jarborist

Once dug the sides, severing the base is tricky and important as a surprisingly small root will stop it moving. Hand dig as far as you can beneath the root ball. When it comes to moving you can dig a ramp to pull it out/ access it and ' cheese wire it' by which I mean a cable pulled beneath base to sever all roots, be careful with this method not to pull upwards and slice the root ball in half.

What friction hitch / system are you using? Eg. If you are on a hitchclimber or zigzag and looking for the cheapest option you could try srt out for ascent only - throw line in or after a tea break and going back up : base tie or choke on to top anchor: lanyard crossed over back of shoulder onto hitchclimber, cinch very tight so it's uncomfortable. Footlock up - when you get to top revert to ddrt. Have a means of descent in case of mishap on way up - ie extra friction - this could be a krab with munter (italian) hitch below the friction hitch. Everything you add is gravy. As always practice low and slow and understand what you are doing before trying it. Xtc will be OK for this set up. After a while realise how good it is and buy foot cam, sling (or harness) instead of lanyard, rope wrench, knee ascender, another rope, personally wouldn't put any cammed device above friction system unless I had just the right gear/rope etc.

Rules are for the odedience of fools and the guidance of wise men.

That was it ' any fool can make a rule and any fool can mind it' h. David thoreau

Thanks Scotty. That's sort of what I meant., but my point would be as long as the icop interprets the wah regs legally (perhaps as before) then what is the precedent /law when the professional body of an industry differs from the hse recommendation. To me surely it is the professionals who are better informed with the aid of hse as interpreters on legislation. If you slightly change a quote from Walter Lippman (us political commentator) it's the point I'm trying to make ' in a free society the state does not administer the affairs of people (arbs). It administers justice among people who conduct their own affairs'. And as many people from Douglas Bader (flying ace in ww2) the dalai lama and p. Picasso have said similar ' learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist'. I will sign off now as since my last query I think the hope of anything sensible happening is now too late. Climb well.

How does the ICOP fit into the legal/guidance framework? Is it able to take an industry stance (Industry Code of Practice), or is there something that enforces the ICOP to meet with HSE suggestions ? obviously needs some compromise to stand up , but.........................

What mark bolam said, + bought a cut and climb a few years back based on other recommendations here - no good at all, especially for £150.00

Stein acuda here. Found it to run well with both srt and ddrt, hitchclimber and zigzag. Not stretchy, but enough stretch for safety. Hard wearing. Find it smoother in the friction systems than cougar blue and harder wearing, but I know a lot of people would disagree.

Some good points we'll made javelin 10.

Interested in the pre-occupation with irata. Admittedly I have little knowledge of it. From what I have seen is that a lot of the problematic (and impractical) issues for a while have crept in from folks trying to mimic irata in tree work. Whether WAH Regs, HSE, or folks in arb involved in writing guidance. Surely we have enough knowledge, expertise and confidence from within our industry to make our own guides. Sure look at others as we have always done and borrow parts, but mimicking won't work as we are dealing with different stuff.

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There have been many very good points made throughout the 333 posts to date. I hope the hse IS following the thread. I have read every one and I m not paid to do so and have limited input on a decision that affects thousands. I presume I am wrong but am not clear on why the hse might not be able to review their decision. On the face of it confirmed by one days demo, one day's meeting and some unclear accident statistics. No doubt (hopefully) there has been more behind the decision to date, but if the decision appears to be ill judged and needs more nuance then hopefully the hse will consider agreeing to it being so in the guidance. - I am not aware of any hse guidance for arb saying otherwise as yet.

I have always had the impression the hse would rather we weren't climbing trees. This meets the narrative and conspiracy theory as climbing 'correctly' becomes too complicated so alternatives have to be used and developed. Mewp, poles etc etc. I think maybe people object to seeing us having fun at work.... And heaven forbid the elephant in the room... Grown people making a decision to enjoy some (Considered) risk.

Would/can the AA, as the industry's representative body consider not publishing new icop and tech guidance until they are sure that the industry supports the hse decision?

Pete. Absolutely agree with srt vs doubled rope - one is not safer than other. Pros and cons to both and a lot of pros in srt.

?. Appreciate the work the AA does/has done with limited resources and representing what is fairly small fry to the rest of the world/hse etc.

Thanks Devon Twig. At least I'm not completely senile.

Been climbing over 25 years. Agree with most of what Tom D says , and Dumper re. leccy lads on two lines (different job) and Con too. I have been climbing on SRT for over 5 years and it has transformed/lengthened my climbing life - despite being headed towards 50yrs I ache way less than I used to - surely good for repetitive strain etc etc. I saw Kevin Bingham demo two SRT lines and thought 'bugger, he's made that look so simple how long till HSE catches on and insists on it(because of WAH)' . Unfortunately quicker than I thought - However it sounds like double roped SRT would involve 4 ropes - in which case count me out. And x2 Doubled ropes is not generally practical as most people have said - I'm with you Tom D on the economics - will folk stop being all these approved things , and like you say that follows through to everything -LOLER etc etc - I am a regular climber..... and also a trainer .. ..........oh. From my understanding 25years ago HSE were trying to implement a fall arrest system based on a lab prof working out fall distances etc and it was only narrowly averted by it being pointed out that you couldn't work a prussic that was 4ft away - due to fall arrest, and that falls on ropes in trees didn't tend to go as his lab showed as there were branches in the way. Sounds like we could be in a similar situation. Again from my memory (which may have changed/amalgamated two stories) part of the latter proposal being averted involved Jack Kenyon sleeping in an airport somewhere to be able to reach a meeting to make the case against the proposal - and the proposal was thwarted. We might need volunteers for sleeping rough.

Can't see that this has been shown on arbtalk. As far as I can see , the family has no insurance cover for this accident. Guessing like a lot of us . https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/helping-dave-again/comments#start

Joe, my experience of it : SRT to rescue : if casualty's line is not compromised then SRT should allow for easy access and descent to and from the casualty, just tethering them to the rescuer and using their system and rope as well as your own. If casualty's line is compromised the most common/easiest way I have used/seen is to use SRT for access , take another line and use that on doubled rope , either for both of you as per normal , or counterbalance technique for both of you, or lower the casualty. The anchor for the doubled rope can be on the SRT line (e.g. prussic and pulley), with a knot (e.g.alpine) below in case of slippage. Rescue: casualty straight on to rescuers harness: I have played around with a bit and had such varied results I would not yet be confident to use it for real as sometimes everything just locks up: Variations in success seem to be related to casualty weight , rope/ friction hitch , device used etc etc. Certainly had it work ok on some set ups, and not at all on others.

As per Stihlmad and RR says. There shouldn't be any real issue with you climbing SRT(subject to the systems you use), but for various rescue scenarios etc you are likely to need ddrt to descend on . So overall you may be better off doing it all ddrt to keep it simple . If you are still not sure, why not ask the course organiser now on their thoughts.

Not this time Mick. Thanks very much Gray G. Much appreciated.

Message to Gray Git. Wondered if you can recall the name of that campsite ? I am looking for one for my kids. Thanks.

Ty, I have been using srt for about 5years and find it brilliant for my aging bones. As others have said you have a few more options with srt for re-directs, but where this isn't enough I even use the old three knot system (you could still use your prussic) on the end of my line to give me a retrievable extra line. The future looks like the two srt lines though.. ... .

I 'm in .