knot question

[hillbilly]

Hi all,
I work for an garden and tree firm in Stockholm.
A week ago I got to work the arbortist-department
and was very fascinated of their climbing techniques.
I also got to try out a little climbing myself.
Until I work with them again I'm trying to remember all
the fancy knots and hitches.

Now on to the question:
What knot do you use for attaching the Distal hitch
to the carabiner. Bowline seems a bit clumsy, might it
be a strangle snare?
Appreciate your answers, eager to learn.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I like the double fishermans loop.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Sorry Mike, that is just two fishermans knots, DblFish makes a loop

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Thanks John, I knew it had something to do with fishing.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

The knot that Mike shows is my favorite. Once you set the eye diameter so its snug on the biner, a good idea is to use some whipping thread and sieze or stitch the tail of the rope. this secures the end from inverting. Tape works as a distant second place solution.

Talk to Svensk TradVard about getting a copy of the Tree Climbers Companion. This book is the standard for learning tree climbing.

You should plan on going to the European Conference in June. The conference is in Oslo.

Tom

 

[hillbilly]

Thanks all for your rapid answers.

Just so that no one misunderstands me,
I'm not trying to be an arborist after having
worked with some for 5 days, I just want to
be well prepared the next time an arborist
lets me up in the trees for 15 minutes at
the end of the day

The trees we usually prune, without arborists,
are often small leaved limes, perhaps 5-6 meters.
We use to free climb and it works ok.
Having seen some arborists at work I was fascinated
of the new possibilities that opens up when you work
on a rope, e.g. branch walking.

As for the fisherman's knot (one heck of a strong knot)
I guess the part of the rope that is running should be
the one that goes up to the prussik, right ?

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

yo'hillbilly-
i like making an eye-to-eye tail in NewEngland 3strand, Hy-Vee for distall hitch. It is easy, secure and cheap.

 

[geofore]

knots

Can't remember the knots??? Try www.realknots.com or knots on the web. You will find antimated knot tying here. The related sites will take you into mountian climbing, caving , boating but it is all about knots.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Dan,

Get out your copy of The Tree Climbers Companion, you DO have a copy don't you?, and look on page 73.

Your description sounds like an anchor hitch. The advaantage of using the Double Fisherman's Loop is that the tail of the rope ends up parallel to the rope instead of poking out, perpendicular. Since the DFL is more fair there is less of a chance that the tail can catch. Even though its pretty unlikely that the AAH would spill, there is a remote possibility.

Tom

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I use the anchorhich if I'm going to be double crotching for a shoprt period and don't want to get the extra splitail out. Just arm out a few feet of end, loop, loop, bend & tuck, snap the biner into it and get to work.

Oh I do tie a friction hitch first though.

Did it a few times today. Did hazard deadwood on 5 Q. rubra with only 2 ascents. It's the best fun I can have on the job when I can do transfers in big trees. The last one I cheated on and had the guy i was working for belay/tend my line end.

 

[jsirbasku]

JPS, you're pruning red oaks this time of year?
They must have needed hazard pruning pretty badly, or Oak Wilt doesnt exist in the land of cheese

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

It is very rare over here and all I did was the dead. Some of the stuff was the type yo touch and it falls off.

The only thing killing oaks round here is the construction.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Oak wilt is hardly rare, here in the land of cheese.
If you disinfect you tools, work very carefully, and carry prunning paint, you can reduce the chance of killing the tree and any others in the area.
It's funny how that dead branch can be there for years, but suddenly today it is a hazard, and it can't wait two months to be pruned out.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Disinfecting tools is a myth. You would have to autoclave the tools to do any good. Even with bacterial cleaning you need to soak tools in bleach for 2 min, 100ppm solution to sanitize.

Yes this stuff could not wait till fall, should have been done years ago. I would prefer to have done this in winter, but I was not brought on to the property at that time.

Just leave a hair of a of deadwood stub so you dont nick the callus, should do this anyways. The little twig breaking I do is less "damage" then the squirrils.

In my talks with several reputable local companies, I've been told that there is very little OW in our area.

I would prefer to have done this in winter, but I was not brought on to the property at that time.

 

[Stumper]

Mike," Prunning paint"!?! I won't even use pruning paint.

JPS, I don't know about Oak wilt but I am convinced that disinfection of my tools REALLY helps when dealing with Fireblight in Apples, Pears and Crabs. I use a stronger chlorine solution or Alcohol based disenfecting spray with Ammonnium Chlorides. I do it because I believe that it makes a difference but it also really impresses customers when you 'go the extra mile'.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

paint has been shown to be effective in oaks, hides the smell from the beetle/fly vectors.

Alchohol does little good, because it extracts the water from the cell. Hygroscopic. but it needs time, and if it is a spore then this wont do a thing.

even with bleach, works by oxidizing the organic compounds needs time to work, hence the 2 min. The 100ppm is the optimal solution recomended by the FDA for food handling if I remember right.

 

[Stumper]

JPS, I understand your point. Re: the alchohol I am using is only on the tools and it is really just the carrier for the ammonium chloride compounds. Alcohol is, however, an effectice antiseptic for some bacteria and its solvent properties help in penetrating sap and other residues for disinfection and cleaning. You are right of course -all this stuff takes time to kill the nasties. My standard practice is to soak the tools upon completion of a job and re-treat before starting the next job. Thus the disinfectant has time to work and I reduce the chance of carrying something from one job site to another. When I am working on an infected tree I try to keep the toolhead wet with disinfectant-100% effective? Probably not, but I have found that the prevalence of recurrance reduced.

 

[Ghivelder]

Originally posted by hillbilly

The trees we usually prune, without arborists,
are often small leaved limes, perhaps 5-6 meters.
We use to free climb and it works ok.

It's not ok to free climb up to 5 or 6 meters...

Sergio

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Soaking to prevent cross contamination is a good idea in bacterial blight. I will never be convinced of it's effctiveness with transmission of fungus.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

10% chlorine bleach kills fungal spores. Live fungal spores kill oaks. In the lab, fungal spores are intentionally moved around on metal tools. In the field fungal spores are moved around by dirty cutting tools. Conclusion: Put bleach on your cutting tools.

Some reading:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&q=Disinfect+tools+tree