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Friction Hitches

Clink123 said:
What's the best stopper knot folks have found for the backside of the rope for a soft sticht or distel? I feel as if some knots I've tried don't sit flush up against the bottom of the friction hitch and tend to bind up. Just wondering if anyone found one that works the best?
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Recommended to use a fig8 stopper. I generally feel comfortable with an overhand stopper, but I’m not a huge guy. Not saying to use that, that’s just what I do.
 
In some modalities, I also need to use a stopper knot as a bend on my friction hitches. For example, the JRB Ascender hitch when tied on my bridge. My solution: I use more cord and tie 2 independent flat overhand bends in series, basically touching each other. Minute 18.

JrbTreeClimbing.com, w/JRB15 Coupon at ApeCanyon.com
 
John RB said:
Always appreciate @Brocky and his input, and drawings. Regarding terminologies, technically, the term "knot" has multiple meanings and encompasses all "complications of cordage". Thus "Ashley's Book of Knots" is a appropriately named, and includes all types of knots, including Hitches, Bends, etc. A "hitch" is a type of knot that secures a piece of cordage to a host, which in the case of a "friction hitch", is another rope.

I have been studying friction hitches for a long time and created a few dozen of them. I have only published the JRB Ascender Hitch though, only because its the only one that has features above and beyond anything else. It was submitted and recognized as unique by the International Guild of Knot Tyers. I am not aware of a friction hitch in its league. It's a lot to tie, but I can:
  • Break it under the load of my full body weight with one hand
  • Execute a controlled rappel on it if I needed to
  • Set it to automatically tend upward by pulling on the rope end, with no other device required
  • Tie it so that it can't jam ('just published the Non-Jamming JRB Ascender Variant)
  • Can tie it into SRT, MRS or JRB systems. An Arborist Hitch Climber Pulley setup was one of many tests I ran and it performed amazingly.
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I use the JRB assender hitch on my tether and rappel on it. I really like the fact that when I rappel, I can let go and use both hands to clean up my steps as I go down. I use a Mavrick hitch on my tether/rappel rope as I go up the tree, and it releases 100% of the time once I am down. I have learned ALOT on your videos and am much safer than I was 1 year ago. I am thinking next year about your climbing method with the pole. Thanks!
 
John RB said:
@Brocky
Hey buddy, I hope you're well. Does this match anything in your catalog? Happy Thanksgiving to all.

JrbTreeClimbing.com, w/JRB15 Coupon at ApeCanyon.com
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I like the looks of this one. It does seem less complex/bulky/etc. than some of your other hitches. I have no complaints with the WLR hitch which I use for most of my rope climbing but I’m intrigued to give this Kraken a go.

I was watching your video waiting for you to go over being able to break it while weighted and consistent grab, those are the most important things to me, and like you said many hitches bind after several climbs and/or don’t catch reliably, and/or can’t release under load.
 
I just did a few climbs on the Kraken and man I think I will finish my season with this hitch! Was using the longhorn sill really like the LH but this Kraken with the LH finish sure is sweet. Tends and grabs really well. Thank you John!
 
Update on the kraken hitch I did a morning hunt in the rain not a down pour but enough to get the rope good and wet and it was awesome tends and holds excellent. I do think I may adjust the longhorn attachment a little to take some length out.
 

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My saddle hunting season is over, as I'm tagged out in my county. If I do any more deer hunting, it'll be on the ground.

Next year I want to try this Kraken Hitch with some 7mm cord, on my 9mm rappel rope. If it doesn't work out, I'll use some 6mm cord.
I like the version with the Overhand Bend, included in the hitch itself. (green cord) :cool: It cleans up the loop that I'll have my carabiner attached to on my saddle bridge. I also like how the loop can be shortened up, to make the entire hitch shorter.
 
Ballshooter said:
Update on the kraken hitch I did a morning hunt in the rain not a down pour but enough to get the rope good and wet and it was awesome tends and holds excellent. I do think I may adjust the longhorn attachment a little to take some length out.
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I got several climbs on the kraken with Predator 8mm with Beal and Coppa and both performed well. I noticed that if it was getting a little tight I could simply twist the top some and it loosened right up for rappel.

I also used it on 11mm HTP and 8mm PMI for 2TC and it did well there too. It seems very similar in friction and release to the WLR with consistent grab. A little more friction but I’ll take it over completely locking down or not grabbing consistently.
 
gcr0003 said:
I got several climbs on the kraken with Predator 8mm with Beal and Coppa and both performed well. I noticed that if it was getting a little tight I could simply twist the top some and it loosened right up for rappel.

I also used it on 11mm HTP and 8mm PMI for 2TC and it did well there too. It seems very similar in friction and release to the WLR with consistent grab. A little more friction but I’ll take it over completely locking down or not grabbing consistently.
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I am using 8mm predator rope too and 6mmTRC and it worked very well.
 
@John RB , I appreciate all of your work, and it's a boatload of it. Shouldn't you do this the other way around? Like verify it's original and then publish the video? Video and  then verify seems backwards to me, respectfully.
 
Horn said:
@John RB , I appreciate all of your work, and it's a boatload of it. Shouldn't you do this the other way around? Like verify it's original and then publish the video? Video and  then verify seems backwards to me, respectfully.
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He did say he checked several knot resources and researched/tested it for a year before making the video.
 
DroptineKrazy said:
He did say he checked several knot resources and researched/tested it for a year before making the video.
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Super! Do you know any other names for or when the Garda hitch was first introduced?
 
Horn said:
@John RB , I appreciate all of your work, and it's a boatload of it. Shouldn't you do this the other way around? Like verify it's original and then publish the video? Video and  then verify seems backwards to me, respectfully.
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Thank you for your comment. I keep a list of friction hitches and also did look everywhere I knew of. You do ask a good question tho.... i am not sure there's a best way or exactly how big of a circle to ask and how. For example, the IGKT. I submitted my earliest knots and it wound up being a bit of a fiasco which cost me a lot of wasted time and $1,300 for a scale I didn't need... minebeas good enough. And I did a ton of testing videos that no one really cared about except the one guy who was asking for them. There dont seem to be any rules or process. I try to do those introductions with humility. And I am completely compare to pull the video... and redo it with a different name. Cheers

JrbTreeClimbing.com, w/JRB15 Coupon at ApeCanyon.com
 
Horn said:
Super! Do you know any other names for or when the Garda hitch was first introduced?
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My recollection is that I found it on the web and it is also known as the Alpine clutch. It's really a progress capture system rather than a friction hitch which Google calls it. It had a reputation for being somewhat unreliable. I experienced that myself when my carabiners kind of slid vertically and it lost grip. The original version I saw had those carabiners tied together with a girth hitch. And so I just started experimenting with different hitches including the clove and eventually settled on a bull hitch variant which really fuses those carabiners tightly together after it's been loaded a couple times. I do find that thing pretty incredible. The transformation loop was really just a quick way to make it change from long to short and give us some options for putting both feet in. There are other ways to accomplish that, but I already had quite a few folks using it and wanted them to be able to transform theirs without starting over.

JrbTreeClimbing.com, w/JRB15 Coupon at ApeCanyon.com
 
It’s an original as far as I know, the legs coming out the side, made it easy to check. It doesn’t bind initially, but with use, starts to tighten up. Four wraps on a Michoacan is the norm, doesn’t seem like it needs the two extra wraps with the wraps of the bottom section.
Still not a fan of your hitches being made loops, like a welcome mat for cross loading the carabiner.

Regarding IGKT, it is only a forum, nothing actually making them the official experts. The person’s advice you followed seemed to me to have control issues, and uses the “winning strategy”, the end justifies the means. He also tries to get people to do his homework, he wanted you to do all the testing, instead of doing it himself.
 
Brocky said:
It’s an original as far as I know, the legs coming out the side, made it easy to check. It doesn’t bind initially, but with use, starts to tighten up. Four wraps on a Michoacan is the norm, doesn’t seem like it needs the two extra wraps with the wraps of the bottom section.
Still not a fan of your hitches being made loops, like a welcome mat for cross loading the carabiner.

Regarding IGKT, it is only a forum, nothing actually making them the official experts. The person’s advice you followed seemed to me to have control issues, and uses the “winning strategy”, the end justifies the means. He also tries to get people to do his homework, he wanted you to do all the testing, instead of doing it himself.
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So as a general rule you prefer eye to eye formations because they tend to orient the carabiner properly/retain orientation once set?
 
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