Questions for one stickers

[TexaninSconny]

I use a separate dynamic rope for climbing and sitting at hunting height, and a static rope for rappelling.

I use an EWO one stick with UP. The few times I used the Madrock on the climb I banged it on metal too much. I will practice this more in the off-season, but I haven’t minded the switch to rappel gear at the end of the hunt.

Sidenote: I keep my rappel gear in my backpack. And I’ve ditched my pouches and just daisy chain my tether/lineman’s belt on opposite sides of my saddle.

 

[Micneador]

Rappel for climbing and at hunting height, LB daisy chained behind me for going over limbs, I use my madrock at height as well but am contemplating switching to a friction hitch at height and while climbing.

 

[boyne bowhunter]

When I first started one sticking I climbed and hunted off my rappel rope. When hunting I tied a stopper knot under my rappel device as a backup. The issue I had with that is when hunting in the rain my rappel rope would become soaked and then, in our northern Michigan weather, it would freeze. You can rappel on a frozen rope but winding it up to fit it back in your pack is almost impossible.

I ended up switching to a short climb/hunting specific tether using a friction hitch (distel). The friction hitch works great on a short tether if you're not planning on rappelling off it. Now I only hook my rappel rope to the tree when I'm ready to rappel down. At that point I transfer to it and its only on the tree for minutes.

 

[Tim0712]

Tether all the way up and while I’m hunting then right before prime time I switch to my rappel line and figure 8. I also pack everything up right around the same time so all’s I have to do is grab my pack lower my bow and rappel

 

[Thetrueredneck]

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

1. Use your rappel rope for
a.) tether

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

I have found that using the same line just saved me an extra step. I will say though that after this year I will most likely change it up a bit and try using the LB/tether to climb and just RP down when finished. I also carry an extra ATC to use if something should go wrong with my MR.

 

[Phaco]

1. Use your rappel rope for
a.) tether

2. For those who use it as the tether, do you
2a.) back it up, NO

2b.) what do use for clipping in at hunting height and rappelling
a.) madrock for both

 

[slonstdy]

Rappel rope with a madrock for climb, hang and rappel. At hunting height I tie a loop on the rappel rope below the madrock and clip it into the carabiner with the remaining length stuffed in a pouch on my hip. My LB stays daisy chained on my saddle loop and is only used when I need to pass limbs but is readily available if an unexpected event should take place.

Whatever you choose be sure to practice practice practice!

 

[bfriendly]

I am new so redundancy is my friend and I’ll keep him around forever. I made a short bridge for backup and rappelling as I am 1 sticking. I was using just one rope, but with a bad shoulder it’s easier to move a dedicated line for tether up the tree, then switch over with belay and rappel rope(canyon elite) when ready to get down. My backup is a prussik on my tether to the short bridge…..might just as well keep it in the middle. I also use a prussik(jammy Beal?) for a break just below my belay so I can hang hands free and release sticks and platform……I may get bold and use a carabiner for rappel rope instead of quick link.
My backups are simple and as much as I trust the amsteel bridge, It just makes no sense to me to not add a little prussik to a second bridge. But I ain’t judging those who go as light as possible

 

[batguano]

Good responses so far, interesting to hear how everybody does it.

I climb and hang on my tether (8mm pmi dura-shield) and a CT rollnlock, no back up. I carry a 60' piece of rope to rap with (same 8mm pmi). I rap on an ATC and use an autoblock on my lineman's loop. I pull my gear up with the rap line, no other small diameter pull cord involved. Since I have the rap line with me on the way up, it's ready to be deployed as either a lineman's or a second tether if I need to pass a limb.

For me, this is a versatile system. I can climb to and rap from a full 30' without any funny business, this covers most of my bases. If I add my tether, aider and backpack to the pull-down side of the rap setup I can get down from about 40'-45'. Since I'm tagging my gear up on the 60' line, if I get to 30' and want to keep going for whatever reason, no problem.

By the time I get to 30' or so, there are frequently branches on the tree. That being the case, I just throw the rope over the branch and do a double rope rap down, easy to rig and easy to pull. If there are no branches then I pull the rap line around the back of the tree and use a biner block to isolate one strand, then I rap on that end and pull the mess down with the other end.

Lots of different ways to skin that cat, no wrong answer as long as it's working for you I suppose.

As a word of caution I'll add the following. If a person is employing a tether arrangement that requires the operator to transfer to rappel, It would be in the operator's best interest to weight the rap line BEFORE removing the tether. I rig my rap, I slack my tether, then I weight the rap device and confirm that all of my weight is on the device and that my back up is engaged and I am hanging hands-free. Then I remove the tether.

 

[fraggs]

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

 

[fraggs]

I use my rappel rope for everything. I hang on my madrock and sometimes I tie an Alpine butterfly in my rope and hook it on my carabineer as a backup.
One benefit of climbing with the long rope is that I can use it as a pull up. Just hook the end to my pack (with bow attached) and pull it up once I'm at height.

 

[mlk3454]

As a word of caution I'll add the following. If a person is employing a tether arrangement that requires the operator to transfer to rappel, It would be in the operator's best interest to weight the rap line BEFORE removing the tether. I rig my rap, I slack my tether, then I weight the rap device and confirm that all of my weight is on the device and that my back up is engaged and I am hanging hands-free. Then I remove the tether.

If doing the swap then ^ is how I do it as well and much safer to transition.

 

[NimbleTimbo]

I hang on my madrock and sometimes I tie an Alpine butterfly in my rope and hook it on my carabineer as a backup.

I haven't thought of this. Simple and no other rope required. Thanks!

 

[wyetterp]

I just use my rappel rope with the tucked in my dump pouch. It feeds automatically going down. I keep a sterling autoblock & biner on one side of my linesman loop & a bluewater 7mm VT prusik & biner on the other linesman loop. When I'm at hunting height I use the autoblock attached to the loop as a backup. I have the vt for if I need it for numerous other things.

When the autoblock is attached to your linesman loop there's no chance of it getting pushed into the madrock. It catches before it gets anywhere close.

 

[mattpsu1]

This was only my second year saddle hunting and I’ve been pretty much exclusively one sticking. I use 8mm Rescue Tech with a distel hitch with a prusik tender to climb and rappel with. When at height, I attach an atc and biner above my prusik. When ready to rappel, I attach my LB for safety and unhook my biner that’s attached to my bridge, reattach it to my lineman loop and attach the binered atc to my bridge. Unload LB while slowly until putting my weight into saddle and I’m able to unhook my LB. Then I am ready to rappel by applying pressure to the distel hitch that’s attached to my lineman’s loop. Making sure that there’s plenty of space between the two biners. When I need to remove my platform and one stick I take my hand off distel hitch and I’m locked in solid. This has been my setup for the last two years and has worked exceedingly well for my purposes

 

[Kayl]

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

1. It depends. I usually use it as my tether, but depending on the tree I may use my regular tether and just rappel on my rappel rope. This year I climbed a tree that had a crotch right above hunting height where I would usually put my tether. I knew that getting my rappel rope out of there in the dark would be a pain, so I threw up my regular tether, clipped into my bridge, and then unclipped my rappel rope. I did the reverse when it was time to get down.

2. I back up my madrock with an autoblock of 6mm TRC from my lineman's loop when rappelling. I should probably do it while hanging too if I'm going to follow best practices. I should mention that my autoblock cannot reach my madrock and jam it open.

 

[MattMan81]

I use my rappel rope (dynamic 10.2mm) on prussic as my tether to climb + the lineman's belt. Slack is bad when climbing. Search the forum. Some good conversation on slack in a one stick setup.
I have been hanging from the 8mm oplux with a kong at height. I have two of them. One is my lineman's belt, the other my hunting tether. But if I want to climb a tree with a lot of branches, I can easily have two tethers/ or LB to work with. I rappel down on a life guard with a back up. Yes, there is some moving around. But I do not feel comfortable should I shock load a mechanical device. I prefer the rope to rope connection should that happen. Does it matter? Hope to not find out.
The lifeguard is not good for hanging from at height unless you back it up. So that's just using what I got. I have no complaints. I carry a little more than most because of it. But not many places I can walk 3 miles deep into public.

 

[Boog]

I climb on a regular tether with a Kong KISA for shock absorption in the event of a fall. Once at height, I switch to the rappel line and hang from it while hunting. I back up with a figure eight on a bight tied under the Madrock. I leave a few inches of slack to allow for adjustment. If the Madrock were to fail, I would drop maybe six inches before being caught by the figure eight. I carry a lineman's belt, but only use it if I have to get around branches on the way up.