howNOTtoHighline posts
Posts: 449
Files: 541
Water vs Beer: Which one is stronger?
4th Post of 8 for June: Yesterday I finished filming the remainder of the Intro to Sport Climbing which was my 3rd attempt to filming the action of it. We had 4 audio sources, consistent light from the clouds, no wind, no crowds, my buddy was available since it takes 3 to film. Those 1+ hour long course type videos are way more involved than testing 6 things. Worth it!Algorithm Games: I'm stockpiling up videos I know will be very popular and ...
Shorts, AI, Dummy, Deletions
3rd of 8 Posts for June: Here's some shorts and updates on the non-sexy stuff behind the scenes. I like posting 8 full videos a month if possible but I think it's worth the investment of energy to make the more full value, in depth videos. They take 20-40 hours to edit instead of 4, but are way better for the viewer. Short 1: Sun-damaged Anchor https://youtube.com/shorts/Dm6AZJ6b4PA?feature=shareShort 2: Frayed Arborist Bridge https://you...
I mean it's not THAT bad...
2nd of 8 Post for June: I go through phases and in my workflow it seems like personal anchors are a focus. Today I'll be working on finishing a Purcell Prusik video that's been in my queue a very long time, I already did cow tails, and I might make the next tests I do the Petzl Evolv Adust that has been requested so many times. I'm wondering if I put a skinnier cord in it, if it will slip at a force that wouldn't hurt your body an...
Shorts, Machines, and Website
1st of 8 Posts in June. As much as I like long-form, some tests just don't need to be 12 minutes long. Making the short form has helped me make the long form better. My main videos are at least 10-20% shorter without cutting out any information. Shorts are a great way for me to say yes to more people for random break tests without feeling like I have to make a full story around that piece of gear.Totem Cam Test: https://youtube.com/shorts/qJU...
BEWARE: This makes carabiners break A LOT lower
8th of 8 Posts for May: Other than bolting videos, I only have 4 videos from the old lab left to edit! I'm hoping to have everything edited within 2-3 weeks from filming it once I'm caught up. This is a bad example. I shot this about a week ago and it's pretty good so I'm excited to release it. This is why so many older videos get delayed. Eventually, all the episodes will have this kind of turnaround.Today's Post: Tom emailed...
How did they splice this together?
7th of 8 Post for May - I am getting a fancy machine built by some engineering seniors for their graduating project. This pull tester will be very similar to many Instron machines that most manufacturers have. I will be able to control rate of pull and program it to do cycles. Relevent to today's video, it would be awesome to pull it to 8kn 10x then pull to failure at 100mm per minute for example. It will be exciting to see how or if HOW some...
The difference is INSANE
6th of 8 Posts for May - Back from Tenerife and climbed my first 11D ever... on lead. That helps the stoke all around. I'm working on the hardest stage of this channel, hiring. I'm not looking for the unicorn that can just do everything for me, but practicing with hiring small tasks to see how to balance between leaving the help shooting blindfolded and micromanaging them. If I can figure this out, I'd be able to scale and accomplish ...
Aren't knots free?
5th of 8 Posts in May. When this goes live, we'll be mid-filming with Hard is Easy for an Intro to Sport Climbing which will incorporate of course the basics but also how strong the gear is and the forces you can generate. I think that would be great for brand-new people to get a holistic view of their gear and not just the cliche myths.TODAY'S POST: Termination plates retain more strength out of your rope they say. How much you ask? Well...
Can you prusik double ropes?
4th of 8 Posts for May. I broke this into 2 videos, the other being on the CLIPS channel. I'm headed to Spain today for my gf bday and I found out Hard is Easy lives 30 minutes where we'll be staying so we'll be able to film some videos with him. That's going to be fun!Thank you Matt O'Donnell for visiting the lab and doing this with us. Having a prusik around 2 ropes can be for a handful on contexts, but this was looking thro...
Are girth hitches dangerous?!
3rd of 8 Posts for May. I've got all 4 episodes edited I filmed with Alpine Savvy and I'll be slow releasing them over the next few weeks. I spent ALL week working on our zipline film and got the teams approval and am having an audio engineer level everything out. I'm very excited for that to do well. Finalizing the abrasion tester before a rope manufacturer comes over to do a deep dive WITH THEM today. More on that later.TODAY'S ...
99.7% chance it won't break below 5,000lbs
2nd of 8 Posts for May: I'm working on the zipline film, planning specialty rope deep dives and almost ready to use the abrasion tester. Today's Post: Gear is sigma 3 tested. That means there it is very unlikely it will break lower than its rated strength in its best case scenario, helpful! Right? We talk about this sling you may not even know existed and how strong it is in all its configurations. Shorty: While I was editing a girth hitc...
Home-made Climbing Gear?
1st of 8 Posts: Today's video hopefully gets more used cams sent our way then after fully proof testing the cam crusher, I'll invest in buying 1-2 of every brand and comparing them "head to head," get it?This last week we did the first tandem zip line base jump on a mile long zip line on 5mm dyneema. Other than having to tension for 2 days, it went down without a hitch and no one got hurt. I'll be doing a full feature film on ...
This trick changes everything
Patrons: This is the 8th of 8 posts for April. Usually, videos sit in the queue for months, sometimes years. I've expedited this. If all goes well, I'll expedite this weekend's project for wednesday. It's fun releasing stuff while it's fresh.Thank you Matthew Otto https://www.instagram.com/matthew_a_otto/ for the sailing trick. It's amazing that a 2-3 meter piece of dyneema can make 1-3km long projects WAY easier. I hope t...
My Haul Bag Exploded
Patrons: 7th Post of 8 in April. G7 break test video did way better than I was expecting. Always a risk doing a deep dive on super niche gear. I thought I'd follow this Wednesday up with another big wall related video. TODAY'S VIDEO - Sometimes you swing bags while big walling. Sometimes you drop them as rope swing dummys. When and how do they break? The straps were stronger than I thought and the bottom blew out after 4 attempts of shock...
We are worried about the wrong things
Patrons: 6th of 8 posts for April. I've been experimenting with short form content, as a tool for one off break tests and growth of the channel. It's hard to figure out what makes one go viral but I read the comments and try to alter how I communicate in a short. Long form lets me do troll patrol better but I think I might accomplish that with short form. I edit them to be shared to youtube shorts and instagram reels for whatever your pre...
G7 Review, Misc Rope Tests, 3 Shorts
Patrons: 5th of 8 posts for April. I think deep dives on gear is going to be a big value add on the channel. If you are going to spend a lot of money on gear, it's nice to fully understand if it is right for you. This G7 review is the start of this type of content. Rocky talkie was also an example. I don't stop testing it until the manufacturer says wow. If you alcohol wipe clean, then patch it to quickly, your patch is ruined and you are...
Alpine Savvy, Hangers, Cave Harnesses
Patrons: 4th of 8 Posts for April. My days have been a few hours in the morning for written material then lab stuff mid-day and editing later. So that's produced a variety pack for the last few days.TODAY'S EPISODE: Meet The Man Behind Alpine Savvy - Podcast with John Godino. He has been consistently creating content for several years now. We have a few episodes coming out where we test gear together and I wanted to make this available fo...
Climbers Break Down Vertical Limit
Aprils 3rd of 8 posts. This was a fun one. It's not only fun for us but breaks up the break tests and reaches more people that might not find our material. Creating helpful information is half the work, getting that information to everyone who would benefit from it is an entirely different task. The abrasion tester gets built in the next few days, all the parts are in :). Planning the deep dive details on specialty ropes and trad gear. Creati...
SlackMaps, Private Cam video, and Bolting for Climbing
Patrons: April's 2nd post of 8.SLACKMAPS: I know slackline content, especially a podcast isn't going to get a million views but I've been building the slack community longer than doing break tests. If we even got 100 active users on this thing because of this video, it could add enough fresh data to make it attractive to more people. It's free but it only works with people using it. It was nice to hear from those who developed thi...
How strong is this skinny cord?
Patrons: 1st of 8 posts for April. Today's Video: PowerCord is a 5.9 mm accessory cord with a unique braided Technora core which doubles the strength of a standard 5.9 mm accessory cord. Technora is a high-strength, yet lightweight material making PowerCord a great option for anchor building and haul lines. A Tension Backtie is used in a rescue rigging system to stabilize a monopod/bipod/tripod, backup a tree anchor, or shore up any other anc...
Drop Tower Sneak Peak
Patrons: This is the 8th of 8 posts for March.PRIVATE Video of the drop tower. Bobby is visiting and we decided to go free fall instead of a track system. I have ideas to mitigate damage to the tree from weights bouncing back at it. Using firewood I already had for the catching bed and filling it with a lot of mulch some arborist friends gifted me, I was able to get this thing super done enough and done cheap enough to afford the abrasion tester ...
Betcha don't have this climbing gear
Patrons: This is the 7th of 8 posts in March. This Episode: This was a year ago when we tried to get our hands on some UFOs. It was September when we did and it sat in the queue for a while because I was mid big wall series at that point. This has all the good stuff in 1 episode. Drop tests, human testing, Larry saying funny stuff, slow pulls and breaking something I didn't plan on :). What's Next: Working on lab stuff. Might have a speci...
4 Shorts and Lab Stuff
Patrons: This is the 6th of 8 posts for March. Bobby is here visiting and we are going to be doing our first drop test this next week. The photo is our connection to the tree and keeping it simple now that we know drop testing better, we are using the Linescale 3 which we have established is fast and strong enough for 99% of drop tests we do. I have a napkin blue print of the abrasion tester we are making to mimic what we saw in Hard is Easy'...
I thought this climbing anchor was going to be twice as strong
Patrons: This is the 5th of 8 posts for March. I've been wanting to test 3-point climbing anchors for a long time and our new custom steel rigging plate lets us do that... all to find out this particular anchor broke lower than a 12kn amazon carabiner π (which is consistently 18kn fyi). It sparks the question of what is strong enough if you are aiming to have a S.E.R.E.N.E anchor. Extra Content:https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp-cVlJrGYp/ This...
Bolting for Caving
Patrons: This is the 4th of 8 posts for March. John Godino from Alpine Savvy just took off and we filmed about 5 episodes worth of nerdy anchors and girth hitches and cordelette strength differences.Today's Post: For the last week I've spent all of my edit time working on the Bolting Bible https://www.hownot2.com/post/boltingbible The new main section is way easier to navigate as it has all the chapters right at the top but the focus in t...
Why The Overkill?
Patrons: This is the 3rd of 8 posts in March. I've wanted to test whoopies for a really long time so today's video is exciting to at least me! I'm setting up to write a Bolting Bible for knots and splices this fits in nicely for that long game. Speaking of the Bolting Bible, I hope to give you a sneak peak to that on Saturday. It will take weeks to finish the latest version as I spend my first 4 hours every day writing it until my bra...
Cams, Silos, and Slings
PATRONS: This is the 2nd post of 8 in March. I've been working A LOT on the bolting bible and am excited to go live on that hopefully on April 1st. I keep working on lab equipment. I'm exploring what it will take to certify gear starting with ISA certs as a way to understand standards better and supplement the channel costs.TODAY'S POSTI want to test all the trad gear so I'm designing a better adapter for the slow puller and drop ...
What can you get away with?
PATRONS: This is the 1st post of 8 in March. It's been great being able to break people's stuff as they send it in which allows us to explore things that might not be obviously interesting but then find a hat full of rabbits to chase. Derrick lived nearby so he just brought his stuff over which added a lot of story and engagement value in that we explored random stuff together with a pile of gear that needed to be retired. TODAY'S POS...
The ULTIMATE Drop Test
PATRONS: This is the 8th of 8 posts for February. I've been working on this video for 4 months and I'd hit a roadblock in a test and then wait until I had an opportunity to do the next test. I also wanted to make sure I understood the nuances of its frequencies and privacy settings to make this really helpful and not just "read the manual" type of how to video. TODAY'S POST:We dive deep into the Rocky Talkie because when I tak...
Linear Actuators, 3D Printing, Super 8s, and Smashing Carabiners
PATRONS: This is the 7th of 8 posts for February. I got some clips published and lots of progress on the 3 lab projects. I'll be at Boulder's International Film Festival this week. Leave a comment if you are able to come. Our showing is Sunday at 3pm and the details are here https://biff1.com/archives/2023/biff2023_program_viewer.html#42PHOTOS ABOVE:The 3D printed cam crusher is done and in the mail. I'll be break testing that in abou...
