Michael, That end cap is LOT heavier than the ones TreeTramp uses on his design and te openning looks kind of small for the rope to pass thru but it would probably work fine if that is all you can get overseas. I will try to take a photo of the ones we use FYI.

Oldtimer -- there are photos of the T&B ground cones that we use on my Flickr site (_link_).

I was climbing a Scots Pine today, practising my techniques (switching from ascent to descent mid rope, self-locking abseil setups, using split tail systems, installing false crotches from the ground and height measuring techniques)

Anyway, looking at the indentation that the static rope made in the bark just by us hanging on it, I'm now concerned that steel conduit (albeit plastic covered) would be much harder than rope so even though there is no risk of friction burn the compression of the cambium would actually be more severe with the steel conduit.

What can we do about that?

Michael

By the way, this was the first branch I got the line over - it looked perfectly healthy from the ground but fortunately I decided to to try again for a thicker branch above. Scary eh?

michaeljspraggon wrote:...Anyway, looking at the indentation that the static rope made in the bark just by us hanging on it, I'm now concerned that steel conduit (albeit plastic covered) would be much harder than rope so even though there is no risk of friction burn the compression of the cambium would actually be more severe with the steel conduit.

What can we do about that?

The vinyl covered steel coil conduit distributes the rope pressure enough. I use 3/4" (inside diameter) conduit with my 11mm rope for that reason, less friction for DRT on the inside and better load distribution on the outside. A bare static rope used in a trunk-tied SRT sytem will definitely cut into a thin-barked conifer branch. I try to tie into the largest branches available on a conifer for the initial SRT entry because the bark will be thicker.

michaeljspraggon wrote:...By the way, this was the first branch I got the line over - it looked perfectly healthy from the ground but fortunately I decided to to try again for a thicker branch above. Scary eh?

Classic. That's why it's good to examine high TIPs with binoculars from multiple angles, the rot on that branch would be visible from a side angle. In retrospect did the the foliage and outer structure on that branch give you any clues that it was compromised? If you can't get a good view of the branch you're going to hang on you have to put the SRT rope over multiple branches as a backup.

I wouldn't hang my rope on that skinny branch for an SRT ascent, healthy or otherwise.

Thanks for posting that photo, a good reminder of what to look for.
-moss