What do YOU, anchor into? ;)

[VEG]

liam1 As you found out it was strong enough while your weight was pulling straight down but once you swung out away from the stem, the way the weight is distributed changes immensely. More or less acts like a lever. Glad to hear you are ok though, bet you dont do it again lol

Edited January 31, 2013 by VEG

[Mr. Squirrel]

I don't generally anchor into branches, I put an anchor on the stem? I'm generally happy if I've got my squirrel saver around 4" of stem I reckon. Varies from tree to tree, day to day, job to job obviously, but for 'hard trees' that seems to work. For 'snappy trees' I go somewhat larger. The branch it's sitting on, small usually. Or choke my squirrel saver on the stem.

[Alex S]

Maybe it's because I'm a newbie but I've been reading this thread with bemusement.

 

Generally speaking (every climb is different) I go as high as I believe to be safe, anchor onto the main stem, and work the whole tree from there. I use a chokable cambium saver around the main stem down to a thickness of 3" - 8" (depending on species, height, condition etc.) with a branch underneath as thin as 1" to stop it slipping down. Because the cambium saver is choked around the stem, the branch is pretty much unnecessary.

 

For co-dominant stems I anchor onto the thickest and then swing out to work the other(s) from there. If there is included bark/decay I use a redirect to make a triangulated anchor point.

 

Do you guys regularly anchor onto actual branches during a work climb? I can understand doing it when working in awkward trees with a large, spreading crown but why would you do it otherwise?

[Rich Rule]

Maybe it's because I'm a newbie but I've been reading this thread with bemusement.

 

Generally speaking (every climb is different) I go as high as I believe to be safe, anchor onto the main stem, and work the whole tree from there. I use a chokable cambium saver around the main stem down to a thickness of 3" - 8" (depending on species, height, condition etc.) with a branch underneath as thin as 1" to stop it slipping down. Because the cambium saver is choked around the stem, the branch is pretty much unnecessary.

 

For co-dominant stems I anchor onto the thickest and then swing out to work the other(s) from there. If there is included bark/decay I use a redirect to make a triangulated anchor point.

 

Do you guys regularly anchor onto actual branches during a work climb? I can understand doing it when working in awkward trees with a large, spreading crown but why would you do it otherwise?

 

As you get more experienced and understanding of different timber types your choice of anchor will change accordingly.

 

I regularly anchor into branches or stems. It depends on the type of climb, what work required and species of tree.

[Scott Walker]

What ever I feel safe with.

 

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[liam1]

Just another factor to take into consideration wind lol, any other time I would have been fine. Risk assessment next time may take more notice of weather lol.

[BenR]

I tend to anchor into something slightly larger than I normally would when Im climbing SRT. Usually because if im going to work on the other side of the tree later, I often redirect at a similar height to my main anchor point. This often results in the anchor being loaded sideways, pulling two stems together. If i've anchored on something too skinny to be loaded sideways I will move over to the redirect, tie an alpine and re-choke my line so the re direct takes all the load. Probably irrelevant to most people but Ive seen you climb on the wrench a bit harrison so I thought I'd chirp up.

[David.Robertson]

May I remind you all of the invention of a false crotch, pretty useful things when no ideal unions are available, hell of a lot less friction too!

[Danavan]

General rule of thumb I have worked on has been wrist diameter for most species.

But I do go alot smaller if I back up with other tethers on rotten/defective anchor points.

I know this is not recommended but if it makes my life easier then I am quite happy to adopt it..

I have been playing around with anchor points for srt at tip points with re-directs, whilst trying to optimize angles of around 45 degrees as expressed by the great mr C.M as an optimum angle in nature (ish) I have found this optimization of load shearing to be quit successful on many occasions with many species. However I would still go on the rule of thumb of wrist for anchor point for the not so experienced with species properties ect..

[Marc Lewis]

Completely agree with you there Rich Rule. I find when anchored to a branch the pull of the rope is more comfortable and even giving a more comfortable work position, if that makes sense.