Hitch Climber on the Bridge?

I am looking at picking up a Petzl Sequoia SRT harness but being that I dont have a local store for climbing let alone tree climbing I am forced to buy without trying. I know the bridge on that harness isn't made of rope, it appears to be webbing from the pictures. Either way there is no spec for the diameter. However I would like to know if I can run a hitch climber pulley directly on the bridge rather than use a carabiner or quicklink.

I know this is possible for those harnesses how have rope style bridges but didn't know how it would work on the webbing version.

Any thoughts??

T

Probably a better place to ask a question like this would be one of the pro climber forums. Try...

http://www.treebuzz.com

or

http://www.arboristsite.com

Another idea is to call or e-mail the Seller like Sherrils or Wesspur and I am sure they can tell you every dimension and if they do not know they can actually measure one on the store and tell you. How is that for service.

If you want to use the hitch climber for the purpose it was designed for then you want to clip it to the ring on the bridge with a carabiner. If you want to use the hitch climber directly on the bridge (pulley on the bridge) then you should switch out the stock bridge for a rope bridge. Looking at the hitch climber spec the pulley is rated 15kn.
-moss

I think it's a clever idea to think of using the hitch climber as a rolling rigging plate on a rope bridge. Moss is exactly right about replacing the original bridge, and the markings on the hitch climber look like 24kN to me... which would make it Ok for this use...

http://www.sherrilltree.com/Professional-Gear/Micro/Pulley-Hitch-Climber

In the Sherrill photo the load rating/marking for the sheave is 12kn. On the Treemagineers web site they say it's 15kn.
-moss

Here is a link posted by JimK on the other site about your Hitch Climber question.
Lots of configurations on the proper uses and as well as warnings on some incorrect set ups. (28 pages long pdf Document)

http://treemagineers.com/downloads/hitch_climbers_guide.pdf

Hope this is helpful to everyone interested on buying this new tool.

Correct I would like to put the pulley directly on the bridge, I looked at switching out the bridge for a rope version but I dont know if those fancy Petzl rings will allow it.


I will contact Sherrill and see what they say.

I thought maybe someone had already thought of this and had done it, seemed like an obvious option to me especially when Sherrill has pictures of the hitch climber on the bridge of other harnesses. See the new sherrill tree catalog for a picture of the hitch climber on the \"Tree Motion\" rope bridge.

Thanks for the tips.

One problem is that this is a REC forum and you are asking about a pro work saddle. I would guess the removable gaps in the Petzl rings would certainly open up enough to allow a rope bridge to be installed.

Davej wrote:

One problem is that this is a REC forum and you are asking about a pro work saddle. I would guess the removable gaps in the Petzl rings would certainly open up enough to allow a rope bridge to be installed.

Well... if money flowed from trees I would have a Petzl Sequoia SRT harness. I've climbed on it once and it was superb with an SRT Tree Frog system.

And if money flowed from trees and I had a Petzl Sequia SRT harness I would call up Nick the Splicer and have him make me a beautiful rope bridge with spliced eyes on the end. Easily installed on the Sequoia. Alternatively you could tie the bridge to the rings terminating with a double overhand noose knot on each end, not as neat as spliced eyes but it would work.
-moss

moss wrote:
And if money flowed from trees and I had a Petzl Sequia SRT harness I would call up Nick the Splicer and have him make me a beautiful rope bridge with spliced eyes on the end.

The gaps in the catalog photo do look rather narrow, but Moss is right, you could remove the rings from the saddle and mail them to Nick and Nick could splice a rope bridge onto them.

Davej wrote:
The gaps in the catalog photo do look rather narrow, but Moss is right, you could remove the rings from the saddle and mail them to Nick and Nick could splice a rope bridge onto them.[/quote]

In the interest of accurate info, there would be no need to take the rings off the harness. If anyone wants to do something like that for a Sequoia contact Nick for more info.
-moss

moss wrote:
In the interest of accurate info, there would be no need to take the rings off the harness.

Nick's website doesn't list a physical mailing address, so of course you'd talk to him about it first.

I am a recreational climber but I dont want to limit myself and for the price I think the petzl offers the most variability in uses of the saddles out there.

I taught myself to climb based out of need and with a harness made from long continuous webbing so this is a huge step up and will require saving some money first but of the options out there that allow for use on both DRT and SRT it appears to be about the most cost effective.

Since I enjoyed SRT climbing the most thats an important feature for me.

Currently the NT harnesses are the best comfort, price and versatility for DRT and SRT climbing. I've been on a bunch of different harnesses and if I could only have one it would be the NT Tengu. Sequoia is an excellent harness but is not as comfortable as the Tengu for the long hang times typical in rec climbing. Just my opinion of course
-moss


NorthWoodsDiver wrote:

I am a recreational climber but I dont want to limit myself and for the price I think the petzl offers the most variability in uses of the saddles out there.

I taught myself to climb based out of need and with a harness made from long continuous webbing so this is a huge step up and will require saving some money first but of the options out there that allow for use on both DRT and SRT it appears to be about the most cost effective.

Since I enjoyed SRT climbing the most thats an important feature for me.