WorcsWuss

Bugger, I was 10 years out, I assumed he was late 30's..... Makes no odds though, 50 is the new 30!

Ok dude, I'll sort out a camping pitch for you. It may be my garden!

Incidentally, don't know how far into staffs you are but this may be of interest to you, you'd be very welcome to come along.... http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/climbers-talk/55180-rec-climb-west-worcestershire-hfds-shropshire-border-20th-april.html

You're more than welcome, civilisations are built by 'do-ers', you're one of them and we all need to support people like you Group hug

Agreed to an extent Ben, but the la guidelines I checked only called for the above. To be honest though, I doubt there's a practising tree surgeon on here who couldn't write a method statement for protecting an existing tree during construction. I could and I'm not even one of them!

It's very difficult to get a job here without tickets, and tickets are expensive. So which comes first? Chicken or egg? He's doing exactly the right thing, irrespective of what insurance or experience he may or may not have. He's trying to make something of himself and work for a living and for that he has my full support.

You will never out tangle or out curse me with a throwline.....

Yeah, I saw that, looks very complex, even more fiddly than my modified rope rocket!

Absolutely no problem at all. I'm still new to SRT so it will only be the basics mind you! you can play on my srt gear as much as you like though Want to do breakfast first....? I'm calling in for a swifty on the way home so will provisionally book an imaginary number in.....

Check your original thread......

Although jolly clever, I don't really like the idea of using a hand ascender as a false crotch as my main anchor point, especially a toothed petzl one. Can't help thinking they must have been nailing the vin rouge when they came up with that one......

You're more than welcome to come up Arran, sure I can find somewhere for you to pitch a tent if you like, or the pub has rooms. Can't promise anything special or unusual tree wise, but if you're prepared to drive all this way then it would be a pleasure to have you along. Have to see if I can find something particularly nice, and big, for you to climb!

You have to wonder don't you Perhaps you could ask him to demonstrate his theory at about 60 feet

I reckon you're going to do just fine! Post some before and after photos of the job, be nice to see it, what with all of us having had so much to say about it! Best of luck

Also true, and that's where my lack of qualification shows up However, it's only a matter of time before srtwp becomes acceptable to the faceless grey people surely?

You're absolutely right, but it would be a shame if a fairly inconsequential line of text in a user manual caused someone to get in trouble engaged in the very activities which helped the wrench to develop to the tool it is now. What if it's one of Adam's whippell tethers which was being used in an incident which ended up being investigated Adam, I'm doing this for you man! In all seriousness, if there's a way the HSE could get our (construction) company, it's my job to find it and neutralise it before it becomes a problem. I'm applying that approach to this situation now while we have the opportunity which Kevin has so generously offered us. Common sense has nothing to do with it! :lol:

In fact, LOLER aside, let's say someone falls out of a tree, for whatever tenuously linked reason, while coincidentally using a home made tether which doesn't need to be LOLER'd. HSE read the manual, 'was that a sterling or abr tether? No? See you in court'

Nice one Kevin A good point, but perhaps semantics If a tether or wrench were to fail / fall apart on a fast descent SRT, then theoretically could this contribute to a potential free fall...? (With additional contributing factors) Although not 'primary' life support, I do see my wrench as an intrinsic part of my life support system so inspect it just as carefully as i do my hc pulley. Don't see any serious reason why both wrench and tether shouldn't be included on the loler sheet? Speaking as someone who doesn't have to have his kit LOLER'd.....

I do love my ISC wrench, completely different from the wooden one I imagine! Ref homemade & professional, depends what you deem as professional [i''m not in any way a professional tether maker!] and also how much 'making' goes into it. All mine is is a 30cm nylon sling with 2 layers of heat shrink round it. Technically, although wrapped in shrink, it's as tested & rated.... The murky world of liability discharge. For everyone's 'benefit' it would be nice if that could be removed from the manual, throw the tether out of the equation completely and just say something like 'A tether [not included] is required to allow the RW function. Tether length & construction are the reponsibility of the user. Commercially available tethers can be purchased from Sterling or ABR in certain markets'. Because that guideline you've got in there at the moment means that every tether that isn't Sterling or ABR would fail LOLER in this country.

It sounds to me like all they want is a method statement explaining how any trees [probably principally TPO'd ones] will be protected during works, you don't say that they have asked for a full tree report to BS5837. Phone your planning officer, their name will be on the permission, and ask them this question. Condition [whatever number] requires that I provide you with a method statement confirming to BS5837. Can you confirm that this condition relates only to a method statement to cover the interaction of the building works with the protected trees? If they say yes, then you just need to draft something up covering the following: No excavation within root protection zone, No storing materials or stockpiling within RPZ, No parking on RPZ Canopy to be protected by a cordoned off or fenced exclusion zone, No building materials will be stored or mixed near to the protected trees or allowed onto bare soil nearby. You can do that yourself, send it in to them and they will discharge the condition in wrting once they're satisfied. If they do want a full tree report then you do need to get in a 'competent arborist'.

Thanks Kevin. Is that different from the instructions which were packed with the RW when shipped? Did the legal beagles at ISC come up with that or is it something from local safety law...? Just as we were all starting to get the hang of making them aswell!! Anyway, wasn't the original wrench made from wood itself...?!

Having had a good read through both Petzl's technical documents, they do keep reinforcing the DDRT only thing. The only instance they show as suitable for SRT is when chogging down with a running bowline [although the supplementary shows a biner, which I don't like the look of] & single line for descent and as Kevin pointed out under the Treetools photo, backed up with a munter hitch beneath to add some more friction. Although it does look nice, and may be lovely to use, it's not for me.

1. How do you know he's not? 2. It's lopping off a conny hedge, not exactly dismantling a dead 150' ash over an orphanage.... I reckon it's a great job to start with and I think it's brilliant that he's earning his way into the industry rather than amassing a pile of tickets and expecting to walk straight into a job as lead climber.... In fact now I think of it, it's very similar to how I started. Except I got knobbled with a quick thorn hedge.....

Oh, it's about here....

So, having had a date suggested, it looks like the 20th of April will be ok for a gentle rec climb at our farm. I've checked my calendar and there's nothing on it yet so I'm going to pencil it in. If it's hosing it down with rain I'll can it, I don't want to play in that! I'm open to suggestions about how we do things, but if a group of us want to meet for breakfast at my local then that might be a good way to start the day and get to know each other. Times wise, if we want breakfast I suggest we aim to be at the pub for 8.15 for 8.30 food and away by 9.30. The farm is only 2 minutes away from the pub. As I said in the original thread, novices are very welcome, on the proviso that you know your limits and will listen when told to do something.... I'll do my very best to take a few photos for you to have a look at in advance, but can't promise I'll remember! Register your interest here then and we'll see if it's a goer......