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The JRB Climbing Method

As far as storing your rope at height, I carry my rope in a canvas duck bag I made. Once at height, I clip the bag to my gear strap, pull my rope up and store it in the bag. That way it’s out of the way and less stuff swinging around attracting attention.


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I'm glad I saw this before I order a climbing line by the foot. The nerd in me wonders how high they were climbing and diameter of the tree.

I am interested in using John's climbing system. I hunt in KY and have never been in a situation to exceed my 40' rope girth hitched. I guess I hunt pretty low (25ish feet). My napkin math tells me that I would never need more than 80'. I might be missing something though.
You ain’t missing anything, sounds like you understand what you would need!
 
Trying out some more JRB recommendations. Seeing the best way to pack and unpack rope. Takes me about 5 mins to set up, 2 mins to climb, 30 seconds to come down, 5 mins to pack everything up. 67289456-98FD-4673-8954-A018EB3EFC55.jpeg18C8BCF9-EDB9-479F-908F-26BDEDD7A70E.jpeg
 
What ropes are recommended? I'm leaning toward some 8mm, but on a budget. I found a few polyester construction static ropes for decent prices. I know they won't pack like oplux or resc tech but are sure cheaper.

Yall got any recommendations?
 
What ropes are recommended? I'm leaning toward some 8mm, but on a budget. I found a few polyester construction static ropes for decent prices. I know they won't pack like oplux or resc tech but are sure cheaper.

Yall got any recommendations?
I really like this rope and this is a great deal.

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@Brocky,
One of the nice things about the JRB system is ya can tie the two sides differently with different hitches or different cords and see what performs better, particularly when using my "double shove" technique to push up the hitches... and when breaking under load. I am experimenting with the Robline Coppa 5.5 mm vs the 6mm Sterling TRC. Mostly with a Michoacán (pictured) or Double Michoacán but also tried some other things including a novel friction hitch I have been working on. It's too early to pick a winner but I do believe the sheath of the TRC will outlast the Coppa. Oh, and can I get you to check out my friction hitch privately before i publish it? No rush. I am still tweaking....
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The Marlatt, a slight modification of the Autobloc Hitch, works very well with something to keep it from sliding. An overhand for the middle knot, scaffold, and Girth Hitch are some I have tried. Slides up and hand tends every easy and grabs reliably if carabiner is turned upside down, for an HMS type carabiner.
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The Marlatt, a slight modification of the Autobloc Hitch, works very well with something to keep it from sliding. An overhand for the middle knot, scaffold, and Girth Hitch are some I have tried. Slides up and hand tends every easy and grabs reliably if carabiner is turned upside down, for an HMS type carabiner.
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Ok, that's definitely the KIND of thing i am looking for, but ideally what i want is a friction hitch where the "handle" is optional, meaning that the friction hitch functions with or without the Carabiner. However, when the Carabiner is there, it can be gripped during ascent and sustain a minor load, and do so whether or not the friction hitch itself is loaded or unloaded.

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Maybe a different way of connecting to the carabiner, rather than a different hitch is a simpler path. The first hitch below is like the previous two above in that they can be pushed up with the carabiner. The rest are ones to park and able to clip to easily. The Prusik has the stopper knot at the top and pulling on the knotte end releases it, an unexpected option probably can be used with most hitches.
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@LoadedLimbs asked me the details of my current Garda hitch footloop in a different thread but I'm going to reply here just for anyone else following the developments on my method. I promise I will film another video as soon as possible. If I can get a camera operator, this weekend.

Ok. Nothing motivates me more than somebody who needs some information. I just walked in the door and snapped these pictures for you. In the original Footloop Utube video, I built a shorter foot Loop but later integrated my redundancy into the Garda hitch and so I need it longer. We need it long enough such that if we were to fall onto it with the integrated best friend, that we can still step up on it. In the original video, i went a little bit overboard by tying a figure 8 knot AND an overhand knot. But I wanted to error on the side of safety. Since that time, I have been testing out 2 designs. The first one uses a length of webbing which is twice your height, or approximately 12 feet for me. The second one is 2 feet longer or 14 feet for me. In both, I formed the bull hitch variant exactly as on the video starting about 6 in from the center. In the shorter variant, I closed it with just a single overhand knot capturing for strands in creating two identical loops, one in the other. In the longer variant, I create two overhand knots in series. Obviously, two is more secure than one, but even with one, it has never budged even a little bit. Be aware, that I do not consider the foot Loop to be a life-sustaining part of the system. It is used in transition only and so the foot Loops don't need to hold two thousand pounds. They just need to hold our body weight reliably. If it ever were to slip, it really doesn't affect us because we are always tied in. Nevertheless, we want it to be stable. The finished product with my foot in the loop is such that the top of the beaner is exactly the height of my belly button. In the photos, the one with the lighter color webbing and one overhand knot is polyester. The darker one with two overhand knots is nylon. Nylon is thinner, makes a more compact knot, and I believe it's less reflective to a deer's sensitive eyes, and is my slight preference, but it's really close. Ok now, the "best friend" is simply a piece of 8 mm cord. It has a clove hitch on the Garda beaners. 48 inches is probably a good length to cut. I shortened mine down to 40 in after fine-tuning. That clips into my redundant Bridge like I demonstrate on my climbing videos. I will explain this better when I do the next video, but the entire point of the best friend system is that if one or both of our friction hitches were to slide down, that we would be hanging safely from the best friend loop on the Garda. Ok, but then what? We would be stuck there if we didn't have a way out. Self rescue and self repair is no problem. This is when we would tie a new friction hitch, using which ever strand of cord survived or whatever extra cordage we brought with us for an emergency. The easiest way down is to Simply tie a klemheist around both strands of rope. But in order to load it, we'll need to make sure our foot Loop is long enough to step up onto it. And so when you build your foot Loop and you tie your best friend, it's a good idea to break your friction hitches until you are completely hanging on the best friend. And then simply try to see if you can recover. Step into the foot Loop and push your friction hitches back up. If you can't do that, you might need a little longer foot Loop or shorter best friend loop.
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Hey John,my accessory cord finally arrived and I tied two double mich hitches for the Jrb hitch method and the saddle hunter hitch climbing. What a revelation those are. So easy to break under load,amazing. I tied the short Garda foot loop and have to work on the longer version so I can employ the best friend. I don't have one piece of webbing 14' long,so I think I will join two and try it that way. I also rigged my rope with the boat clips and have to say I like both systems. I still have to practice more to become more efficient but I like it a lot so far.
 
Hey John,my accessory cord finally arrived and I tied two double mich hitches for the Jrb hitch method and the saddle hunter hitch climbing. What a revelation those are. So easy to break under load,amazing. I tied the short Garda foot loop and have to work on the longer version so I can employ the best friend. I don't have one piece of webbing 14' long,so I think I will join two and try it that way. I also rigged my rope with the boat clips and have to say I like both systems. I still have to practice more to become more efficient but I like it a lot so far.
Ok, well 12 ft is enough for the long footloop with one overhand knot to close it. Let me know if you have questions

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Hey @Brocky .... what do think?

7.1mm, but it's RATED as a half rope. With my new friction hitch... this could be incredible. And fit in a saddle bag...


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Hey @Brocky .... what do think?

7.1mm, but it's RATED as a half rope. With my new friction hitch... this could be incredible. And fit in a saddle bag...


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Following.


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I wonder how it will wear being used for climbing, not to fall on, it’s intended purpose. There isn’t much strength reserve being only maybe 12-13kN, and only nylon, which doesn’t give much cut resistance either. And the rope doesn’t have any redundancy in your system if one of the two sections were to be compromised.
 
I wonder how it will wear being used for climbing, not to fall on, it’s intended purpose. There isn’t much strength reserve being only maybe 12-13kN, and only nylon, which doesn’t give much cut resistance either. And the rope doesn’t have any redundancy in your system if one of the two sections were to be compromised.
That is one of the hardest things in life,knowing when to stop and call things good enough. I do appreciate the info John is putting out there,it is very helpful for a 2nd year climber like me.
I am trying to slim my setup down some by ditching my backpack. I have a sling pack for fly fishing and I think that will hold all I need if I carry my rope on my back. I will report back...
Keep up the good work fellas.
 
I wonder how it will wear being used for climbing, not to fall on, it’s intended purpose. There isn’t much strength reserve being only maybe 12-13kN, and only nylon, which doesn’t give much cut resistance either. And the rope doesn’t have any redundancy in your system if one of the two sections were to be compromised.
Hey. Thx for your reply. I didn't see a breaking strength spec, did you? Regardless, it is RATED as a double and twin rope. In a tree climb, when a 200 lb person is on a doubled strand which goes up and over a crotch, the tension on the rope is approximately 100 lbs at all locations on the rope including in the crotch. In my opinion, in a no slack system like JRB, the absolute minimum rope breaking strength is a minimum of 10x the load. Ideally its >20. I am betting this IS >20, but would need a static breaking strength spec to be sure. After seeing the kinds of force we need to BREAK a climbing rated half rope with my own eyes, i feel incredibly safe on a rated half rope.
Did ya see this vid?

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