Dilz

Agree with the Rec climbing and the vids - lets you try new things without the time pressure - but once familiar with basic set ups start using at work - that really pushed me on - ive only been using it a few weeks at work but use it as much as apossible and its made a huge difference! It feels very awkward at first - can be a lot of faff to set up IMOP - and it feels really awkward at first - but then when you realize you have just climbed 40ft straight up and it just feels like you have walked a flight of stairs I found that once i got a few of the basics principles sorted the biggest issue was then streamlining my kit to reduce faffing about time to make it more useful at work - I bought a seperate rope for SRT set up that has the rope wrench and hitch tied on (i use a LJ on DRT) and it also has all the other bits and bobs attached to it - I also recommend a HAAS / knee ascender - pricey but more than worth it. - Get good with a throw line as well! I use a longer lanyard with SRT than DRT as i can use this as a Short DRT system to help to get up to set my top anchor is i haven't already got it One tip is that at first it can be difficult to get off the ground - not enough weight in the rope to pull it through the ascenders which gets annoying - Simple sollutions to this are tie a hank of rope so it hangs off the ground - or I sometimes use a spare throwbag that has a loop tied onit that i can attach it to the rope as a prussik - then if i pull the rope up at some point i just take it off. Also i think the best bit of advice I got was this ' Redirects - SRT in Trees is all about the Redirects!' Also stick with it - it feels wrong, weird and awkward its by no means a quicker way of climbing - but the amount of effort it saves is astonishing.

I can see an advantage only if you want to potentially reduce the risk of damage to the bark / rope or if there isnt a decent crotch where you want it - (and have the cambium saver wraped on itself so it didnt slip). I cant think of a tree i have done with SRT that only needed the one redirect (maybe only one at a time but it needed moving to work) Midline retrievable anchors are the way forward IMOP - can use the IMP or i find it works well with an anchor ring, a bit of string and a small Krab, - But still the rope guide mod looks cool.

Yeah i ordered from tree worker (didnt want to say so until they shipped my rope out! ) looking forward to trying it out.

Yeah ive noticed the rope does stretch a fair bit - im using tachyon at the mo and so far only done SRT with a base tie - its weird an slightly uncomfortable feeling - and you can physically see the rope stretch, so dont jump into it as amuch as i would DRT - sometimes use my side strop to 'lower' my self into the main climbing line after sorting a redirect - and its that kind of thing that makes me feel that SRT is much slower than what im used to - but it will come with time i guess

I agree in that we should follow the best practices as much as possible, i also agree the life isnt like a text book and sometimes you have to risk a bit more slack here, a angle f more than 45 degrees there, a bit of a free climb and a singing of the 'climbing above my anchor point song'. I just felt from my limited experience of SRT that the slack occuring was a bit more often - mainly if im close to the main stem as i find clipping in a ascending the line i just bump into everything so prefer to climb the tree. - I guess i should just use my side strop set up as a small climbing line if i do this - be nice if the customers paid by the hour... but that is really no excuse - rushing to get a job done - as we all know that is when bad stuff happens. The stiching on the snake anchor is rated to 5kn and is designed to help absorb the shock of an anchor point failing - how effective it is i dont know - and be interesting the see how the rest of my gear and my spine held up to that kind of abuse

TOday i went out with a mate to rec climb just to practice SRT - Now im rather new to SRT especially for moving around the canopy - I found myself climbing the tree a lot more like i would free climbing this meant that at certain moments - usually the most tricky there would be some slack in the line as a climbed up or back in from a limb walk - not much but still enough to make me think if i fall on this its going to put a lot of force on both my back and my anchor point - and this got me wondering if any one has ever installed some kind of shock absorber into their srt system?

Well i've ordered 60m of Cougar blue - mainly as i have never had a blue rope before - which is as good as reason as any to go for the blue.

finally got to the last page - lots of interesting stuff, IM giving SRT with the rope wrench another go after using it maybe twice a few years on RW ZK1 and so i thought id add my two bits and I totally agree - looking at the prussik, split stiff tether, hitch climber set up on a bulky mongoose krab, it looked a mess! i like my lock jack, nice and simple, tidy. i ve bought the ZK2, and today i used it at work for the first time on a not massive but big enough pine tree. After the complete faff of setting everything up, i walked up the rope with ease using a HAAS and Pantin - great stuff - cleared some storm damage on the way. Groundy ran off for another **** as he ate a dodgy takeaway last night so it meant i had to keep my base anchor but pulled out a sling and a krab and advanced myself to my final tie in - this was one thing that annoyed me - on DRT i would have chucked my rope up higher but with the SRT and the way i was doing it it was climb up as far as i could on my strop and then reach up and use the sling and krab to advance the main rope so as high as i could reach. to be fair i had to do this twice and if i wasnt so gash with a throw bag i might not have needed to do it all.. but still it felt slow - and would be a problem if the tree wasnt something that i could basically free climb. I find with the ZK2 wrench that it was a pain pulling slack through to advance the line, i also found it pain to pull slack through when i was limb walking having set up an advantage to pull myself back in - the wrench was just reluctant to disengage - at least with the zk1 i know you can adjust it for different rope diameters and thus make it a bit slicker if needed - but i done think you can do it with the ZK2 - is probably awesome on 11mm lines - but i prefer a slightly thicker rope. - but the limb walk felt awkward and that i was having to fight to get the extra slack i wanted. I miss the fine adjustment i can do with my lock jack or hitch climber on DRT - perhaps i need a slightly less grubby bit of cord.. I found i climbed the tree more and just took up slack as i went rather than climbing n the rope more, if you know what i mean... I think i'll have a dedicated rope bag for SRT already set up to save messing about - and for anything i can get a decent shot in with a throw line its going to get used, but this whole limb walking on SRT, i aint so convinced..

Also wondering if it milks at all - i'm planning on ordering at least a 60m rope for a project this summer where it will be for long ascent SRT work - but 60m will be too much for most stuff after the summer so was thinking of hacking a 20m rope out of it so thought i might order it with two splices..

Is there any noticeable difference between the two colours?

i live over in Sweden, not sure how much that would cost in postage. THe main thing im intersted in is the various types of redirects and the forces they have on anchor points - thats my biggest concern with SRT in general is an increase loading of the anchor point as well as the risks of lateral loading when using redirects.

any one bought this? is it any good? I'm intersted in buying it but im concerned that it may just cover most of the stuff i have already learnt through forums and youtube regarding SRT in trees, and its not a cheap book, though i appreciate the work that has gone into it.

Thanks for the reply! good to hear they aren't gash! Going to be using them as mainly access lines for canopy research in the jungle this summer - plan is to use it with a rope wrench - probably use an 8mm cord for the hitch as it will be 11mm.

Hello! Was wondering if anyone has any experience with BEAL semistatic ropes? I know they are mainly industrial access but it may be what i end up having to use (11mm) for some SRT climbing.

Im just starting to get in to the SRT thing after my first dismal attempts a few years ago. I like the Rope Wrench as i can quickly switch back to DRT and back - first ascent on SRT - switch to DRT to advance the anchor and then once ive got my top anchor make a choice between the two depending on the job. IS there a rope that works well for both? - right now im using Yalke Poison Ivy - i like the rope but it does feel a bit bouncy when on the SRT.

as for the wire strop cambium issue - the wire core strops are coated in plastic and we will remove them when the expedition finished at the end of august - i know tropical trees grow quickly but...

the problem is a real one - see it's for setting up a canopy access system for volunteers and scientists in the amazon jungle later this year. The aim is to have multiple access systems set up. including a system that allows people with very weak upper body strength to rather severe mobility issues to be able to pull themselves up into a tree using a 5 to 1 system and some specially designed kit. Due to the climate it's best we try to minimize the strain put on the arborist putting up and checking the systems by being able to leave at least one if not more access lines in place as the same tree will need to be repeatedly accessed for the collection of data for the science projects. In putting together the standard operting procedures and risk assessment for this we were lucky to have access to the risk assessments from existing companies with experience of tropcial canopy access - they included the use of wire core strops to allow the system to be left in place and prevent animals from chewing the rope on the top side of the anchor. The organization I'll be working with has thought this is a good idea and thus we too shall also use the wire core strops for the anchors We will, of course, be inspecting all systems before bringing up the scientists and volunteers. I hope this answers any questions as to why we'll be using the wire core lines as anchor points.

Hello! I'm relatively new to SRT so forgive me if this is basic stuff. This is for using a base anchor that is rigged for rescue. I was wondering if having a system set up where there is a top anchor which is a wire strop around the tree or limb and connected together with a karabiner - is it fine to just have the access line go through the karabiner or does it need to go over a pulley or shear reduction block? The reason for the wire strop is - the system will be left out overnight in an area with a large amount of wildlife activity and risk assessment says we need to do this to prevent the rope getting chewed by animals. Thanks for any info.

Hello - I have to V1 of the rope wrench with the removable pin. IS it worth forking out the cash to upgrade to a version 2? in what ways are they different and perform differently?

Hello. does anyone have experience of the QTRA course? what kind of level is it at - Ive done tree risk assessments as part of other qualifications, but some u up coming potential contracts are looking favorably on those who have a completed a specific course dedicated to tree risk assessment.

Hello! looking at getting a catapult for an upcoming project. Only ever used a big shot a handful of times. Are there any differences and preferences between a big shot and the Stein Teckichu except the latter sounds like a pokemon? Thanks in advance for any replies.

thats who i usually buy off - looked into it a bit more and it turns out European manufactures make the right size any more - its all lumped in with size 12 - If i can ship them from the US though it looks a bit more promising but thats a hassle and extra expense- I use to have 46.5 i tried the 47s but they are too big really and 46s are too tight ...

Looking into getting some new boots - usual places i buy gear from now no longer appear to sell uk 11.5's - 11's never fit and 12's are often too loose, use to wearing Haix PP's - if any one knows of a place that im likely to find a pair in the right size id be grateful to hear of it.

just found this vid -[ame= ] [/ame] got to say it looks a bit awkward on the limb walks but the descent from the tree looks fine.

Using the hitch hiker defeats my object of - using SRT to access the tree and do stuff on the way up and then switch straight over to DRT with out the need for a different system. Can you explain what you mean by it not being a straight pull when using the Lockjack for srt?? I can see how the LJ could be difficult to release when using it in SRT... by tether you mean like i would have from my hitchclimber to the wrope wrench - i.e to the top shackle of the LJ.? (all hypothetical as me pantin has been stolen by the van mice)