Climbing hitches
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robert549tree
ArboristSite Member
thats how im going to set mine up as well but how do you get hand over hand body thrusting and pull the slack out of the rope? foot assender? foot lock?
when climbing hand over hand I usually just climb 4 or 5 grabs then hold position with my left and pull out the slack with my right. I am thinking of adding a foot assender in hopes it will take the slack but havent done it yet. If I am doing conventional body thrust it tends itself.
robert549tree
ArboristSite Member
i was out playing with it all today and i figured out what you were talking about foot assender would work great i tryed foot lock it works great but only when your 15ft off the ground and higher the foot assender you could use rite off the ground
robert549tree
ArboristSite Member
i will try it at work in the am will be in touch
while we are on the subject of climbing hitches, i found it interesting that there appears to be too different ways to make the blakes hitch, the tree climbers companion shows one way to tie it, and a rock climbing book i have shows a different way in which you have a carrabiner tied into the knot and parrallel to the main line which acts as a handle, and works very well the few times i have tried it
ahh yep thats the knot, its a typo in the book i guess cause they refer to it as a bachman in the paragraph, but the drawing has the caption under it of blakes knot. so does the bachman have any use in the tree climbing world, it seems to work well from what i can see but never heard of anyone using it
not sure myself but you may want to read this.
http://storrick.cnchost.com/VerticalDevicesPage/Ascender/SemiMechPages/CarabKnotA.html
robert549tree
ArboristSite Member
it looks nothing like a blakes hitch. the link you have none of those knots look very safe to climb with. has any one gave them a try?
yea i agree the bachman doesnt look very secure realy, the one time i tried it i just used it for the foot loop hitch, i used a regular prussik on the one tied to my saddle at my waist. the bachman seems to grab well, and is easy to use, but releases too easy for me to feel safe hanging off it as my main support.
robert549tree
ArboristSite Member
i dont think i will be trying that, back to the distel it worked out very well for me on our crane it saves 5-10 min between cuts very nice. the foot assender also works great with the distel for the assent to trim trees as well. this is kinda off topic but what do you guys use to tie off to the top of the tree before you come down so you dont have to spike the whole way down the log
If I am spiking I usually try and put a climb line up as my second tie in, sometimes I spike up with a climb line already set, tended by groundie. It makes passing limbs faster and safer. Then when I am done just unclip my flip and go down.
But if I am spikes and flip only I usually attach a line to my saddle in case I need anything and then just toss it over a crotch tie it off and head down, spiking down is too much work and too slow.
But if I am spikes and flip only I usually attach a line to my saddle in case I need anything and then just toss it over a crotch tie it off and head down, spiking down is too much work and too slow.
robert549tree
ArboristSite Member
sometime you dont have a choice there has to be something you can tie at the top of the log to come down if you dont have any other trees around to tie into
BlackenedTimber
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If I am doing a removal (say, a pine or similar), and I have topped the tree, with nothing but the matchstick (spar...) left, I will tie onto the top of the spar with a bull line using either a clove hitch backed with two half hitches or a timber hitch(prefer the clove hitch for descending as it will not roll out and loosen like the timber hitch sometimes can), and descend on the bull line. Then I use the bull line to pull the spar over as I make my back cut. This works well for me with 1/2 stable braid, but when I rig up with 3/4 stable braid, it makes descending using a figure 8 a little more cumbersome. If there are multiple leaders, set a friction saver and glide down to the ground, retrieve your friction saver when you are done. Friction savers are awesome for positioning yourself when working on multiple leads anyway. The same can be accomplished without the friction saver, but I prefer it- less wear and tear on the climbing lines.
Old school
Just cut a grove in the top of the spar (or whatever you want to call it) and rappel down on that. Done. No need for "Ditty Bags" and all that here. lol
Just cut a grove in the top of the spar (or whatever you want to call it) and rappel down on that. Done. No need for "Ditty Bags" and all that here. lol
BlackenedTimber
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I've done that too, and I haven't yet had a problem with it holding. On a straight vertical spar though, it tends to make my guts a little queasy at the thought that the friction saver might let go... I dont mind it so much in a crotch or on on a horizontal leader, where I know it will hold. Sometimes, if I am gonna drop the spar anyway, and I have a sling topside with me, I will run the sling around as if I was going to rig up a false crotch, and use the sling and hardware to descend. Like I said, on a removal, it's gonna come down anyway, so I usually descend on my rigging line. It's all about what your comfortable with. Falling to the ground sucks. I know, I have done it once, in my younger, less experienced years. A 35 foot free-fall is no good for the bones.
:greenchainsaw:
