This past weekend my son and I went backpacking on the AT with his Scout troop – SR625 up the trail to the Chestnut Knob shelter near Wytheville, VA (Beartown Wilderness). Great hike and the 4.5 miles or so all uphill challenged everyone including the older Scouts (and pretty proud of my son who was the youngest Scout to tackle this trip).
anyway – all the trees on the ridgeline were pretty wet/soft and had significant moss/fungus due to the climate and frequent position in fog/clouds. I was using PMI 3mm utility line from REI which has proven to be sturdy and light and compact. Until this trip where eventually I had to abandon that line as it had gotten so embedded and cut into the bark/fungus it was immovable (some user error did not help – won't go into that…). Anyway I ended up tying onto my sons 550 line which slid a good bit better over the branches. I typically use a small bag as my "throw" bag with some rocks or weight in it (also serves as the storage bag for the rope and carabine) and a PCT hang.
I would like a smaller and lighter line, but ideally one that is less susceptible to this kind of cutting in softer branches. Is there better line, or a technique I should have employed?
