Is it safe?

[Treeaddict]

Is it ok to tug on your rope bridge from 2 different directions? There may be many caveats to this answer. Imagine 2 TIPs and 2 friction devices (one for each biner) Maybe the TIPs are 30’ apart. Each want to pull you in line with them. The higher you go, the greater the force on the TIP and bridge( I imagine) It makes me think of extra load due to rope angles when rigging but in upside down (crude kindergartner type sketch attached)

I’ve done the 2 tie ins many times but after a certain angle (maybe 45 degrees) I can really feel the tension. I guess what I’m asking, it there a point/ angle where this becomes hazardous?

 

[Altissimus]

Personally , wouldn't worry at all ... advice , if you are truly fearing overloading the rope Bridge just put some load on your Dees

 

[Treeaddict]

Personally , wouldn't worry at all ... advice , if you are truly fearing overloading the rope Bridge just put some load on your Dees

Thanks! Yup, I’ve attached one to a side d before. A lot of this is just experimenting and seeing what works and what doesn’t. I’ve tried the d usage without the bridge at all in that situation but I definitely prefer the bridge.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

No worry about the bridge, because you will encounter a limitation by yourself. If you are tied at two points with a flat angle, keep in mind that you have to overcome the load on the lines. You have to either pull or release your line to move. So you feel very quickly the overload and your muscles don't agree to work harder than usual. Same for the descender/ knot, it has to be abble to let go smoothly the line with such a load and it can be quickly very hard to operate, even it can get you stuck in the air. (Like a flat setting while you are in a crotch and you step away from it).

My main worry is the sturdiness of the both anchor points. A flat setting between two points means a heavy side loading of the limbs. Careful.

 

[Knotorious]

As long as you've performed a pre-climb visual inspection of your harness (especially your bridge and any connecting hardware), I can't imagine that you would encounter any serious issues, even at flat angles. As Marc-Antoine already aptly pointed out, the real threat in this scenario would potentially be one or both of your TIPs failing catastrophically under all the side-loading.

If that type of situation makes you uncomfortable, which maybe causes you nervousness, which in turn might be affecting your performance, there are two routes you can take to build back your confidence in your gear. I noticed you have what appears to be a Teufelberger Treemotion harness. The slot on the lower D-rings where you install your bridge has enough room for two of them. Consider installing a second bridge for redundancy. You can use them both together or, next time you encounter this quasi-side-loading scenario, attach each TIP to its own separate bridge. Now the odds of something horrible happening (as far as the bridges are concerned) are basically twice is unlikely than when you only had one bridge.

If you hate the idea two bridges, then consider switching your current bridge with a stronger, thicker 16-strand replacement.

Finally, when selecting any bridge changes, consider installing them onto your lower D's with two sewn eyes on either end versus just tying a knot. I might be wrong, but I'm fairly certain that sewn eyes will make a bridge stronger. The Treemotion has a plate that you slip through the eyes and then ratchet into the side D's, so you aren't limited to knotted ends.

I hope this was helpful!

 

[Treeaddict]

Thank you all for the replies. You’re right about the TIP side load if not some thick and heavy wood. I want a second bridge anyway so I’ll get that installed sooner than later. In my mind, the bridge is the weak point in the saddle. I do trust it at 100’ up as my only support in some weird positions (2 tie ins when cutting) but I didn’t have warm and fuzzies about the extra 2 side pulling. A second bridge will make scenarios like that a little easier anyway. Thanks again!