imagineero
Addicted to ArboristSite
Just thought I'd post this up for anyone who might be in a similar situation to me.
I've been climbing on dinosaur spurs the last few years; some old buckingham steel gaffs. They really have been on their last legs for some time, rattling and falling apart. I've sharpened the spurs too many times and they now need major reprofiling because they're so thick. I really wanted to get some bashlin aluminums with caddy pads, but nobody seems to sell them in aus. I was in a climbing shop couple weeks back and they had the geckos on the wall so I tried them on and they felt pretty comfortable. They had the carbon fibre ones, but you cant adjust the length on them and they only had the mediums which were way too short (im 6'3) so I ended up getting the aluminums which turned out later to be a good thing as you'll find out.
When I got them on and climbed a tree I knew immediately I'd made a bad choice. I got them with the long gaffs, and the set is amazing. They're very thin and sharp, and set great even on dead trees and very hard trees with thin bark, but something about the spurs themselves was all wrong. My old buckinghams have the uprights canted back at an angle, so the whole spur is pointing towards the tree, and the pad is mostly around the front. When you're gaffed in, the angle causes the spur itself to put weight towards your leg, so the pad pushes lightly on the front of your leg.
The geckos are completely different. They are much more 'upright', no tilt. for some reason I can't understand, the pad is half around the front of your leg, and half around the side. The gaff is a little offset, so that when you're gaffed in, the spurs are pressing on the inside of your calves, trying to bow your leg outwards. It's a weird sensation, and I just couldn't get comfortable with it even after a couple weeks climbing with them every day. My legs were aching, after 15min or so in the tree. I could wear my old buckinghams a half day or more pretty easily before they even started getting uncomfortable. The geckos were also too short, even at the tallest setting.
Something had to be done. I started by lubricating my brain with magic learning juice. I was looking at the geckos, looking at the buckinghams, comparing the location of the pads and the angles of things. I took the pads off the buckinghams and figured if I could get them on the geckos I'd be set. Nope. Waaaaaaaay too short, and the geckos would need to be hacked with a grinder to fit into my old pads.
7 beers later, I figured I could just drill holes anywhere in the fibreglass pads of the geckos and have them sit any way I wanted. So I located new holes so that the pad sits almost 2" further around to the front of my leg, about an inch higher, and the spur itself is now tilted at an angle similar to how my old buckinghams were. I climbed in them today and they're awesome! I was ready to sell these at a big loss because I couldn't take them back and there was no way I could keep climbing in them. If you're in a similar position, drill away.
First photo shows 2 new holes drilled. Take your time and get it right. I took the pads off and put the spurs on with the bottom strap done up and just moved the pads around until they felt right. I had my old buckingham on the other leg at the same time as a reference. Figured the approximate loacation then drilled the bottom one first, then screwed the spurs back together, put them on again and played with the angle until it felt right. Then marked and drilled that.
Shows the modified spur on the right, and the unmodified on the left. The photo shows the right side pad sitting higher, but doesnt really show how much more 'around the front' the pad is as compared to the original. About 80% of the pad is now in the front. You can also see pretty clearly that the angle of the spur is much more tilted on the right.
I was ready to ditch these spurs, but being able to drill the pads really does give you infinite possibilities. Im very happy with them now and would buy them again.
Shaun
I've been climbing on dinosaur spurs the last few years; some old buckingham steel gaffs. They really have been on their last legs for some time, rattling and falling apart. I've sharpened the spurs too many times and they now need major reprofiling because they're so thick. I really wanted to get some bashlin aluminums with caddy pads, but nobody seems to sell them in aus. I was in a climbing shop couple weeks back and they had the geckos on the wall so I tried them on and they felt pretty comfortable. They had the carbon fibre ones, but you cant adjust the length on them and they only had the mediums which were way too short (im 6'3) so I ended up getting the aluminums which turned out later to be a good thing as you'll find out.
When I got them on and climbed a tree I knew immediately I'd made a bad choice. I got them with the long gaffs, and the set is amazing. They're very thin and sharp, and set great even on dead trees and very hard trees with thin bark, but something about the spurs themselves was all wrong. My old buckinghams have the uprights canted back at an angle, so the whole spur is pointing towards the tree, and the pad is mostly around the front. When you're gaffed in, the angle causes the spur itself to put weight towards your leg, so the pad pushes lightly on the front of your leg.
The geckos are completely different. They are much more 'upright', no tilt. for some reason I can't understand, the pad is half around the front of your leg, and half around the side. The gaff is a little offset, so that when you're gaffed in, the spurs are pressing on the inside of your calves, trying to bow your leg outwards. It's a weird sensation, and I just couldn't get comfortable with it even after a couple weeks climbing with them every day. My legs were aching, after 15min or so in the tree. I could wear my old buckinghams a half day or more pretty easily before they even started getting uncomfortable. The geckos were also too short, even at the tallest setting.
Something had to be done. I started by lubricating my brain with magic learning juice. I was looking at the geckos, looking at the buckinghams, comparing the location of the pads and the angles of things. I took the pads off the buckinghams and figured if I could get them on the geckos I'd be set. Nope. Waaaaaaaay too short, and the geckos would need to be hacked with a grinder to fit into my old pads.
7 beers later, I figured I could just drill holes anywhere in the fibreglass pads of the geckos and have them sit any way I wanted. So I located new holes so that the pad sits almost 2" further around to the front of my leg, about an inch higher, and the spur itself is now tilted at an angle similar to how my old buckinghams were. I climbed in them today and they're awesome! I was ready to sell these at a big loss because I couldn't take them back and there was no way I could keep climbing in them. If you're in a similar position, drill away.
First photo shows 2 new holes drilled. Take your time and get it right. I took the pads off and put the spurs on with the bottom strap done up and just moved the pads around until they felt right. I had my old buckingham on the other leg at the same time as a reference. Figured the approximate loacation then drilled the bottom one first, then screwed the spurs back together, put them on again and played with the angle until it felt right. Then marked and drilled that.
Shows the modified spur on the right, and the unmodified on the left. The photo shows the right side pad sitting higher, but doesnt really show how much more 'around the front' the pad is as compared to the original. About 80% of the pad is now in the front. You can also see pretty clearly that the angle of the spur is much more tilted on the right.
I was ready to ditch these spurs, but being able to drill the pads really does give you infinite possibilities. Im very happy with them now and would buy them again.
Shaun
