The more difficult part is this: the rest of your system should also be capable of arresting a fall. Friction hitches and mechanical devices are not supposed to be in fall arrest systems. That's why rock climbers tie a figure 8 directly to their harness. That's gonna need to be a separate conversation
I asked this question in several forms over the last year or two. NO ONE is asking this question. As I understand it, arborists and lineman will use devices attached to their main line, and not be tied directly to it. They use static rope, and don't introduce much in the way of slack, or have a backup connection when they do. We have members who can expand on this.
Any discipline where there is slack introduced during the climb, think rock climbing, they're tying in directly, and use dynamic rope.
I am all for focusing on details and taking these conversations seriously. Saying "if you fall 1-3 feet on your saddle will make you stop caring which flavor rope you chose very quickly" is not being general or ignoring details that might matter.
Yes, rope that will absorb fall force is "better" in a vacuum. The lack of saddle/tree/one stick climbing testing is not because it's an unknown frontier though - it's because we know that introducing slack and generating these types of fall factors are quite dangerous to your health.
The recommendation to have a buddy pull the trap door and test it out yourself isn't a joke. If someone designed the perfect test and proved that you have a high probability of injury falling 12" on a 4' tether even with dynamic rope, you'd still be able to pick apart the test introducing a million variables. "I ain't never seen no plants growing out of no toilet!"
This is a very simple test for the folks who don't believe that the general consensus is serious/detailed enough: Have a friend pull a pin on a platform(replace your bolt) for you. Wear padding if you like. Have a landing pad. Do all you can to protect yourself. Fall a couple inches first. Use dynamic rope. Work your way up on fall distance and factor. Let us know how it goes. My guess is you're going to stop falling on purpose at a much shorter slack distance than what you normally introduce while one stick climbing.
The response is "yeh but it's better to have extra protection, why not use dynamic rope." Besides rope longevity/integrity, sure, the upside is there. If the question you're asking is "what are all the things I can do to minimize risk", dynamic rope probably is in the list of options. But if you're asking "can I introduce a bunch of slack while one stick climbing and not get hurt bad when I fall because I bought a bright blue rope instead of a tan one" - you're probably not going to like the results. Anyone saying "don't fall" or "the difference won't be noticeable and not worth it" - they're answering folks asking the second question, whether they know that's what they're really asking or not.
