• 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

Questions for one stickers

T

THill202

Active Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2021
Messages
176
I am just getting into the saddle game and have decided to start with one stick. I was originally intending to use the rappel rope as my tether but had some worries about not being backed up. Then I saw a video where a guy uses the rappel rope as his lineman. I kind of like that idea, it adds a couple of extra steps in having to hang it at the end of the hunt, remove your tethr and untie the prusik that makes it a lineman. I'm kind of thinking I still want to use the rappel rope as a tether but will back up up with the prusik. I have a mad rock safe guard, a kong duck and prusik, just trying to figure out how/where I'm going to use each one.

For the guys who one stick, do you:

1. Use your rappel rope for
a.) tether
b.) lineman
c.) rappel only

2. For those who use it as the tether, do you
2a.) back it up, if so with what
and
2b.) what do use for clipping in at hunting height and rappelling
a.) madrock for both
b.) madrock for descending, other for hunting
c.) other and other
 
I use mine for tether and rappel. I also use it for hunting as well. No back up. Make your own decisions on what you feel comfortable with. Careful about using back ups. You want to make sure there is no way it can contact the madrock.

I also started using mine even when I don’t one stick. I don’t like climbing down steps in the dark. Rappelling is so much easier and feels safer to me once I got comfortable with it.
 
Buy your rap rope 20’ too long. Cut off the end and make a tether and lineman’s belt with it.

try All the things you’ve described in the back yard with a calm responsible adult around to call 911. Decide what makes sense for you. It’s important for you to understand WHY you want to do or not do a thing, rather than just be told what to do. Especially when your life is hanging at the end of a rope smaller than your pinky finger.

Don’t trust strangers on the internet for climbing advice.
 
I'd suggest formatting your post into a poll then you'll have more clear answers, though having done a bunch of one sticking "research" lately, I think the majority of people use rappel rope as tether and safeguard up/down. Majority not backed up. I don't think it makes any sense to use your rappel rope as a linesman belt, but perhaps someone does.

I haven't started one sticking yet (just got one after 6months ago thinking I'd never try it) and am somewhat attracted to separate tether/backups, but one of the main advantage of one sticking is weight. If we carry all that backup stuff this advantage starts to go away. I plan to carry a LB/tether (one of them, mine are identical) to make it easier to pass limbs etc, but likely not employ a backup at height. Tie an Alpine butterfly in the rappel rope tag end and clip it to the carabiner and the mechanical device is backed up without any extra gear. Or at least that's my theoretical plan, I love stuffing extra crap in my bag and carrying it around pointlessly though!

That said, the main reason I'm giving it a try is packing up- I started rappelling down this season, and now I'm getting annoyed with stopping to take my 4 sticks off, pretty often I find myself swinging side to side and generally struggling like an idiot removing them mid rappel. With the one stick, remove it, and down ya go, quick descent, quick pack up at the tree base and I'm out. Time will tell if I stick with it or return to the beast sticks w/cable aiders.


Edited to add since I was typing while it got posted- the most important point made so far is @kyler1945 saying practice, research, and don't trust us. For real.


Second edit- if you do end up using a backup to your safeguard, I've found that attaching a sterling auto block to my linesman loop (side my brake hand is during rappel, I then hold the auto block as my brake) and running a medium/long bridge will make it physically impossible for my backup (auto block) to get bound up in the safeguard. Technically this is a big no-no according to madrock (their paperwork says no backups because they can get bound up in the device and cause it to fail in an open state =fall), but I decided to do it, I accept the risk having practiced and it's super useful to pause my descent while removing multiple sticks.

But again, what I do is out of spec/against manufacture reccomendation, heck so is using the safeguard on 8 mm rope, so if I get hurt or die in a fall... That's on me.
 
Last edited:
I use mine as a rappel and tether. No backups, just a madrock safeguard. I’m sure you could back it up with a prussic for piece of mind but I never have.
 
I do plan on trying different things out for myself and realize I've got to come up with something that works for me and that I'm comfortable with. It's just the more I look at it the more variations I'm uncovering and I'm trying to get a better understanding of how other people are doing it and why so I have a good starting point, and maybe pick up other techniques to try during the process.
 
I climb, tether and rappel with same rope. Climb and stay tethered w/ ropeman w/ backup friction hitch carabiner to linemans belt through entire process. Switch out ropeman for figure 8 for rappel. Used to use separate tether for climb and hunt but carrying extra stuff and switching over at end of hunt was too much of a hassle. For me, this system has been the easiest and feels safest. Delta link with ohm tether lock has worked well for me during the climb. May try safeguard at some point but they are never available anyway.
As recommended, try every method and go with the one that works and feels best/safest for you. Off season will give you plenty of time to get everything dialed in. Enjoy the journey!
 
I use my rappel rope as the tether and hunt without a backup. I used the JX3 this year and found I did not like hunting with my linesman attached. Put a biner on the end instead of the girth hitch for easy removal. It would be easy to attach a linesman as a backup tether with a setup like that.
 
I generally climb with the rappel rope but keep most of it coiled up in a roll-up pouch. I don't like having a lot of excess flopping around for deer to see or me to manage. I used to use a different tether with a Kong duck to climb and hang, but I like being able to rappel down anytime if needed so now use the rappel rope. I do carry a figure 8 as well and feel it is smooth, but I like knowing if I let go of the safeguard (get knocked out or whatever), my progress stops. I haven't had any issues with rope slippage yet (using either 8mm Oplux or Canyon CIV 9mm) so I haven't backed up the MR. I will probably get a cheap hand ascender to be able to easily SRT back up if I leave my stick at height
 
kyler1945 said:
Buy your rap rope 20’ too long. Cut off the end and make a tether and lineman’s belt with it.

try All the things you’ve described in the back yard with a calm responsible adult around to call 911. Decide what makes sense for you. It’s important for you to understand WHY you want to do or not do a thing, rather than just be told what to do. Especially when your life is hanging at the end of a rope smaller than your pinky finger.

Don’t trust strangers on the internet for climbing advice.
Click to expand...
EWO will cut however much rope you order into whatever combinations of lengths you want
 
I use my rappel rope to climb, hunt, and rappel. I also always have another lineman rope hanging off my left side for getting around branches. I climb and hunt off a prussic. When I'm ready to rappel, I drop the rest of my line, lower my prussic, put an Atc on my rappel line, clip my prussic onto a carabiner on my hip, move my bridge carabiner to the atc, and rappel using the atc with a prussic backup... I think I'm going to switch the prussic to a double michoacan hitch, but otherwise I love my system.
 
I Don’t use my rappel rope as tether just for simplicity. I sometimes hunt sticks and use an oplux tether for that. I want to always use the same tether so I can more easily know it’s hooked up right and be used to it. I also don’t like having a long tag to deal with. My rappel kit stays in a dump pouch until it’s needed to rappel down so I never lose a piece and get stranded.
 
I use a separate tether to climb and hang from and pull out my rappel rope and figure eight when it's time to come down.

Figure of 8 progress capture???

Any of yins guys heard of doing this? I never have. I’ve been doing it for over a month. I think I invented it? It’s legit. It works great! I saw Nice Guy Dave from Wesspur do sumthin’ like this but my way is waayyy easier... Just rig yourself up to descend, then take your tag end and wrap...
saddlehunter.com
 
THill202 said:
For the guys who one stick, do you:

1. Use your rappel rope for
a.) tether
b.) lineman
c.) rappel only

2. For those who use it as the tether, do you
2a.) back it up, if so with what
and
2b.) what do use for clipping in at hunting height and rappelling
a.) madrock for both
b.) madrock for descending, other for hunting
c.) other and other
Click to expand...

So many have given sound advice, but you have to do what's most comfortable for you and the most safest.

1. Use your rappel rope for
a.) tether--this is what I do.
b.) lineman
c.) rappel only

2. For those who use it as the tether, do you
2a.) back it up, if so with what
and
2b.) what do use for clipping in at hunting height and rappelling
a.) madrock for both
b.) madrock for descending, other for hunting
c.) other and other

I used to use the madrock, but after the shaky descent (used it for 2 seasons) I decided to use a figure 8 and I use an autoblock on my right side attached to my right lineman's loop. I also have a longer prussic above my figure 8 as a redundant backup. Both are used as a Michocan friction hitch.
 
I use an 6ft long 11mm thick rope with a traditional prussic to climb and hunt. I just feel that thicker rope was easier to use climbing and felt more secure, and the rope was just long enough for me to climb most tree without any left over to get in the way. I have a dedicated 9mm rappel rope with a GriGri in my pouch that I will attach once I'm at hunting height as a redundant system. I understand the draw of using only your rappel rope for everything, but I rather have less things to get caught up in as I climb due to my clumsy nature and it does not take that long to take out my rappel setup if I need it.
 
phatkaw said:
I use a separate tether to climb and hang from and pull out my rappel rope and figure eight when it's time to come down.

Figure of 8 progress capture???

Any of yins guys heard of doing this? I never have. I’ve been doing it for over a month. I think I invented it? It’s legit. It works great! I saw Nice Guy Dave from Wesspur do sumthin’ like this but my way is waayyy easier... Just rig yourself up to descend, then take your tag end and wrap...
saddlehunter.com
Click to expand...
This is exactly what I do most often. I have used it as my tether for both hanging and hunting but I didn't like the extra bulk on me during the hunt. My R-rope now resides in my pack until I'm ready to descend. It also stays drier this way and its much easier to dry a 7' tether than a 40ft. length of Canyon or Oplux or whatever you're using.
 
I climb with a separate tether and ropeman without a back up. When hunt is over I switch to my rappel line and figure 8 using phatkaw's method quoted above to stop and remove my one-stick then continue on my way down to the ground. I dont back up my rappel line either. I have used an auto-block but have gotten vary comfortable without it...
 
If you're gonna backup the madrock, you should do it above the safeguard, not below. Above, it can't get caught up and lock the safeguard open if something goes wrong.

I'm just getting into it as well. My Canyon Elite should arrive by next week. And JX3 is in transit (takes a long time to cross the border these days). I did snag a safeguard from Madrock Canada....they had three and I got one (yay!)....last I looked they were out of stock again. Not cheap....but seems to be a popular option so I grabbed one when the opportunity presented.

I plan to use the rappel rope as a tether, though may try separate tether since one comes with the saddle. I did get a Sterling Autoblock thinking I would use that as a backup above the MR when hunting, but am gonna use an alpine butterfly clipped into the main bridge 'biner....simpler that way.

But YMMV.....once I get all my gear I plan to follow kyler1945's advice.....practice the techniques at near ground level till they are ingrained and fine tuned.
 
I climb with the rappel rope as tether, hanging from a knot, most of the rope in a pouch. Have a lineman’s as well. Once at height the lineman’s become a backup tether. Use lineman’s to switch tether to a figure eight to descend, pull the additional rope from pouch and head down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top