One Stick...Why rappel?

[LockStock&Arrow]

What do you mean by full equipment?


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Yes, I know one sticking up and down a tree can be done. If everyone that 1-sticks has the means they should 100% repel out of the tree mearly for safety reasons.

Case in point above Icey Tree, wet tree, fatigue, stiffness, excitement, hunger, cold, age, stupid youth. Why take the chance .

All of us that have 1 sticked at 1 point or another have dropped or almost dropped the stick, Slipped , took an hour to get down, smash their knee, got a wedgie etc. why bother.

Full hunting load after sneaking into that special spot that requires minimalist weight to even get there , packs, bows, hoist ropes, gloves, undergarments, weather below 40 degrees for a half day or full day all mixed with the above conditions.

1 sticking back down a tree in the dark and in the cold for my friends and I now over. With all these easy, streamlined, safe , repelling choices that have been brought to light it is a no brainer.

I’m pretty sure our female better half’s would buy us all repelling equipment for the holidays as a freebie after explaining the difference in technique them , unless they are the breadwinners of coarse. .

Heavy equipment ....It’s minimalist

 

[trailblazer75]

I’ll take that bet. I’ve used a lifeguard twice to rappel. Say when.


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[iamcorey]

Yes, I’m know one sticking up and down a tree can be done. If everyone that 1-sticks has the means they should 100% repel out of the tree mearly for safety reasons.

Case in point above Icey Tree, wet tree, fatigue, stiffness, excitement, hunger, cold, age, stupid youth. Why take the chance .

All of us that have 1 sticked at 1 point or another have dropped or almost dropped the stick, Slipped , took an hour to get down, smash their knee, got a wedgie etc. why bother.

Full hunting load after sneaking into that special spot that requires minimalist weight to even get there , packs, bows, hoist ropes, gloves, undergarments, weather below 40 degrees for a half day or full day all mixed with the above conditions.

1 sticking back down a tree in the dark and in the cold for my friends and I now that these easy, streamlined, safe , repelling choices have been brought to light is a no brained. I’m pretty sure our female better half’s would buy us all repelling equipment for the holidays as a freebie after explaining the difference in technique them , unless they are the breadwinners of coarse .

Heavy equipment ....It’s minimalist

I always have rappel gear for emergencies. Luckily I’ve never had to use it in an emergency situation. I did once when using amsteel to attach sticks When I took my foot off for the next step.


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[LockStock&Arrow]

There is no challenge . Our friends that wish to 1-stick back down the tree at the end of the hunt all the power too you.

However, with the addition of safe, simpler, repelling tactics and gear I’m not sure why anyone would want to continue to use the preverbal Baker climbing stand.

This thread is about someone asking why one would want to repel. I believe several brothers here have explained why and the reason is Safety.

 

[DB4x4]

I started rapelling every time this year. Here's why:

1. It's fun
2. I am more willing to climb an annoying tree in the correct spot (branches/splits/etc) knowing I don't have to climb back down and can bypass all of the annoyances by rapelling

 

[wdarby]

I use a daisy chain for one-sticking. I'm very confident going up that I can firmly set the stick. The one time I tried one-sticking down, I had much less confidence in securely setting the stick. Switched to rappelling and haven't looked back.
Plus, it really is fun when you've had a slow hunt.

I wish I was a headlight on a north-bound train

 

[mattdenney07]

I started rapelling every time this year. Here's why:

1. It's fun
2. I am more willing to climb an annoying tree in the correct spot (branches/splits/etc) knowing I don't have to climb back down and can bypass all of the annoyances by rapelling

This is pretty much my reasoning, not necessarily in that order. The tree I climbed this morning started at about a 65° angle then shot straight up with a couple splits and tons of branches. Climbing with my single primal step/aider was cake but I would have hated to climb down that thing. If not for rappelling, I probably wouldn’t have had the cool encounter with the little 8-pt that I did today because of the wind and tree availability.

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[Jokerswild]

Thanks for all the responses! The issue of not being able to set the stick going down seems like a very solid reason to rappel down. Speed sure but Safety is my biggest issue with any of this. I dont trust alot of the mechanical devices guys are using. They are belay devices, not rappelling gear. I really do like the ATC with an Autoblock. working on storing this right on the bridge as my OTHER fear is DROPPING my rappel device while fiddling around with switching to the device.

Im actually looking at adding an emergency back up rappel system to my conventional tree harness. No one talks about what happens when you wind up hanging in your harness...above the ground/below your stand. Ladder stand- no biggee... But from a climber? Stuck...like a cat up a tree!

 

[mattsteg]

The devices are generally designed and accepted for rappel. Less smooth than a dedicated rappel device, but usable as progress capture and to hang from (which can remove the need to set up/attach anything in the dark at the end of the hunt). So you can eliminate the drop issue plus eliminate a potential hazardous switch from tether to rappel.

 

[woodsdog2]

I went exclusively to one sticking up and rappelling down this year too and really like/enjoy it and recommend it highly for a very mobile system. That being said, I'm working on the @Red Beard OOAL Solo Scout Climb/ rappel and I am also tinkering with the 2TC system @always89y and @Red Beard have seemed to perfect. My only impediment is I'm hunting more than tinkering with gear but probably after deer season I'll be looking into incorporating these systems into my "at height hunting methodologies."

 

[DB4x4]

I really do like the ATC with an Autoblock. working on storing this right on the bridge as my OTHER fear is DROPPING my rappel device while fiddling around with switching to the device.

Another reason I started rapelling:

3. I already had almost everything I needed to do it. Instead of a 10 foot rope with prusik and carabiner, I now carry a 35 foot rope with prusik and carabiner. Other than that, all I had to add was an ATC and spare carabiner.

I use the long rope as my tether. When I'm ready to come down, I drop the coil of extra rope from the lashing strap on my hip. I put my lineman rope around the tree for stability and safety, then slide the prusik on the main rope down to my lineman loop. Disconnect prusik from bridge and hook it into the lineman loop. Add ATC and spare carabiner to main rope and connect it to the bridge. That's pretty much all there is to it, other than connecting my bow rope to the main rope so I can pull the main rope out of the tree once I'm on the ground.

It's pretty simple once you get the system down and organize everything logically.

 

[mattdenney07]

Thanks for all the responses! The issue of not being able to set the stick going down seems like a very solid reason to rappel down. Speed sure but Safety is my biggest issue with any of this. I dont trust alot of the mechanical devices guys are using. They are belay devices, not rappelling gear. I really do like the ATC with an Autoblock. working on storing this right on the bridge as my OTHER fear is DROPPING my rappel device while fiddling around with switching to the device.

Im actually looking at adding an emergency back up rappel system to my conventional tree harness. No one talks about what happens when you wind up hanging in your harness...above the ground/below your stand. Ladder stand- no biggee... But from a climber? Stuck...like a cat up a tree!

Just as an aside, look up the Munter hitch. If you were to ever drop your rappelling device, you can always tie a quick Munter and safely rappel down with a single carabiner. It’s actually what I used exclusively until I broke down and bought an ATC.


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[ben911]

reach rapelling with less mechanical part.

 

[Chandler96]

no matter how i ever climb the tree. I will always repel its the only way to get down

 

[Aeds151]

no matter how i ever climb the tree. I will always repel its the only way to get down

Amen


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[KYRanger]

I am by no means an expert on the subject, but I will say that someone coming from climbers to one stick and rappel, it can be daunting. When you first try it, you may find yourself in awkward positions, questioning your connections, sweating and maybe swearing. The key is to stick (no pun intended) with it and perfect your movements, positioning of stick and streamlining your equipment for YOU. There are many different pieces that work and some work better for others. You need to sort through what works best for you.

Aiders can be difficult to descend with in the dark. Some people on this site are young and agile. Hell, they can probably climb up and down a tree by itself or just with a rope! Lol. Some are a little bit older and a little less flexible and have to design our process accordingly. For me, I went from using a tether to climb, then to just using my rappelling line as my tether. I have gone back to using a short tether then switching over to my rappel line at height. I find it easy and safe. But I’m still mixing it up a bit. I keep my rappel rope in my backpack or in a cargo pocket on my pant. 35 feet of Canyon isn’t that much bulk. As much as I like redbeards water bottle method (and I have the water bottle and tried it) I’m too slow stuffing it back into the water bottle. Great going up but I spent too much time stuffing it back in at the bottom of the tree in the dark. But it’s a good system for minimalist efforts. I am much faster at just coiling it up and stuffing it back in the backpack or cargo pocket and then jetting.

Keep your gear as simple and safe as possible. There can be a lot of parts and pieces to these methods, which can require detailed sequences to be safe. Keep it simple so you don’t mess up and you will be safer. The Safeguard makes rappelling pretty easy and safe. But like everything, there is always risks.

 

[mattsteg]

As much as I like redbeards water bottle method (and I have the water bottle and tried it) I’m too slow stuffing it back into the water bottle. Great going up but I spent too much time stuffing it back in at the bottom of the tree in the dark.

I (with oplux) have been doing a figure-8 around my hand for the bulk of the rope, then wrap a couple of times around the coil and overlap one to hold the coil coiled, leaving a length sufficient to tether with loose. I then put the fig-8 coil in a pouch and stuff the rest of the rope on top. Quicker and easier than a full stuff to stuff, and quick to deploy as well.

 

[Jay_Disarray]

i like rappelling because i can pretend im batman scaling down the side of a building. NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA BATMAN!

in all seriousness though, i have tried 1 stick descent, and while possible, it is much more difficult than rappelling down. i still keep it in my mental tool box as a method for an emergency, but i never felt comfortable doing it, setting the stick is more difficult below your center of gravity, and slack in the rope while descending can happen leading to a slip or fall.

 

[KYRanger]

I (with oplux) have been doing a figure-8 around my hand for the bulk of the rope, then wrap a couple of times around the coil and overlap one to hold the coil coiled, leaving a length sufficient to tether with loose. I then put the fig-8 coil in a pouch and stuff the rest of the rope on top. Quicker and easier than a full stuff to stuff, and quick to deploy as well.

Good idea. I’ll give that a try. I have been just looping it around my hand and elbow then folding it in half. Haven’t had any tangles....yet. So when I use my rappel rope as tether, I have My backpack on the tree, feed enough rope out to create my tether. When ready to rappel, I just pull out the coil and ease it out to the ground and rappel.

I have also used my right side dump pouch. Stuff it in Redbeard style, feed enough for tether and then just rappel and let it feed out of the pouch. A lot like the water bottle. But stuffing it back was taking me to long. I’ll try your method.

 

[KYRanger]

i like rappelling because i can pretend im batman scaling down the side of a building. NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA BATMAN!

in all seriousness though, i have tried 1 stick descent, and while possible, it is much more difficult than rappelling down. i still keep it in my mental tool box as a method for an emergency, but i never felt comfortable doing it, setting the stick is more difficult below your center of gravity, and slack in the rope while descending can happen leading to a slip or fall.

If only we could swing from tree to tree....the Tarzan method!

Oh no, someone will be coming out with that soon. The Tarzan kit.