What do YOU, anchor into? ;)

[Harrison2604]

Hello all!

 

I haven't asked any other Arborists this question and I've always been curious as to what others class an anchorpoint as being too 'thin' to anchor into.

 

So here it is! I'm finally asking all the other climbers on Arbtalk... what do YOU class as being too THIN to anchor into?

 

Now, obviously this differs with species and conditions but just try to think in your general point of view.

 

I was told that you shouldnt anchor into anything that is of smaller diameter than your wrist, are you all familiar with this and if so, do you abide by it?

 

I know I've anchored into branches half the size of my own wrist in the past but in these cases I have my rope around the stem so that if it was to fail I'd drop and be caught by the next limb down.

 

I recently heard that at my old place of work, an employee dropped about 15ft after his anchor failed being roped into something the thickness of two fingers which I think would have a massive effect on what anchorpoints I choose in the future! Has anybody on here experienced an anchorpoint failure? If so, tell me the story!

 

I'm comfortable with anchoring into small things in most cases as long as I have a back up and as long as it isnt really windy or the tree is heavily diseased.

 

Anyway, I'm just curious to hear what other YOU feel when it comes to small anchorpoints and what to you, is too small!

[Tom2020]

Anything larger then my upper arm anything small i will think about setting to anchor points and spread my weight over both of them to get to my final point in the tree

 

The rule of thumb is anything larger then your wrist like you have said.

[mistahbenn]

Yes wrist size for me. And once, My TIP in a conifer tore out, and i landed 15 feet down on my feet (just like a cat) just missing a fence.

[Bolt]

The wrist thing is a very loose rule of, er, thumb.

 

As you said, it depends on the species, but it also depends on the crown architecture.

 

If the branch in question is at the trunk, you are probably OK.

 

If the branch in question is on a long side limb or a side fork, it may bust out. Oak is especially bad at this, because the novice may think that oak is 'strong'.

 

In my opinion, the wrist thing is more to do with the minimum radius that the rope should pass through rather than the strength of wood.

 

Therefore a 13mm rope ideally wouldnt pass through a pully smaller than you wrist (I do have very small wrists though).

[greengrafter]

4" for me or two anchor points if smaller depending on species.

 

The guy who works with me anchors into some really small stuff, he says as it bounces up and down it acts like a shock absorber.

[western]

what i do if the anchor point is to small, put a redirect pulley above it or just to the side on a opposite branch, so the branches pull together:001_cool:

[Harrison2604]

Yes wrist size for me. And once, My TIP in a conifer tore out, and i landed 15 feet down on my feet (just like a cat) just missing a fence.

 

On your feet! Crazy.

[armchairarborist]

i'll happily use a small anchor point (wrist size) in most stuff, but if i'm jumping about and throwing my weight around then it's a bigger one i look for, not forgetting how strong the unions/branches look below the anchor too! i wouldn't anchor on anything just one side of a co-dom/included bark stem (unless its huge). if you get your anchor with a throwbag it's easy to do a bounce test with a couple of fat groundies:thumbup:

[Lyndon]

Its the size of my forearm for me or a multisaver round the trunk if nothing tidy is around

[Harrison2604]

i'll happily use a small anchor point (wrist size) in most stuff, but if i'm jumping about and throwing my weight around then it's a bigger one i look for, not forgetting how strong the unions/branches look below the anchor too! i wouldn't anchor on anything just one side of a co-dom/included bark stem (unless its huge). if you get your anchor with a throwbag it's easy to do a bounce test with a couple of fat groundies:thumbup:

 

Brilliant answer! Thanks for your post