Rock Exotica Akimbo Vs Unicender arborist review 

I've been running my uni for more than 3 years and it still functions great. The key to longevity is using clean ropes. Too many arborists don't wash their ropes and then their mechanicals wear out quickly; it's just like running sandpaper through it.

Great video, just found this channel and love it. Looks like my neighborhood in the foothills

On descent, try using a loose foot lock to regulate the rope. Most descenders, as friction devices, follow the capstan law in that they are essentially friction amplifiers. That is why you need to have your other hand on the rope to regulate the descent. If you use a loose foot lock for regulation, you have a free hand to push off obstacles and grab gear. If you get too radical, in addition to a fun stripe on your rope, you will have a hot foot.

I love the spider jack3 best it feeds the rope as u go up and easy to control with only one hand without any resistance with weight of rope very easy around a lot of different friction point

Hi Mate, you totally nailed the review, I love the akimbo in oaks, eucalyptus, and not sappy trees, 11.7 ropes (prisim etc). Best tool period for passing over limbs, so compact. Sux bad on any pitched ropes. I also totally agree on the single line advance clip, pisses me off the way it unclips all the time, definately a WTF design balls up lol. Best device for transitioning between a lanyard tender, DRT, SRT when working a prune a large tree and you want one device to do everything. Keep up the great work on reviews.

Another advantage to using the control mode with the uni is it minimizes friction to the friction links which extends the life of the device over all

I thought the top of akimbo was not suppose to meet bottom of akimbo when descending which means not adjusted properly. The tinniest fault with the akimbo I found out is, if you have to adjust in poor light, trying to see what holes the pins are actually slotted into. Great on SRT though.

Great review...thanks

давно искал такой ролик ! поздравляю с таким видинием и многогранностью подхода, молодец! так держать!!!

can you compare the unicender with the rope runner?

Great video man

Great video thanks

Rope defect on the tethered side at 7:45? I dare say you have sorted this since July but worth a look regardless.

I'm just a homeowner who likes to climb and has acres of trees that need work done so i climb on the weekends and trim problem trees. I mostly climb SRT with a rope wrench & friction hitch. I find that there's a lot of "sit back" in my setup. It's like the whole "two steps forward, one step back". I'd like to buy a mechanical prussik because i feel like I'm climbing at least 50% more distance due to all the distance i lose on the "set back". Just being a "hobby" climber though, i can't justify spending so much on another piece of gear... at the moment. It started as "i just need spurs and a flip line" then came the rope wrench and ascender. Hitch climber, new prussiks, more carabiners,... had to get a silky hand saw... the endless pursuit of buying gear. I've spent a lot of money on gear lol

Great explanations

I have had my akimbo ever since it came out, tie a little bit of dyneema throwline in a loop around the hole where you clip the main carabiner through the device and treat it just like the uniscender, works great that way.

3 years and still no updated version with the catch?

Don’t you find your bridge to long for SRT ?

I currently climb on a lockjack. Im considering trying SRT. I found pretty quickly that I prefered the lockjack over a friction hitch and a pulley. Would you recommend moving into srt with an akimbo or going in first with a rope wrench? I want to keep my cost down. I usually use 1 rope all the time, but would plan to have 1 for srt and one rope remaining on the lockjack.

Thank you for this great informative comparison. Have you had a go on the new Notch rope runner pro?

i bet with the unicender a o rig would make taking in slack easier and also help out with hip thrusting, you could move it out so that every pull would under the uni

so zigzag is still the best and there isnt even any 4th one at all?

What are the benefits or advantages of each these system devices versus Zigzag plus? I'm asking this because I only know the zigzag, and I liked very much, but I would like to know other systems.

It's cheaper to just use a totem descender and there different ways to use it

What are you hearing about the Unicender 2? Seems that if they incorporated the drum, lower rope catch, and steel construction it would hands down be the best and most versatile device out there.

I was wondering how long they last. I think I've gotten the best of mine

Not a professional but from my understanding On the unicender you don’t need to touch the device to repel. You can just loop the slack end over the top and pull down. Should give you enough friction to stop when you pull or accidentally let go.

Looks better than zigzag?

You ever climbed on the Bulldog bone? 💯

Im buyibg the unicender ive got the zig zag and chicane its just another tool in the tool box

Subscribed after he said no problemo!! 😂

Could you do a video on the ART spiderjack if you have it? I've not seen many folks using it, but I'm pretty curious.

All right

From what I understand u have the adjustment wrong you shouldn’t be able to fully collapse the akimbo but maybe I’m wrong.

Coming from rope access I don't really understand why you guys don't use locking descenders, for example the petzl rig. Seems to meet all the criteria you are discussing in the video. Mid line attachable, couldn't be easier. Much more secure, the rope will never slip out of the device like you showed with the unicender. Super smooth on both descent and ascent, very easy to tend the rope on ascent too. Can even be operated with one hand, though not super smoothly. Cheaper than both devices shown in the video too. Also locks onto the rope a lot more securely, far less likely to slip. Just seems very outdated that the arborist community is so stuck on the prusik and mechanical analogues.

Nice

Hey. Do u have any advice on how to get rid of sapp on ropes? I am using Petzl rig for climbing and its jamming really bad. I tried washing rope with mild soap, but it didnt do much removing.

This is just crazy and not near as safe n easy as I do it. I generally take my large forklift and lift my loader straight up in the air with the loaders bucket fully extended n a ladder stuck out of the bucket. You all gonna hang yourselves with em ropes. I’m working on rigging up some 30-40ft poles attached to a 55gal drum that has the top cut out to put on the ol skid steer as a boom/bucket type apparatus. Y’all need to start thinking SafetyFirst.

No problemo. Bad Hombre

i use a zigzag n chicane and hitch climbor n wrench

구경 잘 합니다,,

Camera dude needs to show the review, not the reviewer... when your talking about the gear it would be nice to have a visual reference to the thing your talking about. But great review all the same.

Bro when is the new version of the unicender coming out lol lmkkkkkk

Where is this so called uni 2....??

I guess the next version of the unicender never came out

Where are you located?

The Akimbo is amazing but not for sap. Period. Therefore it's not a primary universal device. It's great because it's sensitive but the sensitivity requires a consistent rope. Great for dry, clean ropes. Great in a gym. Probably Great on rock. But just not designed for half the trees. Requires adjustment when wet. I desperately want to love it but it's not worth the price for a secondary device. Especially since my life is 80% conifer.

but im kinda liking the akimbo im in indiana so i rarely see pitch if i climb pine then its usually dry with zero pitch and like 30 foot tall from lanscaper barying the tree in mulch

I really like the look of the unicender i think is the coolest looking out of all the mechanical prusiks but the fact that it wears out really fast and for 300 makes go back to the blakes hitch

Combination

740

so basically not worth for the high price, the whole jamming and no replaceable parts it's like climbing gear industry is taking the same road as the electronic industry, if it breaks then it breaks just throw it away and buy a new one and it's more of a show off rather than practicality.

Fg Function

When can we set up you to do a review for my product? Because if you listen to every word that you are saying and I'm only 2 minutes 5 seconds into your video you just told the obvious truth about the problematic situations that these designers are having and the problem they're having is they care too much about the lightest or the smallest and they totally disregarded all the other possibilities... I like aluminum but aluminum is a soft metal and it will wear pretty fast I am the only person with everything I Only Could wish everybody would want

Hi I like clip you

Lock the rope in your boots silly