Josephine Hedger

Good idea...but practical use, not quite there yet. The ear muffs do not make a complete seal around the ear, so after a fews days work, our ears were ringing!! Couldn't stand it any more, and went back to the Husky ear muffs...or go deaf. Was told that this was a problem with the ear muffs fitting climbing helmets and hopefully would be changing... Firstly was told 'to stick a bit of wood between the ear muff and attachment point' !!! NOT FOR £700. Then told we would be sent some new attachment points but 3 months down the line...nothing. They have unfortunatly stayed on the shelf...which is a shame as the idea,technology, and safety factor of these are great. Hopefully this will be sorted some time in the near future.

For those that were there, live it again, those that weren't will love it. see this years coverage of the International Tree Climbing Championship at Davey Tree : Expert Tree and Lawn Care Services : 2009 ITCC Coverage

We have a set of these. If you would like an honest review of the product please contact me

Black is boring. Colours are needed to be seen. Got mine last week. They're going on in the morning and see how they fair up. Will let you know what they're like.

Beaulieu motor museum is good, they have the top gear cars there at the moment. A must see is to drive along Rhinefield Ornamental Drive, from Brockenhurst...it then crosses the A35 and into Bolderwood Arboretum Ornamentle Drive. Its an amazing drive, from Redwoods, Pines, Beechs, to Douglas, and then follow it out onto the open heath land and take the windey roads until you get to the Red Shoot Pub. When you cross the A35 stop in the first car park on your left park up and take path into woods across rd to see a beautiful old pollarded oak. And of course a heap of lovely old pubs scattered about. ENJOY

Sorry to hear the news.. I only live up the road. You dont know if it happened to be a new disco, with roof lights? There's been one sniffing around our yards, acting stange at all times of the day/night. Havent seen it since tho...waiting to see it again to take the reg. Hope it turns up for your customer.

Good one Ed, well done on the work climb, see you at guildford this weekend?

I've used it for the last 12 months. I prefer it to other cords, its soft and grips really nice. My cord puts up with a lot of quick decents and doesnt glaze. Its amazing stuff. Give it a go and see how it works out for you.

The weather was on special order! Great weekend guys, thanks to everyone who competed and also to everyone who helped out with judging and teching. They'l be some pictures up soon.

I thought the rescue was really interesting. A good learning curve as this could easily happen at work, except I wouldnt have had all morning thinking of a way to rescue him! Great to see some really different rescues going on. I also went up the seperate access line for the same reasons on the assenders, because in a real rescue I wouldnt put myself in danger by accessing a line i had no idea what had happened. Also if he was on a footlocking strop would anyone have thought differently about it? I think i would still be warry about the knot loosening as i was working around him and then his weight on top of my system....bad move! In a real rescue however you would have used the seperate access line, decended to casualty attached to your static line and cut his...but dont think Paul was too keen on that one! Maybe best practise would be install your footlock line onto a floating anchor then you could have lowered from the ground. Maybe too easy for the comp though! I really enjoyed seeing lots of techniques. Good One.

Well done Colin.... To confirm, Kit check from 6pm Friday 29th MAY Competition days, 30th and 31st MAY See you there

I would personnaly like to thank on behalf of the ISA, all of the sponsors that have helped make this years UK&I finals possible. Platinum sponsors: Samson ropes, Arbinsure, Honey Brothers Gold sponsors: Safety Technology, ISC Silver sponsors: Christchurch Powr Tools, Talking Headsets Bronze sponsors: Forestandarb.com, F R Jones & Son, Sawpod, arborventure.co.uk

I would personnaly like to thank on behalf of the ISA, all of the sponsors that have helped make this years UK&I finals possible. Platinum sponsors: Samson ropes, Arbinsure, Honey Brothers Gold sponsors: Safety Technology, ISC Silver sponsors: Christchurch Powr Tools, Talking Headsets Bronze sponsors: Forestandarb.com, F R Jones & Son, Sawpod, arborventure.co.uk

DOGS - Sorry guys, thats correct, no dogs allowed on site. The reason for this is that this year we have secured a fantastic site for the competition, which is not stuck in the midle of nowhere, but in a prime location. This has helped hugly with obtaining big named sponsors. As the site is a childs activity centre their policy is no dogs on site. So there will be no dogs. Anyone turing up with dogs will be asked to keep them in their vechicles....theres plenty of forest down the road to take them if finding somone at home to look after them is a problem. As a responsible dog owner, who clears up behind their dog, doesnt allow it to piss on peoples belongs, or roam where it pleases, i do not have a problem with complying with the site owners wishes, and to develop the future competitions. If you do have a problem with this then don't come, they'll be less mess or toys to clear up.

I saw Kevin use this system in the Charlotte tree climbing comp back in April. He used it on the aerial rescue, work climb and masters. He must have put a lot of time into the practise as he made it look sweet. It does have its advantages...as there is no friction over branches, good in the right tree and right job...like thinning or deadwooding. Have played around with the set up using lots of different systems as the revolver doesnt fit too well in a figure 8...casusing a lot of wear and replacments! Also from a comp point of view i dont know how it would go down at the worlds??? It is tricky coming in on bendy branch walks, and not as easy to keep weight off the limb like your normal friction hitch system...you can see from the video that kevin keeps quite a bit of weight and balancing when advancing the system when limb walking. I will keep playing with it as i can definatly see uses in the future as it develops.

The schedual lays out the questions you should be asked. You will need to climb the tree and achieve 'an apropriate' anchor for the work to be undertaken. My advice is to get a good top anchor to make work postioning on the limbs easy. Work positioning is a big part....if you are not safe or in poor postitions then even if the cuts are ok you shouldnt pass. Remember you need the use of secondary anchors when cutting. Each cut needs to be demonstrated twice to the required standard, so thats at least 10 cuts altogther. Good advice to get a refresher day or two as you will learn things that will be valuable to you...a failed assessment can turn out more expensive than a days training. Good luck.

Try contacting Lantra, but they will only supply workbooks to training providers. If you need to read the books, then I suggest you attend the course. Or if your just after any updates on climbing etc see the new AFAG guide, and just take the assessment.

The UK team is made up of myself, Ali Magee, Stuart Witt, Rhys Brace, and Jessica West. Jon Turnbull and Phillipa Alan are defending their european crowns. Are you at Swedish comp next weekend?

If you dont get your first throw in you'l be spending a lot of time calling all clear. Maybe just ask the judges to leave the areana instead. Looking forward to the europeans.

Thanks Mark, I will pass this on to the other climbers if they have not already read this post.

It doesnt have to be a stihl file, but it must be correct file size, eg 5/32. Correct filing angles and lengths need to be maintained for correct working corner on each cutter. As said before a tiny bit of dirt when last used will be enough to effect the performance, esspecially if its a chisel chain. Also are you using bio degradable chain oil? If so, if your saw is left for a long time, and you didnt clean it out last time before you put it away, then the oil gets very sticky and gloopy and effects the drive mechanisim/bar and chain. Try cleaning it all out if you use bio.

cheers drew

Well done Nicky!!! Top job. Does anyone know who won the masters?

That video of the world competition used to be held at The New Forest Show, in Hampshire, every July. Unfortunatly the poles had got to 6/7 years old and had to be felled. There wasnt enough money last year to get them replaced, but they are hoping to get the head to head poles back...maybe this year???? I used to take part in the competitions, still have my toes spikes...just need a little dusting down!!! The adrenalin you get just before you run is intense. Worth a go if you guys get an opportunity