Now I kind of wonder how far into this you could get before friction eats all the gains. And then repeat with low friction rings...
Not far at all --limited to mere practical situations.
Consider this :: I suspended a 45# barbell weight
against a 62.5# collection of weights
joined with 1cm wide, thin, solid polyester
cable-pulling tape/webbing over a 1cm dia
smooth aluminum carabiner. The quite
imbalanced hangings did not move;
even when I gave the heavier (62.5#) clump
of weights some nudge of momentum
it came soon to a standstill. IIRC, adding
another 5# barbell to the heavier side
DID get some slight movement.
Now, the above it seems to me is with a pulley
system of rather smooth, low-friction materials
(cable-pulling PES tape sometimes comes lubricated,
as it is expected to be blown & pulled through PVC
pipes).
OK, go try it yourself!
--dl*
====*
That is my expectation too, it would just be fun to experiment with.
Even with modern blocks ("frictionsless" ha!) you will eventually reach the point of diminishing returns when the small losses add up, so for high friction systems it should be quite soon. For a rope truckers hitch: I suspect 3 or so loops would be too many for usefulness: possibly one could use 3-5 loops as an elaborate version of the "no-knot" (just make a few turns around something).