1: How are climb right spurs for redwood? are 2 3/4" long enough or do I need something longer such as buckingham 3 1/2 fixed spurs?
2: I have decided I like the weaver extra wide back saddles, but dont have any experience in them. I don't know which one to get, Split legs or butt strap, Split suspension or sliding dees or double sliding dees
3: I want a steel core flip line. What are the advantages / disadvantages of 5/8 and 1/2" flip lines?
Thanks in advance for any help. I would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions
1: I cant really comment on redwoods since we dont have them where I live. We do have some very thick barked trees though. The consensus among most climbers (myself included) is climb on the shortest spikes you can. There are a few who go the other way though. With longer spikes the angle of the spike seems to come much more into play. Those with offsets seem pretty popular. I'm climbing on steel bashlins with pole spurs, I love them and rarely find myself underspiked.
2: very much a personal call. I'm climbing on a treemotion and love it more than my own family. If you're a fat bastard then you'll appreciate the buttstrap, especially if you are going to spend a lot of time hanging. If you are skinny or will be doing a lot of technical work (limb walking etc) then leg straps are more the go - less comfort but more freedom of movement. The floating bridge vs fixed D's is much the same scenario; floating bridge gives more freedom of movement. The floating bridge comes into its own on technical removals in tight spaces. You can have 2 adjustable tie in points rigged to independent parts of the tree (or even different trees) and tie this into the bridge and be rock solid, still with your pole strap as a 3rd point. While solid 3D location, you can spin around to face any direction, 180 degrees with lots of freedom.
3: i've climbed on both but prefer 1/2" because all of my hardware is 1/2". If you get the thicker flipline you'll need a grab that will fit it and you miss out on some grab options. I use the microcender as my flipline adjuster, but they do make a bigger version of it. I think some adjusters only come in 1/2". There's no real strength benefit from the bigger line. Some might find the thicker line to be easier to handle I guess, but the 1/2" is just fine for me. Be sure to get one with a swivel on the snap, and have a think about whether you want a single snap or one at each end. If you want a single then 12'~15' should be fin even on fairly large redwoods, I use a 10' and that goes fine for me. If you want a double ended then you will want to tie into it with a unidirectional grab, or a prussik and you'll want a longer line.
Shaun