Thank you for teaching all of this. I am a new climber, trying different things out to find what works for me. I really appreciate your pursuit of non-hardware solutions, as I believe those are more versatile. Skills are more important than tools. Thank you!
I appreciate your comment and agree completely. There's some fantastic mechanical devices out there, but we don't actually NEED them to climb safely, efficiently, quietly and with minimal expenditure.
Good stuff, I have been thinking of creating a minimal SRT / hitch climbing system and have been thinking about what canopy anchor I would want. Ideally something I don't have to tie at the tree. The Scott's locked has looked like a good option, but this seems even better for a convertible system. And has the advantage over the Longhorn Agile hitch as the canopy anchor because you can use less rope to get to the same height (don't need to be able to reach the "passing point" with your hands).
That's exactly how I see things. Let's say i have a 60ft Universal system and a crotch that's 35 ft. I can reach the ends so I use the LA as the anchor. But if the crotch is 40ft, I can't reach the ends, so I pop on a BOTB and it will pass my hitch just out of my reach.
I have learned so much from you, your channel, and your website. Within the last 3 weeks I've picked up a saddle, rope, cord, carabiners, etc from Ape Canyon and learned how to climb and rappel safely. I have 3 para cord presets in the backyard for practice. Last week I set a preset on a farm I hunt and today I set 2 more of them. I climbed both new trees today. One had to be SRT due to the height. I used the Scotts lock bow line and will now try this.. It also needed my platform which I plan to rig as you have. I prefer DSRT and branches for platforms and that's what I seek out. Thank you so much for all of the knowledge. All I do is look at trees and think about climbing them now!
@VillageBoatShop-mq7jk that's fantastic and motivating for me to hear. Now let me understand: How much rope is your system today and when you had to switch to SRT when you had a crotch that's more than half the rope length, what did you do?
@@jrbtcI originally picked up 55 ft of the 9.5mm ghillie rope. I took 8 of it for my main bridge so my climbing rope is actually 47ft. Before I tried this I couldn't picture going higher than 15ft in a tree as I've never hunted from a stand before. I do wish I had more and when it's time for new rope I'll get a longer length but with SRT option it really is enough. I'm in western PA it's hard enough to get my throw ball up through all the thick stuff around the tree I'm after. So yesterday the crotch was almost 30 or so feet up. I set my paracord and then hauled my climb rope up. My climb rope has jrb v3 end loops on each end and agile hitches that live on it. I tied the Scott's lock on one end and brought the other end through and sent it up the tree. The paracord was the bowline retrieval line. The height was such that I could pass the hitch through at just above eye level but it would've worked fine if it was higher. I did pick up a platform so that I have that option if I can't find the right tree but just bringing my saddle and climbing rope is great if the right tree is there. The first tree I set has two 4 inch branches that right angle out from the trunk in opposite directions about 16 ft up. They are the ultimate platform and with the back band in place it's like a lounge chair up there. I love it!
@VillageBoatShop-mq7jk makes sense. The rumor is that ApeCayon.com will soon have a new 9mm rope in the JRB Collection. If you are anywhere near Butler, PA, it would be fun to walk in the door and make your purchase in person. As stated on the DSRT system page, I recommend a minimum of 60 ft for a universal system and 80 is what I use. jrbtreeclimbing.com/
That's great to know. I'm about an hour from Butler. I originally bought, via the website, the land Baron saddle LG. It felt too big and was like wearing a diaper and couldn't imaging hiking 50 ft with it. I drove to Butler and Ape Canyon was so accommodating and helpful. The medium size was such a big improvement but once I tried on the Pioneer saddle I upgraded right away. It can be worn but stowed out of the way for hiking. I picked up a couple of other items there as well. They are top notch!
Nice non-teardrop loop to use, but isn't it still going to probably change shape once its cinched around a branch in the top of the tree and no longer pass the climbing hitch? Unless you used some super stiff Bluewater maybe lol. What if you used a piece of split 3/4in heater hose and slipped the loop inside of it, that would probably retain an open loop as about the best possibility that comes to mind. Split heater hose can also work well as a rope guard.
How is this better than the alpine butterfly loop? There is an extra loop with this to get stuck on more things. Options are one thing, but this seems worse.
@dichotomousblue if you tied them both and tested them your results would be the same as mine. The teardrop shape on an Alpine butterfly does not help us when we are trying to pass a friction hitch 10 ft above our heads.
Thank you for teaching all of this. I am a new climber, trying different things out to find what works for me. I really appreciate your pursuit of non-hardware solutions, as I believe those are more versatile. Skills are more important than tools. Thank you!
I appreciate your comment and agree completely. There's some fantastic mechanical devices out there, but we don't actually NEED them to climb safely, efficiently, quietly and with minimal expenditure.
Another terrific idea. Easy to tie, stable, strong.
@paulcrave3112 the more tools in our Toolbox, the more versatile we can be.
I can't wait to see the climbing demo. I'm happy to see you post again
@jeremyknauer3386 thanks. i have been busy. It gets tough after daylight savings time ends, and f course, I hunt as much as possible in the fall.
Good stuff, I have been thinking of creating a minimal SRT / hitch climbing system and have been thinking about what canopy anchor I would want. Ideally something I don't have to tie at the tree. The Scott's locked has looked like a good option, but this seems even better for a convertible system. And has the advantage over the Longhorn Agile hitch as the canopy anchor because you can use less rope to get to the same height (don't need to be able to reach the "passing point" with your hands).
That's exactly how I see things. Let's say i have a 60ft Universal system and a crotch that's 35 ft. I can reach the ends so I use the LA as the anchor. But if the crotch is 40ft, I can't reach the ends, so I pop on a BOTB and it will pass my hitch just out of my reach.
I have learned so much from you, your channel, and your website. Within the last 3 weeks I've picked up a saddle, rope, cord, carabiners, etc from Ape Canyon and learned how to climb and rappel safely. I have 3 para cord presets in the backyard for practice. Last week I set a preset on a farm I hunt and today I set 2 more of them. I climbed both new trees today. One had to be SRT due to the height. I used the Scotts lock bow line and will now try this.. It also needed my platform which I plan to rig as you have. I prefer DSRT and branches for platforms and that's what I seek out. Thank you so much for all of the knowledge. All I do is look at trees and think about climbing them now!
@VillageBoatShop-mq7jk that's fantastic and motivating for me to hear. Now let me understand: How much rope is your system today and when you had to switch to SRT when you had a crotch that's more than half the rope length, what did you do?
@@jrbtcI originally picked up 55 ft of the 9.5mm ghillie rope. I took 8 of it for my main bridge so my climbing rope is actually 47ft. Before I tried this I couldn't picture going higher than 15ft in a tree as I've never hunted from a stand before. I do wish I had more and when it's time for new rope I'll get a longer length but with SRT option it really is enough. I'm in western PA it's hard enough to get my throw ball up through all the thick stuff around the tree I'm after.
So yesterday the crotch was almost 30 or so feet up. I set my paracord and then hauled my climb rope up. My climb rope has jrb v3 end loops on each end and agile hitches that live on it. I tied the Scott's lock on one end and brought the other end through and sent it up the tree. The paracord was the bowline retrieval line. The height was such that I could pass the hitch through at just above eye level but it would've worked fine if it was higher.
I did pick up a platform so that I have that option if I can't find the right tree but just bringing my saddle and climbing rope is great if the right tree is there. The first tree I set has two 4 inch branches that right angle out from the trunk in opposite directions about 16 ft up. They are the ultimate platform and with the back band in place it's like a lounge chair up there. I love it!
@VillageBoatShop-mq7jk makes sense. The rumor is that ApeCayon.com will soon have a new 9mm rope in the JRB Collection. If you are anywhere near Butler, PA, it would be fun to walk in the door and make your purchase in person. As stated on the DSRT system page, I recommend a minimum of 60 ft for a universal system and 80 is what I use.
jrbtreeclimbing.com/
That's great to know. I'm about an hour from Butler. I originally bought, via the website, the land Baron saddle LG. It felt too big and was like wearing a diaper and couldn't imaging hiking 50 ft with it. I drove to Butler and Ape Canyon was so accommodating and helpful. The medium size was such a big improvement but once I tried on the Pioneer saddle I upgraded right away. It can be worn but stowed out of the way for hiking. I picked up a couple of other items there as well. They are top notch!
@VillageBoatShop-mq7jk that's interesting... they feel similar to me. The Wood is more contoured and a bit more comfortable though.
Nice non-teardrop loop to use, but isn't it still going to probably change shape once its cinched around a branch in the top of the tree and no longer pass the climbing hitch? Unless you used some super stiff Bluewater maybe lol. What if you used a piece of split 3/4in heater hose and slipped the loop inside of it, that would probably retain an open loop as about the best possibility that comes to mind. Split heater hose can also work well as a rope guard.
Good question. I will show ya when I climb on it, but right before they pass, we just whip the lines and the loop opens up.
How is this better than the alpine butterfly loop? There is an extra loop with this to get stuck on more things. Options are one thing, but this seems worse.
@dichotomousblue if you tied them both and tested them your results would be the same as mine. The teardrop shape on an Alpine butterfly does not help us when we are trying to pass a friction hitch 10 ft above our heads.