Mr. Squirrel

I guess there's possibly and argument that the top attachment point on the zig zag, in normal use, is only subjected to a 1/2 person load. If the right hand anchor were to fail it would be taking a full person load. Is it designed with this in mind? I'd be more immediately concerned about the ergonomics of the system though. Those two zig zags are locked in to a specific orientation so you're rarely going to get a decent angle where the rope exits them. Especially the right hand one.

There's no black and white, but yes. I don't just get back in the van and leave, I offer alternative options and approaches. But if some bawbag buys a house then decides they want all the mature trees around it felled I'm not interested. In complete agreement with the previous point though regarding government intervention. Seems to be somewhat hypocritical that they slap a big (and reasonable imo) fine on this guy but would probably sign off on flattening some woodland for a carpark.

I'd say there are degrees of experienced though... Your climber of ten years who's still climbing on a prussik loop Vs climber of ten years who's bothered to learn a bit about and invest in a modern and efficient climbing system... I know who I'd have more faith in. Plus, some people I've seen are basically just not cut out for a career where their safety is directly dependant upon their decision making under pressure. The training systems in the UK should be filtering those people out, rather than giving them the go ahead to fall out of trees and fuck themselves and the rest of us over.

I think common sense comes in to it a great deal too. The above example, with four climbers up a tree, working off a base tie is plain stupid. Let alone in a tree with that much going on. It shouldn't come as a surprise he nearly splattered.

Just taking it back a few posts but the asap/asap lock is in my opinion not a suitable solution for tree work. As stated this is a fall arrest system. It states in the asap user manual that the fall distance if activated should be considered when using it. When hanging off the side of a building with nothing but air beneath you this is quite suitable. In tree care, let's say you ascended a short way, trailing the asap behind/beneath you, and made a cut. You're then taking a fall on to the ASAP/asap lock, and the absorber is deployed up to a length of 2m I believe? By which time you could easily have fallen 3m from your work position and hit another part of the tree. Better than just falling out of a tree, sure, but by no means an acceptable solution as a 2nd system. There will be non-arb solutions, but this isn't one of them.

I'd hope so! The quality Vs stein and other versions pays for itself. Mine are over ten years old! Never had a leg break but are you could pick up a fiberglass rod of the same diameter. If not maybe worth contacting whoever makes them?

I'm a 43 in la sportiva and arbpro. For me these fit a bit too tight right out the box, but loosen up and fit really nice. My airstreams are 44 which seems perfect.

Type C trousers only exist so people don't cut their legs doing silly things. Don't do anything silly and you won't have an issue ?? Type A's for me thanks.

If they're assessing candidates accessing with two systems at least their pass rate should go down.

Rock and ice climbers also aren't actively managing ropes while climbing though, they have a belayer doing that for them. Half ropes in these situations have many advantages and outside of sport climbing I would use them 90% of the time. This isn't to say a half rope style climbing setup can't be implemented in arb. I've seen people climbing on two 8mm lines through one mechanical device with great success, but that's obviously well outside of the W@H regs.

Sure but Johnson is also a pretty poor excuse of a human. Had she stayed in the party in spite of her personal and very understandable dislike of him she would've just been lacking in moral fibre. Respect to her...

This should be the norm anyway. It's a fundamental part of being able to carry out an efficient rescue. I'm not even bothered by the financial or time implications. I'll be able to get round trees regardless and don't see it hampering my productivity too much. It's the safety thing that I take major issue with, as I believe this will obstruct our ability to climb fluidly and safely. At which point we're just a bunch of clowns farting about with two ropes for no real reason and endangering ourselves further. As said most of those accidents were due to easily avoidable and unforgivable human error. The brain dead fuckwits will continue to drop out of trees until people stop passing them on their tickets. Also, Dr Andrew Turner, Acting Head of Vulnerable Workers, Agriculture, Waste and Recycling Team, Operational Strategy Team, Engagement and Policy Division. What on earth is this guy doing looking at arb??!!!

It's 10mm Ocean polyester. Splices fine as far as I'm aware, but probably wouldn't bother doing so with what looks like a used bit of second hand hitch cord... It's better than some for not melting, but it definitely does melt...

He said it's been three weeks? And he's up to those capers? What a nonce. I do really like his tactics though...

Base tie is much easier to set up. Base tie is also much easier to do yourself a wrongun with. Horses for courses.

Hated the old Stihl battery top handle. The chain brake being the on/off switch just wasn't ok in my opinion. Used the husqy a bit, and seems good. If I didn't have a 150 I'd get one. Just not in the rain mind. Used their battery blower in the rain, it electrocuted me and hasn't worked properly since.

Never really seen much of a need for the multisaver personally, though I'm sure it's extra possibilities will appeal to others. I have the fimblclimb and highly rate it. The steel thimbles are less prone to damage from landing on pavements, stone etc. So it's great for street trees where you don't want to be clattering your pulley saver on to the road. It also packs down pretty small so that I can take it with me as a secondary anchor point if I find myself using a v/m rig or the likes. If you're using 11mm climbing line/a line with a slaice the fimblclimb is ideal, otherwise you'd probably need the fimblsaver which is a bit heavier and less compact. The fimblclimb and fimblsavers are different though, so watch that!

Exactly. You are the industry body, so to be advising climbing arborists to work in a way which inhibits their climbing, creates a more complex working environment and ultimately reduces safety is not acceptable. How are the HSE getting to the conclusion that this is safer? It's absurd, and I strongly believe will endanger people's lives. I'm not pointing fingers at anyone, but I do strongly believe the industry as a whole is being failed here.

Not sure grumpy old man, just decent behaviour... I think...? I had one recently where a young couple were sat in their car out the back of my house, I pulled up in my van and thought it a bit odd. Sat there sending a text and saw him get out and fling a pizza box into the bushes. I jumped out, stormed over, called him a 'minky little s***' and made him go into the brambles to retrieve it. I'm still in my 20's, just ?. I was a little concerned for my tires and paint work though...

Except an ASAP is a mobile fall arrest device and requires a dorsal attachment. Aside from the fact that very few of our harnesses are designed for this use, you should never be in a fall arrest situation in tree work. And yet in the 2015 ICOP it frequently cites 'work positioning techniques' and describes them as 'utilising a single rope passed over an anchor'. There's little to no mention of the necessity for two systems. You guys produced the code of practice.... I also don't believe the use of two systems is required according to AFAG401...? As I see it I should continue working to the ICOP. If and when you produce a further document I'll give it a good read and make a decision as to how I proceed from there based on it's credibility and how it's revisions will impact my safety at work. Looking through the case studies of fatal accidents in tree work, the main common theme between people falling from height appears to be not using basic techniques correctly. Quite bluntly, I don't see how using two ropes would stop someone who isn't bothering to use any ropes from having an accident. At which point we should be looking at the industry demographics for who's typically having these accidents. Is it people who are really switched on and trying to do a brilliant job? Is it 20 something year olds hammering out street trees for the promise of a bonus? Or people who got their tickets 20 years ago and haven't invested in their professional development since? And how can we really compare these groups? Yes, something needs to change. No, this isn't the right sort of change. The AA need to get a grip of things because right now they're letting the whole industry down as far as I can see.

Watched a few minutes but couldn't cope with that voice. Think he needs to take his tinfoil hat off for five minutes and look at the news...

Deal with the client, not the insurance company. It's the client who had the insurance policy after all. In the past I've given a quote, let them confirm it with their insurance company then gone ahead. That doesn't have to take long at all.

I've taken down one MP, ~25m and had to rig half of it. It was crap. Still rather climb it than be on the ground for it though. Wore a pair of lightweight leather gloves for climbing, guide or arbortec ones I think, and binned them afterwards. Spent s long time removing stones from my hands too. Incredibly sticky, but rope and hitch cord came out of the washing machine looking good as new.

There's quite a lot of companies around central Scotland, but I can't comment on the quality of their work. As I always say to prospective climbers, a good knowledge of trees is absolutely fundamental if you're looking to get in to arb. So if you do go this line get some books and get learning. It doesn't matter if you're the best climber in the world, if you don't know about trees you'll likely do a crap job and cause long lasting harm to valuable trees.

I only use my stove through autumn/winter really. I spend spring and summer taking home any decent dead wood from jobs and it seems to last me pretty well. Your old oak deadwood is by far my favourite. When all the sap wood had rotted away from big old branches and you've just got the nicely dried rock hard heart wood left. Yes please.