The intent is not to threadjack, or draw attention to myself, or preach some superior way. I'm merely trying to show the newbies that you don't have to rig every big limb down with ropes.
I like rigging down limbs, but I've found it is faster and takes half the manpower doing it dice-a-roni.
If I had a 12" diameter chipper, my approach would be so very different.
This job was $1,650, I did it alone, except for the firewood guy taking away two loads. One day, Half tank of gas in the 346, 2 tanks in the 395, half hour of chipping. Probably 3 or 4 dollars in gas.
Just something to think about.
I strip the spire I'm tying into to lessen the chances of my rope hanging up, and that the brush is going to have to come off regardless. I'm not going to climb 'through' it to achieve some insignificant damping effect. In the chess game, I had planned to swing over from middle stem to the street stem, and then back all the way across to the stem on the car side. To do this, your rope needs to have a clear line, no obstructions.
I know what you mean, dampening, but my 165 (73 Kg) and flying pendulum moves probably wouldn't have that much effect on a topless post. If you're rigging off it, I see your point and consider it to be valid.