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Surprised by DRT

bpz89

bpz89

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2019
Messages
263
Tried DRT tonight for the first time(still need to put some reps in) but wow I’m really thinking this will be in my tool box of climbing methods.

How many use primarily DRT ?

New York Saddle Hunters have great helps! And so does JRB


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
It is much easier than I expected it would be I will give them that. I tried it a couple times but it won’t be going into my climbing method rotation anytime soon.
 
If you are at a place where you can get a rope up and over a limb easily (preset) then I would recommend that the next thing you try is JRB climbing. It’s more efficient in my opinion. I do agree DRT was not nearly as bad as I expected starting out. Climbing is fun, try as many combos as you can. You’ll figure out real quick what you like and don’t like.
 
I agree with what @gcr0003 said. I started with Drt and switched to JRB last year and like that better. The foot loop really makes life easy.
You have to try different things to find what is right for you.
 
bpz89 said:
Tried DRT tonight for the first time(still need to put some reps in) but wow I’m really thinking this will be in my tool box of climbing methods.

How many use primarily DRT ?

New York Saddle Hunters have great helps! And so does JRB


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
It’s my primary method if I am hunting places with good oak and hickory trees. If you practice enough with your throwball, you don’t even have to have presets although they definitely make it faster and quieter if you do.
 
I bought the DRT kit after watching the New York Saddle hunter's excellent videos on DRT climbing. The first time I tried it I wasn't very coordinated, and it was tough. I looked like a worm on a fishing line, lol. Then I went back and tried it again and now I love it. I even made a throw ball launcher out of PVC and some fittings from Lowes that uses a bicycle pump and will make a 14 OZ ball go 50 feet.

The actual climbing is awesome. The rappel down is awesome. I have no issues with tying the Blake's Hitch. I can be 30 feet up a tree in about 2 minutes. It works great in the Cruzr XC and also works fine in the Recon without the leg loops (try this one low and slow guys).

My issue is that the trees in my area just don't want to cooperate. I have 75 feet of Samson Predator rope which will get me plenty high IF I can find a suitable branch. Unfortunately, I have a dearth of trees that have their first suitable branch at about 40 feet. I am considering buying a 100-foot rope.

I made a tool to help me when considering a tree and it has saved me a lot of headaches. One thing you can run into is the limb heigh can sometimes be just a bit too high. You look at it from the ground and say, "yeah that should work", then after several throw attempts you get the ball over the limb, pull over the climbing rope, and it is just a couple of feet too short. That is frustrating. I have a tree in my yard that is right at the "goldilocks" height to maximize the rope but still be good to tie off the knots, etc. Using this as a guide, I paced off ten paces from the tree and then held a stick out at full arm's length and put the bottom of the stick in line with the base of the tree. I then marked and cut the stick to the height of the limb the rope went over. Now I can use that stick anytime I walk up to an unknown tree. If I pace ten steps out from the tree and hold that stick at arm's length putting the bottom on the base of the tree it will tell me if the limb I am thinking about is OK or too high.

I really want this method to work for me. It is very minimalist, and I feel very safe doing it. I am connected the whole way up and down.
 
To me the big attraction is the speed that presets enable. But on occasion I've struggled in the dark to return to a specific tree I've scouted. So, probably you want to have your tree marked well or technology ready, or bring your throwball in case.
 
I've tried both SRT and DRT with a bunch of different methods over the past few months and settled on mostly using SRT with presets when I want to go all ropes no sticks. It's just a simpler and more versatile system in my eyes with more anchor options and less movement climbing.

I'm still struggling to wrap my head around going even remotely close to all in SRT though as bad as I want to because I feel like BAMF climbing and rappelling. There are just too many spots where either I can't isolate a big enough limb to anchor or I need to be in smaller trees where there just isn't a big enough limb to climb. What's the point if it's right back to the climber conundrum where you are hunting trees, not spots? Even worse really, I can get climbers in more trees around here in the hardwoods than I can easily get a good rope anchor. I think I'm pretty darn good with a throwball for a noob but in the woods thick enough for deer to inhabit those things are a major PIA to deal with in ideal conditions. In the dark forget about it.

I'm going to try JRB's no-sticks, not-2TC method where he leapfrogs the SHH, but I just can't picture it being worthwhile. Nonetheless I'm going to give it some practice time to see. Something like that would be ideal, I just can never make it make sense in all trees. I'll probably end up going back to three sticks yet again because it's simple, quiet, and just works on all trees. Good to learn this rope access stuff though, it's fun and novel if nothing else.
 
Last edited:
elk yinzer said:
I've tried both SRT and DRT with a bunch of different methods over the past few months and settled on mostly using SRT with presets when I want to go all ropes no sticks. It's just a simpler and more versatile system in my eyes with more anchor options and less movement climbing.

I'm still struggling to wrap my head around going even remotely close to all in SRT though as bad as I want to because I feel like BAMF climbing and rappelling. There are just too many spots where either I can't isolate a big enough limb to anchor or I need to be in smaller trees where there just isn't a big enough limb to climb. What's the point if it's right back to the climber conundrum where you are hunting trees, not spots? Even worse really, I can get climbers in more trees around here in the hardwoods than I can easily get a good rope anchor. I think I'm pretty darn good with a throwball for a noob but in the woods thick enough for deer to inhabit those things are a major PIA to deal with in ideal conditions. In the dark forget about it.

I'm going to try JRB's no-sticks, not-2TC method where he leapfrogs the SHH, but I just can't picture it being worthwhile. Nonetheless I'm going to give it some practice time to see. Something like that would be ideal, I just can never make it make sense in all trees. I'll probably end up going back to three sticks yet again because it's simple, quiet, and just works on all trees. Good to learn this rope access stuff though, it's fun and novel if nothing else.
Click to expand...
You shouldn’t need much in the way of a limb for SRT. Just enough limb to hold your rope in place and girth hitch the trunk. I use an alpine butterfly and always try to girth hitch the trunk vs a limb if possible.
 
NMSbowhunter said:
I bought the DRT kit after watching the New York Saddle hunter's excellent videos on DRT climbing. The first time I tried it I wasn't very coordinated, and it was tough. I looked like a worm on a fishing line, lol. Then I went back and tried it again and now I love it. I even made a throw ball launcher out of PVC and some fittings from Lowes that uses a bicycle pump and will make a 14 OZ ball go 50 feet.

The actual climbing is awesome. The rappel down is awesome. I have no issues with tying the Blake's Hitch. I can be 30 feet up a tree in about 2 minutes. It works great in the Cruzr XC and also works fine in the Recon without the leg loops (try this one low and slow guys).

My issue is that the trees in my area just don't want to cooperate. I have 75 feet of Samson Predator rope which will get me plenty high IF I can find a suitable branch. Unfortunately, I have a dearth of trees that have their first suitable branch at about 40 feet. I am considering buying a 100-foot rope.

I made a tool to help me when considering a tree and it has saved me a lot of headaches. One thing you can run into is the limb heigh can sometimes be just a bit too high. You look at it from the ground and say, "yeah that should work", then after several throw attempts you get the ball over the limb, pull over the climbing rope, and it is just a couple of feet too short. That is frustrating. I have a tree in my yard that is right at the "goldilocks" height to maximize the rope but still be good to tie off the knots, etc. Using this as a guide, I paced off ten paces from the tree and then held a stick out at full arm's length and put the bottom of the stick in line with the base of the tree. I then marked and cut the stick to the height of the limb the rope went over. Now I can use that stick anytime I walk up to an unknown tree. If I pace ten steps out from the tree and hold that stick at arm's length putting the bottom on the base of the tree it will tell me if the limb I am thinking about is OK or too high.

I really want this method to work for me. It is very minimalist, and I feel very safe doing it. I am connected the whole way up and down.
Click to expand...

Very good use of trig and geometry, you must have paid attention in math class..........
That is also a foresters tool to use when cruising (measuring) timber.
 
JC3 said:
Very good use of trig and geometry, you must have paid attention in math class..........
That is also a foresters tool to use when cruising (measuring) timber.
Click to expand...
It's funny I hated math class in school and I have only developed a real appreciation for it under practical applications where I sort of "reinvent the wheel", so to speak.
 
Plebe said:
To me the big attraction is the speed that presets enable. But on occasion I've struggled in the dark to return to a specific tree I've scouted. So, probably you want to have your tree marked well or technology ready, or bring your throwball in case.
Click to expand...
I found some 1/4” polyethylene cheap camo rope that has reflective strands in it. I like using it because it’s cheap, small light and camo so others aren’t finding my trees while day scouting but then early am my head lamp hits it and it glows so I can find my presets fairly easy (if I’m within 25 yards) in the dark
 
W
elk yinzer said:
I've tried both SRT and DRT with a bunch of different methods over the past few months and settled on mostly using SRT with presets when I want to go all ropes no sticks. It's just a simpler and more versatile system in my eyes with more anchor options and less movement climbing.

I'm still struggling to wrap my head around going even remotely close to all in SRT though as bad as I want to because I feel like BAMF climbing and rappelling. There are just too many spots where either I can't isolate a big enough limb to anchor or I need to be in smaller trees where there just isn't a big enough limb to climb. What's the point if it's right back to the climber conundrum where you are hunting trees, not spots? Even worse really, I can get climbers in more trees around here in the hardwoods than I can easily get a good rope anchor. I think I'm pretty darn good with a throwball for a noob but in the woods thick enough for deer to inhabit those things are a major PIA to deal with in ideal conditions. In the dark forget about it.

I'm going to try JRB's no-sticks, not-2TC method where he leapfrogs the SHH, but I just can't picture it being worthwhile. Nonetheless I'm going to give it some practice time to see. Something like that would be ideal, I just can never make it make sense in all trees. I'll probably end up going back to three sticks yet again because it's simple, quiet, and just works on all trees. Good to learn this rope access stuff though, it's fun and novel if nothing else.
Click to expand...
If you are SRT climbing why do you need a big enough limb? If you make the toss then bring the throwball around the tree and back across so that you’ve isolated that single small branch, you can canopy anchor it and climb on it no differently than how your tether would be set up at height. It’s one of the reasons I use SRT when I do, because I don’t have to utilize the crotch if I don’t want to. Of course there is also the argument I could do the same with Ddrt if I set a false crotch… either way the only option I don’t like is basal anchors.
 
Fl Canopy Stalker said:
W

If you are SRT climbing why do you need a big enough limb? If you make the toss then bring the throwball around the tree and back across so that you’ve isolated that single small branch, you can canopy anchor it and climb on it no differently than how your tether would be set up at height. It’s one of the reasons I use SRT when I do, because I don’t have to utilize the crotch if I don’t want to. Of course there is also the argument I could do the same with Ddrt if I set a false crotch… either way the only option I don’t like is basal anchors.
Click to expand...

Yeah I miswrote that, what I mean is the hassle of isolating a limb high enough to bypass lower limbs. Kinda easy to do in the yard but I've struggled with it more in the woods. Idk the way our trees grow it seems they are either those climber type trees where the first union is often way up like 40-50 feet, or there are a lot of low branches if you want to get up to 15 or 20 feet. I kinda struggle with both in the thick woods with a throwball. Again, thick enough woods for deer to be in I'm always struggling to find lanes to get clean throws.
 
elk yinzer said:
Yeah I miswrote that, what I mean is the hassle of isolating a limb high enough to bypass lower limbs. Kinda easy to do in the yard but I've struggled with it more in the woods. Idk the way our trees grow it seems they are either those climber type trees where the first union is often way up like 40-50 feet, or there are a lot of low branches if you want to get up to 15 or 20 feet. I kinda struggle with both in the thick woods with a throwball. Again, thick enough woods for deer to be in I'm always struggling to find lanes to get clean throws.
Click to expand...
That is the one advantage of having a throw ball launcher for presets. You can aim up through stuff and isolate a limb easier, vertically, than I have found that is possible with hand throwing.
 
NMSbowhunter said:
That is the one advantage of having a throw ball launcher for presets. You can aim up through stuff and isolate a limb easier, vertically, than I have found that is possible with hand throwing.
Click to expand...
I helped a buddy with some tree work and he build himself a launcher. Wow that thing rocks. He fills it with compressed air and has a relief lever on it. We shot the ball over a 75 crotch, it was awesome. Not something I want to carry in the woods though.
I did climb a tree using the jrb shh method.and the most important thing with that is practice and getting the next saddle hunter hitch as high as possible to maximize your progress. This method takes serious practice but I think it is worth it if you have to use that instead of the throwball.
 
This is the one I made. I use 120 pounds of pressure from a bicycle pump and it will throw the 14 ounce throwball a good 50 feet straight up. It is good for off season presets. I can unscrew it so it breaks down into 2 pieces for transport. It is almost all schedule 40 pvc so it is light weight too.
 

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