Once you start using a progress capture device like a micro trax, you will never go back to using just a grigri.

Filippo Da Rin in my limited experience I’ve never had only the top micro traction catch me without the bottom. Usually they both are sliding down as you climb up so the bottom one usually catches before the top. But maybe someone else who has more experience with rope soloing than me could chime in and say if that ever happens to them.

I don't think I would use a tidblock for rope soloing, the way how it stays connected to the rope is by the carabiner, so you would probably have to do a lot of experimentation with the carabiners to find one that keeps the tidblock in the best position for your rope. You would also have to get one that can't get cross loaded or spin around freely, so that would mean using a belay style carabiner. The best part of the micro traction is that it keeps the rope in an enclosed system. Just my thoughts

@@ryantilley9063 Did you consider using your GriGri+ on top, and microtraction below? Any downsides?

Ya sure, not to much has been changed since I made this video but I can talk about what I have changed in my specific setup

@@ryantilley9063 that’d be great Ryan!!

Ya you could use the Reepschnur it help cleaning the anchor at the end, that's a pretty great idea really! If I have a two chain anchor a lot of times I just do the bunny ears figure- 8 and clip it to both the bolts with Either a locker and non- locker or two lockers.

Gonna piggyback onto this. Ryan, can you do a video on progress capture devices in general? Would love to watch that, thanks!

Hey gizmo, I haven't used the shunt before, but it would work for this purpose for sure. The toothed devises like the micro-traction, pro-traction, or jumar all do bite into the rope and cause some abrasion to the sheath of the rope. So doing this a lot could reduce the lifespan of your rope, if you get a thicker rope (9.4-9.9) it would help with making the sheath last longer and also add a little bit o mental security too. Doing this with two ropes is perfectly fine, I would be a little worried about using twin ropes since there not rated for single use, but since you have a back up line and aren't putting a lot of force onto them you should be fine, just something to think about.

@@TheDing888 Ya I definitely will, that's a great topic for a video!

The rope I’m using in this video is a sterling nano IX, it’s the rope that I had with me but I would probably use something a little thicker for rope soloing. Something in the 9.4-10mm range. As far as static vs dynamic goes you can use either, it is a little nicer to have a static rope but not a safety hazard if you only have dynamics. I don’t really know to much as far as tree climbing goes but I think more arborists use static rope too, but you’ll probably have to check that with a more reliable source!

No I haven't done that, I guess you could do it if your planning on only rope soloing with your microtraxtion, but if you use it for other things like hauling or crevasse rescue then it's really useful to be able to lock the cam open. I don't think that it's really worth filling the little lock down, the only time it would really be a problem is if you forget to unlock it before the climb, it's extremely unlikely that it would accidentally get locked out of place while you're using it.

Doing good, I’m happy to be back making some new videos too!

Yep, it is Merymoor park in Redmond for sure, also where I learned to rope solo.

It would be highly recommended to make the rope fun smoothly through your belay devices. If you don't have it then you can pull the rope through yourself but you really don't want to have slack build up and you then take a dynamic fall onto the rope because the teeth and strip the sheath of the rope.

Ya, plenty of people do that, but be carful to not let the slack build up to make a longer fall, the teeth from the micro traxtion will really hurt your rope sheath.

The forces are so small on the carabiner that a cross loading wouldn’t matter that much, but if you want to use a belay carabiner then feel free to go for it!

I have use the rollNlock a few times before, it would be good for rope soloing. You would definetly want two for the redundancy (when I used a microtraction as my main device and a rollNlock as my back up) but you could switch the two around or use two rollNlock’s. It does take a little more time to get used to the rollNlock over the microtraction, but other than that they’re pretty much the same.

I use a Roll-n-Lock on one rope and a microtraxion on the other rope extended with a locking quickdraw. They work great as a combo.

Ya having the two tracxions on each rope is usually what people do if they have the separate ropes.

@@ryantilley9063 thanks Ryan!

What type of rope and diameter were you using? I could see a little more slippage with a new rope and a slicker sheath. Also were you sliding the micro up with your hand, you could have maybe disengaged the teeth of the micro when you were sliding up it. That does seem to be very strange, and also scary as hell!

@@ryantilley9063 Yeah I was sliding it up with my hand. Seems like the only option to get it nice and high on the rope! I was using my 10.2 Sterling dynamic. Not a dry rope. It's about a season old.

Also Ryan I'd love to see a video about trad anchors in a mulit-pitch environment. At the top of the pitch are you building one three-piece anchor for the two of you (climbers)? Are you anchoring yourself in separately to get safe (and then have that be your belay stance), before building the follower anchor? When lead-belaying the next pitch are you thinking about changes in direction of pull of that anchor? Rock on dude! Keep the vids coming.

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Were you using the Grigri for lead rope soloing or top rope soloing? I wouldn't recommend the Grigri for lead soloing (unless you're aid soloing.) It's just not the easiest device to work with while you're trying to get up the climb. For top rope soloing the Grigri is enough, but it is recommended that you put in a backup knot every 10 feet or so to prevent that situation you got into- but there could have been a number of other factors, I don't know the whole story.

@@ryantilley9063 tope rope, my fall didn't apply the minimum friction for actuate de grigri I guess

That's super scary. In a way, the device worked, but almost too late! Glad you're ok in the end.

I'm using a "bunny eared" figure 8 in this video, and it's usually the knot that is my go- to for rope soloing stuff.

So for your first question, it can depend on your set up, most of the time you'll have a full anchor holding the rope to the wall, so the easiest way is probably to clip yourself into the anchor at the top of the climb and then you can take off the micro tractions and set up whatever rappel you want. If you wanted to descend back down to work a section over and over then the two traction method isn't the best option- that's when you would want to use a grigri or other device like that. If you were in the middle of your route while using the two traction method and you had to go down in an emergency situation here's one possible way to transfer yourself to a grigri to get down: 1. Sit down on your rope- so you can use both your hands 2. you could also use a friction hitch (like a third hand) and wrap it around your rope above both of your microtraxtions. 3. Attach yourself to the third hand with a sling or PAS system. Use the wall to stand up and slide the third hand as far up the rope as you can and sit down on the friction hitch. 4. Take off the lower microtraxion (the one that's on your belay loop) and replace it with a grigri - the higher mictrotracxion is functioning as your backup for the friction hitch you are standing on. 5. use the wall to stand up pulling the slack through the grigri, pull enough rope through so that the grigri is engaged when you sit back down on the rope. 6. Clean up all your other things and rappel down with the grigri. This is a good idea for a video so I'll put it on my list and try to have a tutorial video on this topic soon-ish. Thanks for watching!

Ryan Tilley great thank you! I decided to go with mini trax and grigri. My only issue now its the best way to run a single line (like you have in this video) to an even two bolt anchor?

@@prettyboysvc Bunny ears knot with two locking carabiners (one for each bolted anchor) or you can build an equalized anchor with two locking carabiners (one for each bolted anchor) and equalize a double length sling (or cordelette) and fix your rope with a figure of 8 knot with a third locking carabiner.

What do you think of the ropeman2? I got one as a surprise birthday gift (had they asked I would have pitched in to get the microtrax!) and I was planning to TRS with it. I plann to use two ropes -- one with a GriGri and one with the ropeman2. Reddit threads favored the microtraction over the ropeman2. Curious of your thoughts 2 years later!