How to haul efficiently?

I recently hauled packs on a grade IV free climb using a mini traxion with an 8mm half rope. It wasn't terrible, but with any more weight it would have been a struggle. I was literally just pulling up with my bottom hand and pulling the slack through the mini traxion.
I understand there are ways to body haul and set up a system that involves mechanical advantage. I can picture some ways to do this, but I'd like to hear what you guys who do this regularly have to say.

If I added 2 pulleys would this turn into a 3 to 1 and be 3x easier?

First, for real hauling you never just grab the rope with your hands. Use a gri-gri or ascender on your belay loop to pull down on the rope. Sit to pull, then stand up and reset. Or for light enough bags, such as your case, do leg hauling with the ascender attached to a sling/aider to your foot.

With poor technique light hauling is awful, with a good setup and practice you can move a lot of freight without undo duress.

Grade IV free climb...the simple answer is don't. I've one lots of grade IV's free and a couple of V's. I have never hauled on a grade IV, except for maybe a short section where wearing the pack caused a problem. You shouldn't really be carrying enough weight that you can't climb with it on.

And if you did, the load should be light enough that no pulley is needed at all. And definitely no mechanical advantage needed until you get a lot of weight. As mentioned, if the hauling is too hard to just pull the rope through, use an ascender or Grigri and use you leg or body weight and not your hands.

For very light loads this is what I do. I think this would work well for the type of load you are talking about to IDK, at least 40# probably more. But why you would have that much weight on a free climb IDK. (Multi day ascent, or water for showers?) Either way I might want in!

Foot haul as said above, is what has worked for me. This is very easy to do. You can haul much more weight with almost no penalty to your hands, arms or back.

The rope grab I use is a Tiblock. Very light. Put it on the rope after the microtrax. I use a carabiner and a shoulder length sling that I girth hitch to my foot. Easy. Very light.

Usually for a long free climb we don't haul though. But I get it, you are asking about hauling.

Tiblock + microtrax are not much to add to the total weight.

M2C

Wes

my $.02...

the micro tracion is WAY better then the mini!

and, if you can, always do 1 to 1!!! I have set up a 3 to 1 when the pig gets hooked on rocks but it is just too slow... unless you have loads the size of PTPP... 1 to 1 will do pretty good!

I like the gri gri hooked to the belay loop and sitting down and standing up...

happy hauling!

Use two carabiners clipped to an anchor. Look up Alpine Clutch or Garda knot. Also can use an autoblock belay device.

kevin graves wrote:Use two carabiners clipped to an anchor. Look up Alpine Clutch or Garda knot. Also can use an autoblock belay device.

Hauling anything more than a light daypack filled with happiness and helium balloons via a garda knot is the antithesis of efficient.

I've used this method more than a few times (second needing to get rid of a pack so they could climb) and it was jerky and less-than-ideal.