.png)
ART Ropeguide & Ropeguide Twinline
Hubert Kowalewski is the inventor behind ART products, and he was known for elegant, innovative tree climbing solutions. Sadly, he passed away less than two weeks before the writing of this review. His legacy will live on, however, in his groundbreaking tools. The Ropeguide and Twinline are two friction saving solutions for moving rope systems. I have been using my Ropeguide for three years now, and I still frequently pull it out and enjoy its simple deployment, nearly frictionless action, and reliable retrievability. The function of the two devices is very similar; the only difference being the method by which each is set in the tree. The Twinline uses a second line which can be set from the ground as the attachment point and creates a single rope access line in addition to setting the tie in point for the MRS around the Cocoon pulley. The standard Ropeguide must be mounted from within the tree, and tends to free-fall out after retrieval, there is the potential for it to be damaged by impact with the ground. This is not an issue with the Twinline because the device retrieves along the rope it is mounted with like a choked canopy anchor and never goes into a free-fall. The primary benefit of this anchor system is in the nearly frictionless action and the easy retrievability, but Some climbing hitches and unicenders designed for doubled rope may not respond well to having such little friction at the TIP (tie in point.) My more worn in zigzag for example sometimes slips in this configuration, and my usual friction knot (the Distel hitch) tends to jam up more often because it is doing more work slowing me down without the extra friction at the tie in point. These tools are often slower to deploy and set up than other simpler methods, but the time and energy saved in situations when lots of vertical movement within the canopy is necessary can dramatically outweigh the setup time. I don't use these every day, but I would certainly recommend having them as another tool in the chest. (picture is of my old worn Ropeguide not the newer Twinline version.
Pros:
1. Smooth, fast
2. LOW friction
3. Consistently retrievable
4. Extra safety factor via shock absorbing attachment point, and extra access/rescue line
5. Replaceable wear parts
Cons:
1. Not compatible with most sewn eye splices
2. Tricky and slow to set up. (compared to simple ring and ring savers)
3. May provide too little friction for some DDRT systems
Comments