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Friction Hitches
- Thread starter Brocky
- Start date
I just got some TRC per your recommendation. Thank you! I’ve been messing around with the agile hitch as well. Very interesting take on the klemheist I love so much but it eats up a little extra cord and bites readily, both qualities that I like.
John RB
Well-Known Member
Cool. Have fun experimenting. The carabiner not only provides a handle for ascent, it helps to prevent jamming during rappel.
In the well crotched trees of Pennsylvania, I rarely do anything but DSRT, and I am using the Agile hitch now, over the JRBAscender. The performance is similar, but it's just so easy to put on and take off. One week ago tonight, I arrived at a tree that I haven't climbed in 2 years. And couldn't get my climbing rope through the crotch. A wild grapevine had apparently settled in the crotch. I pulled the rope back down and removed the Agile hitch and rigged without the friction hitch, then replaced it. I climbed and wound up having an incredible hunt: passed on 2 bucks before shooting and tagging the 3rd, my target buck.
This afternoon, I took this photo for one of the guys in my FB group en route to filling my 5th tag this season... all on a pair of Agile Hitches.
For single rope applications, I prefer the Longhorn Agile Hitch.
JrbTreeClimbing.com, affiliated with RockNArbor.com
Top is the @John RB Agile Hitch (7mm on 9mm) without carabiner handle, bottom is the @Brocky Soft Sticht Hitch (5mm/9mm) tied onto my fig8 like he showed in his earlier reply to me. Both super cool. Definitely going to require practice and tweaking as with any hitch, and the 5mm is just what I had laying right next to me but I definitely want at least 6mm for Sticht and want to try carabiner handle on Agile. Credit and thanks to both a Brocky and JRB for their help and for giving me more damn homework lol. Critique welcome. Honorable mention to @Red Beard for the Celtic Button Knot idea…clutch, my mans.
John RB
Well-Known Member
Well, i am glad you're having fun. Here are my comments:
1. I am not a can of that purple and yellow PMI accessory cord ... if you disagree, I wonder why that's not a popular color combination for a fine dress suit... or brides maid dresses...
2. Brocky is the man. He's tied and tried it all, and then drew fine sketches and cataloged it. He's a modern day Ashley. Someday, Ashley's Book of Knots will have a supplement called: "Brocky's Book of BETTER Knots
... Any Questions??" !!
3. If ya scroll back far enough in this thread, you'll see we both independently tied the Agile hitch. I just added the carabiner handle and gave it a name. But I do like and use it daily.
4. Of all my own creations, the Longhorn Agile is the one that I find the most exciting. I can pop it on or off quickly and get great performance, even in SRT. JRB Ascender has similar performance, but is prohibitive to tie.
JrbTreeClimbing.com, affiliated with RockNArbor.com
Yeah the PMI is just what I had laying around, extra that I use it on tether or LB. I’m still waiting on my TRC to show up for rappel, so that’s what these will get tied with in real application. I’ve never been accused of excessive personal style, so I don’t mind the yellow/purple color combo…I don’t wear (m)any bridesmaid dresses though hahaha.
I like how easy it is to tie the Agile with eyes closed or in the dark. Kinda like you said, the JRB was not that way for me, or maybe I didn’t give it enough time and practice, but the Agile is a snap to put on. Will be looking at your Longhorn Agile videos as well before my next hunt.
Finding this out the more research I do on some of these things. Any time there are great answers on here or other forums, @Brocky is somewhere in the replies. You both provide a ton of useful info. If you’re a member of this forum and you hunt aloft without reading some Brocky and JRB you’re not doing as much as you could to KEEP yourself aloft IMHO.
casts_by_fly
Well-Known Member
Mine look right? It's a tight fit with my 22" eye to eye. Look forward to testing it out.
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@TNSTAAFL - how did you get on with this combo? I just got mine today and having a little trouble. I've got the happy hand knot tied the same. Not sure your rope but mine is 9mm Sterling C-IV with the same 6mm double eye. It tends great on its own. Then I can sit back into it and it holds perfectly. But it will NOT break under load. I've tried tightening the knot and loosening the knot. The only way to break it is to take the tension off. Its a bugger to break it the first time after tension but then it goes back to normal.
How did you get on?
Iron_llama
Well-Known Member
I'm not a fan of that color combo either - it evokes a certain NFL franchise - but is there anything wrong with PMI accessory cords? Just an aesthetic thing? For a hitch cord 20' off the ground I'm more interested in safety than appearances, and I've got a chunk of PMI in a different, ugly, color combo.
I like them just fine for tether and LB
John RB
Well-Known Member
It was partially a joke and partially my opinion that when we want to see the details of a knot, it's easier with a cord that's a single color. Those colors just hirt my eyes! However, I do have that same cord. What I don't love about it is that it's stiff. For example, i can get pretty good performance with 7mm Sterling cord on 8mm ropes (an aggressive 87% ratio) but PMI is stiffer and doesn't have as good a bend radius. It might last longer but I would never know simply because I replace my hitches proactively before they are worn and subject them to minimal heat during rappel.
JrbTreeClimbing.com, affiliated with RockNArbor.com
- Joined
- May 16, 2018
- Messages
- 1,843
I didn't. I moved on to @Brocky's "Bowie" hitch tied with 6mm TRC on 8mm ResTech which works great on my LB.
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casts_by_fly
Well-Known Member
Ah. I didn’t twig that you were looking at a LB. Thanks
casts_by_fly
Well-Known Member
which ones are options for breaking under load? I’ve watched John’s longhorn and ascender video. I’ve gone through this thread a couple times now. I managed to get something workable with some ~8mm rope I had downstairs with a schwbisch. This rope wouldn’t grab with some of the other knots in this thread no matter how many extra loops and hitches went into it. The schwabish held secure first and foremost. I was also able to break it under full load. Maybe not as smoothly as I’d like but it worked.
- Joined
- May 16, 2018
- Messages
- 1,843
Correction, that is the "Bowie" hitch. I forgot I tried a version with an eye to eye cord. I don't remember why I didn't like it (probably not compact enough). The TRC version that I currently use finishes with a series of flat over hand knots. On my LB it is very effective. Haven't tried it as a tether hitch.
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Coachschaller
Active Member
so far the JRB 5-2-3 ascender breaks best for me in my limited experience. The longhorn agile does too, but not quite as well as my JRB ascender. This of course is with my rope combos
The WLR, the similar Synergy X, the Oval VT and the similar Sticht, and the JRB, as mentioned are the ones that will release easily every time. Other hitches will also release initially, but most will bind up with repeated loading and unloading cycles.
Skunkworkx
Well-Known Member
I'm not (pun not intended) big on knots, but know a few from being in the fire dept., and grandfather having a 30-something foot boat living on the waterfront.
Looking at different knots for my tether...thinking klemheist hitch over the prusik I been using...or is there something better ?
Looking at different knots for my tether...thinking klemheist hitch over the prusik I been using...or is there something better ?