Starting to toy with SRT

[Letemgrowitllshow]

I've been reading up on SRT and finally pulled the trigger on the equipment. I'm using a madrock safeguard with 9mm htp. Connect the madrock to my short tether.

For my foot loop ascender I'm using a ropeman 1 for now. I know it's out of spec for the 9mm htp, but it is just for the foot loop and not life support so it seems safe to me.

I was having a hard time balancing so I put a prussic above everything to use as a hand hold to help me lift my upper body while I stand up and pull on the tag end at the same time. My foot loop is just Daisy chain webbing.

I only have about 2 hours of practice in my garage, but I'm digging SRT. A few questions I have for the SRT guys out there....

1 - I'm having trouble keeping the saddle under me while climbing. Any tricks? I'm wondering also if a RCH would be better for this?

2 - Is anybody else using a handle above all the other devices?

3 - Is there any other back up I should be incorporating into this system?

 

[bj139]

You must be able to sit on your saddle like a sling seat. If your saddle rides up your back it will not work. This is much different than climbing sticks.
I use a sit drag hung below my butt attached to a waist belt. Many people have added a battle belt to their saddle to achieve this effect. When climbing, I have found it most helpful to move my right foot (attached to the ascender) directly downward vertically so the strap is right in my crotch while I am pushing down with my leg. I use a Petzl hand ascender and pull on that at the same time. One of it's advantages is it has a nice comfortable handle for pulling down on.
Your photo shows your chest is too far from the rope. Grab the Ropeman and pull it into your chest. Your bridge also looks too long so the climbing devices are too high. You might want to install a shorter bridge. I use a climbing sling which is girth hitched to my left bridge loop then run through my right bridge loop and back through my left bridge loop. A carabiner is girth hitched to this end of the sling. This carabiner goes through my left bridge loop and is clipped to all the bridge strands at this point then locked.

 

[bj139]

I have shortened my bridge for testing purposes by passing the bridge through the right bridge loop then clipping a carabiner to the loop formed and bringing the carabiner back to the left bridge loop and clipping there.
A RCH has a belay loop with is really a short bridge so this would be better for this method. A short bridge on your saddle would work the same.
I don't think I mentioned this explicitly but your body must be more vertical than your photo shows. I think this could be the reason most people give up on SRT. They never get their body nearly vertical and climbing is difficult.

 

[mtsrunner]

I run a very similar setup, but I use Oplux instead of HTP and a Petzl left hand ascender instead of the Ropeman. The ascender gives a nice handhold, connection for footloop and a redirect for the Safeguard.

I use an Amsteel continuous loop instead of a carabiner for the connection to the top hole for the redirect. This keeps it quiet and doesn’t have to ever be removed from the ascender.

Check out how I use the @DanO daisy chain. This keeps it securely on my foot without squeezing it to death. The shock cord loop also keeps everything bundled up nicely when not in use.

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[robstewart]

Current setup is RCH (and fleece saddle), safeguard. For foot I have a petzle tibloc, pulley, home made foot loop (webbing and garden hose).

I find myself grabbing the foot setup or above it awkwardly so I’ve decided to buy a hand ascender. My local store has the petzle and a couple similar competitors so I’m going to go have a look.

(I may ditch the pulley as well)

One thing I don’t enjoy is hauling my bag and bow up using my rappel rope. I haven’t tried it but I have an idea I’m going to check out.

The thought is that once I’m up in the tree I will connect my ropeman to the rappel rope near the top and connect it to the girth hitch with a caribiner. Then as I pull the rope through the ropeman it will act like a progress capturing pulley making it not only easier to bring the bag up but also mean I can let go of the rope when it gets to the top and use two hands to strap the bag to the tree and so on.


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[Letemgrowitllshow]

You must be able to sit on your saddle like a sling seat. If your saddle rides up your back it will not work. This is much different than climbing sticks.
I use a sit drag hung below my butt attached to a waist belt. Many people have added a battle belt to their saddle to achieve this effect. When climbing, I have found it most helpful to move my right foot (attached to the ascender) directly downward vertically so the strap is right in my crotch while I am pushing down with my leg. I use a Petzl hand ascender and pull on that at the same time. One of it's advantages is it has a nice comfortable handle for pulling down on.
Your photo shows your chest is too far from the rope. Grab the Ropeman and pull it into your chest. Your bridge also looks too long so the climbing devices are too high. You might want to install a shorter bridge. I use a climbing sling which is girth hitched to my left bridge loop then run through my right bridge loop and back through my left bridge loop. A carabiner is girth hitched to this end of the sling. This carabiner goes through my left bridge loop and is clipped to all the bridge strands at this point then locked.

I had to lean way back to get the pic so that's why is seems my body isn't vertical. When I practice I have been trying to stay vertical as possible. Will take some more practice to get the feel no doubt.

As far a my bridge length I have an oplux with a figure 8 capture the right bridge loop and my Beal jammy on a beaner catching the left bridge loop. My bridge was maybe 10".

I'm thinking getting some amsteel and attempting to make a bridge system like the tethrd phantom. I feel like the ability to snug the bridge up would be nice for SRT.

 

[Letemgrowitllshow]

Current setup is RCH (and fleece saddle), safeguard. For foot I have a petzle tibloc, pulley, home made foot loop (webbing and garden hose).

I find myself grabbing the foot setup or above it awkwardly so I’ve decided to buy a hand ascender. My local store has the petzle and a couple similar competitors so I’m going to go have a look.

(I may ditch the pulley as well)

One thing I don’t enjoy is hauling my bag and bow up using my rappel rope. I haven’t tried it but I have an idea I’m going to check out.

The thought is that once I’m up in the tree I will connect my ropeman to the rappel rope near the top and connect it to the girth hitch with a caribiner. Then as I pull the rope through the ropeman it will act like a progress capturing pulley making it not only easier to bring the bag up but also mean I can let go of the rope when it gets to the top and use two hands to strap the bag to the tree and so on.


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I haven't tried it from a tree yet so I can't say how it works, but I envision something like this.

After the tag end has been passed through the eye of the SRT rope, I would attach my retrieval rope. That way if some goes kittywampus I can retrieve the SRT. Once the SRT rope is girth hitched to the tree, I can attach my bow/pack to the retrieval rope.

 

[robstewart]

I haven't tried it from a tree yet so I can't say how it works, but I envision something like this.

After the tag end has been passed through the eye of the SRT rope, I would attach my retrieval rope. That way if some goes kittywampus I can retrieve the SRT. Once the SRT rope is girth hitched to the tree, I can attach my bow/pack to the retrieval rope.

So pretty much that’s exactly what I do now. I have a 30’ tether/rappel rope and a 30’ piece of paracord with a caribiner on each end. The thing is I found the paracord less than fun to use to pull up 20 lbs of gear. That’s why I’m going to try using my rappel rope like this instead.


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[robstewart]

Re-reading my post I realize I said I use the rappel rope but I misspoke. I mainly use my paracord for pulling up gear and pulling down my rappel rope. I have tried using my rappel rope at least once.

Both cases sucked so that’s why I want to try using my rappel rope through a ropeman as a progress capture pulley.

Hopefully that makes sense. Lol


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[Letemgrowitllshow]

I got this idea I wanna run past you guys tell me what you think....

So I was thinking for those trees where there isn't a good branch or crotch in the tree for your climbing line to go over, could you just screw in a couple of them brown bow hooks? I use them on every setup and have a bunch of them. They wouldn't be holding your weight, just assisting your rope to stay where it's at until you get the girth hitch weighted.

 

[Letemgrowitllshow]

I got this idea I wanna run past you guys tell me what you think....

So I was thinking for those trees where there isn't a good branch or crotch in the tree for your climbing line to go over, could you just screw in a couple of them brown bow hooks? I use them on every setup and have a bunch of them. They wouldn't be holding your weight, just assisting your rope to stay where it's at until you get the girth hitch weighted.

 

[robstewart]

I got this idea I wanna run past you guys tell me what you think....

So I was thinking for those trees where there isn't a good branch or crotch in the tree for your climbing line to go over, could you just screw in a couple of them brown bow hooks? I use them on every setup and have a bunch of them. They wouldn't be holding your weight, just assisting your rope to stay where it's at until you get the girth hitch weighted.

When climbing one stick and girth hitched around the tree with my rope, I do exactly this at the top. I screw my bow holder in so the rope can’t fall down the tree at all if I stand up and take the weight off it.




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[robstewart]

Let’s say you have a tree with just one small limb 25’ up on the North side. It’s too small to take your weight...what can you do?

Well one option would be to throw your pull line over it but then stand on the south side of the tree and when you pull your rope up make one side pass along the left side of the tree and the other pass on the right side of the tree so that you end up girth hitching the whole trunk and the branch you used in just there to stop the rope from falling down the tree.


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[TXhunter15]

Let’s say you have a tree with just one small limb 25’ up on the North side. It’s too small to take your weight...what can you do?

Well one option would be to throw your pull line over it but then stand on the south side of the tree and when you pull your rope up make one side pass along the left side of the tree and the other pass on the right side of the tree so that you end up girth hitching the whole trunk and the branch you used in just there to stop the rope from falling down the tree.


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I use small limbs less than 2" diameter that are dead all the time. In the East TX piney woods you have to use these less than optimal limbs. As robstewart said, your weight is never on the limb as it is just holding your line up there while you girth hitch the trunk.

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[Sincyrman]

@mtsrunner,
I have a few questions...
Does your amsteel continuous loop allow you to connect the hand ascender to the tether without removing the amsteel each time? It looks like it does.

And, how does the length of the amsteel work out? It seems much longer than just a carabiner attached to the ascender.

Do the teeth on the ascender damage the oplux? Those teeth look very much like the ones on a ropeman 2.

I plan on using srt this fall. Already have the safeguard and a petzl hand ascender.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

[kobudo]

I have only tried this in my back yard, so take my experience for what it is worth. I used a rock climbing harness and fleece saddle, so I only have experience with the rock climbing harness. A ropeman did not work for me at all with my climbing rope. Just for fun you could try this out in your garage. Right now you have 3 attachment points to manage. I would remove the ropeman and clip your caribeener to your prussic. I back it up with a loop from prussic to saddle also. So I use the prussic left handed, with carabiner attached, and 3 things on it.
1 foot loop
2 safety backup loop to saddle
3 climbing rope routed through.

I also have the safeguard. I will be working on this this off season to get good at it.

Good luck!

JJ.

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[mtsrunner]

@mtsrunner,
I have a few questions...
Does your amsteel continuous loop allow you to connect the hand ascender to the tether without removing the amsteel each time? It looks like it does.

And, how does the length of the amsteel work out? It seems much longer than just a carabiner attached to the ascender.

Do the teeth on the ascender damage the oplux? Those teeth look very much like the ones on a ropeman 2.

I plan on using srt this fall. Already have the safeguard and a petzl hand ascender.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Yes, the continuous loop does not ever have to be removed. It doesn’t get in the way at all. I didn’t like having to remove a carabiner every time. It’s quieter, too.

It is longer than just a carabiner, but I haven’t found that to be an issue. I might make a shorter loop and see if I notice a difference.

I haven’t noticed rope damage, but I only have about 15-20 climbs on this combination.

 

[bj139]

Yes, the continuous loop does not ever have to be removed. It doesn’t get in the way at all. I didn’t like having to remove a carabiner every time. It’s quieter, too.

It is longer than just a carabiner, but I haven’t found that to be an issue. I might make a shorter loop and see if I notice a difference.

I haven’t noticed rope damage, but I only have about 15-20 climbs on this combination.

One of the "features" of the carabiner through the top hole of the ascender is the ascender will not come off the rope unless the carabiner is removed. Your Amsteel loop does not do this. An additional safety feature defeated.

 

[bj139]

I have only tried this in my back yard, so take my experience for what it is worth. I used a rock climbing harness and fleece saddle, so I only have experience with the rock climbing harness. A ropeman did not work for me at all with my climbing rope. Just for fun you could try this out in your garage. Right now you have 3 attachment points to manage. I would remove the ropeman and clip your caribeener to your prussic. I back it up with a loop from prussic to saddle also. So I use the prussic left handed, with carabiner attached, and 3 things on it.
1 foot loop
2 safety backup loop to saddle
3 climbing rope routed through.

I also have the safeguard. I will be working on this this off season to get good at it.

Good luck!

JJ.

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How could the Ropeman not work as an ascender? That is what it is designed to do.

 

[kobudo]

I wish I knew. In my unprofessional back yard testing, I could not get a consistent grab with a ropeman 1 above my safeguard while weighted into the safeguard. It would straighten the rope out enough that it would not grab with the ropeman. If all weight was on the ropeman and no weight below it, no problem.

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