angelarivera•6d agoProlific Poster

Switched to a notched rope guide and it fixed my climbing frustration

I always used a standard rope guide for my SRT setup and kept fighting rope drag on every pruning job in Richmond. A old timer at a local workshop showed me how a notched guide keeps the rope centered and cuts friction by half. Has anyone else swapped their gear mid-season and noticed a big difference in how smooth their climb feels?

3 comments

3 Comments

christopherh796d ago

I mean, I tried a notched guide a couple seasons ago on a big oak in Short Pump and honestly it didn't do much for me. Maybe it was just the tree or the way I was rigging, but I felt like the rope still rode up and over the notch in some spots. Idk, I've stuck with a standard smooth guide and just made peace with a little extra friction on my climb line. Not saying you're wrong, just my experience was pretty different.

jamie_adams6d ago

...but I gotta say, I think you might be confusing a notched guide with a redirect block or something. A notched guide is just a pulley with a groove cut into the sheave to keep the rope from walking sideways, not really about climbing line friction. The rope riding over the notch sounds like the tree was too big for your setup or the guide wasn't sized right for the rope diameter. I've used them on smaller hardwoods and they work pretty solid for keeping the rope in line, but if you're doing big oak trunks with a chunky line, a smooth guide might honestly be better for that particular job.

smith.parker19h ago

Short Pump oaks are rough on gear, I've had that same issue with a 5/8 rope.