lowerable base ties

[john meehan]

I did my rigging ticket last week, the other guy being assessed went up the tree first to install his TIP, as his rope was not long enough for him to drop down to the ground in one the assessor had us install a second line to allow me to ascend in the event he needed rescuing.

My rope was a little longer and I put my TIP a little lower, that was ok so I did my cutting without a second line in.

Its food for thought though, I've been deadwooding up trees with my 25m rope where I had to drop back down in 3 stages.

You need a longer rope dude.

[Stephen Blair]

Think you need a bigger rope Dan?

  or what I’ve done in the past is have a change over rope, choker a strop and pulley midway, or where you need to , 15’ say before your rope runs out.

 An odd time I’m up 100’ plus I’ll climb on my big lowering rope on my pulley.its about 300’ long so i will run out of bravery before I do rope!

  It’s great because it’s about 2” thick and great to grip.

  

[Treetom15]

I was made aware of issues with base anchoring for a rescue a little while ago (by someone who knows a lot more than me!) 

The main point made, was that unfortunately if you need rescuing and you are completely unable to self rescue, then there’s a high chance you’ve been working and you’re stropped in-meaning even if you can lower someone down they won’t move far at all. 

Also, if your anchor is on fairly small stuff, having it base tied puts more force on your anchor as you’ve essentially put a 2:1 over it, making it more likely to fail. 

Personally I think if the tree or work requires it the safest thing to do is tie a rescue line in, takes seconds and means someone can be with you instantly. Plus a base anchor with people working around it or lumps of wood coming down makes me feel very uneasy!

[Khriss]

3 hours ago, jfc said:

10 hours ago, geoffers said:

What Stephen said ️you should always have a rescue climbers line pre installed so that in the event of emergency rescue you can access the tree straight away. Although in reality this rarely happens.

Who says? Steven says an instructor told him, can you show me where is it stated as best practice?

Jfc. This has been mentioned in a few guides and best practise publications, like many recommendations it doesn't get used by some knuckle draggers in practise. I can see why not but that still means it's a 'good idea to' k

[jfc]

OK, rescue line is recommended. I have learnt something new, thanks arbtalk! Makes sense in big trees.

[Dan Maynard]

Yeah I know, in fact that tree also made me think I need to get into SRT.

[Stephen Blair]

I know that feeling Dan, thankfully I spend more time in a digger than I do hauling myself up trees now.

[Tommy_B]

4 hours ago, jfc said:

11 hours ago, Stephen Blair said:

I was told this when I did my rescue ticket by the instructor.
  
  

Interesting. Never heard of this from anyone else. I don't think it is in the AA best climbing practice booklet. I did my rigging ticket in Feb and no mention anywhere of having a rescue line installed. I think this is something very few people do or think they should, and it is not even recommended let alone best practice.

 

11 hours ago, geoffers said:

What Stephen said ️you should always have a rescue climbers line pre installed so that in the event of emergency rescue you can access the tree straight away. Although in reality this rarely happens.

Rope guide Twinline comes into it's own here. You automatically have an access rescue line in the tree

[Tommy_B]

I know lots of people talk about the maths involved with base ties but I often wonder in practice if it's the case. If the rope is base tied and spread through some forks I don't know if it would be much more than a top tie

[Sambo]

14 hours ago, Stephen Blair said:

I was told this when I did my rescue ticket by the instructor.

  

  

Yup, Same here!

Also, in many of the places I've worked, where a job is big and elaborate enough to consider a climber and have a rescue system in place, then why not have two climbers working? If one climber needs assistance the other is already in the canopy. Also two climbers in the tree shorten the duration that risky task!