"Motion lanyard"

Here's a lanyard I made for climbing in conifers or any tree with more closely spaced branches:
motion lanyard

It's based on something that Richard Preston described and called a motion lanyard in his '04 New Yorker article on climbing in redwoods. I don't if this is what he used but it finally hit me how such a lanyard would need to be designed after I did some conifer climbs. I've tested it and it works as expected.

The idea is that your split-tails are pre-tied to the lanyard so all you have to do is get either end of the rope over a branch and clip in with the 'biner and you're ready to go on a new TIP. It can also be used as a short rope (mine's around 50 ft.) DdRT system. To do that just unclip one of the split-tails from your saddle and slide it out of the way (leave a loosened Blake's tied on the rope). Climbing that way I use a light throwline and 10 oz. bag to advance the rope end.
-moss

Moss, I have been using something like it with a shorter 20 ft rope and a prussik made out of TENEX (eye-to-eye tail from Sherrill page 31) in the middle tied to the front of the saddle with an oval link. It works great on reguar climbs. I got rid of the NT "monkey tail"
There is a picture of it on page 36 of the Sherril's catalog

That is the DEDA-double ended double adjusting lanyard system. The adjusters stay attached to the side or front d's and the other end is advanced. The loop of extra rope is behind the climber.

Search the site for pictures of the DEDA

With the sytem I'm describing you don't want to be on your side D's unless you like hanging that way. The system works better for ascending as configured in the drawing with the rope hanging in front at least when climbing on a New Tribe style saddle. It's a variation of but not the same as the DEDA Tom is talking about though it could be described by the same acronym.

I'm using a Blake's instead of a prusik (as described by Oldtimer) because the Blake's is easy to unload. I use a prusik for my short lanyard but if I really load it up it takes some effort to release it.

This lanyard is designed to be intermediary between a full length climbing rope and a traditional double-ended lanyard. It is the primary climbing rope when it's being used. I'm finding it very useful for scouting and impromptu climbs.
-moss

Moss,
Seems if you simply keep both ends of your line up near you then you could use your main rope for the lanyard, yes/no? What does it matter how long the loop is? Is there a disadvantage to using your main rope like this?
Also, what's the advantage of using this system over say advancing with rope and a regular lanyard?

CharlieB, the main adavantage is that a 60 ft. rope is very light and fits with my NT saddle in a small knapsack. If I'm targeting a tree that can be climbed with a 60 ft. rope or scouting new stuff it makes for a pleasant walk. It's also a good (shhh!) ninja rig.

Yes you can use your long rope as in the illustration but having two split-tails pre-attached to the rope is cumbersome for normal DdRT climbing. For short spaced branches it's useful because you just put the 'biner/rope end over the branch and clip in.

Sorry for the confusion, sometimes these sub-species of climbing techniques are easier to "explain" in person by example.
-moss

Thanks Moss, I think I got it.

Dietley over on the TCC board mentioned that Dick Flowers describes pretty much the same lanyard in his book "Recreational Tree Climbing - a Newcomer's Guide". Even though I was once a newcomer to tree climbing I never got around to picking it up, have to add it to my reading list.
-moss

Moss,
You may want to check it out cus last night I studied mine a little and on pg.29 he shows the double split tail setup which is vvery similar to your setup, but Flower's setup seems to use only one length of rope for both split tails which, IMHO seems to create less clutter or less carabiners having to be tied in to your main D ring. It may be a little more efficient in other words. See what you think.

Moss, it's me, Richard. You got it right in the drawing. The only difference is that the ones I use have soft eye splices at each end. That way, the ends don't get stuck as easily when you're throwing. I use steel carabiners in the eye splices, steel Kong triple autolockers, great for throwing the ends of the lanyard. (So far I haven't broken any teeth throwing a steel biner, at least not yet, check back in a year, maybe I'll be wearing dentures by then.) The lanyard is 55 ft. long. For eastern hardwoods, where I live, I use a 75 ft. lanyard of this type, seems to work better in hardwood crowns. There is a risk that you can get the lanyard stuck and can't descend. Good to climb with a longer rope as well, for descent if necessary. Or have a climbing partner ot cell phone to call for help i guess.... in the book i'm working on, i'm calling this type of lanyard a "spider rope," just a term I invented.

Thanks Gnarl, that completes the circle The extra details make a lot of sense. I hear you on throwing biners around. I'm now burying my biner in a small monkey fist, it's a little more gentle on the tree when I miss my throw and might save a tooth or two in the future.

Good point on the potential for hanging up the end of the lanyard.

Some of the northeast climbers are planning on getting together for a climb in New Jersey on March 18, if you have a chance to show up that would be fun. Details are here, climber020 is setting it up:
March 18 NJ climb

Looking forward to publication of your book!
-moss

Moss, thank you for posting this. I had grown frustrated with my 30' daisy rope and had never tried a split-tail configuration before. Because this lanyard anchors in two places instead of one, I used it last weekend to zigzag all the way up and down a magnolia with no DRT line. It'a a nice clean and compact system.

Glad that's working for you. Between all the contributions to this thread the various ways to approach the double-ended lanyard were made clear.
-moss