WorcsWuss

Well I've been having a go on a helical knot in place of a blakes for a little while now and I have to say, I'm coming to quite like it. It took a bit of setting but I think today I have finally cracked it. I forgot to take photos of how I rigged it but I found that a fixed cheek micro-pulley clipped to a prusik on the standing line [as in standard blakes tending] but 'wedged' between the braids made it tend really nicely and kept it all from twisting. I've found the helical is an absolute b!tch to set but if anyone fancies trying it, persevere, once it clicks it's a good halfway stop on the way to a VT. I've experimented with 3 & 4 wraps, found 3 had a tendency to creep quite alarmingly using a 13mm split tail on 11mm rope [a far from ideal combination I know....] Stopping to prune off some ivy with the silky I kept finding myself cutting up above my head...! 4 wraps and the pulley between the braids works a treat though, tends nicely, binds up far less than a blakes and shoots down, I actually managed to swing out & down to a limb and landed on the limb before ending up ploughing back into the trunk, something I couldn't get the blakes to run fast enough to do. So, helical, thumbs up! On the downside, I snagged the bloody tail of my climbing line on the fecking chain today so I will now have that short rope & longer side strop I've been promising myself.... At least I have a spare 35m length of Aeris in stock though.... ar&e....

Would love to see the knot guide extended. An equipment guide would be nice too, not so much as a series of reviews but sort of an 'encyclopaedia of kit'.... for instance an entry for the rope wrench which so confused me previously would just outline it's intended use and perhaps include a couple of photos of how to rig it..... Fairly labour intensive - guess it would need to be set up as a wiki type thing....

ISC do a bentgate [non-locking] version of their Gator krab which is good for shortening a saw strop. They are buried in the middle of the krab section on the FR Jones site.

Very probably, but I remember we ran a pretty big bar on it...

To what? No need for the drivel and tosh that was posted... There are far more effective ways of making a point than that!

What he said.... Simply unbelievable what was posted....

Could well have been Rob... not quite as well executed as the production model....! This isn't the sort of thing I'd want hanging around with me all day but to have it sent up for the occasional stretch I think it will do... I will give it a go, not sure whether I have any cast rods left in the workshop back at the farm though....

The specialist joinery shop we have used in the past has used ordinary aerosol lacquer for car bodies from Halfords for some of their stuff. I would imagine that any substance [wax, oil etc] you apply first would react with the lacquer so I guess a good fine sanding and 3 or 4 coats of lacquer would be a good place to start experimenting from...? Taskworthy: Home

Fortunately it's only a diddly one, under 40 quid I think.... So it's cost me the same as a Stein retriever! Ar&e!

Should do.... not sure what the cost of a replacement vice will be though!

Footnote: Hook end is not the profile I was aiming for, was after something far more compact but, for the same reason that this contraption hasn't worked out as cheaply as it should have, I could only go so far before catastrophe!

I quite fancied one of those telescopic Stein retriever thingummies but to be honest I thought it a bit rich for me. So, being a resourceful sort and having a shedfull of junk I decided to fashion one for myself. It's a short telescopic paint roller handle from Travis Perkins which I straightened out a bit, cut a bit off, bent some more and then buffed the tip smooth with the Dremel. Length of accesory cord & a Stein tool clip in the other end et voila! 540mm long closed, extends to 920mm. Handle & pole are aluminium & hook end / 2nd stage extension is stainless. Not perfect but I'm sure it will be just super for what I want!

I wasn't... but now you mention it, I will be in 2 minutes... stuck at home with the kids while wife works! Bah humbug...!

Hmm... I have one of those tucked away back at home..... might drag it out and see if it still goes.... be useful to have a big saw around and would certainly be cheaper than a 660...

In the construction industry, the CDM regulations place a legal responsibility on clients to employ a contractor with suitable working practices and insurances. If they do not they must share liability in the event of something going wrong. While I'm dead against further regulation and bureacracy, you have to ask, if customers were to face legal action should something go wrong as a result of work being carried out by someone of their asking without adequate insurance for instance, would it drive cowboys out a bit further or make no difference? Maybe... But as was suggested, would you want to work for the sort of people who would rather take a risk on someone not knowing what they're doing than pay someone to do it properly? In honesty you probably wouldn't, because you'd probably find them to be just like the cowboys they usually employ...

It's not a panda hat, and they weren't white trainers.... the monkey up the tree is actually a very rare white koala wearing a human mask [which has slipped] and those are his white feet... This is why he demonstrates such prowess when nimbly navigating his way around the tree with no safety equipment [deployed usefully] whatsoever.... Obviously... Additionally, koalas are yet to master the art of chain sharpening...

I got a new Silky from mother-in-law.... And a woolly hat with ears and plaits from my wife, which I haven't taken off... and she's now threatening to throw it out the window of a moving car. And many CD's, DVD's and socks, and slippers and a woolly-pully. Oh, and 18 holes of golf & a meal, also from mother-in-law....

I feel it! I was 12m up an Oak a couple of weeks ago and was quite happy until I cut a piddly little whip off which was curved round behind me so that I could spike up a bit further.... the sensation of not having something close in my peripheral vision made me feel a bit bloody queasy for a few minutes. Fortunately [?!] I was climbing for our electricians so that we could get some floodlights up and with their 'encouragement' from below ['Come one, it'll be Christmas soon!'] I soon steeled myself to crack on. Fear is a natural reaction to any situation we are not used to and can only be overcome by making ourselves used to it.... If you can climb 25 metres on a windy day in an open crown, 12 metres on a still day in a dense crown will be a piece of cake... I'm hoping to be able to rope Drew into coming with me for a climb when he comes back this summer..... As others have said, I think the benefits to climbing with someone with that level of experience and ability are huge...

I have S12 HAM [currently on retention & waiting to go back on something] and the missus has 'NJ 51 HAM' on her car... She's NJ Ham & I'm Simon Ham. Mine was a birthday present from my parents when that plate was released [too tight to buy 'S1' I guess!], I bought the other for my wife earlier this year when we had our latest [and last!] child... They're quite naff when I think of it but I do like them... in the sea of anonymity that is modern car styling at least I can find our cars in a car park!

I always wear gloves to climb in, use the chainsaw, prune the roses and stack small bales. I never used to bother and referred to anyone who suggested I wore them as a fairy. However I was a bit of a tosser back then and I now use ordinary leather saw gloves on the ground and in the garden and Youngstown work gloves when I climb. They're not waterproof though so are pointless in the wet, but on dry days they're brilliant. Don't last very long but are grippy and quite 'slim fitting' so knotwork is easy...

I run down on a straight forward Mammut 8.... much less effort than controlling a hitch and way more fun.... and cost about 12 quid.... an SJ is about £180 isn't it...?

Hard work and dedication equals time, no matter how hard you go it's time which has those effects... you can't get that fit from an hour a day..... My wife used to kickbox semi-pro and she trained a lot but wasn't like these guys.... [i'm sure they do have jobs, but I'd be surprised if they have time for anything else!] I fancy a go on the little bars the guy was swinging on.....!

Ha, they are some double hard bast*rds! Mind you, if all I did was ponce about in the gym all day slathering olive oil all over myself and being generally homo-erotic, I could eventually probably be that hard.... albeit shorter.... On reflection though I think I'd rather have my full and varied life than be able to suspend myself upside down from my chin....

Wow....anyone read the comments below the photos....? Just when you start to think you're a bit of a geek, along come a group of people with an interest which completely out-nerds you.... Great trucks though.... but watch out for the axles ... or something....

I have to admit I am trying to sharpen up a bit... I'm still carrying some 'baby weight'... my wife says this argument doesn't wash but I'm definitely a bit wobblier since we had No3.... I do still 'feel young' at 31, despite having 3 kids and having to act like a 'grown up'.... Age is what you make it.... I'm quite happy wherever I am but one thing I will say, thank god I'm not 14 again..... what a horrid age that is....!