Homemade bits and pieces ?

[tree.bro.NZ]

With the price of gear at the moment theres bound to be a few bits and pieces you've knocked together your self or even found cheaper alternatives (eg. throwballs, bags, DIY vehicle mods etc....)

Im always keen to save a bit of $$$ and im sure you guys are to, a few ideas and pictures should help us all put a few coins in the holiday fund !

Tj

 

[mikewhite85]

24 Quart Collapsible Party Cooler

This works great for holding your throwline. You can even put your throw bags in the cup holders! Props to Beastmaster to introducing me to this. Way better than spending 30-40 bucks on a throwcube.

 

[BlackOakTreeServ]

24 Quart Collapsible Party Cooler

This works great for holding your throwline. You can even put your throw bags in the cup holders! Props to Beastmaster to introducing me to this. Way better than spending 30-40 bucks on a throwcube.

That looks like a weaver rope bag but black with cup holders, and a lot cheaper...

 

[ozzy42]

I use bras swivels instead or pullies on my climbline and lanyard.Not only because they're cheaper they are less bulky and I just prefer them over the pullies.

I had an old saddle that I cut down with a razor knife so it was just a flat strap with D rings on each end.Used it with a steel crab for attaching a portawrap to my trailer, or a pull line in general.
Worked great ,as the trailer has blunt edges prohibiting a safe rope attachment.Lost it somewhere last year.

 

[chad556]

I have made a couple things and found a couple low cost solutions.

Here are a couple whoopie slings I made myself with about $16 worth of tenex (1/2") for my block and portawrap.
Splicing tenex is quite easy and can be done with any smooth long object and some electrical tape. I used a piece of a plastic coat hanger as my 'fid' for the task. http://www.samsonrope.com/site_files/12S_TenexTec_Whoopie.pdf

Here is another storage solution that works good for me. Its just a 5 gallon bucket with a little bucket organizer on it that you can get at the home depot for 6.99 i believe. Bucket Jockey-80753-1N09 at The Home Depot I can fit my 150' hank of arborplex, 2 whoopie slings, block, portawrap, pruning saw, wedges, felco pruners, scrench, knife, slings, flash light, T27 torx tool, scissors, vice grips, screw drivers, gloves, carabiners, and deadblow hammer all where I need them in an easy to carry system. Even if you have to buy the 5 gallon bucket its still half the cost of the closest comparable rope bag and has way more pockets.

If you know how to use a needle and thread and you can get your hands on some strong heavy duty thread (i use heavy duty upholstry thread, strong stuff) you can make all sorts of custom length slings and splices and gear (homemade throwbags anyone?:msp_thumbup Above you can see my first attempt at playing around with sewn splice techniques. They may not be pretty but I have failed to break them yet (havent used it to climb, that one is just a test to see if my stitching can hold up) I have also used my sewing skills to make all of my slings, which have held up well to all kinds of abuse, and even the bridge of my saddle.

The double floating bridge setup you see here is very similar to the new tribe Nikosi saddle except that it only cost around $190 to build instead of $360.

The great part about making things yourself, aside from the savings $$$, is that you can customize it to meet your specific needs and you also know exactly how much (or how little:hmm3grin2orange you can trust your life with it.

My next project that I will be working on is an improved bigshot for under $50. We will see how well that one works out...thankfully im rather adept at the cradle toss method but it would be nice to have a higher degree of accuracy.

 

[Ghillie]

If you know how to use a needle and thread and you can get your hands on some strong heavy duty thread (i use heavy duty upholstry thread, strong stuff) you can make all sorts of custom length slings and splices and gear (homemade throwbags anyone?:msp_thumbup Above you can see my first attempt at playing around with sewn splice techniques. They may not be pretty but I have failed to break them yet (havent used it to climb, that one is just a test to see if my stitching can hold up) I have also used my sewing skills to make all of my slings, which have held up well to all kinds of abuse, and even the bridge of my saddle.

That scares the hell out of me. There is no way I would ever climb on that.

 

[chad556]

That scares the hell out of me. There is no way I would ever climb on that.

It scares me too a little, honestly. The first time I saw that in a catalog I though no way I would trust that in a life support capacity. I am going to see what kind of force it takes to break this one that I've made first and depending on the results I may put one into production for actual use. It will, however, include much more careful stitching than the prototype as well as heat shrink wrap around it to prevent abrasion. They say that this method preserves the maximum amount of rope strength. I've got plenty of thread and bee line to practice on and abuse. I guess we shall see...

 

[tree.bro.NZ]

It scares me too a little, honestly. The first time I saw that in a catalog I though no way I would trust that in a life support capacity. I am going to see what kind of force it takes to break this one that I've made first and depending on the results I may put one into production for actual use. It will, however, include much more careful stitching than the prototype as well as heat shrink wrap around it to prevent abrasion. They say that this method preserves the maximum amount of rope strength. I've got plenty of thread and bee line to practice on and abuse. I guess we shall see...

Thumbs up for you bucket mate !! i'll be whiping one of those babys up this weekend brilliant idea. Id say your sling will be fine for rigging etc.. and if you can rig a couple of tonne of it, id be making a few more for climbing.

kia ora bro, tj

 

[ozzy42]

Made this chip blade for the lil 252.
Can't see the expanded metal too good in the small pic but it acts as an extra see thru guard while in the upright position.
I made one for a friend also, and another for my cuz in Ark.


I made my own portawrap as well.
Took me a few trys to get it right though.

 

[outofmytree]

That scares the hell out of me. There is no way I would ever climb on that.

Amen to that. I love homemade stuff but the moment you put a critical load on it you better be certain it will equal or better the store bought version or someone is going to pay a heavy price. Me I would be taking a splicing course, get trained to do it exactly right and then "experiment".

Ok off my soapbox now.

Had my loaders grapple modified with 2 100mm diameter pipes and cross bars so instead of the portawrap being on the tree it's on the loader. Where the PW used to be on the base of the tree we now use a pulley and the rest of the rigging as per normal. You can drive in, have the climber tip tie the limb, tie up then reverse out and lift up smooth as silk. Once the limb is cut free, lower as per a PW. The best part is that you already have the loader in the right place to drag the limb out to the chipper and by the time you get back the climber is set to go again. My boys LOVE not having to drag if they don't have to!

 

[ozzy42]

I have made a couple things and found a couple low cost solutions.

Here are a couple whoopie slings I made myself with about $16 worth of tenex (1/2") for my block and portawrap.
Splicing tenex is quite easy and can be done with any smooth long object and some electrical tape. I used a piece of a plastic coat hanger as my 'fid' for the task. http://www.samsonrope.com/site_files/12S_TenexTec_Whoopie.pdf

Here is another storage solution that works good for me. Its just a 5 gallon bucket with a little bucket organizer on it that you can get at the home depot for 6.99 i believe. Bucket Jockey-80753-1N09 at The Home Depot I can fit my 150' hank of arborplex, 2 whoopie slings, block, portawrap, pruning saw, wedges, felco pruners, scrench, knife, slings, flash light, T27 torx tool, scissors, vice grips, screw drivers, gloves, carabiners, and deadblow hammer all where I need them in an easy to carry system. Even if you have to buy the 5 gallon bucket its still half the cost of the closest comparable rope bag and has way more pockets.

If you know how to use a needle and thread and you can get your hands on some strong heavy duty thread (i use heavy duty upholstry thread, strong stuff) you can make all sorts of custom length slings and splices and gear (homemade throwbags anyone?:msp_thumbup Above you can see my first attempt at playing around with sewn splice techniques. They may not be pretty but I have failed to break them yet (havent used it to climb, that one is just a test to see if my stitching can hold up) I have also used my sewing skills to make all of my slings, which have held up well to all kinds of abuse, and even the bridge of my saddle.

The double floating bridge setup you see here is very similar to the new tribe Nikosi saddle except that it only cost around $190 to build instead of $360.

The great part about making things yourself, aside from the savings $$$, is that you can customize it to meet your specific needs and you also know exactly how much (or how little:hmm3grin2orange you can trust your life with it.

My next project that I will be working on is an improved bigshot for under $50. We will see how well that one works out...thankfully im rather adept at the cradle toss method but it would be nice to have a higher degree of accuracy.

Love the sling and the bucket.

Not so sure about the i2i though.

 

[2treeornot2tree]

I played around with sewing my own 1" tubular webbing slings. Me and a friend tested them by backing our trucks up to each other and laying the sling over the ball hitch. we could drag each other around in 4 wheel drive without breaking them. The only way we broke them was to slack them about 6" and punch the gas. The webbing always seemed to brake at the edge of the stiching. So we concluded that the stiching actually weekins the webbing. It was fun to play around with but other then making some non life holding things, I didnt persue it any further. All it takes is one to many or not enough stitches and your dead. Not worth it.

 

[chad556]

Its true stitching does weaken the fibers in webbing. I would imagine on a near microscopic level all those threads passing through the material cause all kinds of binding and twisting forces when put under a heavy load. Thing is that professionally made webbing slings break right on the stitching, homemade sewn slings break right on the stitching, webbing tied in a water knot breaks right on the water knot. Its a fact that when you bend or twist a rope or webbing into a knot or slide a needle and thread between its fibers it will not retain 100% breaking strength that it had when new and untouched. If you have a piece of webbing that breaks at 4000#s there is nothing you can do that doesn't involve adding reinforcement to it that will make it good up to 4100#s. I believe this is why 1" tubular webbing slings that they sell at climbing stores are rated at 6000lbs instead of 8000lbs (4000lb break strength, doubled over = 8000 lbs * 75% retained strength from webbing union = 6000lbs)

The point is that unless you have a completely automated process for making slings and a reliable test machine you will never know the exact breaking strength of what you create. There are many unknown variables in climbing that you just have to use common sense and good judgement for. For example, to the nearest pound what was the breaking strength of the last crotch you tied into? 1300lbs? 12000lbs? maybe only 450lbs and you would never know unless your groundie hang on your line and pulled the whole thing down. It would be interesting to pull test a tree and see just how strong the branch unions we all hang our lives on actually are. I know many of my TIPS would probably pop right off the tree long before my climbing system buckled under the force. That said all you can do is use good judgement and constant gear inspections to keep yourself safe. All gear degrades over time, the only time the break strength of your climb line is actually at 100% of the 5600lbs is before you take it out of the packaging. Same with slings and stitching and splices and all that. I trust the things I make and hang my life on them using what I deem to be appropriate judgement and good sense. I use backup protection as much as I can and where appropriate and I never hang my life on something I don't trust weather I bought it new from sherrill tree or made it myself. That bee line hitch cord you see in my first post is a prime example of something I would not be willing to hang my life off of, it was made for practice and testing purposes. I'm not trying to advocate throwing things together haphazardly for life support. I do however believe that if you apply the right amount of common sense and caution you can construct customized gear that will hold up just as well and keep you just as safe as the store bought stuff. If you don't trust it then by all means don't use it. Those are words I live by.

 

[arborpros]

I will be going to Home Depot this weekend for a bucket to organize my shtuff. I just pile it in a milk crate right now. Great idea.

 

[fdoberman]

When stitching webbing you need to consider the load carrying ability isn't in the thread itself, but rather in the grip created between the faces of the two straps being held together tightly.

The reason straps break at or near the sewn splice is well described in the science of shock dynamics, and way too involved for these arthritic fingers to type out.

Disclaimer: I own 2 industrial sewing machines and haven't let a car go to the scrapper with the seatbelts left in it for over 20 years.

 

[troythetreeman]

not as spiffy as some of the things im seeing here but i keep my chains, chain saw tools (i hate the word "scrench") and my files in a 50cal ammo box
duck tape a couple incense envelopes and soak the inside with bar oil makes for good file holders, keeps them from rattling around or rusting, both of which ruin files
most of us can tell at a glance which chains are sharp and which are dull

 

[Jeffsaw]

A fireman friend of mine gave me several feet of two different sizes of old fire hose. It has been great for protecting my pole saw blades and axes. I've used and old chainsaw glove to protect pruner blades. Rubbermaid containers, the 68 liter size are nice for carrying equipment as they are waterproof and durable and cheap.

 

[treemandan]

When stitching webbing you need to consider the load carrying ability isn't in the thread itself, but rather in the grip created between the faces of the two straps being held together tightly.

The reason straps break at or near the sewn splice is well described in the science of shock dynamics, and way too involved for these arthritic fingers to type out.

Disclaimer: I own 2 industrial sewing machines and haven't let a car go to the scrapper with the seatbelts left in it for over 20 years.

Oh yeah! I made harnesses for a dune buggy from scrap seatbelts.

 

[TreeAce]

I made some gaff covers outa some old garden hose. Just cut a piece off about 3 inch and stick it on the gaff. I was planning on fastening a piece of wire or string so I could tie em in place but the slightly smaller than normal diameter garden hose I found fits snug so I didnt need to.

 

[beastmaster]

These were on sale for $8.00 at harbor freight store. Best rope bag Iv'e ever had.
Round Canvas Bag easily holds 200 ft of 1/2 in line