1st day on new gaffs......

[budroe69moni]

got a new pair of gaffs in the mail yesterday
and tried them out today! man oh man, talk
about weird! a little different from being "on
rope". as always when trying out new gear,
i took it "low and slow". i'm finding it a bit
difficult advancing my buckstrap when ascending.
any pointers, tricks of the trade, comments?????
let me know,
budroe

 

[Ryan Willock]

Spence, i like to grap my flip line as i climb and flip it up every two or three steps. take small ones as you go.

here's a pic of my friend learning to climb to day, its his 3rd climb on gaffs and he went up to 50' and cut some limbs with the hand saw for me!! he's wearing my climbing gear.

 

[mikecross23]

Grip your lanyard as close to the tree as you can w/ out trashing your knuckles and use a flip motion to advance the lanyard up the backside of the tree. Keep your heels close together, knees bent and pointed away from the tree.
keeping your heels together gives a better center of gravity allowing you to stand on one gaff w/ out loosing your balance.
Knees bent and pointed away from the tree ensures the gaff holds.
If you still have trouble flipping your lanyard up the tree, maybe try a stiffer material or steel core flip line.
You'll get the feel for your gaffs real fast after a few climbs w/ them!

 

[Ryan Willock]

he really gets up there for a first timer, doesn't he???

 

[Ryan Willock]

and another

 

[Ryan Willock]

one more

 

[treeclimber165]

Like Ryan and Mike said, keep your knees slightly out and heels in when sinking your gaff. Try to square the inside of your foot with the trunk so you get a straight, clean shot with the gaff. Even after many years, I find myself making sure to have one gaff solidly in the wood before removing the other for the next step.

Use and trust your flipline when gaffing up. You need 3 point contact, and it's your two gaffs and your flipline. If you bear hug the trunk you will be more likely to kick out. I gaff, step in and up while flipping my lanyard, then lean back into my lanyard.

Gaffing down (like when blocking down a trunk) is a little harder. Kind of like walking down a ladder instead of up. Take it slow and take smaller steps when working your way down. Again, try to get your foot square with the trunk before stepping down to sink the gaff.

 

[Ryan Willock]

thats one thing i HATE, going back down on my gaffs!!! i much rather set a false crotch and repel down if its more that ten feet but thats me or you can always do the shinny hinny and bear hug the tree back down!! (not recomended)

 

[Toddppm]

When I first learned the best advice I got was to get my butt out away from the tree and bend my knees instead of trying to stand straight up.

 

[treeclimber165]

Originally posted by Toddppm
When I first learned the best advice I got was to get my butt out away from the tree and bend my knees instead of trying to stand straight up.

Exactly, Todd. This forced you to put your weight on your gaffs and lean back on your flipline. If you do not put weight on your gaffs, they will not sink into the wood. If you are bear hugging the tree, you have your weight on your arms instead of your gaffs.
Just pretend you are one of those 'homeboys' on the Checker's commercials on TV.

 

[NeTree]

Originally posted by Ryan Willock
thats one thing i HATE, going back down on my gaffs!!! i much rather set a false crotch and repel down if its more that ten feet

Since I only spike on a removal anyway, that's how I do it too. Much faster and easier- gravity does all the work!

 

[Kevin]

I always take small steps going up and longer steps coming down.
I have two pairs of gaffs and will probably have three before long just to have the different gaff lengths.
The best support can be had when your climbing boot makes contact with the wood front and back .

 

[mikecross23]

Originally posted by Kevin
The best support can be had when your climbing boot makes contact with the wood front and back .

Kevin,
I started w/ 1 1/2" klein pole climbers. I still use them too! Considered buying a longer gaff to help on those thick barked pines, but decided against it. The shorter gaff helps keep my balance and my foot is close to the tree like your diagram. If I loose my balance and start to pivot on my gaff, I can often catch myself with my toe or heal before having to brace w/ my hands. It can be harry getting up past the thick, narly bark at the base, but I just take small steps and plant the gaff firmly every step.

 

[rahtreelimbs]

Sometimes in certain situations it helps to set your climbing line with a throw bag. Have one your groundies belay you taking the slack out of your rope as you climb. This way you can concentrate more on hooking the tree. Hope this helps.

 

[Ryan Willock]

Spence, keep'em SHARP as well!! i fing that when they start to get a little dull that (for me anyway) its not as easy to climb, i like em where i can just put my weight on them and have them bite the tree good instead of kicking them into it. if you kick your feet into the tree all the way up, then by the time you get to the top your feet hurt like crap i also like to leave stubs on the back side of the tree so that my flip line has a little something extra to catch on should i slip or kick out. also as long as the limbs are small (like small to medium pine) i prefer to climb with just my hand saw to limb my way up, that way i don't have the weight of my chain saw till i need it:angel:

 

[mikecross23]

I've never sharpened mine. Dull as they are, they always seem to bite. Sometimes I get them stuck and really have to yank to get them out. I probably won't ever sharpen them for that reason.

 

[Ryan Willock]

Mike, what type of gaffs are you using? i found that i had that problem with my friends bashlins but i haven't had anywhere near that problem with my buckinghams. i think that that is due to differant design of the gaffs themselves. they still do get stuck ocasionally though.

 

[mikecross23]

Originally posted by Ryan Willock
Mike, what type of gaffs are you using?

Ryan,
I use 1 1/2" Klein pole climbers. First and only I've ever used, so I can't compare them to anything else. But over all they work great. I just won't sharpen them, give a firm plant on each step, and on the rare occation that they do stick too deep, I'll just be thankfull that they don't come out unexpectedly!

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Ryan, you sent your buddy up thet tree to top it out for removal, not to jjust get a few branches off RIGHT

 

[Ryan Willock]

JPS, he doesn't have enough experience with a chainsaw for that yet.... so i let him limb it all the way up and take a small top with the fanno then i went up and finished it would have taken more pics but my camara ran out of disk space