hey all i am thinking about getting into aid and have some questions about aider set ups, i think that i am set on a two aider system, as i dont think that i will be doing any hard aid, but i am wondering about daisy chains...do i need them? do you use them? what do you think the pros/cons to each system?

also i was thinking about an easy daisy and floating that between the two aiders- is that crazy? inefficient? or a brilliant idea?

ready....go

For easy/fast aid I go with two speed aiders and two regular daisy's...I've gotten strange looks for it but it seems to work for me...I think the only problem you run into is not being able to get high enough, meaning, the high stepping in your ladders is going to be better (the buckles stop cinching up where the webbing is stitched together to make the bottom loop) I'm 5'7 with short arms so maybe I was just imaging that problem. If its less then A3/C3 you should be fine though.
I suggest heading over to Fish products page (Russ Walling) and check out some pics of the setups people are running. Everyone has their own idea as to why what setup works for them but you'll find much of it is pretty similar.
When you do start aiding get a gri gri, a boom box, snacks and other bribes cuz belaying when someone first starts and is super slow could be considered a form of torture...

I think you should borrow some to try get out than decide for yourself

Get two adjustables from either Russ or Yates. The only thing to watch is stepping on the end rings when top stepping so make sure they are clear.

I used standard ladder daisies for years until I progressed to the modern technique this fall...

I also use one pair of long Yates aiders. I tried 3-4 aiders 15 years ago but gave up on the cluster f@$k.

Ben,

These links should help out quite a bit. If you can borrow some aiders first, its the way to go, otherwise accept that you will most likely go through a few different systems until you get "your system" totally sorted out. Ebay works out well to recover the costs of experimenting.

You could buy one standard daisy, one adjustable and a couple of ladders first if you can't borrow any and that would get you started quickly and also allow you to compare and contrast the different types of daises.

Cheers

john



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