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More on SRT: the Microwalker by mossTreeWalker

More on SRT: the Microwalker by mossTreeWalker

Richard Tregoweth - Monday, August 02, 2010

SRT (Single Rope Technique) innovation just keeps on coming! Have a look at this Microwalker system using a Petzl Microcender, a friction hitch and a Petzl Pantin . Of interest, is the use of the term HUT (hanger-upper-thinggie) for keeping the Microcender under tension and check out the small prussic on his back attachment for adjusting the length of the HUT ( note to self: this term is worth stealing ).

Another common method for streamlining the webbing sling used to attach the Microcender to the bridge is to cover the doubled up webbing with the outer sheath of a rope like Blaze or Tachyon and secure it by whipping each end (this only works with 10mm webbing supplied by Wild Country, Beal or Black Diamond - Aspiring webbing slings are too wide to fit inside the sheath).

Also note the use of a shortened prussic to ensure it does not come into contact with the Mircrocender.

A couple of cautions: the Petzl Microcender will begin slipping at as low as 3kN - under a relatively small fall it could slip down onto the hitch thereby releasing it. Another note of caution: the Petzl operating instructions clearly state that a lanyard should not be used between the harness and the Microcender. And… "the use of this device for self belay is limited" … and "this device is not designed to take severe falls".

That said, YouTube poster mossTreeClimber does say at the beginning of his video "the gear configurations and techniques shown in this video are experimental and unproven, use at your own risk" and that about sums it up.

For more on SRT visit the VTIO website which is regularly updated by Victorian climber Joe Harris. And, have a look at Scott Sharpe's Rope Rocket which also uses Petzl gear a little differently - see set-up details on page 13 of the VTIO SRT download.

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