Oxman

Howdy, Here's the link to redwood climbing video discussion on LinkedIn: Redwood Climbing Video with Crossbow Linesetting | LinkedIn

Who ya gonna call if you have a weeks vacation, and you are in Ft. Bragg, California? That 400' bag of 11mm static kernmantle rope got a lot of mileage that week. Of course, this was years before the book was written.

Redwood Climbing Video with Crossbow Linesetting In the first week of January, 2002, Jerry Beranek & I shot a series of 3 videos showing how a crossbow can be used to set ropes for recreational tree climbing in 2 redwoods and a giant Sitka Spruce. A decade later, in 2013, these previously unreleased videos are now being presented to the public for the first time. The importance to the timeline of the sport of recreational tree climbing was the transition from spur climbing to line launching and using mechanical ascenders to climb the rope using single rope technique (SRT). Jerry & I had climbed the 15' dbh Ralph Stearns Dyer redwood in Montgomery Woods State Reserve together in 1987 using climbing spurs strapped to our feet. That story is on my website: Treedr.com - Redwood Climb The climb of the Stearns is also on the CD-ROM entitled, "A Tree Story" http://atreestory.com/grafs/CD-Main-Page.pdf. Also on the disc are stories of the giant Spruce, and the redwood at Jughandle Creek. The practice of spur climbing lost popularity because of the damage that can lead to decay from piercing the bark in many places. In 1997 I aquired a crossbow to survey bird nesting sites in the Olympic Peninsula as part of development of the Habitat Conservation Plan for the Marbelled Murrelet. The modern method of canopy access is now accepted as using any type of bow with a fishing reel mounted to the forearm stock. Other climbers were introduced to crossbow use in the August, 2002 video of the Bogachiel Spruce, where 25 climbers ascended a pair of 10' dbh spruces in Washington. A 10 minute segment of this climb was broadcast on CBS "Sunday Morning" TV show. Tree Climbing Takes Root - CBS News The first tree Jerry & I climbed during that January, 2002 trip was the Giant Sitka Spruce in Mendocino, California. It is located in a steep valley protected from wind. The Giant Spruce is in one of the most southern groves in the species range of the Sitka Spruce. Another video of climbers in this tree, entitled "The Giant Spruce", is available on Jerry's website: atreestory.com 8 minutes The second tree was the Jughandle Creek Redwood. This famous flat top tree has been featured in other Beranek Publications. It is a very photogenic tree with low limbs that can be accessed by hand thrown weights trailing thin cord. Standing on the top branches allows a 360 degree view of the ridgetops, all the way to the Pacific coast. It was filmed on a hot, sunny day, thus the reference to the B-52's lyric, "pass the tanning butter". 9 minutes The third tree is the Reynolds Triple Redwood, next to the Hiway 101 freeway offramp in Piercy. This tree is actually 2 trees about 6 feet apart. One is 10' dbh, the other is 15' dbh, but splits into 2 trunks just above the gound. In it's youth, it may have been 2 trees side by side. The location is on state park land on Hiway 101, just north of Confusion Hill & the Redwoods River Resort, and south of the Avenue of the Giants. We were able to use the rope to hook & break off lower dead limbs to allow safer access. The sound of the brush chipper of a road crew can be heard in the background. 11 minutes

Redwood Climbing Video with Crossbow Linesetting In the first week of January, 2002, Jerry Beranek & I shot a series of 3 videos showing how a crossbow can be used to set ropes for recreational tree climbing in 2 redwoods and a giant Sitka Spruce. A decade later, in 2013, these previously unreleased videos are now being presented to the public for the first time. The importance to the timeline of the sport of recreational tree climbing was the transition from spur climbing to line launching and using mechanical ascenders to climb the rope using single rope technique (SRT). Jerry & I had climbed the 15' dbh Ralph Stearns Dyer redwood in Montgomery Woods State Reserve together in 1987 using climbing spurs strapped to our feet. That story is on my website: Treedr.com - Redwood Climb The climb of the Stearns is also on the CD-ROM entitled, "A Tree Story" http://atreestory.com/grafs/CD-Main-Page.pdf. Also on the disc are stories of the giant Spruce, and the redwood at Jughandle Creek. The practice of spur climbing lost popularity because of the damage that can lead to decay from piercing the bark in many places. In 1997 I aquired a crossbow to survey bird nesting sites in the Olympic Peninsula as part of development of the Habitat Conservation Plan for the Marbelled Murrelet. The modern method of canopy access is now accepted as using any type of bow with a fishing reel mounted to the forearm stock. Other climbers were introduced to crossbow use in the August, 2002 video of the Bogachiel Spruce, where 25 climbers ascended a pair of 10' dbh spruces in Washington. A 10 minute segment of this climb was broadcast on CBS "Sunday Morning" TV show. Tree Climbing Takes Root - CBS News The first tree Jerry & I climbed during that January, 2002 trip was the Giant Sitka Spruce in Mendocino, California. It is located in a steep valley protected from wind. The Giant Spruce is in one of the most southern groves in the species range of the Sitka Spruce. Another video of climbers in this tree, entitled "The Giant Spruce", is available on Jerry's website: atreestory.com 8 minutes The second tree was the Jughandle Creek Redwood. This famous flat top tree has been featured in other Beranek Publications. It is a very photogenic tree with low limbs that can be accessed by hand thrown weights trailing thin cord. Standing on the top branches allows a 360 degree view of the ridgetops, all the way to the Pacific coast. It was filmed on a hot, sunny day, thus the reference to the B-52's lyric, "pass the tanning butter". 9 minutes The third tree is the Reynolds Triple Redwood, next to the Hiway 101 freeway offramp in Piercy. This tree is actually 2 trees about 6 feet apart. One is 10' dbh, the other is 15' dbh, but splits into 2 trunks just above the gound. In it's youth, it may have been 2 trees side by side. The location is on state park land on Hiway 101, just north of Confusion Hill & the Redwoods River Resort, and south of the Avenue of the Giants. We were able to use the rope to hook & break off lower dead limbs to allow safer access. The sound of the brush chipper of a road crew can be heard in the background. 11 minutes

1 Oversize trunks are heavy & additional lateral force to commence towards the tipping point is a good idea. Use a rope to pull the tree, or set wedges to lift the backside. 2 Oversize trunks are still smaller up high. Place the felling cut as far above the ground as possible to take advantage of this taper. Hope this helps.

(FOB)-Home - Untold Stories From Iraq & Afghanistan Charity Graphic Novel for our Troops Monday is America's Memorial Day holiday. This is a national day of rememberence of the soldiers who have died in military service. The kid is back home safe and sound, having completed his tour of duty in Afghanistan with honor. Others have taken his place, and we hope this international conflict will soon be over before more lives are lost. In the links by NY Times reporter C. J. Chivers, there is a story of a battle my son fought in where one of his buddies was killed. Specialist Rick DeWater was a member of Viper Company and a squad mate of Robert Oxman. U. S. Army Specialist DeWater's death at the hands of the Taliban has been memorialized in a graphic novel story recounted by the unit's radio operator, Robert Soto. Soto's story of the combat engagement by Viper Company is told by well known comic book artist Jerry Bingham. The name of the book is called "Untold Stories of Iraq & Afghanistan", Volume I. This is a charity project to raise funds for non-profit organizations that support military veterans. Please consider ordering your copy of the "Untold Stories" book to show support for the honorable service of these soldiers. Thanks for listening.

My Dad had a Remington 760 Game Master chambered in 30-06. This is a pump deer rifle. It also came in a semi-auto version called a Woodsmaster. We used to go shooting out in the hills above Los Angeles back in the 1960's. Our targets were tin cans, telephone books and these cool plastic 2 1/2 gallon milk bags filled with water. The water would fly in a halo circle about 15' in diameter. As a youngster, the centerfire caliber hurt my shoulder like the dickens. I preferred the .22 version of the pump action rifle, called the Remington Model 572. It had a tube magazine. The actuating mechanism consisted of only one bar that connected the pump handle to the bolt. This bar eventually broke. That was a lotta rounds we put thru that .22. Nowadays, I prefer the Barnett Wildcat crossbow with an attached fishing reel for shooting lines up in old growth trees.......

I would really like to hear from a user of the Nikon P100. This series recently upgraded to add the capability to zoom while recording. COOLPIX P100 | Nikon Other superzoom point & shoot cameras in this category are the Panasonic FZ35 and Fujifilm HS10. I expect cell phones to improve capability dramatically.

To show how the zoom capability makes the real difference, here are two shots with the 20X magnification Sony HX1. I hope the server doesn't choke on the 625K file. Yup, it did. Dang. The close up is cropped from the top 15' of the tree. The website has shrunk them. Imagine the magnification at 35X on the Canon. These photos are not crystal clear, as they would have been if taken with an SLR. The problem is that a lens this powerful for an SLR would be 2' long, weigh 4-5 kilos, and cost over $1,000 US! These cameras weigh only 1/2 kilo, and cost less than $350 US.

Rich & I went to bat for the Dahl Willow, which is seen being cut down by Parks workers in the video. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DREpVX6ks-4]YouTube - Seattle's Dahl Willow Tree dies[/ame] Activism means taking action. I wonder how many arborists elect to give testimony at their local government meetings? While conflict inspires lots of earnest questions, the content is the important thing. Who did what to whom, and when, may be an interesting reality show theme, but I prefer to move on to current topics. Can this group address content? I regard these issues as important enough to discuss them. What about the 3 tree limit on cutting down trees? Our town is considering repealing the tree protection ordinances in favor of incentives. What are some ordinances in your part of the world allowing? Arboreally yours, Ox

Since posting last, I've settled on the Canon Powershot SX30. It has the 35X zoom lens, and its nickname is 'Stalker Cam'. Sitting on the dock, you can climb right in the boat. None of the other cameras discussed here have extreme closeup ability at a mile away. Looking at trees, details are available that make it seem like a microscope is being used. The lens is also wider angle (24mm, compared to 28mm on other brands), so more of the tree can be included in the view. This camera has an LCD display screen that swivels for viewing while holding the camera at arms length. The Sony A200 is archaic, and not a good value, no matter how cheap. Would you buy a 3-4 year old phone? I also bought & returned to the store a Sony Alpha A33. The video performance was the reason the A33 wouldn't work for me. Photo quality is stellar. The camera heats up when taking video, and automatically shuts down after 15 minutes or so. Also, the loud noise from the motors that power the autofocus & zoom are picked up by the microphone.

Greetings to our friends in Portugal, Here's some thoughts on Canary Island Palms. For palms accessible with a bucket truck, a hydraulic reciprocating saw works great. It does not throw all that liquid spray around. Now, on to the climbing: After climbing to the base of the head, it is possible to cut one live leaf as a stub about 3-4' long for use as an additional tie-in point. This technique can be used for both pruning or removal. This stub should be at least halfway up the head, so it has a slightly upward slant, so the safety lanyard does not slip off. The stub should be as far to the climbers left or right as possible. This means it is the last leaf that can be reached after firing up the saw for the first o-round of cutting. Remember to follow that good bit of advice that our buddy left earlier--chainsaw nicks can cause this stub to fail. Once suspended from this stub, the primary lanyard should remain attached, encircling the trunk. The 2 safeties augument each other, allowing alternating resting points from the seat of the saddle, as well as from the belt dees. Since these trees are so time-consuming, with the arms reaching overhead for such a long duration, fatigue is a significant factor. Usually a full circle of about 3 of these stubs are needed, spaced evenly at arms reach around the circumference of the head. The second and 3rd stub are placed progressively higher to act as a more vertical overhead suspension point. The 3rd stub can be the top of the tree if it is a pruning job. So that falling leaves do not cause injury, the climber works to remove leaves that are not so much overhead as to the side. The overhead leaves can be precut to 1-2 meter long stubs to lessen the weight of handling the base of the leaf, where most of the spines are located. Anybody tried stainless steel netting fish-filleting gloves? Standing on tiptoes of spurs allows cutting as large a swath as possible, so that resetting up for fewer swaths is necessary. This species precludes the use of 2 hands holding the chainsaw, in my opinion. It would be interesting to compare the number of pokes from phoenix canariensis spines between one and twohanded saw grip techniques. Some olod dogs cannot be retrained. Freshly sharpened saw chain cuts palm fibers cleanly. Dull chain causes binding due to shredded fibers hanging out in the kerf. What was described earlier as a horsepower problem could be helped with more frequent sharpening to counteact the soil particles that are commonly trapped between the skin of the leaves and the trunk. In the late 1960's there was a research approach to the problem of saw chain binding up on cut palm fibers within the kerf. It involved experimental saw tooth design that used a wider top plate portion of the cutter link. The top plate extended out on each side, removing a wider slot from the wood that gave clearance for the bar to move freely. McCulloch's chainsaw factory was on the outskirts of Los Angeles in Santa Monica when I started doing tree work in the Hollywood Hills in 1970. At times I worked for Blackmer's Hanover Tree Expert Company, who tested Macs as part of the research. We tested the Mac 120 around 1979. Around 1986, we tested Stihl 017's and 019's at high elevations in the alpine neighborhoods for Mt. Shasta Tree Service in Northern California. This early development research came after the race to build the lightest saws had largely been completed by 1975. The saw chain experiments were discontinued when the marketing studies showed that a very limited market for a specialized product existed. The palm tooth design wasn't going to be a moneymaker, so it was never produced. We also delivered eucalyptus wood to the Mac factory when they were evaluating a guillotine style logsplitter for the homeowner market. Word got back to us that the steel frame that the knife slid along folded up under pressure from the tough euc wood. But that's a story for another thread. Arboreally yours, Michael Oxman [email protected] Treedr.com

Error leads to UW's wrongful removal of trees This just came in in todays online news.

Hi friends, This video should make things clear as mud. Growing concern over cutting of trees at UW | KING 5 TV | Seattle News, Local News, Breaking News, Weather | Environment Northwest Arboreally yours, Ox Treedr.com

It was a little cloudy out here on the Pacific coast of North America. Shot with a Canon SX30 @ 35X zoom, digitally magnified 2.1 times.