Building new tether - replace blake's hitch with klemheist?

[gt3073b]

I'm replacing my old tether that came with my Aero Evolution (3rd season). I purchased new Samson Predator and 9mm Samson Accessory Cord (same as the currently shipping lanyards) from Wesspur.

After playing with the new lines in the house, I'm thinking that a prusik loop-based hitch like a klemheist would be cleaner than the modified blake's hitch New Tribe uses. I haven't cut anything yet, so I still have enough material for trying entirely new setups.

1. There wouldn't be the tail and eight/stopper flopping around off the side like on the blake's hitch. Klemheist and similar don't have the loose tail.
   
2. When feeding the whole tether through the choker loop on the tree, I had been leaving the blake's hitch tied on, so the whole mess goes through the loop. A klemheist is easy enough to add on (even in the dark) after the lanyard is on the tree.
   
3. The blake's hitch seems to really cinch down after hanging on it for a while. The flip line adjuster works fine with the blake's hitch because I'm not hanging on it for any real length of time. It has always been easy to adjust and stops quickly. On the tether though, it seems to bind up after a while.
4. Should a bull hitch be used with the prusik loop to keep the carabiner oriented correctly? That would add to the setup time, especially in the dark. How much value does it add?
   
5. If I should stick with the blake's hitch, is there any reason I shouldn't use a triple fisherman's/scaffold to terminate at the carabiner? A figure 8 on a bight is bulky and doesn't snug up to the carabiner.

Thanks,
Bryan.

 

[justsomedude]

It completely depends upon rope compatibility. Some ropes just don’t work in certain configurations

Take a look at the VT Prusik. “Asymmetrical Prusik” would make sense.

 

[20ftup]

I'm a fan of the xt hitch for tether attachment. There are many friction hitch you can use with eye to eye cord.


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[gt3073b]

Interesting video. Looks like I should have bought an eye to eye prusik instead of cord.

Without a spliced eye to eye, what should I do? I’m not ready to order more gear.

 

[20ftup]

You can tie two eyes


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[justsomedude]

I like leaving my friction knots in place.

I wouldn't worry about the Blake's being sloppy. They work well when you get the right rope.
You should try a blake's using the predator if you have 4' to spare.
You can test it out by tying a "Closed System" using the tail as your blake hitch.
Do you know about that?

I just tied 9mm prusiks to use on 11mm assault and they working well as standard prusiks.
I also have a 9mm Blake's hitch on Yale Bandit (softer than Predator) that works well too.

Predator rope is softer than Assault. You might just ned to get where you really know how to unlock your friction knots. It is a nuisance when it doesn't work. I never got presoaks to work well on Yale Bandit and went to a Ropeman.

 

[boone0]

Interesting video. Looks like I should have bought an eye to eye prusik instead of cord.

Without a spliced eye to eye, what should I do? I’m not ready to order more gear.

If you have enough rope try tying a fisherman's knot in both ends of your accessory cord as if it were an eye and eye. Try the VT and michoacan at ground height and see if they work better.

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[justsomedude]

3’ or so of accessory cord with an overhand knot on each end.
Asymmetrical Prusik.

That’s 5mm on 9mm by the way.
I have some 7mm coming in the mail that I’m going to try

 

[gt3073b]

Thank you all for the feedback. I just spent the last couple hours playing around and tried most of the ideas so far.

One thing I failed to mention was that my old setup was the older tether from New Tribe, which I think was Yale Bandit. I’m curious if the softness of that was some of the problem.

First I made a triple fishermans loop with the 9mm Samson accessory cord. I tried the klemheist, and occasionally it needed to be pulled up for it to grab down. It was picky about how it was dressed. Overall, not too happy with it.

Next, I tied 2 eights to make an eye to eye prusik cord and tried the valdotain tresse. At first I was at 28” eye to eye, and the knots were right up in the braid. I extended it (no cuts yet) and it helped, but i think I need a couple more inches to get the eight knots further down.

So far, the VT behaves well with this rope combo. It definitely lets down and stops well. With triple fisherman’s knots cinched down, it would be harder to remove the carabiner and prusik cord. With eights, the carabiner will come right out, but are bulkier at the tresse braids. Tomorrow, I’ll see how easy it is to leave the vt and biner on the tether and feed it through. The biner would stay tight to the tether rather than hanging off the side of the blake’s hitch.

Thanks again, everyone, for helping with this experiment!

 

[gt3073b]

I forgot to address the closed system blake’s comment. Do you mean to use the tail of the tether, and loop it back to tie the blake’s so that the eight stopper of the blake’s is actually the end of the leash?

If so, the adustment range would be cut in half since there is 2:1 with the loop, but there is half the tension binding up the hitch.

 

[justsomedude]

I just messed with an asymmetrical Prusik (3 over 1) using 9mm accessory cord on 11mm Assault. It seems like it will work well. Need to hang from it more to find out if it sticks

 

[brydan]

First I made a triple fishermans loop with the 9mm Samson accessory cord. I tried the klemheist, and occasionally it needed to be pulled up for it to grab down. It was picky about how it was dressed. Overall, not too happy with it.

Next, I tied 2 eights to make an eye to eye prusik cord and tried the valdotain tresse. At first I was at 28” eye to eye, and the knots were right up in the braid. I extended it (no cuts yet) and it helped, but i think I need a couple more inches to get the eight knots further down.

So far, the VT behaves well with this rope combo. It definitely lets down and stops well. With triple fisherman’s knots cinched down, it would be harder to remove the carabiner and prusik cord. With eights, the carabiner will come right out, but are bulkier at the tresse braids. Tomorrow, I’ll see how easy it is to leave the vt and biner on the tether and feed it through. The biner would stay tight to the tether rather than hanging off the side of the blake’s hitch.

Thanks again, everyone, for helping with this experiment!

The experience you had with the Klemheist makes sense. It's not the right knot for this application.

Be very careful with the VT. Great when it's set right, dangerous when it isn't. Take it low and slow and make sure it grabs every time. Err on the side of too much friction. I've always used a double fisherman to tie the hitch cord to the carabiner, it's a pretty standard way to do it in Arboriculture.

 

[TheTracker]

View attachment 2958
3’ or so of accessory cord with an overhand knot on each end.
Asymmetrical Prusik.

That’s 5mm on 9mm by the way.
I have some 7mm coming in the mail that I’m going to try

I used the schwabish alot, thats a great friction hitch.

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[TheTracker]

The experience you had with the Klemheist makes sense. It's not the right knot for this application.

Be very careful with the VT. Great when it's set right, dangerous when it isn't. Take it low and slow and make sure it grabs every time. Err on the side of too much friction. I've always used a double fisherman to tie the hitch cord to the carabiner, it's a pretty standard way to do it in Arboriculture.

What you said about the VT is true, i prefer the Distel over the VT. Even the XT is a better choice.

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[justsomedude]

I still haven't tried a whole hunt with the asymmetric prusik but in tests in my yard it was really good.