You Don't Know What You're Missing,  Friday, 14 December 2007 Yes to the statements so far. Read the other reviews then try these. I would be surprised if your own experience is not spot on. Yeah, they get caught and torn up pretty easily until you get used to them. No, they don't last nearly as long as leather gloves. But you can also feel a lot more and do a lot more with them on.

Like I already said when I referred to these gloves in a different review, the grip they afford on my lifeline is so dramatically increased that I went from climbing in "cycles" to a straight walk up the tree. Look, I'm sure many of us have read Jepson's "The Tree Climbers Companion", right? So yeah, for years I thought there was basically one general method to the DdRT -
Step up or swing your legs up,
Thrust your hips forward while taking in your line
Hold the line and advance your hitch
Catch a split-second of rest while beginning a new cycle.

And I make this even easier on myself. A lifetime of guitar, piano and motorcycling has played havoc with my carpal tunnels - so each time, I alternate hands and take 1 wrap of lifeline around the lower wrist to make towing the line that much easier and more comfortable.

Let me tell you, I put these gloves on and it was like Popeye and his spinach. I forgot I was 44 years old. I forgot about carpal tunnel; I only knew carpe diem. I was going up hand over hand for a good 5 or more strides, and then it was like, "What the hell am I supposed to do with this big loop of slack that's all over me????" So you know, until I played around and figured out which hitches work for this new (to me) style, I had to hold myself with one hand and take up the slack with another. And that gets harder and harder after exhausting yourself going up hand over hand. After about 5 or 6 "extended cycles" of this, I was hanging limp, breathing heavy, resting my weary arms and hands, but still laughing while looking down from like, 30 ft. that I had covered in maybe 45 seconds. Shite ! Man, what I would have given for one ground guy on belay during that job!

But the fact that I could do it at all - it's because of the rubber coating. And I don't do this anymore - it wreaks havoc on my carpals. But whether or not you change your speed or technique, these gloves are worth a try. And if you are really strong (and young, ha!) you will blow yourself away with this advantage.

 Figure 8 descender - it's all I know,  Friday, 14 December 2007 I guess some people like gizmos and others like simplicity. Not a blanket statement, as there will always be both. But in terms of what attracts me... A lot of times simplicity appeals to me. This and the munter is all I have ever used.

I think these things are the bomb. It threads on fast, below your friction hitch, you put a couple of wraps around it, and the ears hold the line fast. Then you can untie your friction hitch, unwrap it and down you go. Or, descend with your friction hitch still in place. That's the safest way to go but be prepared to go thru tails.

If I'm descending SRT, part of my changeover from the Texas system is to use both the Figure 8 above and a Munter below through a 'biner in one of my side rings. With this 1-2 punch of friction, I can hang hands off without slipping at all. When I do get going, 2 fingers on the line below the Munter will stop me.

I tried it a few times SRT descent without the Munter, and without gloves, just because you always want to know how you can deal with difficult scenarios. And here's how it goes - it burns a bit. Of course I'm using as much body friction as possible, reaching around my back.

But with DdRT, it's much easier to control - you do not need gloves at all. But heat? Hell yeah. It gets hot enough where you can't really grab it sometimes when you're done. And wear? Man, I have an old Kong that has rope grooves so deep that my dealer told me to retire it. All my 8's have always been aluminum. I guess theoretically they can hold up for a long time, but that one I used day in day out for years, it's showing big wear for sure.

If my descent is frought with obstacles, and I have to manuever around branches, I am practically chanting an audible mantra to always keep at least one hand surely on the line. It's a "Do As I say, Not As I Do" scenario, as I would never recommend using this without a friction hitch backup unless the path to the ground is a wide open, unobstructed belay. And even then, it's only for those with a lot of experience.

So yes, there are some amazing devices available that make descent as safe as going up - I even read about one in the Sherrill catalog that stops if you take your hands off it, AND if you grip it too hard.

But sometimes I like simple, and when I climb I have faith in my skill and my ability to keep my mind on what I'm doing. So I love the 8.

And it's also good for lowering medium sized branches from up top if there's no one down on the ground to help me.

 Ultra-tech - My Staple for Eye to Eye tails,  Thursday, 13 December 2007 This is how my dealer describes Ultra-Tech:
"Double braid with 24 strand cover over technora inner core. Technora is a high hear resistant material with no stretch. Great for prussick loops, french prussicks or in a harken block system."

Now, I have to once again be careful because these cords come in so many different compositions and varieties, and especially after Nick's review, I had to check to be sure that this was indeed the same eye to eye that I have used more than any other for about 5 years. It is.

Ultra-tech, even now with Bee Line, is still my most used eye-to-eye prusik. I have had negative experiences with pure Technora prusiks, where there is no poly jacket. Nothing to do with melting - more like unraveling.

Now, to directly address what Nick mentioned in his review - I was told by the owner of my Arborist supply that the core of a Technora prusk holds "all the weight". I know this because I had 2 that started to unravel, and after they replaced the 1st one with like for like, they were nice enough to eventually just exchange it for an Ultratech. I was told that the covering, if unraveled, would not compromise my safety. But I don't like it unraveling, of course!

Oncce again, I never used it for speedy descent. Only for ascending and positioning.

But I love Ultratech.

 Tenex - Great Beginner's Eye to Eye tail,  Thursday, 13 December 2007 I was interested to note the other experiences here - I have found Tenex to be one of the longest lasting and most dependable materials for an eye to eye tail.

Type of Use - I give it 3 for because I find it works equally well for both rec users and pros.

Frequency could easily be a 5 - but now I have tails of different compositions and I use them in rotation.

Durability - I have to give it a 5. I still have, and use, my first Tenex tail from 1993 that I used almost daily for years. It is important to note that I rarely descend with the same config that I use to go up. I always switch over to a descender to come down.

Ease - one thing about Tenex - it's soft and feels great in your hand.

And I say it's great for beginners because it is the surest gripping material I have found. It's soft and pliable and grips instantly, for every hitch I have tried.

I have introduced a few novices to climbing. Just rigged them up, showed them "the ropes" (Slaying myself yet again) and supervised some low climbs. It's usually Tenex and a VT, complete with micro-pulley. Because I know there's NO WAY Tenex tied in a VT with a micro-pulley will ever slip, fail, or otherwise scare the individual with any kind of unpredictability. If you take your hands off it, it stops, guaranteed.

And I purposefully don't use it in some high-load climbing scenarious, like secure foot lock, because it hunkers down so tight that it's a little harder to advance than others that keep their roundness better. Tenex is too soft to keep roundness under load.

Desi says he likes tenex best for a lanyart prusik. I find that as a lanyard adjuster it grips a little too tightly. If I'm pressing my legs into the trunk and creating tension on my flipline, tenex gets so tight that sometime it takes two hands to let it out. Ultra-tech, which is what I like for my flipline adjusters, works well one-handed even under lots of tension.

Strength and durability - I have always used it for ascending and positioning, not for zipping down. And I have to give it excellent ratings.

Portability - it's nothing to begin with, and it stuffs down to less-than-nothing.

 Bee Line - love it,  Thursday, 13 December 2007 Reading the other reviews reminded me that you can tie your own lengths. I own several different eye2eye split-tails, but they are all pre-spliced.

Because of the experience needed to tie advanced friction hitches, and also the many ways these can be rigged with additional tails, 'biners and pulleys, I ramped up the skill quotient a little.

I have both the 8mm and 10mm sizes. One thing about the 10mm Bee wrapped around a 1/2" climbing line, you do have to be somewhat careful - especially if you are used to other split tails, like Tenex. I started out with Tenex, it's really soft and squishy and it grabs quickly and without fail. But if you have 10mm Bee tied in a Schwabisch, it is possible for it to not grab until you re-set it, especially when it's new. I have begun to release my hold on my lifeline and felt it just freely paying right thru a Schwab prusik until I reached up and set it again.

But like most things, there is also a positive side to this: If the trunk is close and you can walk it, then you can climb up hand over hand very fast. I first discovered this wearing the rubber-coated gloves listed as "Treeman's Pick". Bee line will start to self-tail the rope as soon as you get a good weight hanging underneath you. Your lifeline pulls right thru the Bee Line and until you need to stop and rest, you can just go-go-go. Not to go too far off base here, but there are several ways to rig up an eye2eye configuration - you can do it with an additional "tail" of rope between your center D and the hitch, or you can tie it right to a carabiner on your center D. If you do the latter, and you're in great shape, you can make amazingly fast progress up a tree if you have the right grip on the line, and Bee Line for your prusik works great for this. Not all eye2eye materials will easily self-tail ... but Bee Line does.

Another thing Bee Line is great for - ascent via secure foot lock method. You can tie Bee Line in a Klemheist and it grips very well. But even better, it releases nicely, especially when you get the "hang" (Oh I slay myself) of where and how to push it when you slide it up.