SRT... stay connected AND tether?

[Jokerswild]

This came up in another discussion and I think it deserves its own thread..

Climbing SRT/RADS etc has many PROS. One CON is the rope maybe secured well above hunting height. In this case I think MOST people transition to a tether, set at the proper height. But do we need to detach the climb rope from the saddle? How many of you are simply adding the tether, and putting some slack in the climb rope after you load the tether. Maybe it just never dawned on me to do this and its the norm.

My thought is to:
*climb SRT -JRB style
* set my platform
* Attach my tether and hook in with the same biner s my climb rope
* Load the friction hitch on the tether by lowering on the climb rope
* Take out some slack in the climb rope , which is now my redundant tether.
*stash the end of the climb rope(foot loop still attached) in my pack
* when Im done, I can "climb" up a tad, engage my climb rope a tad, remove the tether and foot loop...
*rappel down with an ATC with the climbing hitch as my back up

The system is no slack, secure, and redundant through out using JRB techniques. No "hold your breath transfer at height." But is the rope still on my bridge gonna be in the way while I hunt?

 

[NMSbowhunter]

I've done it a little bit when I was Ddrt/Mrs climbing and used a separate tether. I just let slack out of the climbing line and stowed the line from the ground in a backpack. I was double connected to tree. Is it necessary? Well. probably no, IF you are practiced and pay attention to the swap over. I was using the short tether mostly as a redirect to put me where I wanted to be and not where the tree and gravity wanted me.

 

[Jokerswild]

swap over. Humans make mistakes. Its dark. Tired. Maybe a lil in a hurry. No deer worth dieing over

 

[shmeags]

What you are suggesting is very similar to what I do. Works great for me. Yes there are more ropes in your workspace but it hasn't been a problem for me.

 

[SNIPERBBB]

I will detach the climb line if I'm using the compound now. Crossbow and gun I never saw the need to to detach.

 

[Iron_llama]

This came up in another discussion and I think it deserves its own thread..

Climbing SRT/RADS etc has many PROS. One CON is the rope maybe secured well above hunting height. In this case I think MOST people transition to a tether, set at the proper height. But do we need to detach the climb rope from the saddle? How many of you are simply adding the tether, and putting some slack in the climb rope after you load the tether. Maybe it just never dawned on me to do this and its the norm.

My thought is to:
*climb SRT -JRB style
* set my platform
* Attach my tether and hook in with the same biner s my climb rope
* Load the friction hitch on the tether by lowering on the climb rope
* Take out some slack in the climb rope , which is now my redundant tether.
*stash the end of the climb rope(foot loop still attached) in my pack
* when Im done, I can "climb" up a tad, engage my climb rope a tad, remove the tether and foot loop...
*rappel down with an ATC with the climbing hitch as my back up

The system is no slack, secure, and redundant through out using JRB techniques. No "hold your breath transfer at height." But is the rope still on my bridge gonna be in the way while I hunt?

Do you have a second bridge? I use 2 bridges, started out with that 1-sticking so when I switched between tethers to pass branches or whatever I'd reduce the risk if a "carabiner confusion" error. I can set a redundant tether so I can advance my main line without any slack. At this point I'm basically 2TC climbing; when I do 2TC I'm tied in to both tethers, similar to @samirrus' tree walking technique.

I generally prefer to have my feet at or just above a branch; if I've passed thay branch my tether isn't that far above it. By the time I'm at height, my rappel line is at about waist - chest level, so I set my tether forehead-height. I tend enough slack into my rappel line so it will stay out of the way, and install my figure-8 if I didn't climb with it installed. This way, I can break down and bail very quickly in the event of a sudden storm or other safety hazard.

 

[Jokerswild]

Do you have a second bridge? I use 2 bridges, started out with that 1-sticking so when I switched between tethers to pass branches or whatever I'd reduce the risk if a "carabiner confusion" error. I can set a redundant tether so I can advance my main line without any slack. At this point I'm basically 2TC climbing; when I do 2TC I'm tied in to both tethers, similar to @samirrus' tree walking technique.

I generally prefer to have my feet at or just above a branch; if I've passed thay branch my tether isn't that far above it. By the time I'm at height, my rappel line is at about waist - chest level, so I set my tether forehead-height. I tend enough slack into my rappel line so it will stay out of the way, and install my figure-8 if I didn't climb with it installed. This way, I can break down and bail very quickly in the event of a sudden storm or other safety hazard.

good stuff. So many ways to skin a cat. I have eased into the saddle thing as a feel out what's safe and what's practical. I love the idea of preinstalling your rappel device.

 

[Jammintree]

I ddrt and almost always switch to a tether. When I get to climbing height I connect my tether and test to see that it’s well seated and then disconnect from my climbing line. I then haul my rope up into the tree for the remainder of the sit.

I prefer hunting from a tether for consistency. When suspended from a climbing line there is a lot of variability, such as rope length, the angle of the rope in relation to the tree etc etc. All these variations change the way I have to shift and move, particularly when a deer comes in. The tether basically reduces the amount of variation from tree to tree - which removes one more set of variable to have to compute in the brain when a deer approaches.