grnlfclimber said:
I have been rigging for 6 tears and never had a bowline slip or break. a marl are we talking about a marlin spike hitch? if so its OK but it makes things slow on the ground and totally unnessesary. and if the branch is faered to break apart on cutting you should have no business in the tree use a lift! W:bang
rk smarter not harder!:bang:
Six years??? I don't think that I had my first piece slip until I had been cutting and rigging for 10 or more years. Does it happen? Sure does...very often? NO, but the work we do is a lot of skill and a bit of luck. No one is lucky all of the time. Don't be so confident that it won't ever happen.
Do a search on 'marl' and 'marlin spike hitch' so that you have a bit more knowledge to make yourself a better rigger. Do you have 'Ashley's book of Knots" ? Anyone who works with rope should have that and study the knots.
Why would you need a lift to rig out one, single, decayed limb? I don't think that you understand the application. Maybe a thousand words will have to subsitute for a picture tonight.
There's a dead limb that needs to come down. The rest of the tree is solid and 100% secure. the limb has access above and below. Start out at the end with a running bowline and then work your way down the limb using marls to wrap and secure the limb. Then, when the limb is cut, if the branch breaks any where along the length, the marls will hold it from falling into pieces. You take a bit of time to rig but are rewarded by only making one cut and lower. Much safer that making a lot of small cuts.
I've used this same technique to break down a long limb that couldn't be cut as one. Think of this, the limb is hanging laterally over an obstruction. you don't have vertical or horizontal clearance to take the whole limb and your only rigging point is high and inside the tree. By marling and cutting small pieces, the next marl becomes the rigging point. Cut and let things hang until you work back to the trunk. By now, the rigging point is straight above and you can lower the whole mess, which should be strung out below you like a freight train, to the ground.
You have the advantage in your six years of climbing to have access and connection to arbos and info from around the world. Back in the old days
us older guys struggled along learning by ourselves. There wasn't a way to add to or glean from other experiences. By keeping an open mind your next umpteen years of rigging will be easier and safer than other generations.
