srt rope climbing systems

i was wondering if anyone had experience with rope walkig systems;ie: mitchell,ropewalker,frog? which were preferred or opinions on pros and cons

I have a rope walking system that a caver friend of mine gave me. It looks rather complicated to wear even with the instructions from the manufacturer. It looks like it would for well suited for LONG ascends ( 100 plus feet) but it would be too cumbersome for the basic tree climbing that most of us do regularly. Also I see that after you are high on the tree this system ( w/ 3 Gibbs grabs) would not allow too much movement around the branches without removing most of it from your body and transfering to a regular climbing seat so the benefit is not there. I assume that a caver or Cliff rock climber or a rescue person ( rescueman) can provide more ideas and better experience from actually using this gear. I will try to set up the equipmen together and see how easy it is to use in actual climbs at low hights.
I would nor recommned expending the money for this gear for tree climbing unless you also use it for caving or rock Climbing stuff.

Stan Stalnaker has the "double-bungee rope walker" from On-Rope.

Pros- fast and easy ascents; can almost use no hands.

Cons-cost; time consuming effort to rig and de-rig; have to changeover to move about and desend.

Now that we have it in our gear bag we will use it but would not buy it again.

Best rig is the large CMI's with web straps from New Tribe.



See you at the top,
Dan

thanks for the reply. I am going to be climbing a redwood. i am still working with ascenders and gear I already have to set up an efficient system.looking forward to more replies

The best source is the book ON ROPE. You should be able to get that pretty cheap. Be sure to get the second edition.

Here is the contents of my SRT bookmarks. Some of the links may be dead.

Tom

http://www.adventuresports.com/asap/index/climbdir.htm
http://www.thebikezone.org.uk/therockzone/selfbelay.html
http://www.technicalrescuemagazine.com/arti/be2.html
http://www.technicalrescuemagazine.com/arti/be.html
http://www.bstorage.com/speleo/speleo.htm
http://nerve-net.zocalo.com/jg/c/tech/Default.htm
http://stores.yahoo.com/karst/index.html
http://members.tripod.com/kcagrotto/
http://www.intothevoid.com/mss/
http://www.cavepage.magna.com.au/cave/SRT.html
http://www.caves.org/cavetalk/cavetalk.html
http://onrope1.com/
http://www.oucc.org.uk/procs/proc10/warsaw.htm
http://www.croydoncavingclub.org.uk/Archive/Pelobates/
http://www.croydoncc.org.uk/Archive/Pelobates/035/NCA.htm
http://www.rescueresponse.com/html/news02-02/highlight.html
http://www.rocknrescue.com/default.htm
http://www.speleobooks.com/
http://www.srte.com.au/
http://www.caves.org/
http://www.gonzoguanogear.com/index.html

The big question is, where are you climbing redwoods!

love
nick

thanks Tom. I dont know if you remember but you let me borrow a lock jack to try after the ITCC in Conn. with out knowing who I was . This kind of trust is why I am so glad to be part of the tree climbing community. I will be climbing a redwood as part of the Tree Fund Climb for the ISA. Thanks for the info Tom I have already ordered the book.

Boy, you have a better memory than me

Were you the winning bidder on the package? I was at the auction last summer and saw the heat building up. Another person bought the second climb. Which are you?

Have fun at the climb.

The camp that you'll be climbing at has lots of great trees. I'm not sure if you'll be going into the tree down by the river. That's the biggest one around. The nice thing about the river tree is that it's out in the open so you'll have good sight lines around.

A couple of years ago Jerry and I hosted a group of Danish arbos for a couple of days of climbing. That was fun. There wasn't time for me to get to the top of the river tree. Since the Danes only had this chance to "summit" they had first run.

Be sure to take pictures and post them when you get back.

If there is going to be long single ropes set, you will probably find that a ropewalker system will be easiest. If the rope pitches are short a frog setup will work well.

What are you using for descending? For long pitches racks will be the best. Find at least a six bar with the top bar a hyper bar. Since arbos are used to pulling down on the rope to stop the hyper bar is a more natural feel. Also, it gives more friction.

Tom

I was the winning bidder. There was also 1 more trip sold at some point and I dont know when. so there will be a total fo 6 climbers who bought the trip. Great for the research fund and a good way to get me to commit to getting out there. Ihad planned on doing it for several years.
From what Ox has told me it sounds like the tree you mentioned. As I am kind of a gear head I could set up for the roewalker or the mitchell system depending on the chest plate.

Two of you mentioned that you met at the ITCC in Conn. What is that? I'm in southeastern CT and am trying to find other climbers around.

Anyone know of someone in the area (state)?

Now back to our regularly scheduled topic

International Tree Climbing Championships

This is an event that the International Society of Arboriculture hosts at it's annual conference. The location rotates every year.

Yet more off topic tid-bits…

The New England Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture is having their tree climbing competition on June 4th at Oakledge Park in Burlington, Vermont. Should be a fun time and a good meeting spot for any northeasters on the forum.

www.newenglandisa.org/tree_climbing_competition.html

Additionally…
The ITCC is in August in Nashville, TN for 2005.
(Lots of vendors, bring check book!)

Electrojake