What happens if the outer jacket of the hitch cord fails. Will the Hitchhiker go into an uncontrolled decent? For instance if the cord should burn up on a long fast decent or maybe just an over used worn out hitch cord. If the hitch cord should break or unravel from its friction knot would the Hitchhiker alone be able to break the free fall enough to prevent serious injury? Thank you for providing this testing information. It is very informative and confidence boosting.
The hitchhiker is a very safe and versatile system. As I am not sure of the systems you are familiar withere was I will reference the very tried and true Blake's hitch system. Think of the HitchHikerXF as the limb above a Blakes hitch, both provide friction to allow the hitch to function, without them the hitch will not work.
I have a HH2 and have been emailing with Paul a bit. It doesn't seem to offer much "braking power". It's nice how light you have to touch the hitch to get it moving. But too much, just seems not much different than a hitch cord. Is it supposed to be and I'm overthinking? 😂
@@RichardMumford1sometimes it's hard to put into words exactly what I'm thinking or explaining. I guess I was expecting the device to act differently, like a figure 8 with a friction hitch. I see how your design has the added friction plug for long descends and a noticable difference in the load capacity. What I'm asking is, if I push down on the hitch all the way, I'm going for a ride.... Seems like free fall. Is it supposed be like that? I'm using Sampson BWR 16 strand, and have tried it with Sampson 24 strand as well, same results.
@@anthonyr6286 OK understand your question now. One of the beauties of the hitchhiker is that you can control all of the friction. Like a Blake's hitch in a doubled moving rope, if a climber completely compresses and releases the hitch, it will be a free fall.
Thanks for sharing all your info. I’ve learned a lot from your videos. Just curious, does the friction plug need to be adjusted out for the HHXF to tend smoothly during ascents?
It should be removed for ascent. The caribbeaner could be removed and it could be left in place but not engaged, but I guarantee it would be lost. I keep it clipped to my rigging paw until I want it.
Ropes are required to have a breaking strength of 5,400. What they break at in use is not the same. Put any device, hitch or mechanical on the rope and it will be different, in fact connect it with a carabiner, spliced or sewn eye, it too will be different. So the hitch slips far before anything breaks so in reality these test are close to pointless but simply prove the metal can take whatever you throw at it.
@Arbor Kingdom Thank you. Ratings, certifications, and standards can often be misconstrued. In fact just try to find CE standards or the actual tests that were performed, it all gets buried somewhere. I think they are important but should be a little more transparent before we go toss it over a branch.
A great wealth of information. Thanks for your technical research.🇨🇦🇺🇸
Fascinating research. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience!
Really interesting Richard! Thanks for sharing your work and research with us!
What happens if the outer jacket of the hitch cord fails. Will the Hitchhiker go into an uncontrolled decent? For instance if the cord should burn up on a long fast decent or maybe just an over used worn out hitch cord. If the hitch cord should break or unravel from its friction knot would the Hitchhiker alone be able to break the free fall enough to prevent serious injury? Thank you for providing this testing information. It is very informative and confidence boosting.
The hitchhiker is a very safe and versatile system. As I am not sure of the systems you are familiar withere was I will reference the very tried and true Blake's hitch system. Think of the HitchHikerXF as the limb above a Blakes hitch, both provide friction to allow the hitch to function, without them the hitch will not work.
I have a HH2 and have been emailing with Paul a bit. It doesn't seem to offer much "braking power". It's nice how light you have to touch the hitch to get it moving. But too much, just seems not much different than a hitch cord. Is it supposed to be and I'm overthinking? 😂
Sorry but I'm not understanding you comment or question.
@@RichardMumford1sometimes it's hard to put into words exactly what I'm thinking or explaining. I guess I was expecting the device to act differently, like a figure 8 with a friction hitch. I see how your design has the added friction plug for long descends and a noticable difference in the load capacity.
What I'm asking is, if I push down on the hitch all the way, I'm going for a ride.... Seems like free fall. Is it supposed be like that?
I'm using Sampson BWR 16 strand, and have tried it with Sampson 24 strand as well, same results.
@@anthonyr6286 OK understand your question now. One of the beauties of the hitchhiker is that you can control all of the friction. Like a Blake's hitch in a doubled moving rope, if a climber completely compresses and releases the hitch, it will be a free fall.
@@RichardMumford1 thank you so much! I was overthinking it
Thanks for sharing all your info. I’ve learned a lot from your videos. Just curious, does the friction plug need to be adjusted out for the HHXF to tend smoothly during ascents?
It should be removed for ascent. The caribbeaner could be removed and it could be left in place but not engaged, but I guarantee it would be lost. I keep it clipped to my rigging paw until I want it.
When will they be available Richard?
Today, I sent an email to all subscribers.
But on my site now.
So the rope shears off at 2,000 pounds ? That’s definitly not enough to be over the 5,000 limit for climbing
Ropes are required to have a breaking strength of 5,400. What they break at in use is not the same. Put any device, hitch or mechanical on the rope and it will be different, in fact connect it with a carabiner, spliced or sewn eye, it too will be different. So the hitch slips far before anything breaks so in reality these test are close to pointless but simply prove the metal can take whatever you throw at it.
Awesome thanks for the response, the whole system is rock solid I csnt wait to receive mine , love supporting your work
@Arbor Kingdom Thank you. Ratings, certifications, and standards can often be misconstrued. In fact just try to find CE standards or the actual tests that were performed, it all gets buried somewhere.
I think they are important but should be a little more transparent before we go toss it over a branch.