RobRainford

I've just taken ownership of a new 330 zubat. Nearly had a spare finger when I was trying it yesterday. Whoopsie daisy!

I've also got 10m of scorch which I used as a lanyard. Now it can be a secodary rope. 15-20 seems the ideal length?

Hi there how many of you have a short rope for doing smaller garden trees? I'm thinking about looking for one. Just need some recommendations. I was going to go for some xtc spearmint or other fancy colour I can find. The yellow/black is intriguing. Is it worth getting a spliced eye or just climb on a bowline? I've got a 45m one now and it gets a bit long when I'm in small stuff. Jonesie has some 25m with a splice that are catching my eye. What's the best length to buy? I'm after 13mm because I can grip it better.

i have cs33, when thi comes round forthe refresher will it then change to cs49? there wasnt much difference between 32 and 33, just the trees were bigger, and when they got hung up, they really got hung up.

I would say wheels off. Or leave them really loose to the wheels just fall off when they drive away. A solid ground attachment is good too. We have recently built a 50'x100' shed by wareing. Very well built with a solid small door and solid roller door that's only operable by a key from the inside. Some really hood screaming alarms are good. Can hear them for miles! If it doesn't wake you it will wake someone else and have it all linked to police. We are with ADT. if the alarm rings for longer than a certain amount of time then there's a group of cars here. Also we've had a 8' steel security fence built around our yard. Everything is locked away and with cctv. When we have vans and posh IW trailers out we have a heavy duty American lock chain and padlock. Because they are unattended for time during the day. They are chained through the drawbar on the van and the drawbar on the trailer. And you need a grinder to get through them. And even then it's a task. Another deterrent is track everything. Great for the insurance but also because you get your stuff back. We had two quad bikes stolen. They were hidden well but the trackers and a police chopper found them the same day!

ok so now im very interested in coming over for a working holiday. i can obtain a working holiday visa from the immigration office at NZ and i would be planning to come over from late may to late august. Whats the best way to come over, apart from a working holiday, is there a better chance for work in looking for somebody after employees first? i would also be planning to come over with my girlfriend, whether she can get the time out of work idk, id like to come with her to share the experience as we have both wanted to go for a while now. would she be ok gaining a student or normal holiday visa? Funding is no problem to get over there, there are also travel bursaries available. theres so much i want to find out, i just want to get over there and work in the nice place

i suppose, it depends on the situation sometimes, if its aerial rescue practice and you are the casualty (unlucky!) then its comfier to have them straight, but when i work its a bit of both. So disregard my statement kind of.

again, that scenery is staggering. look liek ill have to find a company over there to offer me employment, will get there even easier then. considering its already a skill shortage.

wow, just wow. you guys are seriously making me want to go there now, ive been looking at a working holiday application, i think i may just follow it through for next summer if i can!

if you join the AA as a student, you can get 15% off at honey bros and that can save a lot of money. it depends on what you buy though. if you go somewhere and say 'ive got this much to spend in cash' you will get some very good deals. Your at myerscough arent you? Rob malcomson lolerd all my kit for free

a good idea from others, try harnesess on, a good thing to start on is a fixed D harness, since you arent doing much you hsould start simple, a good one i have used is the Petzl navaho boss, nice comfy harness and has a full body harness optoin. Makes you feel very safe and also is good with the fixed D option. i use a petzl sequoia and if anything its a bit advanced for my style of climbing, but i can work with it. Low and slow, its all very well and good buying all the shiny stuff but if you dont climb properly with it its as good as a short prussik.

happy birthday steve, im sure youve earned that buffet. mm spring rolls

Ive been in the same position guys, absolutely bricking ti on my first few attempts, it doesnt help much when the instructors are egging you on rather than helping you. because when your nervous everything seems negative. When having a safety line installed try to keep one step ahead of it, or even tell the belayer to keep it loose, as then you will be in the spikes and not on the main line. Remember to straighten your legs! i still have that problem now but when you get it straight its easy. make sure you are confident with adjusting your strop, if it is a clean pole, even if there are small burrs or decayed branch collars, there is always something there to stop you sliding, usually a foot will catch and you will be on that with one knee in your face almost. I found that trying to spike on skinny stuff was better for confidence as when you got to bigger stuff you just felt more secure. Ive been in your positions before and when i dont do much for a while it still gets me nervous. A way that ive found to help is to use my hands on the tree, not to support myself, but as i step up i use one hand round the back of the tree to pull my flipline up and to keep balance, sometimes if your hand is on it you feel much safer, instead of stepping up and trying to flip the strop, just reach around and pull it up, thenyou know its staying there and that its not caught on anything.

Thanks for the concern about choosing the right companies. I would look for some time over there but it's whether funds allow. Plus is UK equipment legal over there if it's lolerd? Does it just need an inspection over there? What's the average cost to get over there too? I suppose that would depend on time of year. I would like to get into the proper companies who do things properly. Like the big arbor companies and not foresters. I've never had much interest into forestry. I prefer the care side of things. By the time I have funds or anything to do I'll have 2 years climbing experience and an fdsc behind me for the knowledge. I would just get atemp visa if they are possible?

id be looking for work experience of some kind in NZ, got the tickets i need and by the time ill have a chance to go ill have my rigging aswell so i will be qualified for it. Are there any companies over there which are taking on? id be looking to take a +1 too.

Mine says basic site skills only which covers making tea and warming seats in the induction room I think. But it allows me on construction sites. They ask for my nptc cards when I've been on and they accept those together. I did the test not long after I was 17 and passed my driving test. Didn't even read up on anything. It's all common sense.

the first one is Ganoderma australe, as you can write on the underneath, in picture #3 it looks like there is also felted beech scale Cryptococcus fagisugi

heres one from a job i was looking at while ago. a perfect hole where the beech has grafted together. In another part of this job there was a piece of scrap metal which was up in the tree, it must have been thrown up there, it was crossing two branches, they had both grown round it! couldnt get a good enough photo of that one though.

IME, pruning is a way of sorting some sort of failure or hazard as pruning out a dead branch or section mitigates the hazard as you remove it, but bracing the same section would be pointless, as you know it will come down at some point, so why hold it up there when it can just be brought down and forgotten about

i would say top it too, remove the hazard, cable bracing only admits there is a problem, you are only slowing the failure down.

that will be intense! the constant saw use will be a good start as you wont forget much because you use it all the time, but just dont get complacent. It happens.

thanks a lot david. I am always careful, even when theres nobody near me im shouting 'clear below' and making sure my position is correct before the saw is even brought up to be started. I plan to keep these arms and legs for a while yet! yeah, pruning is cs40, 41 is sectional fell/dismantle. Im looking for work for over the summer, i need 180 hours work for myerscough next year and wouldnt mind finishing the project before ive even started the second year, will make my life easier!

Hey guys just got home from college, they assessed me for my CS39 today, and i passed, they said i was very safe and did well. im chuffed to bits! been waiting for just over a year for this assessment! have to wait another for CS41 though, as that recommends 2 years experience before going for that!

very cool john, id love to get out on my bike more, but ive got nobody to go to, the girlfriends is a 20 minute car jouurney. used to bike to school a couple of years ago, 4 miles there and 4 miles back, not much but i used to have to get a lift to the bus stop because that was a faff getting there. Its a mountain bike i own, decided to get one with just front suspension and stiffen it up, i run the tyres at a very high pressure so only the centre was touching tarmac, the first time i did that my average speed doubled, so much less resistance. Ive got a friend who rides in competitions and has recently been training in lanzarote. would love to get out on my bike again

Congratulations mate Thats some great news and a good choice of name! they get better until they hit 13!