Earlybird31
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- May 29, 2019
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- 69
Will the sladder be difficult to release on pine trees?
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Whats up with the 'Sladder Climbing system"?
- Thread starter DMTJAGER
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2018
- Messages
- 1,981
Agreed. I've used mechanical devices and this is the smoothest and simplest decent I've tried. Practice makes it second nature. I add a prusik or klemheist to the tag end (end headed to the ground) and below the super/monster munter hitch and clip both ends of the prusik or klemheist to my linesman belt attachment loop (left or right depending on dexterity) for more control. Clip your pulldown rope to the knot next to your quick link and away you go.
I like this guy's tutorial for the super/monster munter. All I do differently is add the friction hitch below it (klemheist or prusik) and clip into my linesman belt attachment loop with an extra carabiner.
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So a few weeks ago I ran across this thread, never really looked at it till yesterday. Then I actually remembered to watch some YT vids when I got home last night. I jumped on the presale and ordered one. Pretty excited to try this out.
I am assuming so, but are the extension daisy chains just a standard daisy or is there something else to them? Thinking of ordering this before sale ends tonight, but I already have 1/8" amsteel sitting around and would rather use that than buying more. I'm pretty sure I will need them, because I don't really have too many of those skinny, power pole looking trees. TIA!
Earlybird31
Member
- Joined
- May 29, 2019
- Messages
- 69
Tried my new Sladder yesterday. I used a tether while going up as I feel much more comfortable when attached to the tree above me. It's definitely a well-made product. I ran it up a smooth bark hardwood tree behind my neighborhood right before dark. My biggest issue is getting my feet into the rungs. It was previously mentioned that you want to get your foot as deep as possible into the first rung to force the remaining rungs to separate from the tree more. I tried this, but as I climbed and approached the top of the aider I found it very difficult to get my last few steps into the the rungs sufficient enough to step up. I have wide feet and cannot bend them like a ballerina, so I found this to be extremely difficult. I'm trying not to overreact to this as I realize that most climbing methods have a learning curve, but on the first try, I was not comfortable getting my feet set in the aider. When I finally got high enough to get my feet into the stirrups, I realized that I had positioned myself too high and was not able to reach the ladder below me to pull it up, release, and attach it over my head. I'm certain I can remedy this by learning how to position my tether before switching over.
Before I think about using this thing in the dark before a hunt, I'll need to get comfortable with getting my feet in the aider and positioning my feet to allow for separation between the device and the tree. I had short boots on that had some grip, but the rungs would not hold well and near the top, there was very little room to place my foot. The gentleman who uses the device in the videos appears to only use the very tip of his foot on the last rung, which to me seems problematic. I'm gonna try it again this evening with some different boots and maybe slow down and try to manually pull the device away from the tree before placing my foot. This will definitely slow me down, but I'm never in a hurry. I'm a 2TC guy so I've certainly had to get accustomed to new climbing methods in the past, but so far it has been tough and I felt much less secure moving up the tree. I only went one switch over up and then decided to rappel down because I didn't want the **** to hit the fan at a greater height.
I can definitely see how the footwear plays a role. I often wear Yoder chaps with boots to allow me to cross creeks, but that may not be feasible if I don't develop some Fred Astaire footwork in the near future. For now, it's a method "under development" but I'm certainly not ready to get to hunting height in 3 minutes in the dark with cold feet. To be continued.......
Before I think about using this thing in the dark before a hunt, I'll need to get comfortable with getting my feet in the aider and positioning my feet to allow for separation between the device and the tree. I had short boots on that had some grip, but the rungs would not hold well and near the top, there was very little room to place my foot. The gentleman who uses the device in the videos appears to only use the very tip of his foot on the last rung, which to me seems problematic. I'm gonna try it again this evening with some different boots and maybe slow down and try to manually pull the device away from the tree before placing my foot. This will definitely slow me down, but I'm never in a hurry. I'm a 2TC guy so I've certainly had to get accustomed to new climbing methods in the past, but so far it has been tough and I felt much less secure moving up the tree. I only went one switch over up and then decided to rappel down because I didn't want the **** to hit the fan at a greater height.
I can definitely see how the footwear plays a role. I often wear Yoder chaps with boots to allow me to cross creeks, but that may not be feasible if I don't develop some Fred Astaire footwork in the near future. For now, it's a method "under development" but I'm certainly not ready to get to hunting height in 3 minutes in the dark with cold feet. To be continued.......
They are not just a standard daisy chain. They are spliced so that they create half-moon shaped loops - so one strand is the main, straight line, then the other strand uses a bit more length per loop to form that half-moon shape (see pic below to see what I mean).
I spliced my own and it isn’t hard to do but you have to make sure you pass each strand through the other in the correct order or else they’ll just pull the slack out of the loop before it. Don’t ask me how I learned that!….
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I had a little bit of that issue on my 1st couple of climbs but I found a cure that helped me.
Yeah, start with the bottom foot as deep into the step as possible. But instead of trying to step right onto the next step, I would brace that upper foot against the tree just slightly above the rung. While doing that, I could use that leverage to push my bottom leg out away from the tree slightly and doing that would open up more room to get my top foot onto the rung better. I was kinda moving the sladder away from the tree before I was trying to do that 2nd step, and so on.
I will say that I think the top step will probably seldom be used. The 2nd to the top step is plenty high enough to step into the stirrups.
I'm in a similar boat in that I have big feet. What I find works best for me is to turn my foot to the outside slightly in order to get my foot on the rung, then turn my toe to the tree. That may not be the best description, but see if that makes sense. The first movement up is a bit more difficult than the following movements up because you are starting from the ground and going up 5-6 steps initially, then 4-5 steps on the following movements. In Grayskwerel's videos, he talks about bending your foot up so the rung is more towards the heel, then pulling the rung back slightly with your foot to create that gap... unfortunately, I don't have that flexibility so I slip my big foot in from the side like I mentioned above.
I also use the tether and will let it out slightly before I have to bend down to pick up the Sladder to move it up.
Hope this helps.
It's the same concept when climbing rock faces with an etrier.
Mopar1169
Well-Known Member
I got my shipping notification today. Gonna play around with it during the midday out in Minnesota see what I think of it. I just went with a Kong oka and some rescue tech for rapel. Give me something to do when I am bored. The more I looked at it I figured there is some places I go that it could be useful. Doubt I will be ditching the sticks though, I go up some pretty thick messes sometimes and I can't see all that webbing playing nice pulling through a bunch of branches.
Alrighty, so I've had some time to play with this and think about it, and I'm sold! Initially, I was kinda upset that I have the 8' (I can touch about 7'6" with my fingertips) and wished I had the 7' that I originally ordered (and switched at the recommendation of @grayskwerel). Now I'm pretty happy with the 8' for a few various personal reasons, with the primary reason being the slack in the system after the first move is made. I still wish that I had a 7' to test next to it, but I'm not buying another one yet just to test. I can see this becoming my primary method based on efficiency and packability. I have yet to test on a tree like a hickory or one with many branches (but those pose lineman's belt issues anyway, so not a deal-breaker). I have only climbed with the extensions on, whether I needed them or not, and I've tested on both size trees, and I've had no issues. However, I do wish that I had a single set of 5' daisy chains (which would cover +90% of my climbing) and maybe a 2-2.5' set of extensions. Very well built and functioning! You will want to be comfortable and trust your saddle before I would recommend these without reservation to anyone, but these will probably replace my WEI Stepps as my go-to for "scout hunts" where I don't know where I'm going to end up. Kudos to @grayskwerel!
you should make a video!
I wish I had the time lol. I actually used to film hunting a lot. Some of my stuff was actually to be used in shows/ads... I didn't want to deal with it on a pro "job" level and continued for a few years as a hobby, and actually put together a bunch of hunts, edited by me, that I'm just sitting on...
First hunt with the Sladder this morning. No hiccups at all and worked as smooth as I could have hoped! Complete loadout was 16lbs. including everything except my bow, water, clothes, and binos.
Looking for some help.
I'm having trouble with slippage today. The practice tree is a small-ish shagbark hickory that's just a shade too large to do the double wrap, and it would probably be better if the usable loop in the daisy chain could make the daisy just a bit tighter, but I guess we have to work with whatever dimensions we are faced with. The bark of shagbark hickory is extremely hard and I suspect that bark composition is part of the equation.
But time after time, I would lose at least a foot in vertical placement of the daisy chain. I'd reach up above my head and attach the ladder, hook the daisy and pull down to set it. Each time it slips down the tree a little more than I'd like. I even had some additional slip when I'd put my full body weight onto the sladder.
Any advice to minimize slipping on smaller, hard bark trees?
I suspect that there's just going to be particular trees that may be difficult. If the tree were slightly larger, it may not be an issue. But with this exact size tree, it too small to get a good bight/friction, but at the same time, it's too large for a double wrap.
Anyone else experience this?
I'm having trouble with slippage today. The practice tree is a small-ish shagbark hickory that's just a shade too large to do the double wrap, and it would probably be better if the usable loop in the daisy chain could make the daisy just a bit tighter, but I guess we have to work with whatever dimensions we are faced with. The bark of shagbark hickory is extremely hard and I suspect that bark composition is part of the equation.
But time after time, I would lose at least a foot in vertical placement of the daisy chain. I'd reach up above my head and attach the ladder, hook the daisy and pull down to set it. Each time it slips down the tree a little more than I'd like. I even had some additional slip when I'd put my full body weight onto the sladder.
Any advice to minimize slipping on smaller, hard bark trees?
I suspect that there's just going to be particular trees that may be difficult. If the tree were slightly larger, it may not be an issue. But with this exact size tree, it too small to get a good bight/friction, but at the same time, it's too large for a double wrap.
Anyone else experience this?
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2020
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Are you using a tether or a linesman’s to climb?
Linesman. But tether or LB wouldn't have anything to do with slippage.
I did experiment with both tether and LB, and I realized that I get a better reach with a LB because I can stand almost vertical if I draw the LB more tight to the tree. Also, with a tether, it tends to attach to the tree about the same spot that I'd need to attach the sladder. The tether gets in the way of advancing the sladder.
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2020
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I was asking @bowhunthard88, since he just did a morning hunt so I assume climbed with it in the dark. It looks way easier to climb with linesman’s but I’m curious about how that goes in the dark.
But it’s good feedback on one vs the other, thanks.
I don’t know about slippage, I suspect it’s a matter of just some trees, it’s gonna happen, like you said..
I kinda think that it was several factors colliding. Tree was almost too small to get good friction/bite, and too large to make the double wrap.
I realize that longer daisy chain can be a little fumbly, but I think an extra foot would have helped IN MY SITUATION.
Regardless...haha, I felt like I was taking a big risk out there today. Very windy and had hickory nuts and black walnuts slamming the ground all around me.
I've narrowly missed being hit by walnuts over the years but I have been hit with hickory nuts falling from 100 feet...it hurts.