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Friction Hitches

Horn said:
Can I tag on a question here? Good, thanks.

What is the life expectancy of a fiction cord? Do you evaluate that by eye? All fuzzy and floppy is time to retire? Obviously hard or glazed spots are an issue to, but I've seen that people just retie the hitch to deal with that sort of issue?

Mostly curious. Hitch cord is cheap enough to buy plenty and toss it for new if there's any doubt whatsoever. Still good to know how to evaluate one that isn't obviously compromised
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On traditional hitch cords (polyester covers) you’d look for glazing where the cord rubs the rope. A hardened cover, noticeable abrasion (not a few soft looking burs which are typical wear and tear, but rather deep cuts, strand loosening ect….) and the you’d check it for flat spots. The thumb and pointer finger bending test can tell you if the ropes core is flattened and damaged or not. On these newer high heat cords it’s much harder to tell if it’s compromised. Abrasion will look the same, but technora seems to not hold its shape as well as polyester or nylon so it flattens a little easier. Additionally since it doesn’t glaze, you aren’t concerned about it melting however it’s much harder to truly tell if the core was compromised either from flattening, heat or shock loading. They are great cords BUt like anything they have cons as well.
I say all that to basically say retire cords according to wear and tear. That will differ from amount of use and application. There is no set in stone length of service for hitch cord that I can find
 
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Brocky said:
View attachment 86350
A separate piece of rope layered in a flip phone case to deploy without tangling.
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Have you played with this any on the tree? Will this still hold under normal weight? I bought one of those a while ago, and can't figure out how to use it or if to use it. Down side seeming to be how much length it adds if I used it on an srt or drt.
If you added it one sticking seems it would clang on the stick.
 
John RB said:
Hey @Brocky and friends,
Anyone have experience with Twaron, an Aramid fiber, in friction hitches?

On the left is the Sterling RIT 900, a 6.8mm Hollow Block, made of Twaron fiber, with incredible heat resistance and strength. MBS: 4136 lb, 18.4kN. That's the only color, although I know it will fade a bit as it gets used and gets dirty.

On the right is Sterling standard 7mm Accessory Cord, Nylon, MBS 2787 lb or 12.4kn. Good heat resistance. And although I used red, that's available in several good hunting colors.

Both perform great in my side by side testing.

What I don't know is which has better life expectancy... which will last longer in terms of simply wearing over time as it rubs against the rope to which its tied. Opinions welcome. Thx.
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The RIT isn’t a hollow block, that is a name given to the specific loop, which they called the Hallow Block. The RIT 900 is a single braid, hallow braided, 16 strand cord. The Hallow Block is more of a solid braid, which they also braid into a flat cord, the RIT flattens, but returns to round when loaded. There is also a big difference in strength, the HB’s is 3147 lbs. in a loop form, so 1/3 of that is subtracted to get the approximate break strength of a single strand of it, around 2100#.

MattMan81 said:
Have you played with this any on the tree? Will this still hold under normal weight? I bought one of those a while ago, and can't figure out how to use it or if to use it. Down side seeming to be how much length it adds if I used it on an srt or drt.
If you added it one sticking seems it would clang on the stick.
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I used it for about five years, the rope diameter has to be just right to hold your weight when loading it. I found one that was close, but slipped slightly. I added a small piece of a rope strand just below the device, this was enough resistance for my weight, and would only slip if shock loaded.
 
Brocky said:
A new way of tying a stopper knot in back that makes tending very easy, standard Sticht on top and new method on the Soft Sticht on the bottom.
View attachment 87862
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May make tending easier, but I'd play hell trying to tie it. Tying these "complicated" knots drive me crazy. Should do myself a favor and avoid these threads. :confused2:
 
Top left hitch is the start, four - five wraps, forming a circle, or ringwith the bottom wrap, the end goes under itself. The top wrap comes down diagonally and goes through the ring.

Bottom left hitch shows the back where the two ends are brought, and then crossed once, then again to form a twist, also called an elbow. Leave a little room between the rope and twist, in the picture there is a black piece of tubing added to show the separation and the twist, I don’t use it to actually tie the hitch. Take the two ends to the front, passing them through the ring.

The eyes are made by taking the ends downward below the ring, and then back under the twist. Put a carabiner in the eyes and tighten it up by pulling on top of the eyes then the ends. Once it’s snug, tie a stopper knot of your choice.

Pulling down on the ring and twist after tying makes it tend easier than if they are closer to the wraps, the tension in the hitch is adjustable by the amount of space between the wraps and lower parts.

IMG_6347.jpeg
A pice of plastic tubing might help some, but it is nearly effortless to tend if adjusted right.
 
Brocky said:
Top left hitch is the start, four - five wraps, forming a circle, or ringwith the bottom wrap, the end goes under itself. The top wrap comes down diagonally and goes through the ring.

Bottom left hitch shows the back where the two ends are brought, and then crossed once, then again to form a twist, also called an elbow. Leave a little room between the rope and twist, in the picture there is a black piece of tubing added to show the separation and the twist, I don’t use it to actually tie the hitch. Take the two ends to the front, passing them through the ring.

The eyes are made by taking the ends downward below the ring, and then back under the twist. Put a carabiner in the eyes and tighten it up by pulling on top of the eyes then the ends. Once it’s snug, tie a stopper knot of your choice.

Pulling down on the ring and twist after tying makes it tend easier than if they are closer to the wraps, the tension in the hitch is adjustable by the amount of space between the wraps and lower parts.

View attachment 88062
A pice of plastic tubing might help some, but it is nearly effortless to tend if adjusted right.
Click to expand...
What length of hitch cord are you starting with to tie that?
 
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Hey @Brocky , is this a correct Soft Sticht using an eye-to-eye?
It works good.

worked a little bit better with a ‘toboggan’…

1FA7EC99-3F08-4A8D-B04F-4D8051D3EEB0.png
I don’t remember seeing a ‘soft’ Sticht tied with an eye-to-eye and my A.D.D. kept me from going back through 20 pages of this thread to try and find a picture of one…
 
Yes, that’s the way to tie it, lifting the twist off the rope keeps it from wedging into the v shapes.

If you can tolerate a little bit of metal the Edelrid Switch makes a good hitch replacement, hand tends easily and releases easily under full body weight. It comes with a short dynamic rope that needs to be switched out, 9.5mm is about limit, but can go down very small with right carabiner. It is very similar to Climbing Technologies’ Click Up.
IMG_6383.jpeg
 
How do you release that? ^^^

Rotate the top right of it clockwise or just tug on the tag end of the rope???
 
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Rotate the devices to release, with firmer ropes I can do with just a thumb. To remove slack you tug on the rope end.
 
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@Brocky any issue with modifying a Cornell this way. Did basic hitch construction then crossed the ends going back through bottom portion of the hitch and passing each side of main rope. Overhand on the back side. Loaded it full body weight and then redressed the hitch.


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^^^ I know it's not weighted in your picture but I think I would at least re-tie how you've got your stopper knot.
For 1, your stands aren't parallel going back through the hitch and from the picture I can't tell if your stopper knot is 'capturing' the mainline?

I'm not an expert and I'm definitely not Brocky but that's what I see just by looking...
 
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