I doubt this is an original idea, but had it today so wanted to discuss.
why are we not using alpine butterfly knots for our tethers/rapelling instead of a quick link/more complicated exploding hitches? Basically you get to height by whatever preferred method you have, tie an alpine butterfly in the middle of the rope, pass one end around the tree and through the loop, and tether/rappel from that end, and then when you're back on the ground, simply pull from the other end to get the rope out of the tree. No quick link or exploding hitch required. I don't see the knot getting caught up in limbs or crotches either because the knot is on the "pull down" side, and the tag end (that was connected to your saddle or rappel device) gets pulled up through it.
I feel like I just blew my own mind with how simple this could be, potential issues with this idea are:
- loose/dangling tag ends (could be stowed relatively easily)
-weighting the wrong tag end accidentally?
-passing limbs not easy, as you'd need to completely undo to pass limbs
- need to take everything off the rope when done rappelling (not really an issue as this is likely best rope management anyway)?
-To hunt 20 feet off the ground you need roughly 45 feet of rope (like most double rope systems I think?)
What other potential problems could there be with this idea/why isn't it a somewhat common idea already (or is it and there's already threads discussing the pros/cons)?
why are we not using alpine butterfly knots for our tethers/rapelling instead of a quick link/more complicated exploding hitches? Basically you get to height by whatever preferred method you have, tie an alpine butterfly in the middle of the rope, pass one end around the tree and through the loop, and tether/rappel from that end, and then when you're back on the ground, simply pull from the other end to get the rope out of the tree. No quick link or exploding hitch required. I don't see the knot getting caught up in limbs or crotches either because the knot is on the "pull down" side, and the tag end (that was connected to your saddle or rappel device) gets pulled up through it.
I feel like I just blew my own mind with how simple this could be, potential issues with this idea are:
- loose/dangling tag ends (could be stowed relatively easily)
-weighting the wrong tag end accidentally?
-passing limbs not easy, as you'd need to completely undo to pass limbs
- need to take everything off the rope when done rappelling (not really an issue as this is likely best rope management anyway)?
-To hunt 20 feet off the ground you need roughly 45 feet of rope (like most double rope systems I think?)
What other potential problems could there be with this idea/why isn't it a somewhat common idea already (or is it and there's already threads discussing the pros/cons)?