ATN Top Climber

[poopdeckpappy]

Awesome chair, took about 20 mins to set it up ( making sure everything was secure ) and about 10 mins of getting the motion down, then up I went.

Started by going up to the speaders and back down a couple times, then I started for the top, got just above the spreaders when it started to rain, so down I came.

I am 54, 5'8" and right around 195lbs, I've damage just about every hinge in my body from crashing dirtbikes for almost 40 yrs, and I was able to do this fairly easy with only one rest breaks on the way up, in time I'll be able to shoot right up

I ordered this from Defender dot com and even with next day shipping I saved about 80 bucks.

[ccam]

Pappy, you are the Man!
That SOB kicked my ass, I looked like a monkey on a shoe string. Maybe if they included directions for an ape, specifying non stretch line would have been helpfull. I'm glad to here you were sucessfull in your attempt to climb masteverest. $250 on the proper line made me think mast steps a viable alternative. Damn, I hate experienceing the learning curve so often

[TejasSailer]

ATN specifies low strech line at http://www.atninc.com/topclimber.html saying "The ATN Topclimber rides a 7/16" to 1/2" low stretch line ...." and suggests "The best thing to do is to purchase a piece of line dedicated for the ATN Topclimber." For the dedicated line, you might be able to find a remnant that isn't too expensive.

I think I recall an earlier thread about the Topclimber, and the poster complained about the quality for the price (I don't agree) and the difficulty of feeding 1/2" line through the two clutch mechanisms. It is difficult, and if you have a desicated line, easily remedied by a looong whipping (mine is just over 4" long).

[sailingdog]

BTW, be careful on the ATN Topclimber that the shackle isn't accidentally reversed. If you do that the shackle pin has a nasty habit of coming undone while in use... ATN had a notice about this problem which you should probably read.

[TIKI TIME]

Bought my Top Sider at the Chicago boat show two years ago. The guy at the booth also sold the afore mentioned dedicated low stretch line. While the line wasn't cheap, I don't recall it being too expensive. I have used the climber many times and it is in my opinion well made. When going to the top of the mast, I do need to rest, but I am almost 50 years old and I use the rest time to check standing rigging at the spreaders. One cool thing about this unit is the ability to work on TOP of the masthead. I had to do repair work on my wind indicator sending unit and was able to stand up in the Top Sider foot holds and stood well over the top of the mast. Made the job a breeze.

[poopdeckpappy]

I'm trying some of New England Ropes 1/2" KMIII Max, seems to work pretty good, I figure if it's good enough for Spelunking,Caving and Canyoneering, it outta be ok for this bosuns chair