Marc

When I did one of my nptc's we had some council crew members on the course, these guys did'nt climb on a weekly basis, there kit was bought for them and had to comply by all loler regs. They were supplied with pre made prussik loops which were marked and dated, these loops would last them at least 6 months. Their kit was very basic, comprising of bare minimum essentials, and used very rarely judging by the condition. I imagine pre made prussik loops would be ideal for them? But for me and most opf the members here buying pre-made loops can seem pointless or even stupid. I for one replace my cord fortnightly or weekly, buying pre made loops or even spliced eye 2 eye cords would be a little to expensive for my needs.

I felt the same as you untill this month, I can honestly its a bloody handy bit of kit. On Ivy clad removals, you can go in with the platform remove the Ivy, then you have a nice easy climb, great!

Whats the difference to using a platform as a crane and lifting a piece of and chucking it? Surley wether you've roped it on or are holding piece in your hands whilst in the basket, the weight is the same. Only difference I can think of, is it would be easier to rig a heavier piece than you could lift.

Yeah well i'm a bit of a nerd/sad I suppose when it comes to outdoor clothing, easily fooled by cleaver marketing etc. I like my Stretch air base layer, it does have good fabric, which is durable, after nearly 12 months it still looks good. There are other tops, that have similar fabric, which is just as tough, with better seams, nearly half the price and look just as good. So I won't be buying any more Stretch Air tops. Its the price which gets me, there aiming it at us climbers in particular, but really they don't compare with many cheaper better alternatives. Just my 2 cents, i'll shut up now.

I bought a stretch air shirt at Capel last year, I was'nt impressed, the fabric is o.k, but I hate the seams, I wear braces and find the lumpy seams chafe. I just don't find stretch air all that! for the price you think they would have good qaulity flat seams. I wear base layers all year, and have done for over 8 years working outdoors. I've used Lowe alpine, Helly Hansen, Mountain hardwear, Berghaus, Paramo, Outdoorscene and Rab base layers at work. All these have flat seams and comfortable designs all are far better than stretch air. The Best in terms of price and durablity are Berghaus Tech T's, tough fabric does'nt pick or pile, second is Lowe alpine, then Hellys. The worst have been mountain hardwear, the fabric picks and wears in no time. For warmth i've become very attached to my Paramo Mountain smock, much better than a fleece, its slightly more windproof and just as warm. Or a Rab Vapour rise smock (thanks to Buzz for telling me about these I love em) For drizzle and high winds, I wear a Stretch Air jacket with the schoeller fabric wind proof and sheds water well, shame about the poor qaulity stitching and very high price. Cheap comfort i'd go for cheap base layers like Berghaus tech T's or Outdoor scene, cheap fleeces like Fruit of the Loom fleece (which you can get a company logo on) and a Jacket. Its good that companies like Stretch Air are trying to make clothing for our work, but its over priced and poorly designed compared to other outdoor brands that have been making hardwearing out door clothing for years.

VT aka the suicide hitch. Diameter of line both hitch and rope, supplness, plus length and wrap braid combo's. A VT can be tricky to set right, and everyone does it differently. With blakes or prussik the only real variable is length.

I like all the kit bags mentioned, but I find they are not upto the daily use and abuse of treework, unless you treat and those you work with treat them with respect. I've had my heavy canvas army bag for over a year now and its still going strong and water proof even though its been chucked off trucks, had saws without scabbards chucked on top of it, left in the back and buried under wood chip and sometimes I chuck my spikes in without putting on gaff gaurds. Plus it only cost 5 quid. None of the above bags have lasted so well for any of my colleagues, but hey if good looks, sleek features and high price are your thing,,,,,,,

Builders have a go.

Thanks to you steve and i hope there will be similar happenings on the forum in the future.

Also try thicker hitch cord maybe a 9 or 10mm, as a rule smaller diameter cord bites harder.

Ha ha looks like the tree had the last laugh.

I use a pantin in exactly the same way as footlocking i,e use both my feet to propel myself, using it near the trunk sucks. The only advantage is you don't have to lift the weight of the rope as you scoop it up to lock the rope, its a small advantage but noticable for me. A disadvantage is the pantin can damage the rope. But I am crap at footlocking, so maybe its just me

Do you mean a split level cut? I was showed this in my nptc but have never found a practical use for it, as there has always been an easier alternative. Still usefull to know. And are you being taught how to fell poles? As in trees that have had there canopies dismantled and are now standing trunks? Had an intresting discussion with one guy about this, when I fell a pole I always do a deeper face, as the center of gravity is straight up now the crown has been removed, so a usual 20% face cut just makes getting big trunks over hard work as you have to get the center of gravity over further with a pole before it falls.

I believe it with some of those small Stihl ones, with a kind of I shaped cross section. I broke a levering pole once and smacked myself on the chin, not funny! Now I prefer mechanical assitance in the form of wedges, or pull ropes set-up with pulleys or a simple truckers hitch. Or even a mini forwarder, although I know crews that have become very reliant on their forwarder, its very handy to know multiple ways of bringing trees poles over.

Most Stihl saws upto 260 are .325, 260 and above are 3/8, then you have the 88 which is 404.

Strangest thing I found was an old hob nailed boot which had been partialled swallowed in a fork.

Result!! I'm still looking for a ropeguide.

I've worked with a few old school climbers who've been climbing 15 plus years who don't use wirecore lanyards they are just awesome to watch. So I don't think you need one to be safe. I personally use one because I find it easier to flip up stems and manipulate, with less chance of getting snagged. What annoys me though is this idea that if you have a safety device like say chainsaw trousers or wirecore it will make you complacent as you are lulled into a false sense of security. There is no excuse for complacency full stop, just becasue a wirecore has steel in it is no excue to go cutting near you line or checking its position. But I understand what you mean NFC.

First get a qoute from your local dealer for a new nose section, compare it to a new bar, and also see how much they'd charge to fit it for you. I'll have to check my bar manual to see how Stihl reccomends replacing it, i'll post back in a bit.

Sounds a good idea, when the weather is better!

Depends, sometimes a bowline, sometimes a truckers hitch (although my truckers hitch looks different to other versions i've seen) or i'll just make a few wraps round a tree (or variations of a cow hitch) and pass a few bights under the wraps, it self grips and is a doddle to undo.

Like all equipment, a wirecore does not make us invincible to operator error. My opinion is if your blocking down, and through a lapse of concentration/complancency your lanyard is higher than you thought/snagged, or your cutting to close to it, then a wirecore will give you an indicator and a few vital seconds to stop cutting, where as a soft rope it would be game over. If you don't notice the metal on metal contact with your wirecore, then your going to have a bad day.

Thanks for the reply, its good to see manafactuers taking the time to post. Now I don't want this to come across the wrong way and all, but i'd just like to point this out, "we are pleased to announce that all of our chainsaw boots fully conform to and exceed the CE standards which of course includes cut resistance." The wording is cut resistance, not cut proof. I beleive this applies to Lavoro too, there boots have to conform to CE standards, of which i'm sure they do. Although some boots do exceed the ratings needed to get CE approval

I'd have to agree with Steve, tree climbers companion covers much more.

It did'nt surprise me, but its not a waste of time bringing it up, i'm just being on the side of the manafacture.