cambium savers

[old dude]

Guys--
Bought a cambium saver but am wondering if its really necessary. Have'nt seen a dead limb yet due to rope burns- including from lowering crothes that take much more abuse. what s the verdic?

 

[winchman]

dont let the name mislead you

i think that they call them "cambium savers" because the "rope saver" name was already taken. maybe you haven't seen a dead limb from climbing on it, but i sure have seen my share of ropes run raw from going over thousands of times more friction after years of climbing than on steel rings.
the lack of friction will make you an addict quick. i don't climb without a saver when i'm on my velocity.

 

[Bermie]

They are great if you have trees where one TIP can be used to access the whole tree.
I will use one when climbing thin barked trees, or a tree that doesn't require moving from branch to branch for tie in.
The lack of friction when you can use it is soooo nice, and like winchman said, it reduces the beating your rope takes!

 

[OTG BOSTON]

agree with the two previous posts. and I'll add: It is much more pro to use cambium savers/rope savers/false crotches/etc

 

[rahtreelimbs]

If you can't find "that perfect crotch" a rope saver can be wrapped around the spar!!!

 

[Climb020]

The cambium saver with the webbing and rings is ok. I found that it did get stuck a lot of the time which was a big PITA. But after switching to the rope guide I have gotten it stuck 2 times since Dec. It makes moving around the tree so much easier and faster. I use my RG on almost every tree I go in either to prune or take down.

 

[winchman]

stuck?

climb020 said his cs used to get stuck a lot. though it is not a failsafe method, tying a throwline onto your rope as you pull the cs out of the tree helps you to reduce the stuckage factor, as well as make the flying rings of metal out of the tree a thing of the past. i believe that the method i describe is described in detail, and much better, in the Climber's Companion. if you don't have that book yet, go to amazon.com and buy a copy now. every time i pick up that book, i learn something new - and i think that i must have read every page in there 59 times. that might say something about my reading retention skills.

 

[Magnum783]

I use one on all the pines to keep the pitch off my ropes. Absolutelly love it makes climbing a breeze and keeps the pitch off my ropes. I wish I knew what the perfect size was though.
Jared

 

[moray]

I wish I knew what the perfect size was though.
Jared

There is no perfect size, but the perfect answer is to make several of different sizes. I agree with you that one of the great benefits is keeping pitch and other crap off your rope.

 

[ATH]

To the OP, I use one on just about every climb. (I climbed without when it was stich up in the tree b/c throwline got tangled, but I have gotten better at avoiding that). Do you climb DRT ot SRT? I think that makes a difference as to how much branch damage you can expect. Also length of climb will make a difference. Species certainly does too.

I have not seen it, but you can't tell me that you can drag 150-200 lbs for 75ft of rope over a branch of a tulip-poplar and not strip the bark.

...I wish I knew what the perfect size was though.
Jared

Folks in the past have posted here "home made" versions -- with those you can always have the "perfect size" without breaking the bank on several sizes of the "real" ones.

I was thinking of making a couple the other day, but hadn't gotten around to it yet...since the topic came up, my intention is to: splice a metal ring onto the end of 3 strand. I was going to put a length of webbing over the 3 strand to protect the surface and hopefully keep it from getting snagged. Any reason this is a bad idea? Anybody seen good prices on adequately rated metal rings?

 

[moray]

I was thinking of making a couple the other day, but hadn't gotten around to it yet...since the topic came up, my intention is to: splice a metal ring onto the end of 3 strand. I was going to put a length of webbing over the 3 strand to protect the surface and hopefully keep it from getting snagged. Any reason this is a bad idea? Anybody seen good prices on adequately rated metal rings?

You can get the rings from almost any arborist mail-order place. Skip the webbing--it's more likely to snag than the rope. Use a hard-lay rope: it will never snag and it won't need protecting.

 

[treesandsurf]

I use one on all the pines to keep the pitch off my ropes. Absolutelly love it makes climbing a breeze and keeps the pitch off my ropes. I wish I knew what the perfect size was though.
Jared

I had this same problem with cambium saver size. So I started learning how to splice, and a friend of mine ordered a few fully forged steel rings from italy and I bought a pair (for 15.00) took a piece of new velocity rope, and spliced an eye on one end for the big ring and then a fishermen's knot on the little ring (didn't want to do two splices as the whole length was a little less than 24", which would make the splice more difficult, at least for me). I then stitched the tail and taped it on the knot side.

Having the big ring spliced is good because you pull it through the crotch, having a large knot I thought might get stuck in the crotch. I'm loving this new saver and you can easily adjust the length, without having to order the tradditional ones from sherrill.

jp

 

[treesandsurf]

I'm going to soon start messing the the adjustable false crotch, where you use a prusic with a ring and a rope with another ring, so you can adjust the length of the cambium saver. This also allows you to easily use it off of a spar. But that's for later...

jp

 

[NickfromWI]

I think cambium savers are my favorite things to splice for people. Mostly because there are SOOOOO many variations. The most common I see is to put a prusik on the thing, so it can be adjustable. Sort of like a poor-man's Rope Guide.

JP- How's your 16 strand splice? You can make short length friction savers more easily with 16 strand.

Old Dude- just get used to using it. It will save you money by saving your ropes. Just because the limb doesn't die from the damage, it doesn't mean it's not harmed or doesn't live as long.

love
nick

 

[treesandsurf]

I think cambium savers are my favorite things to splice for people. Mostly because there are SOOOOO many variations. The most common I see is to put a prusik on the thing, so it can be adjustable. Sort of like a poor-man's Rope Guide.

JP- How's your 16 strand splice? You can make short length friction savers more easily with 16 strand.

Old Dude- just get used to using it. It will save you money by saving your ropes. Just because the limb doesn't die from the damage, it doesn't mean it's not harmed or doesn't live as long.

love
nick

Nick, the sixteen strand splices have been going pretty well. I have finished splicing all of my 16 strand climbing lines. I used velocity because I thought it would be easier to splice (double-braid vs. 16-strand). I would think it would be more difficult to make shorter length friction savers with 16-strand as opposed to double-braid, because the lengths involved are longer with 16-strand. I also find that double-braid is a bit easier to work with, old or new, just from my little time doing it. What's the shortest length false crotch you've made??

jp
jp

 

[NickfromWI]

Treesandsurf- when you start, pull alllll the core out of your 16 strand piece. Now all you have is cover and the cover tail becomes ALL of the core. I've made short, short pieces this way.

love
nick

 

[treesandsurf]

nick,

pulling the core doesn't reduce the strength of the splice? Also, do you still keep the same bury length measurements??

jp

 

[NickfromWI]

In 16 strand arbo climbing lines (XTC, Braided safety blue, etc) very little percentage of the strength is in the core. Look at the eye of the splice itself. There is no core in it there at all.

The core is there to keep things round.

love
nick

 

[treesandsurf]

I was more thinking about the final bury, where the core and the cover are tucked together, seems like that step is your greatest insurance...?


jp

 

[moray]

Look at the eye of the splice itself. There is no core in it there at all.

The core is there to keep things round.

love
nick

This may be a small quibble, since it is certainly true as you say, the bulk of the strength is in the cover. However, in the standard eye splice in 16 strand, only the eye itself is missing the core, and since it is doubled, one can reasonably expect that the rated strength of the whole assembly hasn't been compromised on that account.

Now if you make a cambium saver with an eye at each end, and no core anywhere, the part of the rope centered between the two eyes is not doubled and undoubtedly is weaker than unaltered rope. But this is just a tiny quibble--I wouldn't hesitate to use a coreless 16 strand saver.

I believe the commercial 5 ft split tails in 16 strand also have no core, but 6 strands of the cover (I think) continue beyond the buried taper for the full length of the rope, possibly maintaining the rated strength of the rope.