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rappelling down

O

Old Man Hunter

Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2019
Messages
98
I am wanting to try single sticking and then rappelling down. What is a good rope for the rappelling and braking system on the rope? I know nothing about rappelling but want to get set up for practicing and hopefully find someone close by that can give me lessons/advice.

My plan is to use my 3 sticks then do a single stick situation with the 3rd stick once at height to get the feel for single sticking. Once I get this process where I am comfortable with it then go single stick all the way up. But I want to be prepared to rappel down when I'm at this point.

Any advice will be appreciated. I've already been watching some of the videos on single sticking and think it will work well for me in the future. Still waiting on my JX3 to be delivered but have everything else ready and practicing with my aider.
 
Ok...I have the same system...4 sticks that are cut down and a three step aider. However after opening day yesterday I'm going to put aside my 4 cut down sticks and only carry my one muddy and single stick and my 75' of predator rope. So yesterday I'm up in the tree at 23'. I need to leave for lunch...been up there since 6:30-11:30. I took out my 75' and threw one end over a branch about 5 feet above me. Then tied a figure 8 and loop and hooked to my bridge. Shortened my bridge and then took my friction hitch off the DRT rope and tied a swabisch hitch and made sure it held me before I disconnected from my tether. Slid down the rope slowly and took up my platform, and my 4 sticks. Now when I do go out to the woods, it will be with my single stick, my one step aider and 75' of predator rope. I'll make sure I climb a tree with branches off the top of the tree and rappel down.
 
Newhunter1 said:
Ok...I have the same system...4 sticks that are cut down and a three step aider. However after opening day yesterday I'm going to put aside my 4 cut down sticks and only carry my one muddy and single stick and my 75' of predator rope. So yesterday I'm up in the tree at 23'. I need to leave for lunch...been up there since 6:30-11:30. I took out my 75' and threw one end over a branch about 5 feet above me. Then tied a figure 8 and loop and hooked to my bridge. Shortened my bridge and then took my friction hitch off the DRT rope and tied a swabisch hitch and made sure it held me before I disconnected from my tether. Slid down the rope slowly and took up my platform, and my 4 sticks. Now when I do go out to the woods, it will be with my single stick, my one step aider and 75' of predator rope. I'll make sure I climb a tree with branches off the top of the tree and rappel down.
Click to expand...
Why not just use your DRT rope to descend?
 
bj139 said:
Why not just use your DRT rope to descend?
Click to expand...

That's what I did...slowly descended down and collected my sticks. Now I'll use the one stick method and descend back to the ground when I'm done. I didn't use the DRT method when I got there simply because I don't have a preset location at the area I've been drawn to hunt. But going in blind I can use my one stick and climb then descend back down.
 
Old Man Hunter said:
I am wanting to try single sticking and then rappelling down. What is a good rope for the rappelling and braking system on the rope? I know nothing about rappelling but want to get set up for practicing and hopefully find someone close by that can give me lessons/advice.

My plan is to use my 3 sticks then do a single stick situation with the 3rd stick once at height to get the feel for single sticking. Once I get this process where I am comfortable with it then go single stick all the way up. But I want to be prepared to rappel down when I'm at this point.

Any advice will be appreciated. I've already been watching some of the videos on single sticking and think it will work well for me in the future. Still waiting on my JX3 to be delivered but have everything else ready and practicing with my aider.
Click to expand...
What you want to do is use the search function and read all the stuff @kyler1945 has to say about it.
 
I have the madrock safe guard (the black one) and it works great for rappelling. That and a static arborist rope
 
If you’re using sticks to climb then rappelling down, an ATC with a friction hitch to allow hands free stick removal would be the simplest safest option I’m aware of.

Either Sterling 9mm HTP or Sterling 8mm OpLux (expensive but very compact) are good choices.

Just ensure your ATC is compatible with the 8mm if you choose the OpLux, some are some aren’t. Fewer options for friction hitch material for your autoblock as well if you go with the 8mm rope but they exist. You can use the Beal Jammy for this.


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I am following close. I too am want to do the same thing


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I did exactly what @JCLINE84 shows on his rappelling video. I rarely go over 20 foot so I Bought 30 foot of 9mm HTP, a Beal Jammy from @DanO the mano and a Petzl Belay device off Amazon. Dano has a Kong Belay Device that’ll work just as good. (Unfortunately I didn’t see it until after I’d placed my order) Received all my stuff in the mail on Monday. Been practicing and it’s awesome. I’m down in like 5 minutes. That time includes packing up my backpack, lowering my bow and removing the platform and one stick. And trying to be perfectly quiet. I’m sure it’ll get faster as I get better at it. I’m 52 by the way.
 
Wow thanks for all of the responses so quickly. When I start rappelling down I will be one sticking it exclusively. I only plan on using multiple sticks as I start trying one sticking at the top of my climb to get a little higher. Once I have the one sticking climbing down pat I want to go to rappelling down. This will be a step by step learning curve for me that I mainly practice in my yard before actually one sticking it in the woods on a hunt. I think it will be a fairly quick learning curve as getting to the one stick climbing so I want to have the needed rope and tools needed to rappel and practice rappelling in my yard also. I'll then put the two together---one stick climbing and rappelling down into my hunting system.
Keep coming with the suggestions, you guys are a great help.
 
This is my first year even saddle hunting. This is the exact method I use. Works good so far
 
I'm going to try this my stick came in the mail today and I've got my rappel rig ready.

Now if I can just get in the woods.
 
Old Man Hunter said:
Wow thanks for all of the responses so quickly. When I start rappelling down I will be one sticking it exclusively. I only plan on using multiple sticks as I start trying one sticking at the top of my climb to get a little higher. Once I have the one sticking climbing down pat I want to go to rappelling down. This will be a step by step learning curve for me that I mainly practice in my yard before actually one sticking it in the woods on a hunt. I think it will be a fairly quick learning curve as getting to the one stick climbing so I want to have the needed rope and tools needed to rappel and practice rappelling in my yard also. I'll then put the two together---one stick climbing and rappelling down into my hunting system.
Keep coming with the suggestions, you guys are a great help.
Click to expand...

If you have a saddle, a tether and a lineman's belt and if you can climb using multiple sticks then you can one stick. It's the same process...except you move up your tether to just above head height and sit down in your saddle. Reach down and bring up the stick and place the cam cleat (button) nose height and attach. Push it down and climb up....and repeat. Then rappel down. I like to climb up to a branch about 25 feet up...put my rope around the branch and put the rope on the backside of the tree. That way when I do rappel down the rope is not sending me off the side of the tree...I just go straight down. Then I lower myself down about 5 feet and can use my rappel rope as my tether. So many different ways to do this....either way the learning curve is super short. Have fun.
 
I went through this same evolution process with multiple different climb/descend methods. Finally landed on single-stick up and rappel down. I use a modified Hawk Helium 2-step stick with rope, cam cleat, and single foot loop web aider. The other main piece is a 35' length of Sterling Oplux 8mm rope that does triple duty as climbing/hanging tether, rappel line, and bow/pack hoist. I connect to it with a Beal Jammy cord (tied as Distel or Klemheist hitch) and biner with nylon washer/spacer as a tender. Platform is a Tethrd Predator. Saddle is a Kestrel with webbing bridge. For the rappel, I attach a Mammut Crag Light ATC (rated for 7.5mm - 10.5mm rope) and biner, and back it up with the Jammy reconfigured as an ATC autoblock. Allows good rappel control and easy hands-free stopping on the way down to retrieve platform and stick. The only other item is a length of paracord for pulling down the Oplux once back on the ground. The package is very minimal, compact, and light. Single-stick climbing is a bit slow, but not bad at all once dialed in. Rappel is quick/easy to setup, then descend as fast as you feel safe, and is a lot of fun!

None of this setup is my original idea. I just gleaned everything from the other brilliant members of this awesome forum. There may be better alternatives/components/configurations I have yet to try, but this is working well for me at the moment.
 
@like.2.fly
I am very interested in using oplux to repel down from the tree. I'm on a rope rescue team where I work, so I've been repelling for a good while. I've been researching it quite a bit the last couple Weeks. I saw where some were using the safeguard and some were using a figure 8. Although they say the safeguard isn't meant for the 8mm, some say if works fine as long as you have it backed up with an auto block. Sounds like your setup works fine as well also. I want to get a setup that's safe and works efficiently. Would you recommend your setup over the others?
Thanks


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One sticking ended up being easier than I thought. I tried 4 or 5 different methods before I settled on it. I was actually sold on it the first time up. As far as rappelling goes it just makes the whole process so much easier once you get it figured out, quite easy with a little instruction. I use an 11m samson mercury rope with an ATC and a prussik cord for an auto block so I can go hands free while removing my platform and stick. I tried both the ATC and a figure 8 for rappel. They were both fairly easy to learn and use, but I went with the ATC purely because it was lighter and less bulky than the figure 8.
 
Newhunter1 said:
If you have a saddle, a tether and a lineman's belt and if you can climb using multiple sticks then you can one stick. It's the same process...except you move up your tether to just above head height and sit down in your saddle. Reach down and bring up the stick and place the cam cleat (button) nose height and attach. Push it down and climb up....and repeat. Then rappel down. I like to climb up to a branch about 25 feet up...put my rope around the branch and put the rope on the backside of the tree. That way when I do rappel down the rope is not sending me off the side of the tree...I just go straight down. Then I lower myself down about 5 feet and can use my rappel rope as my tether. So many different ways to do this....either way the learning curve is super short. Have fun.
Click to expand...

I'm answering my own post...this did not work last night. Mr. Murphy paid me a visit...if anything could go wrong then it did. I climbed up about 25-26 feet. Reason why I know this is I have a 50' amsteel line that I keep in my pack for any thing that might come up. Folded in half is 25' and my platform was about 1' higher. That made me 29-30' feet higher. I threw my predator rope in the crotch of where the tree spit off into two sections...about 6 feet higher than my head. As I adjusted it and used it as a secondary tether...I noticed at the end of the hunt my rope wouldn't slide through the crotch. It was only when I had grabbed my one stick that I noticed that there was a small gap that the rope had wedged itself into...approximately 1/8". It essentially girth hitched itself. Not a problem...got it unstuck and I dropped the rope...opps. Now I'm almost 30 feet in a tree with only my tether and one stick. It's dark and I do have my headlight. Now here's some of the funny things...

I shot a doe...she was at 16 yards and it was on the downhill side of my tree. I aimed for her chest and hit the top of her back...through I think the backstraps. She only went about 10 yards farther but no shot. Stood there till dark and slowly walked away...not mortally wounded as she did not know what stung her. As it gets dark I'm now in a pickle...my rope is on the ground and I only have my one stick. I start my climb and the stick falls but luckily I have it attached to me with a line of amsteel. Get it back and put it on the three...my now my aider is not cooperating. I get down the tree...it litterally takes me longer to get down the tree than it did to get up. I repeat the process all the way down the tree...and make it to he ground.

Case in point is to make sure you have a back up method...I'm glad it worked out for me...I kept thinking to myself that I not going to fall tonight as it was my 17 anniversary and there is no way I'm going to die tonight. Seriously though, I learned a lot...the deer are educated as it seemed the woods was shrieking with does blowing.

I'm going out again tomorrow to the acorn patch...this time I'm bringing my crossbow and not going freaking 30 feet up!!
 
Let me preface this by saying I don’t rappel down and haven’t watched any of the videos, but why couldn’t you simply use a long tether with a length of paracord tied to the figure 8 at the top then rappel down the tether and pull the tether loose with the paracord when done?
 
There was a recent thread on this - always have a way to take the pressure off your body so you can lower down via the tether. Some guys use a single squirrel step or screw in - I also carry a deer drag which I can use in a pinch as well as a 1/8” am steel whoopie sling which packs to nothing and can be a secondary lineman’s too


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