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Knotless Adjustable Bridge Design

bowhunthard88

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2020
Messages
2,718
Location
Dingmans Ferry, PA
So here's a rendition of a knotless adjustable rope bridge design that I've been playing with. This one is a 56" long Oplux with a custom sewn 13" eye (so 69" including the eye) with a stopper knot and a 60cm Beal Jammy. The Oplux is prussic hitched to my left bridge loop and the Jammy is prussic hitched to my right bridge loop (3 wraps for each), and the Jammy is tied onto the Oplux with a Kleimheist. I integrated a tender into the right side, and it's one hand adjustment for length either way, extension under load, reduction under minimum to no load. I would go with a 12" eye on the Oplux next time, and I do wish that they made a 55cm Jammy, but so far really liking this setup... I can still balance pressure on my bridge loops and it's still fairly easy to adjust when needed, it doesn't lock itself into place like Amsteel does, and way more abrasion and heat resistant.

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I like the second jammy as a backup. Does that stay put when it's unloaded, so the loop is easy to find when you go to clip it into the biner?
 
" Slick, did you too tie the klemheist and run the tag end through it to get that on there?"

I tie the Kleimheist first, with my main bridge untied as well. I then tie the loop end of the Kleimheist into a prussic, on the bridge loop, feeding everything through as I wrap. Afterwards, I pull the tag end of the bridge through the Kleimheist (making sure to retain knot integrity), tie my bridge loop prussic with the bridge rope, feed the tag end of the bridge back through the Kleimheist, and tie my stopper knot.
 
I've currently switched to a 11.5" sewn eye in RescTech and to a 60cm Edelrid 6mm sling, in order to reduce intrusion on usable bridge length. I'm also working with Brandon @ Arbsession to possibly have some custom length Beal 5.5mm Kevlar slings/prussics made, as I would love to implement a 55cm Beal Jammy... Also working on different tender options.
 
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That's a very good system. I've been working on upgrading ropes this off season and I'm going to steal this. I was planning on using a biner on one side because everything packs so we'll in hip pouches and I still might but I like having the adjustment on the bridge loops with the double prussics and no metal. We'll see how I like it.
 
I've currently switched to a 12" sewn eye in RescTech and to a 60cm Edelrid 6mm sling, in order to reduce intrusion on usable bridge length.

I don't have a sewn eye coming so when I put it together it'll be a tied eye in canyon CIV and a 60cm jammy. It'll be a little more bulk but meh if I really hate it I can break out the awl and sew it up.
 
I don't have a sewn eye coming so when I put it together it'll be a tied eye in canyon CIV and a 60cm jammy. It'll be a little more bulk but meh if I really hate it I can break out the awl and sew it up.

Something that I was curious about, and you wouldn't have to pull the tag end out of the Kleimheist... So, tie your hitch side as described, and then tie your prussic onto your opposite bridge loop with your bridge rope finishing with the tag end loose and parallel to the main bridge. Then tie a double-fisherman's around the main bridge, tighten, slide the knot down to the prussic loop, and then dress and tighten the main prussic until your fisherman's is tight to your prussic loop. I'd be curious as to how that may work...
 
I've currently switched to a 12" sewn eye in RescTech and to a 60cm Edelrid 6mm sling, in order to reduce intrusion on usable bridge length. I'm also working with Brandon @ Arbsession to possibly have some custom length Beal 5.5mm Kevlar slings/prussics made, as I would love to implement a 55cm Beal Jammy... Also working on different tender options.
Poor Brandon is wondering who these people are from all over the country asking for all this specific stuff. I hope he knew what he was getting into.
 
A compact option, on a thimble, but could be used without to clamp down. The figure eight tender is added just before the stoppers.80D9A61F-56FB-4D6D-A4B4-5966B388B701.jpeg
 
I have three lengths of Resc Tech with 11.5" sewn eyes coming, and I'm figuring out the length of sling that I want sewn with the Beal 5.5mm Kevlar (it tested to about 5400 lb. in sling/loop configuration and the finished sewn portion is about 3.5"!). I'll probably end up at about a 21" sling length...
 
Here is another way to make the Schwabish with the stopper on the middle of wraps.
View attachment 48198
Interesting placement of the joining knot on the right there @Brocky. Is it known/understood how joining the two ends in the middle of a hitch affects breaking strength? I know I'm not wording that question correctly...

Think I'm trying to understand if the wraps in the hitch itself make up for any of the rope breaking degradation inherent in the knot.
 
I just tried them, the knot at the carabiner gets half the load, with two cord sections of four going into it. Each of those two sections should get a quarter of the load. When body weighted, I couldn’t budge the knot by trying to wiggle back and forth, not even with the cord ends.
I think the break strength of these two sections are independent of each other, but they do combine their forces to try to pull out of the knot.

I could easily wiggle the mid wrap knot, so it must see less of the load due to friction from the cord contacting the rope in the hitch before reaching the stopper.
 
Something that I was curious about, and you wouldn't have to pull the tag end out of the Kleimheist... So, tie your hitch side as described, and then tie your prussic onto your opposite bridge loop with your bridge rope finishing with the tag end loose and parallel to the main bridge. Then tie a double-fisherman's around the main bridge, tighten, slide the knot down to the prussic loop, and then dress and tighten the main prussic until your fisherman's is tight to your prussic loop. I'd be curious as to how that may work...


So here's what that looked like...

That's new Canyon CIV so it's pretty stiff, and bulkier than I would like, I don't know if I'll stick with it or not, I hung at ground level and it was doing it's thing but it adds noticeably more bulk that the jammy on the other end. I'll probably run this a hunt or two and see what I think after a couple sits, could always buy another jammy for the other end, but that's getting to be a pricey bridge.
 

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Here is the final version of my MRS/multi-adjustable bridge. The only change I made after pics; were that I integrated just a single plastic d-ring in place of the EWO tender, and I am using a Kong Argon F carabiner clipped into the d-ring as my current tender. The diameter of the carabiner seems to tend the prussic way smoother than the small diameter of the d-ring in the EWO tender. I can also unclip the carabiner and utilize it for other purposes as well...

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I've done what amounts to the exact same thing for a few years. I find that the really handy part about it is that when you're climbing and need to go around a limb, your bridge will act as a second lineman's belt for the price of the weight of the bridge that you're already carrying as is. For me, that and the ability to bring my bridge in some when it comes time to rappel has made this sort of bridge a must have on ever saddle I own.
 
Old thread, but final version is the RescTech as the bridge and Beal 5.5mm as my adjusting prussic. Both sides are now girth hitched to the bridge loops with 2 wraps (2 wrap prussic vs. 3 wrap standard) because it's a bit easier to adjust. A 1" plastic D-ring is integrated into the Klemheist bridge-loop knot, and my tender is a 1.5" C-link (black plastic chain connector). So far I absolutely love it, although you do need to loosen up the Klemheist every couple of hunts, just so it tends easier to shorten.
 
Old thread, but final version is the RescTech as the bridge and Beal 5.5mm as my adjusting prussic. Both sides are now girth hitched to the bridge loops with 2 wraps (2 wrap prussic vs. 3 wrap standard) because it's a bit easier to adjust. A 1" plastic D-ring is integrated into the Klemheist bridge-loop knot, and my tender is a 1.5" C-link (black plastic chain connector). So far I absolutely love it, although you do need to loosen up the Klemheist every couple of hunts, just so it tends easier to shorten.

^^^ Still running that?
Got a picture?
 
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