SRT techniques for beginners

[CurSedVoyce]

And I remember watching you climb for the first time on SRT and was inspired Deva. Earning that redwood at the GTG

 

[Burnham]

Yes @CurSedVoyce...Deva and Willie side by side. It was cooler than cool.

 

[Burnham]

I think that our old friend Sean @Bounce also did a manual SRT ascent on that tree, iirc.

Too bad he's not currently active, been so quite a few years. But he went away and came back before, so who knows .

 

[Ryan]

My rope, chest harness, and Hitchclimber arrived today. I'm sorry for calling the rope ugly. It's awesome!

 

[lxskllr]

I like the hitchclimber colors. Mine's a Treestuff version with the colors reversed; orange body, green sheave. I think it's an attractive combination.

I also like that rope. Reminds of /something/... I can't quite put my finger on it. I'm leaning towards 80s throwback, or a kind of Polynesian/tiki bar kinda thing. Not quite sure.

 

[Burnham]

Burnham,
I have one traced out on a flat sheet, ready to be cut out, heated and form-fitted. Wesspur would get one there more quickly, already formed, but if you’d like I could send this one out to you.

@pigwot I'd take that in a heartbeat, Pat. Thank you very much. I'll message you an address.

Hey, Pat @pigwot. I finally got around to cutting out the holster from the patterned sheet you sent. Thanks a million.

That went fine. I have yet to try to mold it, but I think that'll not be a problem. If I have trouble with it, I'll be back with more questions.

But I'm not sure what diameter the holes, two for the carabiner to pass through and one for the advancing tether to clip to, should be. And also what the measurement from the edges of the holes to the outer edge of the holster should be.

Could you, or anyone who has a holster at hand, do some checking for me? I'd appreciate it another million .

 

[Kaveman]

Hey, Pat @pigwot. I finally got around to cutting out the holster from the patterned sheet you sent. Thanks a million.

That went fine. I have yet to try to mold it, but I think that'll not be a problem. If I have trouble with it, I'll be back with more questions.

But I'm not sure what diameter the holes, two for the carabiner to pass through and one for the advancing tether to clip to, should be. And also what the measurement from the edges of the holes to the outer edge of the holster should be.

Could you, or anyone who has a holster at hand, do some checking for me? I'd appreciate it another million .

At the risk of sounding like an idiot, I believe the hole and spacing are 1/2 inch for both measurements.
Someone else help, it's a REALLY long dig through stuff to find mine, else I'd have sent it off to someone when all that was goin round.

 

[Ryan]

Some questions about the Hitchclimber when used with the Ropewrench. Middle attachment point to my saddle, top one to my chestbox or bottom for saddle, middle to chest? And if I was to come down drt, is it a different orientation? And finally, would all three points only get used with drt and a chest box?

 

[lxskllr]

I don't think it really matters as long as you like the alignment and the way things work. For a ropewrench I put everything in the middle hole, and connect the chestbox to the upper hole.

For mrs, I don't like using it as directed for two reasons. First, I use knots, not splices, and the knots interfere with the hitch when they're all connected to the pulley. Secondly, I find the rope spacing too close when it's all connected to the pulley. I like more room to get my hands on the running end. What I've been doing on mrs is put my anchor on the bridge ring, and a biner connected to the bridge with the hitchclimber + hitch in the middle hole, and my chestbox connected to the upper hole.

 

[Bodean]

use the bottom hole of hitchclimber for attachment….

then can use middle hole for chesty…. Top hole is available for second point of attachment. Also I keep gate and wrench on left so I can always “base tie” to myself, remove wrench from rope and viola back to Ddrt…. Then can canopy base somewhere else and back to srt….

 

[SeanKroll]

A big eye on your bowline ( with tie-off knot like a barrel or scaffold knot) for the termination biner will prevent interference.

A broccoli rubber band on the bottom of the bowline's eye can be a corner trap for the termination biner.

 

[Kaveman]

Broccoli bands are awesome!

 

[SeanKroll]

What the next thing to learn, @Ryan and cough cough @cory ?

 

[Kaveman]

Rescue/self rescue.

Practice techniques that do not further harm the victim. Some of the things I've seen at comps... Leave me in the dadgum tree, I'll sort my self out or die trying...

 

[Ryan]

Redirects?

 

[Treeaddict]

Short slings and biners are what I use. Not remotely retrievable but usually not an issue

 

[Ryan]

Ignoring the clove hitch canopy tie, would this scenario pass for a redirect? I passed the bight overtop first but thought this looked better.

 

[Tree09]

Yup, i haven't seen that one before but that seems like it would work fine. I usually just unhook my climb line, pull slack and tie a slipknot to clip it in so it can't tend slack, and then pass the works through a crotch that would work. If there's no crotch there a basic loop around the limb locking it in place works too, you can even do a munter hitch around it too. The only problem with a knot type redirect is that the rope can't spread the tension past the knot so it loads the redirect more, one just passing through a crotch will put a lower force on the redirect limb. I also really like the remotely settable/retrievable ones, and use them to help out on a longer limbwalks to improve your line angles to make everything easier, and since they are like a crotch they reduce the load on the redirect. Their advantages are that you don't need to climb anywhere before or after to use them and they can be adjusted to any point in between the tip and redirect. They really can reduce the amount of climbing needed, which is what I'm all about The Schultz effect covers all sorts of redirects in stunning detail, far better than i can.

 

[Knotorious]

Here's my favorite retrievable redirect using a Dyneema Sling, Pinto Pulley and Revolver Rig. It's excellent for when you have a lot of redirects because friction is ultra low when I pull out my canopy or basal anchors.

If you don't have a Revolver RIg, you can simply use a carabiner, whether it be oval or HMS, it doesn't matter. Then, when it's time to pull it out, you just put a half hitch in the end of your rope (or you could use a retrieval ball) and pull it out.

I am scheduled to post this video on my channel next week, but I'll share it here exclusively for now because it's relevant to the discussion.



EDIT: ANY rated pulley can be used in lieu of a Pinto pulley.

 

[Knotorious]

Here's anothe retrievable redirect you can do with JUST YOUR ROPE...

 

[Ryan]

Nice to see you aloft! Great vids. I like both ideas.

 

[SeanKroll]

Rescue/self rescue.

Practice techniques that do not further harm the victim. Some of the things I've seen at comps... Leave me in the dadgum tree, I'll sort my self out or die trying...

SRT rescues? Rescues in general?

 

[Knotorious]

@Ryan Thanks! I appreciate that. Now that I have a GoPro, I'm able to film climbs. It's gteat. The Beasthorn is probably my favorite because it requires zero hardware and is retrievable. The other one is better if you're doing one or more redirects after it. Sometimes I just use it because it's fun to play with the hardware.

 

[SeanKroll]

Ignoring the clove hitch canopy tie, would this scenario pass for a redirect? I passed the bight overtop first but thought this looked better.
View attachment 136051

Clove-hitching can be very useful.

There are times where you can pretension and guy a limb rather than redirect through it, either natural crotch or false crotch.


You 'fix' that section of rope, making the spans seperate, in a way, on either side of the clove-hitch.

This can be done with a false-crotch, such as a sling and biner, as well as directly on a stub.

 

[Kaveman]

SRT rescues? Rescues in general?

All of the above.