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caughtinside
Social climber
Davis, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 3, 2008 - 07:51pm PT
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bump. hoping to hear from someone who has used the protraxion for tr solo.
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WBraun
climber
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I use a single mini-traxion for years now.
But don't listen to me, WTF do I know .....
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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dood, just bite the bullet and buy the mini.
you know you want to.
all the minis running those fixed lines at cookie . . ..
let's be real-- if you're talking about soloing on mechanical gear, it's no time to start counting pennies. i used to do tons of soloing on jumars, always hated it. but i'll probably buy double minis before next winter rolls around. have someone prodeal you a pair.
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
Fresno, CA
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Well, seems the one person here who has used them says it sucks. Everyone else is recommending mini's.. What more ya lookin' for?
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caughtinside
Social climber
Davis, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 3, 2008 - 08:11pm PT
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yeah, you make a good point.
I'm just trying to be a cheap ass because I already have a protrax I never use and it seems more or less the same device.
EDIT: Nef, point well taken, but I am curious to hear why it sucks.
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Cuckawalla
Trad climber
Grand Junction, CO
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Alright I will step up. I wanted the beefyness of the Pro TRaxion for a wall hauler but also wanted a solo device. I use the Pro traxion and have no issues. What I do is get a small sling and loop it through the harness to back up the belay loop and clip a steel biner into belay loop and sling. I take a long sling and make an improv chest harness and take a regular biner and clip it to the top hole. This makes it orient right and catch immediately. If any of this is unclear I guess I could snap some pictures... As far as a back up I dont have one but you could trail any manner of device, minitrax, micro sender, tibloc, ect. I guess the Pro Trax is bigger than the Mini, but it is way smaller than a silent partner and works well.
-Jesse
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Hummerchine
Trad climber
East Wenatchee, WA
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I have done tons of solo-toproping for many years, have tried literally every device mentioned and others. My current setup is a mini on a DMM Belaymaster connected to belay loop of harness, along with another on a half length runner girth hitched to harness. Super simple, super bomber, super fast to set up. Just the right amount of slack to reposition while climbing and not weight the rope. The setup shown with the Croll and chest harness works great too, has advantage of shorter fall. However, for me it has two distinct negatives: Have to wear a chest harness, and cannot reposition or climb down at all. For those worried about rope damage with a mini, I have taken many falls on ropes down to 9mm with no damage whatsoever. If you are really concerned use a Stratos or SuperSafe. I think this is a very safe form of rockclimbing if you are experienced. Enjoy!
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Brian
climber
Cali
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I've been using double minis for the past couple of months. Works like a dream. Connect both to the belay loop and keep the top one elevated by girth-hitching shock cord to the mini and wearing it as a shoulder sling--eliminates even that little six inch fall by insuring the upper mini is already in the 'loaded' position. No chest harness this way. A bit of a pain to re-rig at the top for descent, though I am getting quicker. The climbing itself is effortless--next best thing to free soloing, and considerably safer when pushing one's limits.
Brian
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quartziteflight
climber
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I can't remember this dudes name, but I met him at NRG. He used a protraxion and loved it. He said he used a couple other devices and likes the P-traxion the best.
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Hummerchine
Trad climber
East Wenatchee, WA
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BTW, solo-TRed James Brown, Clean and Jerk, Wangerbanger, O'Kelly's Crack, and Course and Buggy two days ago. What a gas! Gorgeous weather, and I walk right up to these five star megaclassics in the heart of Joshua Tree to find...noone there. I fully owned the place. WTF? But awesome...
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k trout
Social climber
Golden, Colorado
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Aug 17, 2008 - 11:26am PT
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I had a short conversation about TR soloing with the man who put up the hardest route in Toulumne*. His beta was to use two minitraxions and a chest harness.
*according to SuperTopo, 2003 edition.
Thank you all for sharing your results!
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johnboy
Trad climber
Can't get here from there
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Aug 17, 2008 - 03:02pm PT
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Microcender or rescucender are the best devices for TR'ing, period.
Their simplicity and ease that they travels the rope along with their assured instant backward travel catch make them the best devices for this task.
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CF
climber
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Aug 17, 2008 - 03:28pm PT
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Here is a popular "Yosemite" setup. Since the mini is up high, when you fall there is not as much dynamic load on it. I have taken some good rippers on this setup with no damage to rope. Notice the crossbar on the locker, this prevents cross loading.
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johnboy
Trad climber
Can't get here from there
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Aug 17, 2008 - 03:46pm PT
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^^
Shouldn't be much force (load) on any top rope fall.
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WBraun
climber
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Aug 27, 2008 - 07:59pm PT
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Dingus
That's Kauks setup in the above photo at the base of the meatgrinder.
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tenesmus
Trad climber
slc
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Aug 27, 2008 - 11:43pm PT
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indianclimber is really pretty.
oh this is a climbing topic?
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tom Slater
Trad climber
CA
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Aug 27, 2008 - 11:45pm PT
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Hey man! How ya been!?
YES this set up is awesome! Doug Englekirk turned me on to it. He uses it in the valley all the time. I've used it and it's really rad and light weight!
Go for it!
Tom
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Linc
Boulder climber
Hemet, CA
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Nov 12, 2008 - 10:09am PT
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CF,
1. I already have a Pro traxion, but not a mini. What would happen if I bought a mini, then set up the pro on the bottom, mini on top--or vice versa?
Would that be the same effect as two minis? I'd rather buy one than two if it's all the same.
2. Great photo. Nothing like seeing the setup, shown very clearly. What are you using specifically for the chest harness setup?
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imnotclever
climber
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Nov 12, 2008 - 11:32am PT
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With the 2 minis, shouldn't you try to get your set up to have the bottom mini being the one that engages and the upper one being the back up?
It looks like CF's doesn't do that. So the back up is just for the case where the upper one doesn't engage or, I suppose, crossloading and breaking the upper biner.
If the upper one rips the sheath or breaks the rope, the lower one does no good as a backup.
Am I right?
IndianClimber what catches you first on your modified rig? Is the croll enough distance to get the lower one to catch first?
{edit]
re-looked at IC's pict, it's about the same. The weight is on the upper croll and the micro is hanging loose.
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Redlands
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Nov 12, 2008 - 11:40am PT
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Linc, I use one mini and one pro. Mini as the main clipped into the belay loop and rigged with a girth hitched loop of shock cord through the center hole and worn over the shoulder bandolier style to hold it upright (shorter falls, less slack/dynamic loading) and the pro as a backup below it clipped to a 4" sling girthed through the belay loop.
Two minis would be better, but I already owned a pro and didn't want to spend the extra. It works fine.
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