes at the most and can be done in total darkness, and frankly, safer than coming down steps. I have a 9" scar on my thigh from coming down steps and slipping due to mud.
 
justsomedude said:
Cost isn't terrible if you don't also spend money on 10 other climbing methods
Click to expand...

I am so guilty of this. I have to own/try every method. I have been through the list

Stepp ladder
Woodpecker drill and bolts
Home made woodpecker
Climb paws
Muddy sticks with etriers
Static line RADS
Spurs with repelling gear
Screw in steps
Skyhooks (rigid bolt on, strap on, and folding)

All of these methods in order to be quiet as possible require some prep work. It seems like there are always some little branches in the way that need to be trimmed.

If it wasnt for the weight and bulk, sticks with aiders would be my favorite. I have been hunting with spurs all season, due to being able to hunt new trees, I feel I have been pretty noisy with each new setup. I can't wait to go back and clean up trees in the off-season and leave paracord. I have bought a couple 500 foot reels specifically for that purpose. I love my spurs, but the rads system is less bulky than carrying my spurs and a separate rapelling gear.


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I have pretty much tried them all also. I like RADS alot. My biggest problem with it is as it gets colder out, the air gets thinner and my layers bulk up, it just becomes a lot harder for me to do. In early season or my backyard I can go up and down no problem. Once I get it in to the woods later in the season is when it gets harder.
 
In the small amount of time I played with it, I found finding a tree that was a good candidate for throwing a line to be more limiting than using a hand climber seat or climbing with just an aider.

But once you have a rope set, up and down is quick.
I never got rigged for single rope. I had borrowed two hand ascenders and a long rope from a friend
 
boone0 said:
I found with a pre set tree, sticks and RADS are about the same speed. With climbing rope you spend more time at the base of the tree. Sticks take more time setting up on the tree. Personally I think rope is quieter but both methods are pretty quiet with practice.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
From a safety standpoint i'd also add that rope climbing is much safer!
 
redsquirrel said:
My biggest problem with it is as it gets colder out, the air gets thinner and my layers bulk up, it just becomes a lot harder for me to do. In early season or my backyard I can go up and down no problem. Once I get it in to the woods later in the season is when it gets harder.
Click to expand...
This is 100% spot on!
 
I prefer to hunt the crotch of a tree, what do y'all guys do when you get to the crotch of the tree that the rope is in? Do you wrap around your linesmans belt and rd throw the main line?
 
gameflogger said:
I prefer to hunt the crotch of a tree, what do y'all guys do when you get to the crotch of the tree that the rope is in? Do you wrap around your linesmans belt and rd throw the main line?
Click to expand...
It's generally easier to advance up the tree if you have something to stand on when you try to throw higher into the tree. You can do this by tying the tag end of the rope into a monkeys fist and throwing it to the next crotch. Just make damn sure you aren't going to get it stuck leaving yourself with no way back to the ground.
37bede800d85fee2fa5715e34c7f0da6.jpg

The safer option is to use a throw line and bag or carry an emergency bail-out line in case you do get your primary line stuck.
 
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