New Tribe's Grapnel Hook

Went climbing with Abe Winters today and played with my new grapnel hook from New Tribe. I am deeply, profoundly, hopelessly in love with it. If you've been thinking about getting one, get one. If you haven't been thinking about getting one, get one. If you've never heard of it, get one. Abe was so impressed he even thought about getting his out of hibernation (he'd never tried it). He also said he was going to start including its use in his basic climbing class and well he should. There is a special place reserved in Heaven for whoever came up with this thing, the same place for the person who first put wheels on suitcases. It'll be the best $15 you ever spent.

I agree with Rod. I have used the grapnel for a while and also feel that it is a worthwhile addition to everyone's gear bag. It's not something that you'll need every advance but when you do need it you will be glad that it's there. Although you could actually retreive 1/2 inch climbing rope, I have had better luck using it to retrieve my throwline. The grapnel has a vinyl-like coating over some sort of metal. I was concerned with that before I received it and New tribe may want to expound on the description. It has no sharp edges and is relatively easy to get good at. So thanks for the heads up Rod and have a great day!!!!

You have Tom Ness to thank for New Tribe's King Grapnel. He created it and makes them for you. It was canopy researchers who first discovered the usefulness of the grapnel, and as you can see, we don't have to be scientists to agree with them! The grapnel is formed of bent steel rod welded to a ring. The finish is bright orange powder coat enamel. We add 20 feet of our 1/8" throwline.

Glad you like it!

After using mine in trees for a while, me and a friend bought another for the sole purpose of fun grapnel games. We found quickly that the line that came attached stretches tremendously under my 185 lb. weight! So we swapped it out and had a blast messing around off his deck, lassoing my brother, etc.
Josh

Josh, you're scaring me!!!!!

Our throwline is not rated and not for life-safety use. Our Grapnel has never been tested for breaking strength and is not for life-safety use, not even if you put a life-safety line on it.

It sounds like you're having some fun, but I'd hate to see the fun end when somebody crashes and burns. Maybe I'm reading too much into this. Just pay attention to real risks and play safe, OK?

I know! I would NEVER use your grapnel and throwline for life support. We'd be playing around it at the same heights that bouldering is considered ok. No more than about chest height off the ground. Please don't fret about me and my safety and personal judgement. I promise that I always do things safely. The concern is greatly appreciated. I promise that Tim would never have let me pass my facilitator course had he thought I would be dumb enough to dangerously misuse equipment.

Blessed be,
Joshua

I would be interested in hearing about uses and techniques for this tool.

Mine arrived a couple of weeks ago and I have used it once to retrieve a stuck line but found there was a real danger of getting the hook itself stuck in the smaller branches.

Bill Wyatt

Bill-
It's really nice if you're up in a tree and making second or third pitches, that land your throwline/monkeyfist out of your reach. Tossing out your grapnel makes it really easy to retreive those lines. They include 20 feet of line on it, which has always been plenty long enough for me to get back my stuff. A few times when I got a throwbag/line snagged and went up to get it, I used my grapnel to snag it and pull the line to me so I could yank it or pull myself over to the snag.