The JRB Climbing Method

[John RB]

here it is gents

View attachment 76583

That's a set of standard 523 JRB Ascender Hitches in 7mm Sterling cord on the 8mm Mammut Alpine Dry? What about your handles? The handles make the rising move and the shove much easier. I am using those little 3in, Freskaro, 2 for $14.95, non climbing carabiners for handles. They work great.

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[The_Fit_Ness_Monster]

That's a set of standard 523 JRB Ascender Hitches in 7mm Sterling cord on the 8mm Mammut Alpine Dry? What about your handles? The handles make the rising move and the shove much easier. I am using those little 3in, Freskaro, 2 for $14.95, non climbing carabiners for handles. They work great.

Shopping List - jrbtreeclimbing.com

Use "JRB10" Code for 10% Discount at: https://www.rocknarbor.com/product-category/outdoors/saddle-hunting Use this page, and the supporting pages, to make your own shopping list for everything necessary to build a Climbing System. Also consider which climbing methods you want to use with the...

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Yessir, i tried it without the handles and it sufficed. But if i do end up putting some itll be my black siamomd screw lock. Im only 162# with all my clothes on it doesnt take much effort lol and i like the way this 7mm sterling grabs on the mammut, i wish i could use beeline bc of its heat resistant properties, but its just me being picky.

 

[John RB]

Yessir, i tried it without the handles and it sufficed. But if i do end up putting some itll be my black siamomd screw lock. Im only 162# with all my clothes on it doesnt take much effort lol and i like the way this 7mm sterling grabs on the mammut, i wish i could use beeline bc of its heat resistant properties, but its just me being picky.

Ok, so at least you know your options. I have tried a lot of combinations of ropes and cords. And often i will actually tie the left and right sides with different materials and compare performance. Bottom line is that i find handles to make the system easier to operate. I basically only touch the carabiner handles. And although 7mm cord is an unusually large diameter cord for 8mm rope, the Sterling cord does work really well, although ya gotta break it in with a couple of moves and loads to get it set right. The last thing to consider is that you could easily convert these into soft bridge mode, but with one loop exposed. They are a little bit less prone to jamming. I never had a problem myself, but some climbers were putting too much load on em during rappel, when they should be just loose and floating down with an effortless tend. No need to switch unless you need to.

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[The_Fit_Ness_Monster]

Theyre im s

Ok, so at least you know your options. I have tried a lot of combinations of ropes and cords. And often i will actually tie the left and right sides with different materials and compare performance. Bottom line is that i find handles to make the system easier to operate. I basically only touch the carabiner handles. And although 7mm cord is an unusually large diameter cord for 8mm rope, the Sterling cord does work really well, although ya gotta break it in with a couple of moves and loads to get it set right. The last thing to consider is that you could easily convert these into soft bridge mode, but with one loop exposed. They are a little bit less prone to jamming. I never had a problem myself, but some climbers were putting too much load on em during rappel, when they should be just loose and floating down with an effortless tend. No need to switch unless you need to.

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Theyre in soft bridge mode as per that exact video lol but yeah ive never had a jamming problem, not enough a** and im scared sh**less of heights so i climb slow and methodically. Which is mostly why i love this system, its whats made me feel the safest by far.

 

[John RB]

Friends,
One of the things that I have learned from y'all out there in different parts of the planet is that not all trees and forests are as 'crotchy' as the ones I have here in Pennsylvania. If we can get a throwball over something, anything, even if its too high or not strong enough to hold us, how can we use that to somehow rig up a JRB doubled rope system and climb it? It was a self imposed requirement that I didn't want to change the system at all and I didn't want to tie any knots or have to pass the entire length of rope through anything (like creating a girth hitch with my entire climbing line.) In another recent video, I introduced a new soft shackle (Longhorn soft shackle), and here I am using it in a real world rigging scenario. Sure, the rigging and retrieval is a little more involved than a normal climb, and wouldn't be great in the dark, but if the tree will allow us to walk all the way around the base as demonstrated, this is a viable option.

If we want to climb this tree again in the same season and rig even easier, we can put in a false crotch and use that in the future. But that paracord isn't gonna go bad for a decade and as long as the tree doesn't grow a ton of new shoots and branches on the lower trunk, we can use that paracord to climb this tree again.

Bottom line is that I am going to continue to work on ways to work on refining this one JRB SYSTEM that can be used for multiple climbing METHODS, and basically make any tree climbable for us. We just adapt our method to the tree and situation at hand. My next challenge is bringing the HITCH Climbing System and the JRB Doubled Rope Systems back into a single, universal system. I have it working, just tweaking. I do love working on it, and it's nice to have your support and encouragement and get the feeling that I am helping ya climb and helping you do so as safely as possible. If there is stuff that is unclear or stuff you want to see in future videos, pls let me know. Cheers.

 

[bowhuntr09]

Very creative!!! That soft shackle appears to have a lot of uses.

 

[gcr0003]

Friends,
One of the things that I have learned from y'all out there in different parts of the planet is that not all trees and forests are as 'crotchy' as the ones I have here in Pennsylvania. If we can get a throwball over something, anything, even if its too high or not strong enough to hold us, how can we use that to somehow rig up a JRB doubled rope system and climb it? It was a self imposed requirement that I didn't want to change the system at all and I didn't want to tie any knots or have to pass the entire length of rope through anything (like creating a girth hitch with my entire climbing line.) In another recent video, I introduced a new soft shackle (Longhorn soft shackle), and here I am using it in a real world rigging scenario. Sure, the rigging and retrieval is a little more involved than a normal climb, and wouldn't be great in the dark, but if the tree will allow us to walk all the way around the base as demonstrated, this is a viable option.

If we want to climb this tree again in the same season and rig even easier, we can put in a false crotch and use that in the future. But that paracord isn't gonna go bad for a decade and as long as the tree doesn't grow a ton of new shoots and branches on the lower trunk, we can use that paracord to climb this tree again.

Bottom line is that I am going to continue to work on ways to work on refining this one JRB SYSTEM that can be used for multiple climbing METHODS, and basically make any tree climbable for us. We just adapt our method to the tree and situation at hand. My next challenge is bringing the HITCH Climbing System and the JRB Doubled Rope Systems back into a single, universal system. I have it working, just tweaking. I do love working on it, and it's nice to have your support and encouragement and get the feeling that I am helping ya climb and helping you do so as safely as possible. If there is stuff that is unclear or stuff you want to see in future videos, pls let me know. Cheers.

Very interesting idea. It’s neat that you were able to pull it up and get it unstuck at the same time with the same line. That’s invaluable.

 

[John RB]

Very interesting idea. It’s neat that you were able to pull it up and get it unstuck at the same time with the same line. That’s invaluable.

Somewhere in one of the threads here in SH, we were discussing it a few months back and one of our SRT buddies said he was doing basically the same thing with his SRT system and so even though I did think of it independently, it's not like others haven't done the same. I hope that person responds... I just forget who it was.

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[gcr0003]

Somewhere in one of the threads here in SH, we were discussing it a few months back and one of our SRT buddies said he was doing basically the same thing with his SRT system and so even though I did think of it independently, it's not like others haven't done the same. I hope that person responds... I just forget who it was.

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It’s one of those ideas that’s so simple you’re not surprised that someone else had the same idea. I’m looking forward to trying it out.

 

[deerfly]

This is great John. I also briefly tried raising a girth hitch on my own in a SRT context. I used a quick link through a sewn eye loop to form the girth hitch. I also didn't think about the paracord under the girth hitch to keep the hitch open as I raised it. So my attempts were doomed as the girth hitch tried to grab every time I tried to raise it. Only raised it a few feet and gave up. Never really thought about it much since, but as usual you have thought through all those details and came up with a workable and safe methodology. I will definitely start practicing this after the season ends in a few weeks for me.

 

[Brocky]

If there is a preset, why not just pull your rope up and over?

 

[deerfly]

If there is a preset, why not just pull your rope up and over?

I believe there were a couple of assumptions.

1) The preset limb was not significant enough to hold your weight

2) The preset may be too high, like 40'-50' and only 80' of climbing rope.

 

[Brocky]

1. Rethrow to get a better branch.
2. Bring a longer rope.

 

[John RB]

1. Rethrow to get a better branch.
2. Bring a longer rope.

Brocky, this scenario came from our friends in the southern pine forests who tell me that the first crotch might be a dead stub at 50ft and nobody carries that much rope. And its not viable. So i am just proving a rigging option for the 2 scenarios cited in the vid: 1. 1st viable crotch is higher than rope. 2. 1st crotch isn't viable and anything higher is too high.

It works for SRT as well. The use of the shackle was a self imposed constraint cuz i didn't wanna create a 50ft girth hitch, but i could do that as well and rig in a similar manner.

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[Brocky]

Take the rope around the trunk, taking the load off the dead branch.
Why is a longer rope not viable?

 

[John RB]

Take the rope around the trunk, taking the load off the dead branch.
Why is a longer rope not viable?

Sure, I just would need ya to show us how to rig that from the ground so that it leaves a horizontal and cinching anchor. I can obviously walk the rope around the tree and send up a running loop, but unless its as smooth as a flagpole, its gonna stop and get hung up with some serious sag, far short of a horizontal cinch. I wouldn't climb that.

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[deerfly]

I do SRT and girth hitch the trunk on those high pines. I carry 100' of throw line and 50' of oplux/resc tech. This allows me to get a good set in most situations in the 45' range.

However, as John mentioned there is some sag or elliptical in the girth hitch. I also use a friction ring so I can usually walk out and snap the rope to cinch it up a little tighter, but its never going to be a horizontal girth hitch. I'm fine with that but have to make a judgment on those setups and it typically comes down to whether the branch I hit is dead or alive and how thick it is. If its alive and at least a couple inches in diameter I'm ok with it as there won't be much pressure on the limb when girth hitched around the trunk. The limb is not doing much more than maintaining the hitch position on the trunk. If the limb is a bit sketchy or I can't get the hitch to cinch up to my liking I'll find another tree.

These high canopy sets are the exception for me too, maybe 5% or less do I need to deal with this. The rest of the time I could get by fine with 35-40' of climbing line

Anyway, using this hitch raising technique I could cut my climbing line down to 30'-35' and hunt the same high pines or similar hardwoods like sweet gum in my region that also tend to grow straight up with a high canopy. Even if I did a double rope as John demonstrated I could cut my double rope down from 90' to 60'. So I think the bulk and weight savings of forgoing the extra climbing line is worth giving this technique a try.

Also, if I get to where I'm comfortable with this then I would switch back to my 9mm sterling HTP ropes which are stiffer and have a harder sheath, more like a calf roping rope compared to oplux/resc tech. The HTP will be easier to raise on the trunk, even on rougher bark trees vs the softer/stickier ropes.

I really appreciate Johns relentless innovation with safety as the top priority too. Either way I will give this technique a fair trial.

 

[John RB]

I do SRT and girth hitch the trunk on those high pines. I carry 100' of throw line and 50' of oplux/resc tech. This allows me to get a good set in most situations in the 45' range.

However, as John mentioned there is some sag or elliptical in the girth hitch. I also use a friction ring so I can usually walk out and snap the rope to cinch it up a little tighter, but its never going to be a horizontal girth hitch. I'm fine with that but have to make a judgment on those setups and it typically comes down to whether the branch I hit is dead or alive and how thick it is. If its alive and at least a couple inches in diameter I'm ok with it as there won't be much pressure on the limb when girth hitched around the trunk. The limb is not doing much more than maintaining the hitch position on the trunk. If the limb is a bit sketchy or I can't get the hitch to cinch up to my liking I'll find another tree.

These high canopy sets are the exception for me too, maybe 5% or less do I need to deal with this. The rest of the time I could get by fine with 35-40' of climbing line

Anyway, using this hitch raising technique I could cut my climbing line down to 30'-35' and hunt the same high pines or similar hardwoods like sweet gum in my region that also tend to grow straight up with a high canopy. Even if I did a double rope as John demonstrated I could cut my double rope down from 90' to 60'. So I think the bulk and weight savings of forgoing the extra climbing line is worth giving this technique a try.

Also, if I get to where I'm comfortable with this then I would switch back to my 9mm sterling HTP ropes which are stiffer and have a harder sheath, more like a calf roping rope compared to oplux/resc tech. The HTP will be easier to raise on the trunk, even on rougher bark trees vs the softer/stickier ropes.

I really appreciate Johns relentless innovation with safety as the top priority too. Either way I will give this technique a fair trial.

Good commentary. And the only way to know for sure how much support that branch is supporting in that configuration would be for it to break and see what happens. I have simulated this by doing exactly that: carefully rigging over a tiny twig maybe 10 ft off the ground, setting it by rope tug only, attaching myself and jumping on it. My ass went straight to the ground. I wouldn't trust it.

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[deerfly]

Good commentary. And the only way to know for sure how much support that branch is supporting in that configuration would be for it to break and see what happens. I have simulated this by doing exactly that: carefully rigging over a tiny twig maybe 10 ft off the ground, setting it by rope tug only, attaching myself and jumping on it. My ass went straight to the ground. I wouldn't trust it.

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I do weigh the line hard several times on these high canopy twiggy twig setups before climbing. Again since I'm girth hitched around the trunk the only risk is maybe a few inches of creep if the girth hitch tightens up a little more under my full body weight, but I've never had that happen. I just recognize its a possibility.

 

[Brocky]

The choked rope loop will close up the closer you get to it, the change in the angle of the rope causes it to tighten. If there is another lower branch, or stub, climb up to it, lanyard in and reposition the climb line, and retighten as much as possible. It doesn’t have to be horizontally cinched, the JRB method of a double line is similar.