Mr. Squirrel

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.

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.

Dip it whip it is good, but the can dries out really fast I found. Not sure about others? I used it on some soft eye splices for hitch cord and when I came to make a new one it was like a tin of rubber.

5 and a half years worth of climbing lines... ooft!

I tried two ropes in a tree today. I wanted/needed them for a part of it as it was a very broad crown with no middle, it seemed safer. However I continued using them afterwards to see how it was. I never thought about it, but using two systems obviously means you can't climb with 'one hand for the tree' (something I never really appreciated the significance of) as you're constantly needing to mind both systems. So when going out on a branch you can't just walk out while tending your knot and holding on to this for support. I guess you can be constantly lanyarding in just to give your climbing system some slack, or you find yourself trying to balance and stay still while tending knots. This of course increases the risk of uncontrolled swings though. Also as I mentioned in a previous post I had concerns about self rescue capabilities. I also tried this, both tails diverted over a large branch with no obstructions. I couldn't move an inch. Even releasing one and then the other, it simply wasn't possible without pulling through the tail first. The reality of rescues is really rather bleak in my opinion. I know very few climbers who I believe could actually get up and out to an injured climber in time to save them in the event of a chainsaw wound etc. So anything that impedes self rescue is a serious hazard in my mind. I had my access line in, a backup to this would've been impossible, and a rigging line. I found that having that much rope in the tree was more complicated and confusing. All in, from this brief trial, I found using two systems potentially more hazardous as it impedes smooth climbing. There is also, in my mind, a greater risk of injury while rigging due to the number of types in the tree. And then in the event of an accident self rescue will be extremely challenging. I think there's enough material there to justify a tick box on my risk assessment along the lines of '2nd system too dangerous'. I'm not about to start compromising my own safety at work because someone with no concept of the practical implications said I should. This is utterly ridiculous and a disservice to the industry. Edit: For clarity sake regarding my self rescue scenario and crown movement issues I climb on velocity with HRC in a hitch climber setup. I've spent years dialling my system in and it's extremely smooth and we'll tending without being insecure. I can't conceivably alter this to be any slicker without reducing it's functionality.

Having read through the article about these new guide lines a bit more carefully, it seems that body thrusting up, lanyarding in and throwing your rope up will still be allowed. But once you create that top anchor a second system will be required. The use of an access line will require a back up system though, which will require two separate parallel points in the crown. It's weird really, the use of access lines never made it in to the British curriculum as far as I'm aware? Elsewhere they're fundamental to safety at work, provide rapid access in the case of an aerial rescue. What the HSE are now proposing will, I imagine, make them less likely to be used, in favour of getting up there by 'old school' techniques. Really seems like a backwards step pushed by people in suits with no real understanding of what we're doing. Yes, they saw a demo, but did they *actually* understand the job? I wonder if they looked at accident statistics abroad too.

Haha aye... That's all you need a lot of the time for lighter pruning and dead wooding work though isn't it. I guess it also means that as a novice you're perhaps more likely to be up a tree with a more experienced climber who's doing the heavier work. From what I've seen I think it builds a more solid base of climbing ability before you start wielding saws up trees. Also fully agree with Mark though. I think a revision of training + creating a distinction between those who are trying to excel at what they're doing and those who are just mashing trees would be helpful.