Ascenders that slide up most easily?

Seems that I've read that people have trouble with foot ascenders feeding properly until they get high enough in the tree that the hanging rope weight is sufficient to overcome the slight drag of the ascender. I have the same trouble sliding a hitch for a foot loop -- and that is the reason I started looking at replacing that hitch with some sort of ascender, but which ascender? I don't care if it mounts on my foot or if I hang a footloop on it. Which ascenders will slide up a 1/2\" rope with near-zero friction? Is there such a thing? Thanks.

Every ascender I've ever used pulls rope up a little until there is enough hanging weight to hold it down, but we're only talking about 10-15 feet. Foot loop prusiks are a completely different animal. Not only do they require two hands to advance them, but they get tighter as you hang on them. It's the nature of the beast.

SRT tip: Tie a loop near the bottom of your climbing line and hang something on it. That'll stop the rope from moving up when you advance the ascender(s).

I have CMI Rescuescenders and a set of Petzls. I like the Petzls better. Bigger handles, more comfortable, easier to use cam, and yes, they slide up the rope easier.

I use the Basic that has no handle but I would bet that this one will be near Zero since its cam is toothless.

TreeTramp wrote:

I use the Basic that has no handle but I would bet that this one will be near Zero since its cam is toothless.

Is this still offered by Liberty Mountain? All I really want/need is a thumb button to release the cam. Could consider the Petzl Microcender but don't like the disassembly process for installing/removing.

Baker wrote:

I like the Petzls better. Bigger handles, more comfortable, easier to use cam, and yes, they slide up the rope easier.

How many feet of rope weight until they will slide up?

I really like the Petzl Ascensions. They DO have a thumb lever you can use to release the cam from the rope. The nice thing is that it's on the side, so it can't get caught on a branch or twig.


I literally trust my life to these devices. I've used them in Utah on a couple of hairy ascents. Some of which were almost 600 feet. This is Gemini Bridges. 2 pitches of 120 and 340 feet. The rap down was way more fun!

Baker wrote:

I really like the Petzl Ascensions. They DO have a thumb lever you can use to release the cam from the rope. The nice thing is that it's on the side, so it can't get caught on a branch or twig.

So does the thumb lever let you push against the cam's spring action? It doesn't lock the cam open? Thanks.

Not too many 600ft trees around... How long was the rope?

Yes to both questions. If you apply downward pressure to the metal cam (theres a little divot to place your thumb in), while gently sliding the ascender up, the teeth disengage the rope and the cam moves away from the rope. If you thumb the plastic lever, it hinges down and away and can hook over the edge of the body of the ascender, locking the cam in the open position. All that is needed to lock the ascender onto the rope again is a quick flip of the lever and it snaps closed. The ascender can not be removed from the rope without making 2 separate motions of the cam/lever combination.



Right Ascension in open position. (Left hand unit is gold colored)

Davej wrote:

Not too many 600ft trees around... How long was the rope?

In a word, LOTS!

Multiple sections of rope tied together with double fisherman's knots. Multiple anchors. At every anchor the next pitch of rope was draped in a loop allowing a place to clip in with a short lanyard. this allowed the safety of always keeping 2 points of contact with the rope while moving past a knot or anchor.

We also rigged a Kutenay highline from the top of the canyon to the bottom. For that we used 3 full 600' spools of 1/2 rope to make the closed loop and 2 additional lengths to make the main line.

Here's a little tidbit of the event. My section is at about 3:00 minutes. Awesome views, awesome heat - about 120 degrees+ at the bottom of that canyon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8khsEvMwN0&feature=related

Baker wrote:

Yes to both questions. If you apply downward pressure to the metal cam (theres a little divot to place your thumb in), while gently sliding the ascender up, the teeth disengage the rope and the cam moves away from the rope.

So pulling the lever slightly down with your thumb as you slide the device up is easy to do? Maybe this is the item I should buy.

You don't need to pull the lever to move the ascender up the rope. Just hold the handle and slide the unit up. The cam moves down by itself. It only locks on the rope when there is weight applied. Very little pressure is needed to move these up the rope.

Here's a video with one being used in a RAD system. Love this system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agDTM9Tihfs

Here's another for the hearing impaired. Good detail:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVWwAhvrfao&feature=related

Baker wrote:

Very little pressure is needed to move these up the rope.

Ok, but how many feet of hanging rope until it will slide easily without needing the thumb-cam loosening? 2 feet? 3 feet? 6 feet? 12 feet? Thanks...

Depends on rope thickness, flexibility, newness, etc. On my Safety blue, which is older and very soft, maybe 10-15 feet. On my Arbor Master, newer and a little stiffer, 5 or 6 feet. On my 7/16 New England static rescue rope that I use for SRT - none. The ascenders slide from the ground up.

Baker wrote:

Depends on rope thickness, flexibility, newness, etc. On my Safety blue, which is older and very soft, maybe 10-15 feet.

Ok, you've made the point that all ropes are not the same, but on your Safety Blue, can you easily slide it at any length by using a little thumb lever pressure? Thanks.

Your original question was \"How many feet of hanging rope until it will slide easily without needing the thumb-cam loosening?\"

With a little thumb pressure, you can slide these ascenders on any length of any rope. With a little thumb pressure, the ascender barely touches the rope.

You're making more of this than you need to. Go to a local REI or EMS store, or any other store that sells rock climbing gear and ask to see these. As with ANY piece of gear, there is no amount of printed description that can equate to seeing them first hand. Then, and only then, will you be able to decide for sure if these are right for you.

Baker wrote:

With a little thumb pressure, you can slide these ascenders on any length of any rope. With a little thumb pressure, the ascender barely touches the rope.

Ok, that's what I was hoping to hear. Sorry to be confusing. You are right that I could drive to the local REI and look at these, but I would only be able to look at them -- not test them on my ropes.