Thank you, John! I.want the redundancy for sure. When i forget to attach the best friend loop, no matter the setup, i get tingles! JRB Hitch climbing is the best!
I know the feeling, half way up the tree and, OOOOOPS, FORGOT THE BEST FRIEND 😮. All the color drains from my face. The relief you feel when you clip into it, 😅.
When you first introduced the Garda hitch footloop, I knotted up a three-step aider instead of a loop. This adds very little weight (a couple of feet of webbing) and is occasionally very convenient. Sometimes one step up or down is all you need. I had used the Garda hitch for tree climbing previously but in a less convenient manner. Thanks for all your help!
@PiraticalJess Great idea. When i realized the Garda design already published was too long to be used with a super short bridge, I consider several options including an adjustable loop and multi loop version. I opted for an approach which should be the easiest for the average person to create AND one which doesn't require them to rebuild what they have already. Also, in my testing, webbing is best for the footloop itself. For example, we shouldn't rely on a rigid sole on our boots.
That was an interesting and thought provoking lesson. Never thought about ditching the Garda hitch and I don't think I intentionally will, but I suppose there are guys out there that might do that. Good info nonetheless. Thanks for your effort and time.
Allow me to be the devil's advocate for a moment, John... 1) If your friction hitch fails in the middle of your climb, you didn't do your due diligence beforehand by a) properly dressing and setting your friction hitch and b) testing it on the ground prior to ascending. There should be no need for a one handed Garda hitch if you've mastered tying a friction hitch correctly and tested it responsibly prior to leaving the ground. In my 5 years of tree climbing, I've never once had a friction hitch fail on me. And this is coming from someone who has created and tested over 85+ unique and original friction hitches PLUS used most of the mainstream/popular hitches at least once. 2) I just use a foot ascender. A Petzl Pantin. Just like the Garda hitch, it's a unidirectional apparatus. It will go up, but not down. It's infinitely more compact and stays attached to your boot so you can always have it ready whenever you need it. Even when I climb without my foot ascender (let's say I'm climbing with a RADS), I still always wear my foot ascender just in case my primary ascender fails and I need to lift myself up to self rescue with something like a Figure 8 descender or a Munter hitch. I can use a system to shift my weight to above my device, remove the defective device, and switch to the Figure 8 or Munter and emergency descend. But I've NEVER had to do this. 3) Unlike the Garda hitch, which has pretty ambiguous specifications for which carabiners must be used, requires that you use a conglomeration of hardware and software which must be installed a specific way, a foot ascender has a minimal learning curve and reliably works for everyone on a consistent basis so long as the rope being used matches the ascenders capacity. EDIT: Having said that, there is no redundancy with a foot ascender. The Garda hitch with the best friend loop at least offers that.
@Knot-orious have you ever started a climb in dry conditions and then stayed in the tree through a rainstorm? What about rain that changes to snow? What about rain that later freezes into ice? I have been on my ropes in all of these conditions, and for over 13 hours without coming down. And I have experienced situations where a friction hitch which held forever would not hold in different environmental conditions. It doesn't matter if it hasn't happened to you or me or any person. The point is that it CAN happen. Also, a new climber could easily make a mistake when tying a hitch. Its my philosophy that this kind of mistake should NOT put them in danger.
@Knot-orious regarding the foot ascender, remember a hunter might be walking miles and going thru mud and creeks... we don't wanna have ascenders that get filled with mud. We also don't wanna have to put em on and take em off in darkness. It wastes time and makes it easy to lose em. Imagine walking 2 miles in darkness one morning and then realize we lost or forgot our ankle ascender the night before in another tree, miles away that we aren't sure we can find. The Garda never has to be detached... it can remain connected to our saddle.
@@jrbtc Fair enough. I actually go out climbing in snow storms all of the time because it's not only challenging and fun, but very beautiful. I'm not saying I regularly climb in Nor'Easters or anything (although, I have), but I know what it's like to climb with ice and snow as both a tree climber and an alpinist. And yes, I concede that there is always a chance that your hitch may fail and you make valid points about having the Garda hitch remain attached to your line at all times. I definitely wasn't saying that you shouldn't learn how to self-rescue. I guess I just view the Garda hitch as unnecessarily complex and much more prone to slipping in inclement weather than a toothed foot ascender. But again, your channel is about saddle hunting, and so our climbing styles and preferences are going to always differ in significant and meaningful ways. Wasn't trying to stir up the pot. I was honestly looking for you to give me these valuable responses so I could better understand your thinking. Thanks.
Thank you, John!
I.want the redundancy for sure.
When i forget to attach the best friend loop, no matter the setup, i get tingles!
JRB Hitch climbing is the best!
@SteveMcQueen-bx4hu exactly. It gives is confidence and that makes the climb more enjoyable.
I know the feeling, half way up the tree and, OOOOOPS, FORGOT THE BEST FRIEND 😮. All the color drains from my face. The relief you feel when you clip into it, 😅.
When you first introduced the Garda hitch footloop, I knotted up a three-step aider instead of a loop. This adds very little weight (a couple of feet of webbing) and is occasionally very convenient. Sometimes one step up or down is all you need. I had used the Garda hitch for tree climbing previously but in a less convenient manner. Thanks for all your help!
@PiraticalJess Great idea. When i realized the Garda design already published was too long to be used with a super short bridge, I consider several options including an adjustable loop and multi loop version. I opted for an approach which should be the easiest for the average person to create AND one which doesn't require them to rebuild what they have already. Also, in my testing, webbing is best for the footloop itself. For example, we shouldn't rely on a rigid sole on our boots.
That was an interesting and thought provoking lesson. Never thought about ditching the Garda hitch and I don't think I intentionally will, but I suppose there are guys out there that might do that. Good info nonetheless. Thanks for your effort and time.
@@JD-mn8cx appreciate that
Got my Garda back out after this...
@timwaldroup9654 it's a life saver, literally!
Allow me to be the devil's advocate for a moment, John...
1) If your friction hitch fails in the middle of your climb, you didn't do your due diligence beforehand by a) properly dressing and setting your friction hitch and b) testing it on the ground prior to ascending. There should be no need for a one handed Garda hitch if you've mastered tying a friction hitch correctly and tested it responsibly prior to leaving the ground. In my 5 years of tree climbing, I've never once had a friction hitch fail on me. And this is coming from someone who has created and tested over 85+ unique and original friction hitches PLUS used most of the mainstream/popular hitches at least once.
2) I just use a foot ascender. A Petzl Pantin. Just like the Garda hitch, it's a unidirectional apparatus. It will go up, but not down. It's infinitely more compact and stays attached to your boot so you can always have it ready whenever you need it. Even when I climb without my foot ascender (let's say I'm climbing with a RADS), I still always wear my foot ascender just in case my primary ascender fails and I need to lift myself up to self rescue with something like a Figure 8 descender or a Munter hitch. I can use a system to shift my weight to above my device, remove the defective device, and switch to the Figure 8 or Munter and emergency descend. But I've NEVER had to do this.
3) Unlike the Garda hitch, which has pretty ambiguous specifications for which carabiners must be used, requires that you use a conglomeration of hardware and software which must be installed a specific way, a foot ascender has a minimal learning curve and reliably works for everyone on a consistent basis so long as the rope being used matches the ascenders capacity.
EDIT: Having said that, there is no redundancy with a foot ascender. The Garda hitch with the best friend loop at least offers that.
@Knot-orious have you ever started a climb in dry conditions and then stayed in the tree through a rainstorm? What about rain that changes to snow? What about rain that later freezes into ice? I have been on my ropes in all of these conditions, and for over 13 hours without coming down. And I have experienced situations where a friction hitch which held forever would not hold in different environmental conditions. It doesn't matter if it hasn't happened to you or me or any person. The point is that it CAN happen. Also, a new climber could easily make a mistake when tying a hitch. Its my philosophy that this kind of mistake should NOT put them in danger.
@Knot-orious regarding the foot ascender, remember a hunter might be walking miles and going thru mud and creeks... we don't wanna have ascenders that get filled with mud. We also don't wanna have to put em on and take em off in darkness. It wastes time and makes it easy to lose em. Imagine walking 2 miles in darkness one morning and then realize we lost or forgot our ankle ascender the night before in another tree, miles away that we aren't sure we can find. The Garda never has to be detached... it can remain connected to our saddle.
@@jrbtc Fair enough. I actually go out climbing in snow storms all of the time because it's not only challenging and fun, but very beautiful. I'm not saying I regularly climb in Nor'Easters or anything (although, I have), but I know what it's like to climb with ice and snow as both a tree climber and an alpinist.
And yes, I concede that there is always a chance that your hitch may fail and you make valid points about having the Garda hitch remain attached to your line at all times.
I definitely wasn't saying that you shouldn't learn how to self-rescue. I guess I just view the Garda hitch as unnecessarily complex and much more prone to slipping in inclement weather than a toothed foot ascender.
But again, your channel is about saddle hunting, and so our climbing styles and preferences are going to always differ in significant and meaningful ways. Wasn't trying to stir up the pot. I was honestly looking for you to give me these valuable responses so I could better understand your thinking.
Thanks.