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Ropeman 1 Ascender: YES or NO???

You will be much safer climbing with at least one on your linesman belt. It allows one handed manipulation. Way better than a prusik I hated that thing. It put me in some compromising situations.
 
7mmremmag said:
The only downside is they are not fall rated. I do leave a prusik on my tether and run it though the biner just as a back up, even though I fully trust my ropeman. I have two, one on my tether and one on my linemans.
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I have a prusik on my tether with my RM1 as well.
 
Blackmamba said:
You will be much safer climbing with at least one on your linesman belt. It allows one handed manipulation. Way better than a prusik I hated that thing. It put me in some compromising situations.
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One handed manipulation is definitely essential on a LB, but a mechanical device isn’t necessary. A distel hitch can be tended just as efficiently. Nothing against the RM1 for this application though.


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Juengels24 said:
Is it worth upgrading to the ropeman 1 for the mantis saddle: tether and lineman?? Pro’s / Con’s???
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Before making the purchase for both, I would take the time to dial in your system to see if it’s needed. I ended up purchasing two Ropeman 1s, one for my tether and one for my lineman’s. Ended up selling one off as I don’t use a lineman’s belt any longer and tossed the other in a tote as once I’m at height all I use is my prusik and figure 8.
 
Blackmamba said:
You will be much safer climbing with at least one on your linesman belt. It allows one handed manipulation. Way better than a prusik I hated that thing. It put me in some compromising situations.
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I’ve seen prusik tender setups and was making one when I discovered something really simple. Pull the tag end of your lineman through the caribiner it’s connected to. To tighten the prusik with one hand grab the tag end and pull it toward the tree. The prusik will push against the caribiner and the belt will tighten.

Blew my mind when I figured this out because I hated the prusik on lineman for the same reason.


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If you have $90 burning a hole in your pocket buy them. I am opposite of most guys. I use a prusik with a tender on my lineman’s this allows simple one handed operation. I use a mechanical ascender on my tether. Like others have said dial your system in then decide. I feel there are smaller better ropes available that ropemans are not rated for.


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I have used a RM1 for many years on my lineman belt and started out this season using one on my tether as well. After seeing the friction knot with tender, I tried that and like it better, especially on my tether. It is much easier to lengthen the tether with a friction knot (I’m using a schwabish hitch with a kong mini figure 8) than a RM1...not to mention, it’s significantly cheaper. I sold my spare RM1 and may end up selling the other one as well.
 
I am using a Kong Duck, it has the same functionality but will work with oplux and other smaller diameter ropes if you use them. The only caveat is that you need to use an oval carabiner with it vx. a D ring style.

BUT....I love my Kong. Changed my climbing time significantly and simply.
 
Deerinthawoods said:
I have used a RM1 for many years on my lineman belt and started out this season using one on my tether as well. After seeing the friction knot with tender, I tried that and like it better, especially on my tether. It is much easier to lengthen the tether with a friction knot (I’m using a schwabish hitch with a kong mini figure 8) than a RM1...not to mention, it’s significantly cheaper. I sold my spare RM1 and may end up selling the other one as well.
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Keep the spare RM1 for SRTing. It’s what I did.
 
Good thread, something I was wanting to start one about too:

- I used RM1s for a few years (both LB and tether), but hate the bulk of the 10 mm rope when daisy chained. Also, 10 mm plus rope does not take some knots as much as I like. Not a fan of using a life support device out of spec, so I personally wouldn’t run a RM1 on 8 mm rope. That’s just me.
- On my tether, I originally backed the RM up with a loop at the end of the tether that I clipped into the biner as well. Never liked the length of the tail on skinnier trees though (hunt those a lot). So, lately I have changed to an alpine butterfly under the RM that I clip into the biner with the RM. Keeps the potential fall distance as short as possible.
- I changed my tether to a RM2 with 8 mm static rope a couple years back. The difference in bulk when daisy chained is amazing. BUT: I hate how the RM2 rips up my rope. Would NOT want to use / recommend this for a LB. Also, I sometimes use my tether as second LB when I climb around limbs (ALWAYS stay attached to the tree!) and hate the RM2 then for the same reason.

Now, here are some things I am pondering, and it would be great to get some feedback on:
- I just got a Kong Duck so I can change my LB to 8 mm static as well. Like it so far - just wrapped the biner that goes into it with camo tape from DanO. No problem with noise this season, but haven’t found the perfect biner for it yet (due to width of the biner hole in the Kong) Any suggestions?
- Thinking about running a Kong on the tether as well (IF I find the right biner). Is anybody here doing this and has some pointers?

- I am thinking about tying a modified Blake’s hitch to the tether above the ascender and clip this into the biner with the RM/Kong. Reason is, this would back me up in case the RM does something to the rope that leads to rope failure, not only RM failure. Of course, that is EXTREMELY unlikely to happen, but then I have a lot of ‘face time’ with my ascender in the tree with time to wonder. Plus, why not? Any comments?

I am sure a lot of the guys here have been there, done that, so any comments / pointers welcome. Also, don’t be shy to tell me I’m full of it - would rather hear it here than realizing while accelerating on the way down ^^
 
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Paracord prusik tender on my LB.
Plain prusik on tether because I don't adjust it much, maybe once while climbing, then once at hunting height.

That said, I do own one Ropeman, but I only use it as an ascender when SRT climbing. To me, it is just extra weight and potential noise otherwise...
 
I started off this season with a ropeman 1 on my LB and tether. By end of season I've switched both over to tended distel hitches. They're simple, light, and quiet.

Now I'm considering using one as an auto block for rappeling. Has anyone tried this?
 
SomthingOriginal said:
I started off this season with a ropeman 1 on my LB and tether. By end of season I've switched both over to tended distel hitches. They're simple, light, and quiet.

Now I'm considering using one as an auto block for rappeling. Has anyone tried this?
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You could make it work but an autoblock (French Prusik) is better for that application and easier to control your descent rate.


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SomthingOriginal said:
I started off this season with a ropeman 1 on my LB and tether. By end of season I've switched both over to tended distel hitches. They're simple, light, and quiet.

Now I'm considering using one as an auto block for rappeling. Has anyone tried this?
Click to expand...

Using RM1 or tended distel for rappelling? I use a tended schwabish for rappelling since I use the rappel rope for climbing and as my tether. It doesn’t descend as smooth as the autoblock, but I had trouble with the autoblock holding me when hands free to take my stick off and it also doesn’t work as a tether.
 
I’ll be buying CT Roll N Locks this year

Almost did last year but I bought into the rope man 1 craze (which I like) but the CT has more features and can withstand some nasty tugging

Check this out



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