-
The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
-
We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules
One sticking without Madrock
- Thread starter one-eyed-jack
- Start date
The ATC take off just enough tension on the rope for the hitch to slide really smoothly. And it tend the hitch really well. I realized that the JRB hitch basically does the same thing as the ATC, but to this day I can't tie it efficiently and I don't think its a smooth as this setup. But the JRB is very clever, too clever for me. I can tie a Michoacán and slap the ATC in no time and no fear of messing up somewhere.
Sewn or spliced eyes can isolate one slot and not spread the hitch legs as much. There a few different single slot tubulars also.
I think my cord is too long too. But thank you for the hint, that actually make a lot of sense and clean it up a lot.
There just rubber washers, you can get them on Amazon or your local hardware store
Check the hardware bins and the hardware store or auto parts store for neoprene fender washers. If you have a an inch or so offcut of your rope you can test it with the various sizes in the bin.
Here's a link to were I found out about them...
Tether Tender
Rubber fender washer. 1 1/2” OD x 1/4” ID fits nice and snug over 8mm rope, but still slides easily for adjustments. This keeps your link in place and your rope from falling down the tree It’s also flexible enough to fold and push it through the link when your ready to rapell down, or if you...
saddlehunter.com
I was wanting to climb the way you described with one rope and your ATC....I had found that someone on YouTube was using the schwabish above their ATC with an additional autoblock below....did you test anything like that before landing on this? My ATC got delivered today so im going to be playing...
Brocky gots it going on! I just rid of my ropeman 1 and using the schwabish by itself, climbing and hunting from rappel rope. Less noise, weight and worse case scenario, I can just tend it and slide my butt down in an emergency…..it’s a lot of friction though. I use an ATC(cheap black Diamond) for rappelling. I put it below the schwabish and add a prussik below the ATC for a brake(similarly to the autoblock). I also have a secondary bridge for rappelling and redundancy……….I like redundancy. I actually run my secondary bridge through the prussik so I’d remain in the middle should I hang from it.
YASSS! Only difference is I’m using a prussik for my autoblock and a secondary bridge.
I ended up doing pretty much the same setup except the second bridge....tested with a michoacan above ATC but it never would bite enough....tried the schwabish and it worked well. I think my prusik rope is a size too big. Im using 9mm HTP rope and my prusik is 8mm (thought i had 10mm when i ordered the prusik) My autoblock is 6mm. I went ahead and ordered a 6mm prusik to use but overall i do think the schwabish is the winner. Tended well with the ATC and was easy to release.
This may have been answered but I'll chime in cause I did it this way for years.
1) Climb like normal and hunt.
When the time comes to rappel:
2) Set lineman's belt and take weight from tether by placing it on LB.
3) Move hitch attachment from bridge to whatever side you use for your brake hand and clip it into that lineman's loop.
4) Clip into the system whatever descent device you'll use. I used a plain old figure 8. It worked quite well.
5) Add weight to tether until your friction hitch backup has your weight.
6) Remove LB.
7) Tend your back up in order to rappel. If need be, release your brake hand in order to stop.
1) Climb like normal and hunt.
When the time comes to rappel:
2) Set lineman's belt and take weight from tether by placing it on LB.
3) Move hitch attachment from bridge to whatever side you use for your brake hand and clip it into that lineman's loop.
4) Clip into the system whatever descent device you'll use. I used a plain old figure 8. It worked quite well.
5) Add weight to tether until your friction hitch backup has your weight.
6) Remove LB.
7) Tend your back up in order to rappel. If need be, release your brake hand in order to stop.
This is how i have been doing it and it does work fine enough, but for me and others, we wanted a way to quickly rappel if needed and we cant connect the figure 8 or other device under tension. Keeping the ATC connected with a hitch above (and for me autoblock still below) allows this. I also like the idea of not having to move parts around when im ready to get down as less steps means less likely to forget a step.
Just tested this out last night. Using a Mich above an ATC, it climbed and rappelled well. I definitely got some rope burn the first rappel because I really had to pinch the hitch to let my full weight on it descend. It was slow. Tried rappelling again wearing with a leather glove- it was much better.
Also tested rappelling by adding a Klemheist onto my right LB loop (two friction hitches). Not totally necessary, but by using the Klemheist it helps to alleviate tension on the Mich and the descent took less “muscle” to grip the upper hitch.
Overall, I really like this setup, and prefer the ATC over my Smart 2.0 in this configuration.
Also tested rappelling by adding a Klemheist onto my right LB loop (two friction hitches). Not totally necessary, but by using the Klemheist it helps to alleviate tension on the Mich and the descent took less “muscle” to grip the upper hitch.
Overall, I really like this setup, and prefer the ATC over my Smart 2.0 in this configuration.
Imagine having a sticht hitch or WLR hitch above your atc… I think you’d be very pleased with one of those, especially since they break easily under load.
Im using the schwabish above and so far no problems...i too get a lil rope burn if i keep my autoblock disengaged and allow myself to go a bit fast down.
The hitch should be compressed completely when descending, the ATC will take all the load and heat from the friction.
I feel I can do that okay when having a foothold to allow some release of tension on the hitch. But if I step off my stick and then have to stop to take it off the tree, it’s then that releasing the hitch becomes more difficult and heated. Maybe I’m not doing something right.
This is also a downside of having your hitch above your atc. In this configuration the hitch is holding all of your weight, not a fraction of it. This hitch is plenty capable of holding all of your weight, the issue is being able to release the hitch under your full body weight. The hitches you mention are great at releasing easily after weight is removed; however, they are not exactly intended to break while under weight. So every time you stop you technically need to stand somehow to relieve the majority or all of force on the hitch so you can break it and transfer the weight to atc and continue your rappel.
What we are trying to tell you is that there are hitches that break under complete load. There is a difference between breaking easy after a load has been applied and removed vs. breaking while the load is still on the hitch. The Sticht hitch, as well as the new WLR hitch from my testing, and possibly JRB nom jamming hitch, break under full load. This means you do not need to un-weight the hitch to get it to release. Before you release the hitch you must be holding you tag end rope so that you transfer the load to the ATC. Once you release the hitch you will hold it down or open and all of the force will be transferred to your atc and your tag end hand. You will hold the hitch down/open during the rappel, only releasing when you want to stop. When you want to stop you will release the hitch then slowly release tension on the atc, ensuring that the hitch did catch all the weight.