Mr. Squirrel

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.

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.

I think you're meant to climb with two lines in France but nowhere else. Seems like one of those times British people get a bit overly British and call it law. In addition to what others have said, what about when the worst happens and you're in a rescue scenario? For example, I'm climbing on two hitch climber systems. One of them is a great anchor but the other isn't brilliantly positioned, because that's the reality of it. I'm in 25m tree so in order to reach the ground I've got two 60m climbing ropes. While out on a branch I cut my arm and attempt to self rescue. Lowering through a fork as a natural redirect I attempt to reach the ground, but one arm is injured and I have two systems to operate. Added to that my weight is distributed between two systems, the tail of each is deflected through the limb. In that case I'm not sure you would even move really? It seems to me that the HSE are taking rules and applying them to areas they don't fully appreciate. Tree work is not rope access work. Trees are complex, three dimensional structures which have to be treated as individuals. Forcing more systems on to that environment isn't a fix. Perhaps what they should be looking at is how we train arborists in this country? I could book a few courses and have a chainsaw in a tree ticket within three weeks and go straight in to the industry as a qualified tree surgeon. To me that's vastly inadequate. Colleges pump out new climbers at an amazing rate. And from my own experience, what I learned at college were dated and often inadequate techniques for today's industry. I don't believe much has changed in this respect. In Germany you pass an aerial rescue ticket and then have to log 300 hours in trees before you can get a chainsaw in a tree ticket. I think that approach, forcing people to gain more experience before giving them the responsibility of more dangerous tools, would be far more beneficial to climbers and the industry.

Hoooold up. Did you just call golf a sport? ?

It depends more on your hitch cord/length/knot setup. I've climbed on velocity for years and love it. Had a few other ropes in between but always go back...

I find the tree motion sits best with the buckle probably a little below the height of my pelvis. So most of the padding is below the waist but you can't slip out of it. My first week on the job for a company I was using an Avao and almost packed it in it caused my so much pain. So many things wrong with that harness for me. Everyone's different, try another harness and see how you get on. As said though, sounds like you might just need to stick at it until your core muscles get adapt though.

When you say local market I can't help but think they may have been the profit of a little late night shopping by someone. Never buy second hand ropes, especially from an unknown source. Personally I wouldn't sell them on...

I'm not so much annoyed by this as genuinely surprised. I gave him 6 months when he was first elected.

Yeah should be fine. I've been using one for about 8 years now with a 6m lanyard and it does it all basically. I wouldn't use it for a climbing system, that isn't what it's designed for. But as a secondary system for advancing your tip or positioning on long wobbly branches it should be alright.

I understand that quite well. But when they've got one crew, but two tracked chippers, excess of saws etc. Surely you've worked for guys who just have ALL the kit. My point is that is seems a bit weak saying you can only pay a climber 135/day when you're clearly throwing money at machines etc. A subbies job is to make the boss as much money as possible, but it has to go both ways... As for Europe, that was a while back. Rates have dropped a bit, I presume as there's more competition nowadays and people are willing to work for less. It's still better than the UK pretty much anywhere in mainland Europe but not as profitable for trips over.

A pal of mine tapped his lanyard with a silky, he was just putting in his anchor point so no main line. Went straight through it, he fell ten metres and broke his pelvis and neck, among other things. Gnarly slice that one. And a ballsy request getting a lot to a&e from the customer with your quest squirting ha

I'm pretty cynical about what some people can pay staff. I've had to really stand my ground to get £160, when the boss told me he pays his other climber £135/day. But he was constantly buying kit, saws, vehicles, bits and pieces. It kinda got to me tbh. I know 160 is bang on market average, but after ten years in the industry and a degree in arb, the take home from 160 is hardly worth the effort. So I started my own thing and as said, I pay the guys a bit better, and I earn a bit better. When I was subbing in Europe I charged €400 flat rate and always had a full diary. Different worlds eh?