Essential Climbing Gear

[Billy]

Hi i am new tot he forum i have my CS30 and 31 and a few years experience with saws and things. I am currently groundying for a guy who has offered to partly subside CS38&39 to get me climbing I want to get my own gear though. I have used the search function to try and find the info but can't find exactly what i want so started this thread before i get th eusual forum 'use the search button' digs . I have seen a thread about compiling aclimbing kit for CS 38 but i want to know what gear I need to be fully operational on a job so i can price it up, i see what the guy i work for has but don't know what it's all called so just looking on pro climber and other sites i got a bit confused with the variety and amount of different stuff they had on offer. I have basic PPE trousers, boots and lid

 

So far i have:-

 

Harness

Main rope (40m?) not sure on diameter- what's best?

the smaller loops that attach to the main rope's don't know what these are called, Prussik's?

 

Few smaller lengths of rope for positioning-how long are these typically?

Silky

Helmet with strap

020

3 way carabiners

Lanyard

Flip line

 

thats all i can remmeber/think of/sensibly describe. Just need to know the bits i have missed and the correct names for this stuff so i can price it up.

 

Thanks, Bill

[Mesterh]

Hi and welcome

 

Only a few quick points from me but I'm sure there will be more in depth answers

 

The small loop things yep are prussiks or french loops.

 

I use 13mm rope and wouldnt use anything else but plenty on here like rope down to 11mm so personal preference really.

 

Something for a secondary anchor point unless you are using both ends of your rope.

 

Chainsaw strop.

 

Maybe a set of spikes not necessary but helpful on take downs.(or slippery trees in the wet )

 

Other than that you have enough gear to tackle any tree

[MattyF]

well it just so happens i have a set of bashlin spikes and a used twice treeflex harness in medium size if you want to save a few quid

[Billy]

are spikes a good thing for someone new? the guy i work with uses them, but one of his subbies hates them and very rarely resorts to them. Would it be better to learn the hard way without them to start with? What are the best brands of harness? Could be interested in that stuff pm me a price?

[Peter]

You need spikes for dismantles, (ie if the tree is being removed completely) but they should never be used on pruning.

 

Harness is very much a personal thing, if you can try before you but so much the better. Whereabouts are you?

[MattyF]

well spikes are good on take downs like conifers or take downs in general other wise you have to leave pegs and its quite possible for your life line to end up doing a half hitch or knot around and you end up stuck and cant decsend in an emergancy also there is the posibilty of swinging in to a peg....but you can become dependent on climbing with them which is not helpfull when pruning.

harness and rope choice is down to the user.. imo its the perons skills not what rope they are on or climbing harness they are sitting in...i once watched this guy who had to set up a pull off line up a large beach,he made a harness out of the tail end of a three strand rope and climbed the tree to set the rope nearly as fast as some of the top comp climbers ive seen get up a tree.

[Mesterh]

 

Yeah but could he have used that harness all day long?

[MattyF]

Yeah but could he have used that harness all day long?

I know he has done!

[Billy]

I am in Kent, I appreciate its all about the skills and what not but i figure a decent harness will make life much more comfy..there must be some popular brands? so spikes are probably a good idea. How many meters of rope should I have?

[MattyF]

every one is different when it comes to harnesses is the point i was trying to make i would try as many as possible to see which style you find the most usable and comfy.