Actually, the interaction of the device's angled slot with the carabiner reminds me of the Petzl Tiblok, sans the teeth of course and larger size.

Because the rope runs hard, under pressure, against the carabiner, looks like the carabiner would get some pretty good wear on it pretty quickly. Don't know how much of a problem that would be; ATCs, etc. do the same thing and I haven't heard of biner problems.

Also the Tibloc is quite sensitive to the type of biner used with it. I wonder if the Hitchhiker would be too???

I agree that the bar squeeze on the climbing rope apears to be tight but in actuality the hitch cord above holds like a vise. With many wraps of cord circling the climbing rope the hitch cord evenly distributes the hold so no worries about the bar.

I guess I'm not understanding this then. I, and many others, have tried about every hitch variation we could think of in an effort to get it to work on SRT. The problem is the same with all of them, once the hitch is loaded on a SRT rope, you can't break it to rappel under your full weight.

Plus, what I've found is all those extra turns in the hitch don't do a lot. It seems the top 2-3 wraps does all the work and gets hot in a hurry.

I did develop a dual hitch arrangement for SRT and it worked pretty well, but it's a bit cumbersome to tie.

I ran into this issue with ddrt due to my body weight (Ron as we've discussed before, my weight being > 300 lbs and on ddrt would be somewhat equivalent to a normal sized climber on srt). I finally found the knot that works for me (icicle hitch).


I'd be interested in hearing the results of someone of a normal tree climbers weight trying an icicle hitch on SRT.

I just might be able to do that today - not sure how my time is gonna go, but I for sure wanna give it a try.

You know, when you pull the icicle hitch tight on a rope, it shows all the properties you want to see for a hitch that has some promise of working on SRT.

What I'm seeing is a lot of wraps close together at the top to provide grab and friction, and a braided section that provides a looser wrap and more friction. From what I've seen about friction hitches, this is exactly what you want to see.

The idea of this type of hitch is that the upper turns are not jammed against the lower turns forming a road block so to speak. IF the braids provide enough friction, it will allow the top turns to pull downward and hence allow descent. It all depends, I think, on how much relief you get from the braids. Can't wait to give this a try.

Now if I can just figure out how to tie it mid-rope.

http://www.animatedknots.com/icicleend/ ... dknots.com

There ya go - THANKS! All I found was the 'loop' method. I'm hoping I'll get to try this today, but still got a bunch on the agenda, but if not today, then tomorrow. Should be interesting!

Get a chance to try it out?

My account was 'inactive' but new life has been breathed into me...whew!

When I was at the Charlotte TCC I talked with Paul Cox, the inventor of the Wraptor about his latest invention, the Hitch Hiker. He gave me one to field test.

Here are some details.

Paul said that it is likely to be for sale by mid-summer. Don't hold your breath though. There are all sorts of roadblocks and detours that could popup between then and now.

The one that I have is pretty close to what the production model will look like.

In order to attach the Hitch Hiker the cord, in my case New England Ropes HRC, has to be tied with VERY short tails. The tail is the portion of the hitch cord from where it exits the hitch and where the anchor knot starts. The Double Fisherman's is the proven and trusted anchor knot. A figure eight would not be a good choice here for many reasons. The first is that it would be really hard to untie once it's loaded by the 'dogbone' slider part.

The HH acts just like a well-tuned slack tender under a traditional DdRT setup. In fact, better! A lot of slack tenders are configured with multiple pieces of gear. This leads to a chain effect and there is some sit-back or loss of 'lift' because of the distance between the bottom of the hitch and where the slack tender sits before being lifted. The Hitch Hiker has little to no slack if the tails are short. It also acts like a fairlead for the climbing rope. Think of how a Gibbs or Microcender work to funnel the rope into the cam.

The slot for the dogbone and the lower biner rope capture work like dimmer/volume switches. The friction that comes into the system is smooth going up or down.

One issue that some people have with the Unicender is that they have a hard time modulating a smooth descent. It is possible to be smooth and not jerky but it takes a gentle hand. In DdRT our hands are taught to grab hard and pull. In SRT the loads and forces are closer to 1:1 so a change is needed.

The Rope Wrench and Hitch Hiker are friction modulators.

During the 2005 climbing season [March through December in Minneapolis] I went through as many hitches, hitch cords, ropes and climbing styles using just a hitch on SRT. After the season long test my conclusion was that the solution for a cordage hitch would need something like a Bachmann. There are examples in Gary Storrick's site:

http://storrick.cnc.net/VerticalDevices ... KnotA.html

Bachmann is only one, what I concluded was that rope/rope wasn't going to work.

The next spring I crossed paths with Morgan Thompson and the Unicender. That stopped any interest in finding a solution because the Uni did everything that I wanted.

Fast forward...F8 Revolver...Rope Wrench...OAR descenders...Hitch Hiker.

The HH is stout! The spine, between the cheek plates is thick aluminum. A steel biner must be used for the lower attachment since there is rope movement.

My forecast is that many more DdRT hitch climbers will make the conversion to SRT using the Hitch Hiker. The action and setup is most like trad DdRT setups. Hitch above/slack tender below.

It would be super simple to add a tether to the upper part so that the HH could be used like a lower/chest ascender in a Frog Walker setup. With a long, adjustable tail or adjustable bridge on the harness like I use it would easy to have the HH become the upper ascender too. This flexibility in SRT systems allows for real easy solutions and customizing.

Another SRT note...TCIA has gathered a team of SRT climbers to work on a Best Management Practices Manual for SRT. There are very diverse climbers and we will come to agreement for the BMP. The Manual is scheduled to be available, at the latest, at TCIA Expo next November in Baltimore.

SRT is here to stay and getting better!

Tom

WOW!

As I just posted on Tom's TREEBUZZ I may be looking at conversion to SRT now that the Hitch Hiker is online or better yet on rope.

WOW!

I haven't - rain, schedule, and the go kart. Surely I can get up a tree today Still eager to give the icicle a try.

Ron

On Saturday I did a small removal for a friend. This gave me the chance to move up and down on the rope. The Hitch Hiker system performs just like a DdRT with a well tuned slack tender.

So...for now...the only thing I don't like about the Hitch Hiker compared to the Uni is the ease of midline changeovers.

Tom

Makes sense, the way the hitch is attached means no quick on/off the rope. What's nice about the way it is now is only one carabiner, a short chain of linkages, less play in the system.

Needs a nifty way to slip one hitch end on and off the "bar" with a secure locking mechanism, devil's in the details. I can imagine ways to do it, looking forward to future versions.
-AJ