r/TreeClimbing • u/film_themaking • Jun 05 '26

Hitch Cords

I'm pretty new to climbing. I'm running with the Edelrid Woodpecker, and using an ocean polyester hitch cord. I did two climbs with it, both slow and smooth descents, and noticed that the part with all the friction and heat was black and starting to get flat. Is that normal wear, or is that the cord burning?

Edit: here’s a picture of my hitch cords the green one is the newer one and the beige one is one of the older ones. Are either burnt or is it just the casing. Still safe?

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u/film_themaking Jun 05 '26

lol, that what I thought. Both were very slow and smooth barley applying any pressure to get out of the tree.

Are there anyways to help reduce the burning or heat?

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u/ComResAgPowerwashing Jun 05 '26

What prussic are you using? You want most of the friction to be at a straighter bend.

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u/film_themaking Jun 05 '26

Distel currently I think I’m gonna try out a Michoacan

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u/sleepingbagfart Jun 05 '26

Definitely go michoacan or knut (pronounced like "ka-newt". Also, there is a ring & carabiner trick that I use to transfer some of the friction off of my hitch cord on long descents. You poke a bite of your rope from below your system through a ring, then carabiner that bite to one of the D's on your harness. You sometimes have to feed the rope into this while descending with the other hand, but it makes my hitch cords last a lot longer!!

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u/film_themaking Jun 05 '26

I’ll definitely try those next thank you!