Joe, I have been using a Blake’s hitch tied with 6mm Sterling powerline. Super strong even more than 6mm trc. I take 4 feet & tie a 4” loop on one end and use the rest of it to tie a Blake’s hitch. The 4 inch loop I tie into one of the buzzard roost loops. When not using it, it is folded between the two loops on the saddle. No biner to make noise and fast to tie onto the line below the gri gri. I first used a figure 8 for the loop but changed it to a single overhand knot so that I would have a little more line for the Blake.
A brake side prusik with hollow block clipped low on the harness will cause the gri-gri to brake effectively and can be managed while desending with a hand on the brake line. The same hollow block prusik above the gri-gri and clipped to the bridge works without the risk of jamming the device in the event of a fall.
Joe, I have a gri gri + coming this week, so I have questions that I may learn when I get it. What do you have to do to go hands free? Will the gri gri not hold on it’s own? Will hooking to a tether be all you need to do? I you are using it with a quick roll on a hand ascender, can you let go of the rope to make a shot if need be? I will check some of your other video’s on using a gri gri.
First, wanna say I really appreciate y'alls videos! They are informative, to the point and very well done! My question is in regards to either a grigri or madrock, have you guys ever had issues with them in winter? Specifically wet or icy ropes. I live in Alberta where you end up hunting in snow / ice more often then not, especially late season. Thanks again.
Our weather is not as extreme as yours. We hunt during snow and lite rain with no problems. We rarely get wet weather where the temps drop and deep freeze everything. If your rope was to freeze to the point it gets severely stiff then yes it will be difficult to climb . Thanks Josh 👍
Regarding the madrock. Madrock says to never back up the safeguard or lifeguard below the device. Always above. They say something like an autoblock can bind in the device and cause it to fail. The way I see it, is just make sure if you use a grip hitch like an autoblock for a backup, keep it above the madrock, or far enough away below it that there is zero chance it can slip into the device under a fall.
Well Im not sure what is best but as a rule its always a good idea to go around 2mm smaller with your hitch cord than the climbing line . I pretty much use 8mm hitchcord on my 9.5mm sterling superstatic or on my 10.5mm tufflberger platnum. Works fine on both.
You probably could but it would make more sense to just SRT climb because there would be no friction and its 1:1 climbing instead of 2:1 so id just SRT climb with a grigri
So if you read what petzl Recomends they recomend tieing off the slack end. Its true a knot will not pass through the device however as I understand it Madrock says a safety knot could damage the device. Im not sure why or how but it seems both manufacturers tend to favor tieing off on the slack end over allowing the knot to put pressure on the device. Im more a Petzl guy so I really dont know all the details on the madrock but if you Go on petzls site they recomend tieing off and the recomend a way to do so with an illustration. It requires a knot onto the carabiner and a second carabiner to lock it and unlock it. I felt it was a little busy in a hunting situation so Im using this alternative to basicly accomplish the same result.
@@NYSaddleHunter I'm always trying to hunt clean for years like u. I have a large DeadDownWind bag. B4 I left for a 30 mile drive I took my clothes that freshened up with a DDW dryer sheet. I put them in my bag & didn't put my saddle on top which I put in a locking plastic tote in my mancave. I wanted to hunt where I didn't have a preset. I found a nice poplar easy to get up in surrounding by small red oaks. The throwball went up with one throw. I got the climbing line in & then I thought of that poor guy in Iowa & his tragedy. My setup was that I put on an extra pair of pants that rope wouldn't slide on. Above that I had a heavier jacket with a fannypack around it tight. I always have 2 tethers on me which r 8.5' Oplux 8mm factory sewn & sold by Wild Edge. I took one & put it around my hips girth hitched. The tag end like in your video where u want more redundancy. The carabiner that I had around me for my bridge was stealth stripped & I attached it to the carabiner on my climbing line. Above that is the self tending prusik above the loop on the working line side. That tag end went back around the other way & was daisy hitched to the carabiner operating as my bridge. There was a branch 12 feet up that I placed my right boot on. Then I was able to remove my backpack that had a Wild Edge Battlement attached to. The toughest part was attaching the back around the 🌳 with all that weight so I could get a good foothold with my Battlement. When those 2 things were done I was able to step onto it & I attached my other tether & clipped the carabiner on that to the Oplux bridge about a foot below my daisy chain hitch. It was like standing on a deer stand facing the 🌳 for 3 hours. I had limited movement since safety made it impossible for me to lean away from the 🌳 with the 2nd tether but I was able to cover the area I expected movement to my left. Last but not least coming down was just me & the backpack with the Battlement thrown down on swamp grass during windy & cold weather which was the reason I was there in the 1st place. That tail end went around my rump on the way down but the 🥶 wind didn't make it much fun. I hope that these new DRT guys out there r able to gain knowledge of backup plans & thinking on their feet & not panicking. Not once did I feel in danger & often thought that this beats being up 40 feet in the heat with a chainsaw. We r getting very cold weather here in MN & my hunts might be limited but there is solace in knowing that I will NEVER be w/o my saddle again. Take care Joe.
