Steve Bullman

i used to help out 1 day a week inbetween my previous job till i was offered a full time position, never looked back, that was 10 years ago, went on my own 2 years back sorry totally uninteresting!

haha....where is said class?

i think thats down to the huge following that the 254 had, the 357 is nowhere near the saw the 254 was

I'm no expert at footlocking but occasionally use it and would like to use it more. heres just a few pointers for beginners i use a 6 or 8 coil klemhiest....its generally considered better than a prussik in this application. the length of the footlock cord should ideally be long enough so it is just out of reach...some may disagree, please say why if so! As footlocking is apparently bad for the joints some people advise you alternate which foot you lead with. i personally find that a bit awkward but if you're comfortable with it its undoubtedly better. Try and start off with the rope totally vertical otherwise when you start your first lock you'll find yourself swinging straight away. after you lock the rope between your feet tuck them under your bum and then stand straight up, again this prevents swing....its nice if you can stand up in one fluid motion sliding your hands up the rope to advance the hitch cord as you go.....make sure you dont put your hand above the friction hitch at anytime. i'll leave it there for now so others can add to it!

could be better, some of the action shots came a little blurred...i think its because id sooned in to the point the digital zoom kicked in.

few pics, i havent had time to edit them all

the best book i have and recommend to anyone looking for a complete overview of trees is called "trees, their natural history" by peter thomas

i'll start another thread later

well i guess i started this thread a little premature

im looking at a second tractor at the moment. im not sure wether to go for a smaller road legal tractor or just get an old off road work horse for yard work only

the older i get the more interested im getting in yoga, ive never tried it but speak to more and more climbers who are recommending it. does anyone here practise on a regular basis or has tried?

welcome raafbeard, where are you based?

welcome judge, good to have you here

here you go http://www.treeworker.co.uk/acatalog/Advanced_Ropeclimbing_Technology_6.html its basically a very flashy and efficient cambium saver. hopefully you'll be able to see by the pic how it works

I have a ropeguide which ive been using nearly 2 year now. its probably ranks as one of my favourite pieces of kit with regards labour saving. it occassionally does get caught up, when it does i remind myself how much energy its saved me in the past and go collect it with hopefully a partial smile on my face. there are things that can be done to minimize getting them caught up. I'll often take it off before descending, specially in tight forked trees ie limes.....obviously depending if ive finished work near enough to the TIP or not. I was wondering if anyone has used the old ropeguide and the new ropeguide with the webbing in place of the rope......and if so does it get caught up any less? and what other benefits the webbing holds over the rope version?

no. i couldnt get down till midday saturday, with the ammount of rain i dont think id of had the best of times!!! best leave it to the young 'uns!

how do you find that line for storage? i looked at that a few years back and i have something similar from marlow which i use for speedling. it serves the purpose fine but its a real stiff rope to coil or do anything neatly with

it was interesting at wales to see people footlocking with short prussiks, with their Ddrt set up on a pulley connected to the prussik read to work. all they had to do was a marlin spike when they had ascended to the point they needed to everything else was ready for work

does anyone work Ddrt off their srt system?

i dont think theres many people out in the sun today!!!

sucks working on your own, nothing worse than having to take the tops out of trees then come down and clear up yourself!!!

im still playing around with it. i had that creep issue happen the other day when i switched to my edelrid rope....it hasnt happened with the fly or velocity which seems odd. i think we're all missing something though.....its a pretty good system but it not quite there yet

haha good one....she looks like shes about to ram that in your face!

whereabouts are you based now dagmar?

not long back from wales....day 1 was a washout, rained all day but the climibng went on all the same, weather was much better today. i'll post whatever pics i have tomorrow.