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One Rope or Two

C

caleb1263

New Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2022
Messages
13
I’m brand new to saddle hunting (actually hunting in general) and brand new to one-sticking.

Do you guys prefer a separate tether and rappel rope, or do you use the rappel rope for both? Also, if you use the rappel for double duty, do you partially uncoil it, or uncoil the entire thing at the base of the tree?

I’ve been practicing and I am leaning towards the rope uncoiled at the base of the tree as opposed to a portion attached to my saddle.

I’d appreciate any thoughts.


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I climb SRT or Ddrt but I switch to a tether at height. For me it’s just easier to have a 8’ lanyard than it is to move around the tree with 35 foot of rope rolled up and tucked somewhere. Then I switch back to my climbing rope to rappel down
 
Fl Canopy Stalker said:
I climb SRT or Ddrt but I switch to a tether at height. For me it’s just easier to have a 8’ lanyard than it is to move around the tree with 35 foot of rope rolled up and tucked somewhere. Then I switch back to my climbing rope to rappel down
Click to expand...

I was going to ask what you used for a lineman’s belt, but I guess you wouldn’t need one.


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I started one sticking using my rappel rope as double duty for climbing and hanging. For my entire first season I just coiled up the tag end and hung it in my pack once at height. After a year of dealing with a frozen rappel rope after getting it soaked from hanging in wet weather I decided on using a short tether for climbing and hunting and I only break out the rappel rope when its time to get down. To be honest I find using the short tether for climbing and hunting much more convenient than I did using the long single long tether. It just makes moving around the tree easier than having the whole rappel rope to deal with. On top of that I'm able to keep my rappel rope dry so it doesn't end up freezing.
 
caleb1263 said:
I’ve seen your video where you talk about the figure eight. I keep going back and forth between that and an ATC.


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Click to expand...

I haven't been on an ATC since I was in high school.
I need to get one just for kicks...
 
boyne bowhunter said:
I started one sticking using my rappel rope as double duty for climbing and hanging. For my entire first season I just coiled up the tag end and hung it in my pack once at height. After a year of dealing with a frozen rappel rope after getting it soaked from hanging in wet weather I decided on using a short tether for climbing and hunting and I only break out the rappel rope when its time to get down. To be honest I find using the short tether for climbing and hunting much more convenient than I did using the long single long tether. It just makes moving around the tree easier than having the whole rappel rope to deal with. On top of that I'm able to keep my rappel rope dry so it doesn't end up freezing.
Click to expand...

What do you use for a lineman’s rope if you need to go around branches?


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caleb1263 said:
What do you use for a lineman’s rope if you need to go around branches?


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Click to expand...
I also carry a lineman's belt. It serves double duty as an adjustable bridge once I'm set up. I use a short, fixed length amsteel bridge for my climbs and rappels and then swap over to the lineman's attached to my bridge loops (my saddle doesn't have separate lineman's loops) to provide a longer bridge for comfort purposes once I'm up the tree.
 
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I use my rappel rope for everything and a madrock safeguard for everything. As far as uncoiling, it depends. If my bow is on my pack, I don’t uncoil. If not I attach the tag end to my bow to pull it up. Next year I may pull my pack up with my bow attached to save some weight while climbing.
 
caleb1263 said:
I was going to ask what you used for a lineman’s belt, but I guess you wouldn’t need one.


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Click to expand...
I don’t need one but I always keep one. I use 10mm protac from Bluewater ropes for my tether, my linesman rope and I use 9mm protac for my main climbing line, but oplux works, 9mm canyon rope works great and so does 9 or 10 mm sterling htp. All are great choices for rappel/climbing lines, tethers or linesman ropes
 
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Fl Canopy Stalker said:
I don’t need one but I always keep one. I use 10mm protac from Bluewater ropes for my tether, my linesman loop and I use 9mm protac for my main climbing line, but oplux works, 9mm canyon rope works great and so does 9 or 10 mm sterling htp. All are great choices for rappel/climbing lines, tethers or linesman ropes
Click to expand...

Thank you! Great information.


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It's up to your personal preference. Granted i am a rope climber but i have never found a reason to come off of it. I don't carry a tether nor a lineman's. Now there's a couple trees i hunt with a big lean and i would be too far from the trunk and so on those, i might put a cord or strap around the tree to pull my rope close. I also consider it to be a requirement that i can get out of a tree fast if i need to. For example, did ya ever have a hornet's nest come at ya in a tree? Happened to me once... And once i did a morning hunt and a short bit after i got set, at daybreak, i came to realize there were 3 raccoons in my the tree above me who wanted to come down. I had no interest in staying in that tree another minute, lol. A long time ago, age 22, i lost a friend who was in a tree in rifle season, and caught a stray bullet. He didn't survive... and i never got any details .... but it always makes me wonder if I could get out of my tree fast if I sustained a sudden injury with limited function. it gets ya thinking ...

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I’m 1 sticking and have used both a separate tether as well as just my rappel rope. Settled on using the long rope the entire time……..personal preference. I got a bad shoulder and thought a separate tether would be easier to raise up the tree, but don’t really think it is. I have a roll up pouch from Beaston and my rappel rope stays in that except maybe 6’or so that is in use. My rope even feeds out while rappelling when I forget to take it out and drop it down. Other than that I have no issues with extra rope fiddling.
Remember Redundancy is your friend, be safe and have fun! BTW-I also use an ATC, have an 8, but am learning the Munter hitch too……so many ways
 
I one stick and rappel down as well. Due to many of the same issues/concerns identified by @boyne bowhunter in his response, I also just use my rappel line to rappel. I climb with a separate tether and my rappel rope and kit stays in my pack until I'm ready to come down. I'm not one inclined to like a lot of ropes hanging down either. I also carry a lineman's belt daisy chained to my left side in case I need to move around branches. So my saddle is quite light with just one longer dump pouch for my climbing and hunting tether and pull up rope/rappel retrieve line. To me the extra weight is insignificant and I have a piece of mind knowing I have some options. I probably am too mechanical device dependent as I have a kong duck on my LB and another on my climbing tether. I use the Mammut Smart 2.0 as my rappel belay device and back that up with a biner and a loop of sterling hollow block to a small loop my saddle has on the bottom right and below my Bridge and LB loops for that purpose.
 
One sticked all this past season and climbed on my rappel rope. Rope rides in a water bottle pouch on my pack so I never had hardly any rope out until I hit the ground at the end of the hunt. Line feeds out of the pouch coming down. That said I am looking at switching to a sort of combo of JRB and 2TC that I can do on my current rope. Think I have it worked out on paper, just need to put it on a tree to see if it is going to function efficiently enough to not use either of those systems independently or one sticking. Gonna run it by @John RB too cause he is obviously sharper than the average marble when it comes to rope techniques.
 
John RB said:
It's up to your personal preference. Granted i am a rope climber but i have never found a reason to come off of it. I don't carry a tether nor a lineman's. Now there's a couple trees i hunt with a big lean and i would be too far from the trunk and so on those, i might put a cord or strap around the tree to pull my rope close. I also consider it to be a requirement that i can get out of a tree fast if i need to. For example, did ya ever have a hornet's nest come at ya in a tree? Happened to me once... And once i did a morning hunt and a short bit after i got set, at daybreak, i came to realize there were 3 raccoons in my the tree above me who wanted to come down. I had no interest in staying in that tree another minute, lol. A long time ago, age 22, i lost a friend who was in a tree in rifle season, and caught a stray bullet. He didn't survive... and i never got any details .... but it always makes me wonder if I could get out of my tree fast if I sustained a sudden injury with limited function. it gets ya thinking ...

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Click to expand...

Wow! All of it. The needing to come down in a hurry is a thought at the front of my mind.


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