jomoco
Tree Freak
So this idea's been knockin about in my head for many years now, an attachable handle for unwieldy hard to grip n hold branches you wanna cut n chuck, rather than lower with a separate line.
At first just usin cinched to the branch speedline loops as branch handles, worked fine to swing the load over the DZ n let go of the whole mess, collect the loops later, or have them tied to the tail of my climb line.
Over my career the number of easy droppable or cut n chuck removals I've done probably exceeds the strategic removals that had to be rigged or craned out by a fair margin.
Seems like there's always that one branch/leader/top that needs special attention in an otherwise straight forward n easy removal.
I'm not talkin big hairball targets everywhere removals here, I'm talkin little Harvey homeowner removals, apartment n condo complex removals.
My first ARP prototype was simply a handsaw handle with a set of grip pliers attached to it, and a 3 foot length of wire cable. It worked well enough, wrap the cable, lock off the end in the jaws of the grip pliers, hold in my left hand, then cut it free with my right hand, swing branch over the DZ, then release usin my left thumb to activate the plier jaws release mech. The biggest drawback as cable backlash releasing fair size loads, long sleeves n gloves a must!
Now these are relatively light loads, never much over 20-30 lbs, small stuff, cut n chuck stuff.
So late in 2016 I built a far more advanced ARP prototype built into a pistol configuration, with a spool of cord that ratchets at the back, and a means of cutting the cord at the front. Kinduva glorified cord dispensing n cutting pistol.
It wasn't until a few months into 2017 that a design for the ARP popped into my head that I knew would work dependably. That was prototype 7, made of steel, heavy at just under 5 lbs, capable of holding 50 feet of paracord, and cutting loads free by simply pulling a trigger once over the DZ. Hook up of the cord to the branch could be accomplished easily with one handed use of the pistol in either hand, thanks to magnetic cord terminations weights, and slots in the pistol, also surrounded by magnets, so once the cords cut, the cord weight magnet stays attached to the pistol magnetically.
Each branch caught n cut free uses about 3 inches of cord, so 50 feet of cords good for about 200 branches caught n released before more cord's needed.
Once I was certain of the pistol's performance n reliability aloft after many weeks of rigorous testing n abuse requiring many embarrassing design modifications, I decided to send it off to an online friend of mine for further testing.
Now the ARP 7 prototype was designed n built for the specific purpose of easily attaching to hard to hold branches as a custom handle, for the catch hand to swing over the DZ n cut free, catch n release. It did just that, very well.
But my design parameters grew larger, I wanted more than an easily attached n detached branch handle for cut n chuck removals, a much more multifunctional ARP, with a saltwater fishing reel, capable of holding over 100 feet of paracord, with an integrated braking mechanism over and above the reel's stock drag washers, a brake capable of supporting my entire 200 plus pound climbing weight.
So I built the ARP 9 prototype, more than a branch handle, more than a big shot line setter, more than a small branch lowering tool, more than a passive lowering line retrieval spool, you can also fish with it.
Jomoco
At first just usin cinched to the branch speedline loops as branch handles, worked fine to swing the load over the DZ n let go of the whole mess, collect the loops later, or have them tied to the tail of my climb line.
Over my career the number of easy droppable or cut n chuck removals I've done probably exceeds the strategic removals that had to be rigged or craned out by a fair margin.
Seems like there's always that one branch/leader/top that needs special attention in an otherwise straight forward n easy removal.
I'm not talkin big hairball targets everywhere removals here, I'm talkin little Harvey homeowner removals, apartment n condo complex removals.
My first ARP prototype was simply a handsaw handle with a set of grip pliers attached to it, and a 3 foot length of wire cable. It worked well enough, wrap the cable, lock off the end in the jaws of the grip pliers, hold in my left hand, then cut it free with my right hand, swing branch over the DZ, then release usin my left thumb to activate the plier jaws release mech. The biggest drawback as cable backlash releasing fair size loads, long sleeves n gloves a must!
Now these are relatively light loads, never much over 20-30 lbs, small stuff, cut n chuck stuff.
So late in 2016 I built a far more advanced ARP prototype built into a pistol configuration, with a spool of cord that ratchets at the back, and a means of cutting the cord at the front. Kinduva glorified cord dispensing n cutting pistol.
It wasn't until a few months into 2017 that a design for the ARP popped into my head that I knew would work dependably. That was prototype 7, made of steel, heavy at just under 5 lbs, capable of holding 50 feet of paracord, and cutting loads free by simply pulling a trigger once over the DZ. Hook up of the cord to the branch could be accomplished easily with one handed use of the pistol in either hand, thanks to magnetic cord terminations weights, and slots in the pistol, also surrounded by magnets, so once the cords cut, the cord weight magnet stays attached to the pistol magnetically.
Each branch caught n cut free uses about 3 inches of cord, so 50 feet of cords good for about 200 branches caught n released before more cord's needed.
Once I was certain of the pistol's performance n reliability aloft after many weeks of rigorous testing n abuse requiring many embarrassing design modifications, I decided to send it off to an online friend of mine for further testing.
Now the ARP 7 prototype was designed n built for the specific purpose of easily attaching to hard to hold branches as a custom handle, for the catch hand to swing over the DZ n cut free, catch n release. It did just that, very well.
But my design parameters grew larger, I wanted more than an easily attached n detached branch handle for cut n chuck removals, a much more multifunctional ARP, with a saltwater fishing reel, capable of holding over 100 feet of paracord, with an integrated braking mechanism over and above the reel's stock drag washers, a brake capable of supporting my entire 200 plus pound climbing weight.
So I built the ARP 9 prototype, more than a branch handle, more than a big shot line setter, more than a small branch lowering tool, more than a passive lowering line retrieval spool, you can also fish with it.
Jomoco
