That set up is very interesting. I think if I had a MT I would play around with it like that. I am not a fan of the Tribloc but it would be easy to swap out a different piece of gear. I would also feel much better about having a second attachment point... again easily solved. I have no experience with the MT, but it looks cool. Oldtimer, do you have a MT? If you have you tried a similar setup?

I do not have either of those tools and I am not inclined to buy them either. The Tribloc has a bad reputation of destroying ropes so I passed on that one a while back and the Minitraxion Pulley is not something I would use in my short trees. I usually read about all these ideas in other Web board and pass them along for others to try or to see what experiences they have encounterd if any.

I would be reluctant to use either MT for climbing. Great kit for hauling if you do a lot or need something more effecient than a Munter or a prusik minding pulley setup.

There are LOTS of alternative tools to use as a chest ascender that are designed to be used in this fashion. If there were no other tools available to do a very specific task I would, and have, considered using them after lots of considerations. In this case I would use an Eddy, GriGri, I'd or Cinch before the MT.

It is really sad to hear the friction between pro/rec climbers. Over the years I'vve sure benefited from the insights that rec climbers bring into the trees. My biases have sometimes kept my blinders a little to narrow. There has also been way too much rec/pro friction too. Both sad to see

Hey Tom, Welcomed back. I saw that set up used by an Arborist on a daily basics and was surprised that the others indicated that it was cool to use and actually meet their Standards.
It appears to me that the heavier duty ProTraxion may be Ok but like you say there are safer alternatives to do the job hopefully with a larger degree of safety.

Edited: Tom, I am planning to go to see you guys competing at Fort Worth 4 and 5 next month. I will try to drop by and say hello! Maybe, I can peak at your SRT Class!

One thing that I always struggle with is using equipment in a way that it was not intended to be used. The MT was not ment to be used that way, but that doesnt mean that you cant find new uses. This paticular use looks to have many better options, but it could spur some different ideas that can be used safely and efficiently. I still feel that with some changes that system shown could be used safely, but I dont see how it could be use efficiently. I have to agree with Tom about the prorec thing. I know that I have learned so much about SRT from rec climbers. Besides seeing Tom do acouple of his SRT seminars and reading On Rope, all of my real world techniques came from rec climbers. Just because someone is a "pro" doesnt mean they know more than a "rec" climber. Sorry got a bit off topic...... does anyone know of other uses people are finding for MT in their climbing systems? I am interested to see if this tool gets much use in the tree climbing world.

I think you could replace the grigri with the minitraxion, but then you would lose the real beautiful aspect of this system: the built-in rappel that the grigri provides. By removing the top ascender you're all set to go down if necessary. So for the same price I'd keep the grigri and concern myself with using the traxion in hauling loads up to the campsite.