Ice For Friction Hitch

[RIVERRAT]

I would like some thoughts on Ice friction cord with Aramid. How does it compare to my old stand by HRC.
When I buy stuff thats needed I buy in large quantity & this Ice is almost 1/2 the price.

 

[bonner1040]

I tried ice at Davey. The sewn splices didn't work well with the hc pulley

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk

 

[pete mctree]

Ice contains aramid fibres? Your coming through garbled Rat.
How did the sewn eyes affect hitch function Bonner?

 

[JoshINtrees]

I've used it and liked it.

 

[pete mctree]

Does it heat-up & burn your fingers like tennex ?

 

[JoshINtrees]

Not on any tree around here.

 

[bonner1040]

How did the sewn eyes affect hitch function Bonner?

They were too stiff and too long. I connect my hitch to the biner in the bottom hole of the Hitch Climber, the same one I connect to my rope bridge. The spliced eye of my rope, or the anchor bend if i dont have a splice goes to a biner in the top hole. (pretty sure this is the standard setup most people use) The splices from the ICE cord wont lay flat and bowed out at this crazy angle.

I dont know that it is ICE cord in general, or even sewn eyes in general; but the ICE that I had with the sewn eyes, from Sherrill presumably, just didnt work for me. I usually use beeline with hand spliced eyes.

Does it heat-up & burn your fingers like tennex ?

Never got that far. Tied it, didnt like the way it lay and switched back to my Beeline. The Beeline definitly doesnt burn my fingers, the rope can burn you, if you let it run past your fingers, but the hitch itself definitely doesnt in my experience.


This is the one that didnt work well:
http://www.sherrilltree.com/Profess...zzly-Spliced-8mm-Ice-Eye-2-Eye-Tail-6-lengths

They do offer a sewn version. So FWIW after some more research my message is that the grizzly splice was no good for me with my HC pulley, but the sewn ICE might be just fine.

 

[Husabud]

Isn't Ice self abraisive? I am not sure, but thought I read somewhere that it will eventually cut itself to pieces.

 

[JoshINtrees]

I never had trouble with it.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Isn't Ice self abraisive? I am not sure, but thought I read somewhere that it will eventually cut itself to pieces.

I was wondering. I thought that I read that somewhere. I have some, and its been okay. The self-abrasion is a concern for me.

 

[treesmith]

How exactly does it abrade itself? If tied in a friction hitch, be it a VT, XT, Schwabish, Icicle, whatever, there is no friction on itself, is there? I don't see any. My Icicle hitch is just like a Schwabish...several wraps around the standing part, and two locked brummel eyes on a 'biner. Could someone elaborate on this idea of self-abrasion?

 

[SouthSoundTree]

I think that is the fibers themselves, not the hitch cord as a whole grinding/ abrading another whole thickness of the hitch cord. Like using a rope with a bunch of sand in it, the micro movements of the sand and fibers are abrasive.

Use of the wrong material in bridges had lead to some failures and/ or near failures, IIRC.

Someone please correct me if I have the idea wrong.

 

[treesmith]

That makes sense (I guess), but I like Ice. I make up my own I2Is, so I can cull and replace them as necessary. I've been wanting to try Beeline, but I like spliced eyes and Bee isn't as easy to splice as Ice.

 

[Burnham]

Ice has a completely different hand, compared to HRC. It's a lot more flexible and soft. I find it much grabbier in a hitch that HRC. Not my favorite tresse cord, and I like HRC pretty well...going on that, I'd say you might not get on with it all that well.

 

[RIVERRAT]

Ice contains aramid fibres?

Yes it contains Aramid fibers. Thanks Burnham!

 

[stig]

Yes, it is very grabby.
I use it to start apprentices up with for that reason.
They need ( IMO) a grabby hitch untill they get used to moving in a tree, then I switch them to Bee-line.

 

[Bermy]

My old ice hitch cord is now on my lanyard...still going strong, 2.5 yrs old, but maybe not that old in time of actual use! I have buried eye splices, no problem at all with the HC pulley

 

[quabinclimber]

I really like hand spliced ICE. I do not like it with tied knots or stitched spliced. When hand spliced, it has a thicker diameter and firms the cord up a bit making it less grabby with higher performance. I use it on 1/2" 16 strands and velocity with no issue. I also use it SRT with a rope wrench and have been pleased. I splice mine to around 30-31" long.

 

[RIVERRAT]

How exactly does it abrade itself?

It's the Aramid fibers that can cause this issue. When the cord loads & unloads the fibers rub against themselves

 

[Reddog]

http://www.samsonrope.com/index.cfm?rope=454

If some one wants read up on it.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Ice has a completely different hand, compared to HRC. It's a lot more flexible and soft. I find it much grabbier in a hitch that HRC. Not my favorite tresse cord, and I like HRC pretty well...going on that, I'd say you might not get on with it all that well.

My feelings as well. I tried Ice. It was "ok". Too grabby for my taste in a VT on PI, Arbormaster and All Gear Safetylite.
I did not like how it tended either. I had mine tied with knots instead of splices. Maybe the splices would help. But I have stuff that works that I like better, why bother.

 

[ch74]

Its all I climb on now with a 5/1 michoacan. Smooth as eggs on blaze.

 

[Bermy]

I still like Icetail for friction hitch...

 

[ch74]

Me to Bermy, it's all i have been using lately and i dont plan on switching anytime soon. My hitch is 24'' inch center eye to center eye tied with 5/1 michoacan (6 wraps total). Smooth as silk. Bermy, how does it do with little to mild pitch on the rope, i have not encountered that yet.???

 

[Bermy]

Not sure, haven't really tested it in a pitchy situation...to be honest my ice is on my lanyard at the moment since I switched to using the HH. But all the time I was climbing DdRT, I liked ice the best.