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Bee Line Eye & Eye Split Tail 

ascending_tools/bee line eye & eye split tail.jpg
Image courtesy SherrillTree
ascending_tools/bee line eye & eye split tail.jpg

User reviews

Average user rating from: 4 user(s)

Overall rating (weighted)
4.5
Type of Use
2.5
Frequency of Use
4.0
Durability
4.8
Technical Skill Required
3.3
Ease of Use
4.3
Safety
4.5
Strength
5.0
Portability
5.0
 

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

Miko Del Giudice
Bee Line - love it, Thursday, 13 December 2007

Written by Miko Del Giudice   -  View all my reviews  - Top 10 Reviewer

Overall rating (weighted)
4.5
Type of Use
3.0
Frequency of Use
4.0
Durability
5.0
Technical Skill Required
3.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Safety
4.0
Strength
5.0
Portability
5.0
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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

Desi Mora
Bee Line Eye & Eye Split Tail, Thursday, 13 December 2007

Written by Desi Mora   -  View all my reviews  - #1 Reviewer

Overall rating (weighted)
4.3
Type of Use
1.0
Frequency of Use
3.0
Durability
5.0
Technical Skill Required
3.0
Ease of Use
3.0
Safety
5.0
Strength
5.0
Portability
5.0
This is one of those pieces of gear that are so simple and so practical that I wonder why it is not introduced sooner to every recreational tree climber. It is strong, easy to handle knots, not very expensive even with custom made splices and it lasts forever (it looks like).
I have one that Nick put together in our MS rendezvous a couple of years back and it still looks like new. This is the one with a double fisherman's loop tied on each end as a substitute for the spliced eyes. I also ordered one from Sherrill 's with the eyes stiched with their custom Grizzly machine and they are great. Very Strong and the splices are protected in a plastic clear enclosure. That one is a bit longer than usual (36- inches, I think) but I just make an extra wrap around the main climbing line and it works great with the Michoacan knot (Martin Knot). I recommend this piece of gear either the traditional one with knots tied or the custom spliced one from Nick or the Sherrill Grizzly splice. Great tool.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

Love it, love it, love it, Wednesday, 12 December 2007

Written by Nick Araya   -  View all my reviews  - Top 10 Reviewer

Overall rating (weighted)
4.5
Type of Use
5.0
Frequency of Use
5.0
Durability
4.0
Technical Skill Required
4.0
Ease of Use
4.0
Safety
5.0
Strength
5.0
Portability
5.0
This rope is made with 3 fibers. The gold on the cover is high heat resistant Technora fibers. The black on the cover is polyester. The gold core is made of vectran, which is strong and has a higher heat resistance than polyester.

Great for the myriad of advanced friction hitches available to us. I recommend starting with a tied version of this eye-eye sling before you move to the expensive spliced version. When tied, you quickly can make the sling longer or shorter as you play around with it. After fine tuning the hitch to you, you'll know EXACTLY how long you want yours to be. Then you can have your sling spliced as you'd like.

The eye should be dipped in a coating to protect the loosely woven core fibers that become exposed when doing this "naked eye" splice for this rope. Make sure that the splicer put locking brummells in both eyes, as recommended by the manufacturer.

The high heat resistance of this rope will allow you to descend quickly without rapid wear to the sling. Caution should still be taken, however. It is not unheard of for a person to descend SO quickly with this cord that the main climbing line suffered damage!

love
nick

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

Andrew Joslin
Beeline eye and eye review, Wednesday, 12 December 2007

Written by Andrew Joslin   -  View all my reviews  - Top 10 Reviewer

Overall rating (weighted)
4.5
Type of Use
1.0
Frequency of Use
4.0
Durability
5.0
Technical Skill Required
3.0
Ease of Use
5.0
Safety
4.0
Strength
5.0
Portability
5.0
8mm Beeline is my favorite closed hitch split tail cord. My only problem is the eye & eye as sold is a little bit too long for my hitch and rope configuration so I've gone back to my custom length Beeline with a double fisherman's loop tied on each end as a substitute for the spliced eyes.


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