Douglas Fir Climb

Very \"clinical\", but a report on my most recent climb is here: tree climb

Very interesting report.

I just would not be able to trust my life to a timber hitch twist. Why not use a respectable knot after the two half hitches? Maybe a nice bowline with a three foot tail? Maybe a figure-8 follow-through? How about a trucker's hitch with a butterfly?

This particular tie-in technique was taught to me by Tim \"Tengu\" Kovar during a 3-day New Tribe SRT class.

By the third hitch there is very little tension on the rope and there is no way the timber hitch will come undone. Another advantage of this tie-in is that it can be undone on the ground when weighted, in the event a rescuer needed to lower a climber.

HeHe
I wish I had a new piece of gear for every one of my climbs that has had the purpose being: Get that throwline and back unstuck.

At least it's a mission

Carl

Holden wrote:

This particular tie-in technique was taught to me by Tim \"Tengu\" Kovar during a 3-day New Tribe SRT class.

By the third hitch there is very little tension on the rope and there is no way the timber hitch will come undone. Another advantage of this tie-in is that it can be undone on the ground when weighted, in the event a rescuer needed to lower a climber.

Oh now how can I argue against an expert like that... let me try logic... as you say there is very little tension after the two half hitches... and what keeps a timber hitch in place? I'd guess tension does. Reduced tension is sorta bad. A loose timber hitch is going to do what? Plus what is so easy about forty dozen twists? What is the appeal of it? A bowline is easier and quicker to both tie and untie. Virtually any knot would be quicker. I don't buy this idea, but then I'm not an expert.

I probably misspoke (mis-wrote?) on the \"very little tension\" bit. You're right, a timber hitch needs to be close and relatively tight to hold. This configuration can be \"cinched down\" at each half-hitch and at the timber hitch stage. I don't want to give the impression that the ropes were hanging loose, they were snug up against the tree.

I don't have any particular allegiance to this set-up, but I don't think it's unsafe. A bowline (with a tail or Yosemite follow-through) or figure 8 would be quick and effective, also. I've also used webbing wrapped around the trunk and a secured sheet bend, passing the rope through the webbing and tying a figure-8 follow through and stopper knot when SRTing into the tall pines.

There's room for variety in tree-climbing, as long as it's safe.

Holden wrote:

There's room for variety in tree-climbing, as long as it's safe.

Well, sorry to be such a paranoid newbie. I just gave it a quick try and it seems solid. I did sort of like the look of finishing it with a trucker's hitch though...

Never apologize for being paranoid, I think it's a good trait in this field.

I (embarrassingly) had been climbing for a while before Moss reminded me after one of my posts that redirecting over a branch and tying off doubled the weight on the branch.

I've learned a lot from fellow posters' comments, and I'm definitely a safer climber for it. I'm going to try out that trucker's hitch finish.

Nice presentation on your Blog. Easy to read and coverd al teh important details like the bag getting stuck that forced you to have to climb the tree!
Excelent way to keep track of your climbs and share with us earth bound creatures!

I see you took the class with Tengu. That is the best way to learn the SRT ropes.!

I wish I had the discipline to write such detailed climb logs.

You mentioned that there's no room on the Tengu legstrap soft D for a carabinier. Actually there is! That's where I anchor my primary split tail for my DRT system. I use an inverted Kong HMS (pear) carabiner. The carabiner stays on the soft D all the time. The tight fit is excellent because it prevents the carabiner from rotating and loading the gate.

That's a nifty setup the way you anchored the rope. It does use up a lot of rope on a wide diameter trunk but if you have the rope available the extra rescue functionality is very nice.

If you have a smaller tree nearby available to use as a tie-off then you can the same with much less rope.

My typical trunk tie-off is around the trunk twice (on the back side), crossing over on the back of the tree on the second wrap, then tie an F8 on a bight on the end and cinch the rope going up with a rated delta screwlink. Sometimes I cinch the rope with a backed up Bowline when I'm traveling more minimal (light), that works too.

Delta cinching the up rope


Crossing over the trunk wrap on the back side


-moss

Culinarytracker wrote:

HeHe
I wish I had a new piece of gear for every one of my climbs that has had the purpose being: Get that throwline and back unstuck.

At least it's a mission

Carl

Removing stuck gear has been a major element in my climbing education. I've gone places in trees I never thought possible until I had sufficient motivation to try. The good news is the more you do it the less gear that gets stuck (fingers crossed).
-moss