Show us your home-brew Petzl Connect-Adjust (or other) setup

Like many, I got tired of the thick fussy/fuzzy cord in my Connect Adjust and opted to replace it.  I'd love to see other setups people are happy with.  

Scaffold knot? Overhand on a bite? Girth hitch the belay loop?  Girth hitch both hard points?  Double bowline through both hard points?  Dual adjust sliders? You get the point.

Here is my setup:

I'm about 160lb without gear and I'm using some Beal Opera 8.5 which I can't get to slip at all when free hanging, on any biner.  

I have been experimenting with this attachment method- simple double bowline.  I have 1% concern about the "bend" nature of the bowline and how when untended and being weighted and unweighted (on both the working end and what would normally be the tail) it's possible to get the knot to invert, becoming unstable.  I much prefer to use both hard points than the belay loop for attachment, find it's tidier.  But don't like the reduced airflow that comes with a simple girth-hitch through the hardpoints.  

Can someone talk me out of using the double bowline in favor of something safer/superior?

I like the overhand on a bite over a scaffold because I usually clip the fixed tether to a legloop and prefer the loose knot which sits flatter.

I know my setup can be drastically improved so show me what you're using!

*I searched 12 pages of Gear Discussion history and didn't see this come up recently, plz post a link if this has already had the dead horse treatment*

Kong Slyde with an inline 8 for rapping. I girth hitch to the belay loop.  This photo shows an overhand on the harness side, but in practice I use a figure 8.  Throw a zip tie through the stopper (nice tip from Alpine Savvy) so it can't come loose, same with the figure 8 harness side.

What’s the zip tie method your referencing?

Alex Guzman wrote:

What’s the zip tie method your referencing?

https://www.alpinesavvy.com/blog/make-a-stopper-knot-semi-permanent

Since the tail is short, a zip tie makes sure the barrel knot can't roll over on itself.

Camp Swing, Sterling 9.4 rope, Petzl Ring around both hard points, SMC rap ring on the tail end just to have something to tug on and so I can clip it out of the way when needed, scaffold knots backed up with stitching.

Connect adjust reslung with sterling 5.9mm powercord. I tie through both hard points with a figure eight and put an overhand with a nonlocker on the other end for connecting bolts

Harry Kinnard wrote:

Connect adjust reslung with sterling 5.9mm powercord. I tie through both hard points with a figure eight and put an overhand with a nonlocker on the other end for connecting bolts

5.9mm powercord does not slip?  What kind of testing have you done?

FWIW, I was planning to use a 8.3mm Beal Dynamic Sling, but the stock rope in my Dual Connect Adjust does not need to be replaced yet.  

I had the Dual Connect Adjust, but I ended up chopping off the rappel extension arm.  IMO, a single adjustable arm is the way to go. I would just make sure you use a long enough length of rope to make an in-line clove hitch or a compact overhand on a bight, if you don’t want to use a separate draw / sling for a rappel extension.

Nah no slip, the geometry of the adjust pinches the cord to infinity. Engages immediately when you pull in slack. 

8.9mm Swift Protect, tied into the hardpoints. Fastest two-bolt anchors in the West, and generally very useful and low profile.

T C wrote:

https://www.alpinesavvy.com/blog/make-a-stopper-knot-semi-permanent

Since the tail is short, a zip tie makes sure the barrel knot can't roll over on itself.

I tried the zip tie method.  Even shopped around for heavy duty ties but they never seem to last more than maybe 15 or 20 pitches before I look down and the plastic is snapped.  Do you have a method that works well?  I've had better luck with marine heat shrink which I can cut a larger piece of so that the edges which could get snagged on rock are really protected and the whole knot/covering is real slick.  But heavy and I don't like that it prevents readily inspecting the knot.  Trying to keep the entire thing sans biners under 110g.

Agree with you Karl that a single strand alone is so useful the second fixed length is unnecessary.

TThurman and those who use thread- did you just get a burly hand sewing needle and some thick poly thread or did/do you have expertise sewing rated gear?

I plan on experimenting with only an overhand as the stopper keeping the Adjust from sliding off.  Definitely need 100% confidence in that connection though.  I plan on tying an overhand in the 8.5mm and pulling it in a fixed off 3:1 to really really set that knot, only then trimming the tail short.  But also add thread and maybe some marine heatshrink as a 3rd line of defense (not necessary?)

I will say, this HowNot2 video definitely made me rethink swapping out my Connect Adjust's rope for something "nicer". 

5ft (IIRC) of 8.2mm Edelrid Starling Protect Pro Dry, stopper to the taped part. Tied in to harness with a re-threaded overhand.

Very supple. I love it. If you do the same, you might want to give yourself a little bit more length for a retraced figure 8 or just have more length period.

We sell it at $1.50 / ft.

You can read more stats and observations on ropes for the connect adjust in this thread:
https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/124598581/replacing-evolv-adjust-cord-with-petzl-pur-line-6mm

Sterling 5.5 mm tech cord, alpine butterfly in-line threaded with webbing for rapping, extra carabiner on the end for two points if you want. Not for aiding, but very light and out of the way for free climbing/fix and follow etc. 

Andy Shoemaker wrote:

TThurman and those who use thread- did you just get a burly hand sewing needle and some thick poly thread or did/do you have expertise sewing rated gear?

I’ve hand and machine sewed my own gear before but no professional experience sewing rated gear, just a lifetime’s experience making what I want if I can’t buy it. Though I’d never expect/ask someone else to trust gear I made, I’m comfortable using it when I’m the only one counting on it.

The stitching isn’t the “rated” part of the system, the knot is. The stitching just prevents the (incredibly unlikely event) of the scaffold knot coming undone. I didn’t use a 3:1 (great idea by the way from an earlier post) to cinch it down but I bounced body weight on it a lot before stitching. Scaffold knots cinch tighter and tighter under repeated loading. I’d be comfortable without the stitching, but why not “belt and suspenders” it when you can…

I used a burly needle and Dacron thread (from the archery world) in a contrasting color so it’s easy to visually confirm at a glance.

Anybody with a kong slyde have a preferred rope? I have the 8.9 edelrid swift protect but it doesn't extend nor shorten very well. 

Holy crap, you are trusting a single strand of powercord with a knot tied in it? That's like 10kN at best when it's new, and aramid strength degrades pretty quickly with repeated bending. Plus it's super static. That doesn't feel super good enough to me.
https://hownot2.com/blogs/big-wall-bible/pc-vs-vtx

Christian Black wrote:

Sterling 5.5 mm tech cord, alpine butterfly in-line threaded with webbing for rapping, extra carabiner on the end for two points if you want. Not for aiding, but very light and out of the way for free climbing/fix and follow etc. 

Holy shit that tether is straight out of my worst climbing nightmares. Respect.

Btw the way you rack it looks bulky, interestingly enough. As in it doesn't seem to compensate the shaved weight/diameter of a vanilla connect adjust at all. I have tripped on slings shorter than that while climbing on slab.

Any rigs using the edelrid switch? I'm having trouble releasing it without load 

I've adjusted things a tiny bit since this pic but it remains more or less the same. 6.8mm edelrid half rope inside some 20mm webbing around the knot, this protects the edelrid rope from abrasion. I have this permanently attached to my harness and it gets scraped up a great deal of wide, so the protection was greatly needed.

I use a petzl adjust with an edelrid kiwi slider biner, it can't be adjusted hanging off it but otherwise it's very easy to adjust and doesn't creep. For terminating the end I use a barrel knot and an overhand, one day I will buy a sewing awl and I will replace the knot with something lower profile. 

that guy named seb wrote:

, one day I will buy a sewing awl and I will replace the knot with something lower profile. 

Just a word of caution, some sewing awls ( my “speedy stitcher” for example) have tips that are not round  in cross-section like a needle but instead ground into a triangular shape. Leather sewing machine needles are often the same. This gives them 3 edges that help them cut through leather. If I was going to use one on rope or other life support gear, I’d take some sandpaper and dull the 3 edges just to be sure it didn’t cut any of the rope fibers. Wouldn’t think the cutting/slicing feature would be necessary on anything woven anyway.

don’t know how I managed to write that italicized  but whatever, happy sewing!

Clips to harness, rope is about 7mm, hybrid of 9mm Protac cover and 5mm amsteel blue core.