BenR

PM me your email Sean. Fancy giving me a tour round the park with Hama or David next time they are coming over for a trip.. in exchange for valuable lichen info of course I'm very local to the park and would love to work there at some point. Im very jealous of you! Ben

Sorted it. PM me with your email address Rob and I will send it as a PDF

Ok David. Cheers for the pointer.

Had a few issues with emailing it because the file is possibly too large. Is there a way I can post it on here?

Yup! they are hard to ID from a photo.. Good thing I did those in person with the help of a key!! They are often grouped into nitrophytes and acidophytes. However, recent literature suggests the line between the two is more blurred than first thought. And pollution is not the only factor affecting the distribution of lichen species. There are far too many micro variables to even attempt to understand. My study goes some way to mentioning and explaining the most obvious ones.

top is usnea subfloridan (one that looks like tree roots) and parmelia perlata (leafy looking one) 3rd is parmelia caperata. 4th is Melanelixia fuliginosa

a few more for those that are interested..

I can send you my dissertation if you are really that interested. Some useful references even if it is completely unrelated to your field of study. My study was "an investigation into lichen communities on Oaks between Reading and Nettlebed in relation to measured pollution levels for NOx and SO2"

The lichens in your first picture (xanthoria parietina (yellow) and physica tenella (greeny)) are both indicative of polluted air conditions. All of the others posted are indicators of clean air and are commonly associated with ancient woodlands. I did my dissertation on lichens.. sad act haha:001_rolleyes:

Nothing exciting. Just spliced the other end of my blaze long lanyard so I can use it as a double ended lanyard to move up the tree. Also, this is probably as good a place to ask as any, what is the deal with splices being passed by loler inspectors? Are they usually ok with it? Do they even notice it is your own splice and can they tell the difference between one of my splices and one done in a shop like honeys or treeworker? I was hoping they would be ok with it as long as it was stronger than a bowline or double fishermans. If neccessary I would happily get some of my splices break tested..

Brilliant thread. Very interesting read so far. Keep it coming Hama!

Sounds like fun:confused1:... Maybe not for the faint hearted. Well done Richard! That is one serious achievement! Just read your account of the trip. Amazing photos and looks like it was a fantastic trip!

Sounds like fun! Is it around the 5000/6000m mark?

I may sounds really stupid but here goes: why can't double braid be used for natural crotch rigging? Does that mean you can't use a double braid climbing line in a natural crotch? Is portland braid a type of double braid?

Haha I feel the pain on cutting a nice splice.. I don't usually splice onto anything because I am constantly messing around with different setups. Like to keep my gear fluid!

Nice MicroFrog Drew! Another one of your setups I may have to emulate!

http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/climbers-talk/17022-srt-setup-eddie.html Basically my setup, but I girth hitch the webbing slings rather than a quickdraw and carabiners.

I dont have the treemotion Cary. I have a treemagic, but the principle is the same. I girth hitch a couple of 20cm webbing slings onto the D rings that connect the legs and waist belt. Then connect the croll to those.

yep keeps things simple. the only reason I do it the way I do is it makes it easier to have the parts interchangeable to make different systems as I flick between something similar to the roperocket and the treefrog. If it were all pre-tied together as one complete unit it would make me changing systems a PITA. In my experience the treefrog is best(for me) because like tully says the handle gives you something large to grab onto.

The rope rocket system mentioned in that PDF is really good! I have tried it myself, works with a hitch or maybe a wild country ropeman. The steps tend to be a bit smaller than the tree frog type setups.

That setup is a rope walker, where both ascenders are under the hitch for progress and the hitch captures the progress. Kind of similar to what Paul is describing..(i think). What i was describing is slightly different because one ascender is above the progress capture device(croll). I think what I was describing is a frog or frog walker. Anyway this will help.. http://vtio.org.au/Content/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Single-Rope-Technique-i.pdf

Just a piece of elastic from the top of the croll that goes up round your neck to hold the croll up so it doesnt flop down...

Ian, what I usually do is loop up my remaining rope so it hangs just off the ground, so that the ascenders feed through nicely. When I am at home I can post a picture of my setup but basically your thinking is correct. From the top down it goes like this.. Hand ascender, footloop and webbing sling(to attach to harness) Croll connected to the rings either side of my bridge (the green ones on the treemotion) with two very short webbing slings and a maillon. From the top of the croll I have a very short bungee loop that can go round my neck or be clipped to the chin strap of my harness with a tiny biner.. Pantin on the right foot. Might sound a bit complicated, but it really isn't. For me it is the most efficient setup, traded off against simplicity. The hand ascender and the croll back each other up and you have a life support connection to both. One tip, the main connection is the croll so make sure the life support tether to the hand ascender is slightly longer that the max height you lift it to otherwise it can be a pain in the butt as you want to move the ascender higher but the tether stops you if it is too short. Hope that helps. I will post a picture when I can. Ben

kong+footloop, croll and pantin. rapid ropewalker!!! I have the same but with the petzl hand ascender. To max out the efficiency, stand in the footloop with your leg straight.. the hand ascender should be just above the croll. That allows maximum stroke and capture of progess.

Any reason why you opted for 8mm over the 10mm sirius? Just keeping the weight down? Will be making one of these for sure. Thanks Drew.