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Why don't yall 2TC? - ultralight rope technique

If I decide to buy new rope for the top tether what rope do y’all suggest if I can find the 3/16” fiber coated fish tape? Any I buy will probably come from Eastern Woods. But I can buy from any source recommended. Thanks for your help.
 
Old Man Hunter said:
If I decide to buy new rope for the top tether what rope do y’all suggest if I can find the 3/16” fiber coated fish tape? Any I buy will probably come from Eastern Woods. But I can buy from any source recommended. Thanks for your help.
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The easiest ropes i know to add a tether too are Samson predator either 11mm or 8mm, and the ultratech 7.9mm.
All three have a simple braided core.
Of those 3, Ultratech is the least likely to snag the core, but also a little harder to put the sheath back on but not by much.
Canyon C-IV definitely works and I like the sheath the best but you'll have to be comfortable with removing the core on just the parts you add the cable too.
I just made my most recent video to explain it all.
And yes, I personally trust the 3/16" fishtape from Harbor freight now after my latest tests.
 
Old Man Hunter said:
Yeah after I posted I saw it might be the flat fish tape. I searched some more finding a few metal with the coating and some fiberglass with the coating. What diameter is best for replacing the core in ropes. I think I have canyon c4. I might take a long linesman I made up and try it first then replace the core if I decide to. Also is it best to do both ropes in the 2 TC system?
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Old Man Hunter said:
If I decide to buy new rope for the top tether what rope do y’all suggest if I can find the 3/16” fiber coated fish tape? Any I buy will probably come from Eastern Woods. But I can buy from any source recommended. Thanks for your help.
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I have only stiffened Canyon C-IV. As Samcirrus says, there is that extra step of removing the core, and you need to be careful doing that to make sure you pull on the right filaments/threads. I practiced on a couple foot section a couple of times first. But once you find the core and get it started it pulls out real easily and then you are ready to insert cable of fish tape. Eastern Woods has a great price right now on Canyon C-IV at $1.38/foot if you decide to go that route.

For hitch cord, I have had good results using Bluewater 7mm accessory cord on my Canyon C-IV that I get from REI in a 30' package for $15 which is about a third the price of 6mm TRC. And I use a lot of cord since I have two modified Better Tether Hitches to girth hitch tethers to tree, and then my hitches for carabiner/bridge, and foot loop so a less expensive option is nice. And I find it bites well. It is also orange or blue which contrasts well with my light tan colored Canyon C-IV, and I really like that contrast as easy to see the hitches vs the rope and visually confirm everyting is in order in low light hunting conditions. I have also used 6mm TRC on my Canyon C-IV and I find it bites too hard after the cord and rope get used and a little grimy, and makes it hard to move the hitch up and down the tether. .

Not sure if you handle of Old Man Hunter means you are old, but I turn 60 next week and just started 2TC last year so I encourage you to keep trying.
 
Thanks guys for the information and yes the handle does reflect my age some. I’m 67 years young but very active. I work out 2 or 3 times a week. Deer and turkey hunt in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. I think some of my 2TC trials that were unsuccessful were due to incorrect ropes and possibly the fact I’ve had a knee and hip replacement in the past. These replacements don’t affect me any really except for some ability to step as high as I want on my right side hip replacement side. So smaller moves with the system might be better. My plan is to set up my ropes soon after the new year and start practicing so that by next deer season I can drop the sticks.
I have a rappel rope of CIV that I might butcher to try pulling the core from a short section of the tail. If that works it’s on to buying the replacement materials for the stiffening process.
Again thanks for your help.
 
Some typically arborist’s hitch cords that have a braided core and loosely braided cover that could be used to stiffen. These are the cheaper ones available at Arbsession.
The top two are Tendon’s Timber, two different cover colors, next is Viper, then Veritas, HRC, and the only one not 8 mm is 9.3 mm EpiCord, the 8 mm Epi has a tighter cover.
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Also Beeline.
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Samcirrus said:
I was looking back to see who had suggested the fishtape....and it was you!
AND NOW I understand why you said yours broke when you got excited and stuffed it in your pouch.....you removed the plastic coating which is the large diameter part of the fishtape and what helps it be strong and stiff!!!!!
See I've been trying to break it when it's inside the rope and I can't......and even when it's outside the rope it only really deform when putting alot of pressure at a 180° bend.....
But I can definitely Crack the very thin inner fiberglass when it's pulled out!
Fiberglass and carbon are very weak in shear especially at small diameters....
But when it's inside the flexible plastic sheath its not going to break! And with the rope around it providing radius enlargement protection, I have tried every possible position in the saddle even in the cold and it's held up great!
You and @atwoodnative should try making a tether with the whole thing and not just the fiberglass part! Trust me the 3/16" will easily fit inside your rope....and it'll be much stiffer!
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Old Man Hunter said:
Thanks guys for the information and yes the handle does reflect my age some. I’m 67 years young but very active. I work out 2 or 3 times a week. Deer and turkey hunt in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. I think some of my 2TC trials that were unsuccessful were due to incorrect ropes and possibly the fact I’ve had a knee and hip replacement in the past. These replacements don’t affect me any really except for some ability to step as high as I want on my right side hip replacement side. So smaller moves with the system might be better. My plan is to set up my ropes soon after the new year and start practicing so that by next deer season I can drop the sticks.
I have a rappel rope of CIV that I might butcher to try pulling the core from a short section of the tail. If that works it’s on to buying the replacement materials for the stiffening process.
Again thanks for your help.
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Here are a couple tips on pulling core. Once you pull back outer sheath create a little bulge in the weave by compressing rope. Then use a narrow pointed tool to push some strands of the outer weave apart to see the core. It is hard to see as all strands are white so you can accidentally grab a strand of outer weave. . I just tried the trick of coloring outer weave with a sharpie and that really helped me avoid grabbing it. See photos.
 
atwoodnative said:
Here are a couple tips on pulling core. Once you pull back outer sheath create a little bulge in the weave by compressing rope. Then use a narrow pointed tool to push some strands of the outer weave apart to see the core. It is hard to see as all strands are white so you can accidentally grab a strand of outer weave. . I just tried the trick of coloring outer weave with a sharpie and that really helped me avoid grabbing it. See photos.
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Old Man Hunter said:
Thanks guys for the information and yes the handle does reflect my age some. I’m 67 years young but very active. I work out 2 or 3 times a week. Deer and turkey hunt in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. I think some of my 2TC trials that were unsuccessful were due to incorrect ropes and possibly the fact I’ve had a knee and hip replacement in the past. These replacements don’t affect me any really except for some ability to step as high as I want on my right side hip replacement side. So smaller moves with the system might be better. My plan is to set up my ropes soon after the new year and start practicing so that by next deer season I can drop the sticks.
I have a rappel rope of CIV that I might butcher to try pulling the core from a short section of the tail. If that works it’s on to buying the replacement materials for the stiffening process.
Again thanks for your help.
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I just made a stiffened tether with Canyon C-IV and the fish tape from Harbor Freight. I took a few pictures of pulling the core from the C-IV in addition to the ones from my post above. The core is a twisted strand made up of four smaller strands. When I was trying to tease out the core I only caught 2 of the 4 strands at first, and had to keep teasing to get the other 2. So make sure you get all 4 of them.
 

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I compared the stiffened tether I made tonight using Canyon C-IV and 3/16" fish tape from Harbor Freight with my two other stiffened tethers and unstiffened Canyon C-IV. I took a 60" section of each and formed a loop which was about a 19" diameter loop. Results:
1. Stiffened with 3/16" fish tape: The loop sagged about 3-4 inches from horizontal.
2. Stiffened with 1/8" 1x19 cable with heat shrink: The loop sagged about 5-6 inches from horizontal. As a reminder, Samcirrus uses a little thicker 1x19 cable, which may provide more stiffness and less sag, but all I could find locally was the 1/8"
3. Stiffened with 5/32" 7x7 cable with heat shrink: The loop sagged about 8-12 inches from horizontal.
4. Unstiffened: The loop is somewhat horizontal for about 6 inches where I hold the rope, but beyond that the rope just hangs vertically.

In general, less sag means less contact with the trunk, which means less catching on the bark, which means easier to move the tether up and down the tree. I have not actually tried the fish tape stiffened tether on a tree, but I suspect I will notice the improvement, but not as much as the improvement I noticed when using the 1x19 cable vs the 7x7 cable.

I hate to just throw away the spool that the fish tape comes on, and I noticed that the brand name of the spool of fish tape is "Doyle". So I thought about using the spool to make my owner version of a Doyle's Hoist. What do you think?
 

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Here's a way to add a inside loop to a stiffened tether so you can use a Carabiner in the "Bloodgood hitch"....

 
krub6b said:
seems like you should add a jrb end loop to the tag end of that tether and hook that to you carabiner to eliminate the possibility of dropping it
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The black tape denotes how and where I would have terminated the rope, but this is a test one so I didn't want to cut it.
 
Fish tape update. I had stiffened my Canyon C-IV using the fish tape from Harbor Freight as discussed in above posts. I have now hunted with that stiffened tether a good 15 times and mostly pros to the fish tape, but one serious con. The pros are it is lighter and a hair stiffer than the 1x19 cable, and it coils nicely. The serious con is that it has memory issues, especially when it is in its coiled storage state in cold weather for a period of time. I have it stored in about a 7-8 inch coil in my pack. When I take it out of the pack to use, the coils open up to a larger diameter, but it still remains in somewhat of a coil instead of being a straight rope. This creates a few issues. One is that on bigger trees, it is hard to whip the tether around the back of the tree to reach it with my other hand as the coils do not let it whip very well. Second issue is that when I put my platform on, and whip my platform rope around the tree, it sometimes captures the coiled tether as the coil causes the tether to wrap behind the tree. Twice I put my platform on only to find out my tether was captured behind the platform rope as i resumed my climb, so I had to climb down, undo platform rope and do it over again. As I sit in the tree during my hunt, the coils slowly loosen due to gravity, especially in warmer weather, but the tether never totally hangs straight down. Have other people had this issue?
 
this isn't a strict 2tc question, but rather than start a new thread:
has anyone used a platform with steps on an OCB? Obviously the platform has to attach via OCB and not through a cleat. I am not finding many options other than the OOAL pre-set solo (https://outonalimbmfg.com/pre-set-solo/).

I find my ameristeps uncomfortable on long sits as I am mostly a leaner; my feet get pressure points in the ball or heel as I stand and lean. I'm considering adding a platform on the OCB with 2 steps on either side for greater comfort while still having mobility around tree.
 
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