Rappelling and trees with a crotch

[kenn1320]

So my rope is 20ft+ up a tree tonight. Luckily its out back, won't have to go far to fetch it. I was afraid this might happen, so before I started down I pushed the stopper knot through the delta link so I could pull my entire rope through once on the ground. Ive got about a 4ft loop hanging up in the crotch and its not budging. Here's a pic of how I've been setting up. I hook my pull down rope to the orange carabiner.
So what am I doing wrong? Should I have hooked to the other side of delta link knowing I was gonna pull the rope through?

 

[bj139]

I would attach it to your delta link since it is large and has a large knot attached to it. The other end of the rope has no knots at all. If you have a stopper knot at the other end and the rope reaches the ground the stopper knot serves no purpose anyway. If you pull the delta link down the other end will almost surely not get caught in the crotch. I have stuck the figure eight loop in a crotch before and threw a throwball over the crotch from the knotted side so I could pull the unknotted side back over the crotch. Since I started tying my pull down line to my figure eight loop I have not stuck a rope.

 

[VF_MIKE]

I have done it both ways. For me putting the pull line on the other side has been a bit better. No guarantees though, thats just my observation.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[bj139]

I was in the dark after shooting hours trying to figure out how to recover my rope from the crotch. I thought I was going to have to come back the next day with another rope when I thought of throwing the throw ball back the other direction to get it down. Throwing it in the dark with a headlamp was relatively easy. I was surprised. @Weldabeast suggested sitting on the paracord loop and that works great if it is a hard pull.

 

[TreeMunkie]

No guarantees though, thats just my observation.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Agreed. I have pulled from the delta-link and behind the knot and still have times where the rope has hung up in a crotch. Having to climb back up in the cold and dark after a hunt to get my rope is the worst. I now try to be mindful of the path the rope is going to travel when I pull it down. Sometimes I am able to use my tether to set my rappel line below a crotch that is between my ROS and my tether height. As others have noted on this site moving away from the tree when pulling on your pull-down rope helps a lot. And never use a cheap carabiner to attach your pull down rope to your rappel line. I snapped one once.

 

[bj139]

Is your stopper knot stopping in the crotch? If so, it is working as unintended. Murphy strikes again.

 

[kenn1320]

Is your stopper knot stopping in the crotch? If so, it is working as unintended. Murphy strikes again.

No idea, will be using sticks tomorrow afternoon to climb up and see whats going on.

 

[kenn1320]

Agreed. I have pulled from the delta-link and behind the knot and still have times where the rope has hung up in a crotch. Having to climb back up in the cold and dark after a hunt to get my rope is the worst. I now try to be mindful of the path the rope is going to travel when I pull it down. Sometimes I am able to use my tether to set my rappel line below a crotch that is between my ROS and my tether height. As others have noted on this site moving away from the tree when pulling on your pull-down rope helps a lot. And never use a cheap carabiner to attach your pull down rope to your rappel line. I snapped one once.

I'm using 7/64" amsteel, so I should verify my carabiner is up to the task. Its held to my rope with a paracord prusic.

 

[bowhuntr09]

This is why I love the mid line alpine butterfly.

 

[kobudo]

This is why I love the mid line alpine butterfly.

This is my plan also. More rope, but 2 pull up lines and no pull down line, then put excess rope into my backpack.

See the 30 minute mark.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[bj139]

This is my plan also. More rope, but 2 pull up lines and no pull down line, then put excess rope into my backpack.

See the 30 minute mark.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

If I'm climbing in the park with a longer length of rope I use the Alpine Butterfly as well.

 

[gcr0003]

I’ve seen lots of folks on YouTube’s say just yank the cord attached to the delta link really hard; however, I find that whipping the rappel rope up towards the delta link such to make a wave in the rope that will travel up to the delta link followed by a well timed pull of the cord attached to the delta link as the wave reaches the delta link makes retrieving pretty easy! Give it a try, let us know if it too works for you.

 

[bj139]

I’ve seen lots of folks on YouTube’s say just yank the cord attached to the delta link really hard; however, I find that whipping the rappel rope up towards the delta link such to make a wave in the rope that will travel up to the delta link followed by a well timed pull of the cord attached to the delta link as the wave reaches the delta link makes retrieving pretty easy! Give it a try, let us know if it too works for you.

I do that as well. I found several times that standing on the end of the rope does not work nearly as well.
It makes it nearly impossible to pull the rope down.

 

[Bigfoot522]

I have gotten into similar situations.
My solution is to recognize the snag potential and if deemed as such, I climb down one move with my stick and use my lineman belt for support while I move the rappel line out of the offensive crotch.
I then collect my stick and decend.

I also only carry 25 feet of rope. I started with 60 feet for drt but didn't like the bulk and rope is heavy.

 

[JFin15]

That Celtic ___ knot is locked up on the rope and stuck inthe crotch. For what its worth, I tried that celtic knot and went back to my usual stopper knot. I dont recall the name of it but I use it on my tethers too. It doesnt loosen on it's own like the celtic. I kept havingto retighten it. Plus this one wont get stuck as easily. Tied with paracord on my oplux tethers and with 5.5mm on my rap/srt w/ delta link.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk