advanced knot materials for TheFly

I want to try some advanced split-tail (eg. Distel) with TheFly [11mm]. Sherrill shows 2 eye-and-eye tails made of different materials.
One is UltraTech [8mm] and the other is Coated Tenex [10mm]. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge they would care to share about the suitability of either? Or, could anyone suggest another material?

Of the two that you mentioned I think that the UltraTech will work better with the fly as it is smaller in diameter than the Tenex, which is barely 1mm smaller that the Fly. The advanced friction hitches (distel, schwabisch, VT, knut, etc.) seem to work best when the split tail is a few mm smaller than the climbing line.

Right now I am very happy with the HRC cord that I am using for my split tail, and it does fine with the Fly. It is available from Bishop (www.bishco.com) and while it is not cheap stuff, it will last a lot longer than either the ultratech or the tenex.

Another option is to use cheap polyester double braid, such as New England Sta Set. This line handles very well for these types of hitches, and because it is so cheap (~fifty cents a foot for 8mm, available at most sailing outfitters) you can experiment freely with it. The downside is that it's easy to burn through hitch cords of this stuff pretty quickly, as the polyester melts at a relatively low temp. If you like flying out of trees on your friction hitch then I recommend the HRC (Heat Resistant Cord), which has Nomex in the cover, and will not melt.

Or, if you want to go top of the line, you could get Nick to custom splice you a sling of pure Vectran. Now that's some nice stuff!

...the HRC cord that I am using for my split tail, and it does fine with the Fly. It is available from Bishop (www.bishco.com) and while it is not cheap stuff, it will last a lot longer than either the ultratech...

Leon,
What HRC line are you using for friction hitches? I would love to get a link to the bishco website because all I can find are Hi-Vee split tail systems. thanks!

mateo

mateo,

Unfortunately, the Bishop website sucks, and it won't let me link to the right page. I would suggest calling them up and asking (1-800-421-4833). Whenever I order from them I do it over the phone, and they are always very friendly and helpful. They are also the only company I know of that carries the HRC cord.

If I remember correctly the cord goes for about two dollars a foot. Plan on using about five feet of cord to tie up one friction hitch to be on the safe side. This comes out to cheaper than either of the pre-spliced hitch cords in the Sherrill catalog, and I think it is higher quality stuff too. It will definitely last longer.

HRC is great!! That's all I use since discovering it through Mark Chisholm's recommendation. He also gave a list of where you can get it on the treebuzz.com site at the following suppliers:
American Arborist Supply www.arborsit.com
Bishop Co. www.bishco.com
Northeastern Associates www.northeasternarborist.com
Blue Ridge Arborist Supply www.blueridgearboristsupply.com/
Shelter Tree http://www.sheltertree.com/
Sherrill www.wtsherrill.com

i UNrecommend Ultra-tech not for the way it performs, but because it's very expensive, and the good part of the rope is INSIDE the normal polyester cover. You're paying for a lot of rope technology that you'll never get to enjoy.

Sta-set is better because it's polyester on the outside and the inside. Robert, you also asked about the coated tenex, this is better than paying for ultra-tech, but I still think you'd be best of buying maybe 20' of sta-set and cutting of little pieced and tying knots on the ends.

love
nick

Fresco sells HRC too.