Tell me I am quite insane, please.

[Patrick62]

I have acquired a set of buckinghams.

Okay. now for giggles, I should replace the belts. Maybe put a pad on there. Then get some sort of cheap saddle. Then figure get the flipline, and assorted stuff.
The general idea is to "get up a tree" a few feet and see if I can handle it. If I don't freak out and can understand the general principal of getting up/down, it might be useful eventually.
I do firewood up here. once in awhile some homeowner wants something removed. I am NOT insured for that. Could I get a waiver signed and do it anyway?? Just thinking...

Practice would be a nice pondo or something out in the wood cut. Climb the sucker remove the limbs. Learn how to chunk it down. Practice this a few times for the sheer fun of it!

Now.... to put this idea into perspective. I am NOT going to drop thousands of $$ getting "SETUP" right. The gaffs were freebies. They will get me in a tree. cheap saddle. Cheap flip line. Try it. If I can get 12 feet up a tree... then I will try for 15 the next time.

Am I crazy??

 

[BC WetCoast]

Yep

 

[woodchuck357]

Double yep, people who climb for a living have one of the highest death and injury rates of all jobs. It has dropped somewhat because the statisticians have lumped all tree work together. As dangerous as logging is, combining logger deaths and tree trimmers deaths together made fishermen the most dangerous job.
Last year tree workers had more deaths than fishermen for the first time since 1992 when tree trimmers and loggers were lumped together.
A lot of the deaths may have been because of new climbers but a lot may have been old farts, like me, who keep working at a young man's job. Increased use of chippers is also a biggie.

 

[derwoodii]

crazy no, likely your wiser than most seeking ideas and input on how to begin climbing, 1st read up take it slow do not be pushed passed your comfort zone.
A good way is to watch pros at work or even ask if can spend a few days with a crew then if feels all ok you've got the basis to work with

Your harness saddle rope and flip line all climbing gear should be checked & fit for purpose 6 feet or 12 your can end up harmed if things dont work.

those gaffs remind me of a job test climb i did I turned up with my rope and saddle/gear but no gaffs, the bossman said here ye go gave me a nasty pair of buckinghams, on they went and up i climbed that was 1983

 

[Patrick62]

Thank you.
Tree climbers companion is ordered.
I might be insane, but I will be careful. I was climbing trees when I was 10. I have been up man lifts, and climbed outta the cage to do the job before. Carefully, but there was risk involved.

What I might do is to find a lovely tree with a really nice branch up there and toss a rope over it. Have my buddy who is heavier than I am on the other end of it. If I lose it.... he can be the safety system. In fact, what I should do is go about 8 feet and gaff out just to know.

Now... if I actually get to where I can climb something.... I might actually just climb a few here and there in the wood cuts just to stay in practice!

I might turn into a big chicken....

 

[B Harrison]

I think you have to go right now and spur up a nasty pine about 25' just use your hands and free climb, it will be all you need to change your mind. Sharpen those things up like razors and jab them in hard. So that way you have to work just as hard to get them out.

If you are going to climb to see if you can do it, your in for a beating. Convince yourself you can do it, before you start, because the first couple climbs are like high school wrestling practice, except no one needs to help you feel weak, it happens on its own.

 

[Patrick62]

Well, let's see here. granted it has been a few years, but I shinnied up a 70' tree when I was like 14... Yea, by the time I got up that thing I thought my heart was gonna jump outta my chest and my arms were getting scrapped up pretty bad. We used to play tag in a willow tree... leaping from branch to branch. You have to trust your bod to be able to do this. My arms are strong. My legs are fairly strong. I have no doubt that I could make it a few feet into a tree. Getting down will be another matter... Have to figure that one out. Sort of like airplanes, we have not left one up there yet

The straps that are on these things are like really old. I will order some new ones. Probably get some sort of in expensive L pad.

Then I am going to READ the climbers companion in it's entirety. Load a bunch more youtube videos of you pros doing it.
There really isn't a lot of guys around here that climb trees. Harry Smith was the last one I knew, and he is long gone. He was nuts too, btw. I seen him when I was a kid.... yikes!

Ya, I might only make it 25 ft up a lonely pine. pull out the phone, take a pic, and proceed to get down and put all this stuff in a box never to be used again.

 

[pro94lt]

Your wanting to get into climbing so you can get firewood? I'll be honest with you save your time and money your just unaware of what's involved.

 

[BuckmasterStumpGrinding]

If you are going to try climbing for the first time you need a climb line to make it down. Spend the money to get a rated climbing line. Learn how to use a blakes hitch because it is the cheapest way out. If you like it you can switch to better methods in the future. When you get comfortable climbing on a blakes without spikes you can get the spikes in order and try them out. When you get pads spend the extra 20 or 30 bucks and get some climb right aluminum pads with the velcro straps. They are not much more money and they make a huge difference.

 

[BuckmasterStumpGrinding]

And you are insane.

 

[BuckmasterStumpGrinding]

If you want to cut down friends trees for practice you should do it for free or get licensed. I might even consider giving them some sort of waiver in case you die and your family tries to sue them.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I don't think insane is the proper word.

 

[Patrick62]

Thrill seeking! Perhaps that is what it is all about. Some people jump out of perfectly good airplanes. Some people bungie, some climb trees. Safety is for people who stay in bed and even then.... a sinkhole could take 1/2 the house and you!

Of coarse this is crazy. So was laying on steam pipes 35 feet in the air hanging a light in a warehouse on live 277 (I have a lot of examples like that from 20 years as a lighting installer). So, I am going to "give it a go" one of these days. Learn enough to know how to get up/down a tree. No intention of just doing this "for the wood" that would be plain stupid. Doing it for the learning experience!

The cheapie saddle is gonna cost about $150, unless I score something on ebay. I figure that the rest of the necessary stuff would be about another hundred. Not exactly in the budget at the moment... but working on it!

 

[BC WetCoast]

If you are doing it for the 'thrill' go to the Rec climbing forum and see if there is anyone on there who will take you out and show you the ropes (pun intended).

Also talk to some of the local tree companies and see if there is anyone there who does recreational tree climbing and would be willing to teach you.

I bet you didn't learn to hang lights high in a warehouse by reading a book.

 

[TC262]

You are insane if you think you can get off the ground with no experience and do it safely with only $250 spent in gear. You can save some money by building your own lanyards etc, but I don't recommend it to someone who hasn't been working with rope and knots for years.

 

[Patrick62]

No confldence? Golly. If we only did things based upon what other people had opinions on, nothing would ever get accomplished. Nothing!!!! You can break the OSHA rules, but you can't break the laws of physics! Pardon me for stating that I am not that dumb. I won't go up there and release the flip line!!! Yikes! And I might rig a safety line to get used to higher stuff.

Found a cheaper saddle... I was thinking about building one.
This is gonna be fun. You guys want pics? Or hospital reports?

 

[BuckmasterStumpGrinding]

Your climb line is going to cost 150. they are rated at about 7000 lbs. Cheap rope is rated at less than 500 lbs and that strength will be decreased by putting a knot in it. When you shock load cheap rope (have 6 inches of slack when you fall) it will break.

 

[BuckmasterStumpGrinding]

Going down is harder than going up on spikes. Having a climb line is a necessity starting out. When you get good enough to not need one you will use a climbing line for a safety because you will KNOW the value of it.

 

[BuckmasterStumpGrinding]

You can use about 15 feet of your climb line to make a makeshift lanyard if you get a carabiner and a rope clip.

 

[ggoodman]

if he's cliped in a a fall from 20' will not kill him as long as he's clipped in he'll land feet first and shatter his hips, break his femurs maybe a few others. My bet is if he slips he'll become a tree hugger and hang on. Id start in the first 5' of the tree to get the feel for spikes. try diggin in at diffrent angles to figure out whats to steep and whats not enough. Take it slow and take it easy. you can learn this yourself to a degree but I would find some one else to show you the ropes and for gods sake dont introduce a motorized saw or get more than 20' off the ground untill you have picked up a mentor at a minimum.

and for gear I would get a steel core flipline and couple lanyards made from life safety line. you can make these but i cant teach you over the internet. find a rock gym or REI and you can buy nice size static line by the foot suitable for monkeying around.