Mr. Squirrel

Matelot, while I don't think it's our responsibility to improve everyone's quality of life, I do think it's our responsibility to ensure that the way we live our lives doesn't negatively impact others. There are certainly well functioning former British colonies, there's no doubt about it. However there're plenty of others which are anything but stable, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Sudan to name a few... Hardly places you'd take the kids on holiday. Not to mention the persecution, abuse and enslavement of native populations going back centuries... Do you really think the chappy working in an iphone factory living in a city so polluted breathing is a struggle, or the woman sewing sparkly Primark dresses for pennies a day really care about undercutting our manufacturers? I'm pretty certain they're just taking what their given, rather than starve... That is obviously the logical step though, if places like China/India were paying British wages then retail prices would be higher and we'd more likely manufacture these goods in the UK/EU. However they don't, and we don't want to pay double the money for a pair of jeans just because whoever made them had to suffer less. I'm straying from the point I was making now, and I'm not trying to get all hippy up in here; but I do firmly believe that all this immigration talk is incredibly insular and ignoring some pretty stark realities... My two pence... Over and out.

Are you concerned that ISIS are going to immigrate to the UK and start beheading here? Here in Scotland we have a pretty straight forward approach to these things, a toe punt to the balls put a swift stop to that sort of behaviour. I think if Farage had his way we'd be lynching them as soon as they stepped off the plane... The jeans, washing machine, new car... they're all made outside of the UK because of cheap labour costs. No secret there. But do you really think their labour costs are so low because their healthcare, pensions, benefits and rent are so cheap? Of course not, they probably don't have any. All I'm saying is the comfortable lifestyle we take for granted comes at the cost of other peoples well being. We're all guilty of it, but what right do we have to deny them entry to a country they undoubtedly support? They practically are the UK's lower/working class... Perhaps if more people were willing to pay a reasonable price for all of these imported goods there would actually be money in these countries. Then foreign doctors/nurses/engineers might be able to pay for the education they've received without moving half way around the world to a wet, cold island with an ever increasing air of hostility towards them... I mean, does that actually sound like an enjoyable experience? Just my 2 pence...

Hey Sean, I've been keeping an eye on these threads since I first read about your accident, and I have to say man, bloody well done. For keeping your chin up, for laughing when you can and for seeing the light in a situation I'm sure very few of us can comprehend. Your grace going through this astounds and definitely humbles me. I'm sure there will be dark times but hold onto that attitude that's coming across at the moment and you will amaze us all even more, I'm certain. Great to read you're getting yourself in some mischief too! As others have said, I've never met you, I don't know you, but I wish I did. You seem like a damn good bloke. Keep it up bud.

Haven't read through a great deal of this thread, but I'm really, really amazed at the amount of Tory/UKIP support... For me SNP are the only ones that make much sense. I think this piece I read sums it up quite nicely; "There in lies the paradox. The Scots still want to try to live with in the UK for now. Therefore the SNP are fighting this British GE on policies of fairness that try to stop the sins of the rich (the bankers that caused the financial crash of 2007) falling on the poorest members of society via austerity measures. They also do it expecting to participate in the government of the country. For the unionists to turn around and cry foul at the prospect is very poor judgement in my opinion, one which hasten the end of the UK. Meantime whilsts they are digging holes for the beloved union, the SNP are trying to make things better for people al around the country. From abolishing the HoL , to electoral reform and an ending of trident, the SNP are ironically pushing for a reformed , federal UK that might survive. Real-politiks as they used to say." One of the major things being discussed in this election which really gets on my nerves is the matter of immigration... As a nation with a particularly ruthless, bloody colonial history, how can we turn around and tell these people, 'you can't come in'? When it's our culture and consumerism that makes their lives utter misery, what right do we have to refuse them entry to the nation they've catered to? Nigel Farage' incessant condemning of immigrants, and David Camerons commitments to an EU referendum and tighter immigration controls are quite frankly shameful in my opinion...

Mallion/grillon in question. http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/climbers-talk/49862-equipment-failure.html

Ha ha, I guess we'll be waiting for the mk4 then. I think the zigzag is pretty good evidence that for all their brilliant stuff, Petzl don't have a clue about trees... They do make nice paper weights though.

Ha ha! Those unlicensed haberdashers really grind my gears... Sounds allot like my local stihl dealer, I don't go there anymore...

Throwing hook is a good one for the kit bag. Rarely use it, but for avenues of trees, forests, big spreading red oaks and the like it's invaluable. I saw your video a wee while back Jesse, you definitely took to hooks eh? I think a major advantage of the epple hook is the bungee to stop it getting caught. It's a little thing but it's gotta be a big bonus...

Great stuff dude! Glad to hear it's healing well for you! With regards to Rich's question I started taking glucosamine sulphate, calcium and magnesium supplements a couple of weeks before my op, as well as a multi vitamin and obviously a good diet. Seems to have done well for me, and will certainly keep them up for the foreseeable future. Just don't take a calcium supplement with iron rich foods/supplements as they inhibit calcium absorption. I'm nearly 5 months post op now, will get the word on if I can start climbing again next month but all seems good, if a little stiff in the mornings. It'll come though! All the best with your continued recovery fella!

There have been several generations of celox. Earlier ones produced heat and were perhaps more of an issue to clean up in hospital. More recent ones are allot safer I believe. Interesting stuff re. CAT, I will have to read into this some more... agreed though that I can't imagine applying one in mid air being very practical. Crush injuries and the treatment of spinal injuries is probably a far more important topic though, yeah. Bleeds are simple, stop the blood flow, go to hospital. What do you do if a guy damages his spine in a tree though?

Agreed with you DJP, to my understanding if a torniquet is left in place for any length of time you can pretty much say goodbye to the limb. While a chainsaw wound or what have you is potentially pretty terrible, it's not an ied. Anyone trying to get one on me would have to wait until I was unconscious or put up a fight. We're tree surgeons after all, not real surgeons, I'll take my chances and wait for the paramedics... Celox bandage, or granules and a bandage are pretty much all I'd consider useful to have on your harness.

Yeah, I googled the ip address, I'm not sure if it's atall correct but it said it was from Bangladesh. It's not really an issue, just so long as they don't get in the way of my roll as solicitor to the late king of Nigeria. I have $100m USD I have bean entrusted with four his distant cousin Steven!

Hey, I just got an email saying someone had tried to log into my account 5 times and been temporarily blocked from the site. Kinda surprised someone would want to hack an arbtalk account... anyone else ever had this? Weird...

Nice vid! I wasn't expecting that after you asking for any pointers, but that's obviously just a great attitude to work with. Every days a school day top job though, looked like a fun one too! Edit: I can't see any fault in it either, but when I'm tying off a couple of branches at a time I prefer to clove hitch the first and then tie off the second. Saves carrying around slings/crabs. But then I don't really rig with slings anyway. Personal preference!

I get pretty sweaty feet too, after a couple of hours the leather outer of my airstreams has wet patches from sweat leaking through the Gore tex. Everybody I mention this to acts surprised but I'm sure it's not all that rare... Anyhow I've just gotten pretty good at coping with it. If I'm not using a saw/am climbing I usually wear non protective boots, which are slightly more breathable. I also have a couple pairs of cutting boots and 3 pairs of non protective so I stagger them through the week. I definitely use sweaty feet as an excuse to buy more boots... Boots go outside on the window sill to dry, I'd never put them in front of a heart source for fear of gassing myself.

I used to work with a girl who took a hedge cutter to the boob. That's all I got.

Suunto.

If you fancy a bit of a play, tenex is seriously easy, to splice. And pretty satisfying. Check out some kinda guidelines on splicing it and you really can't go far wrong.

My major concern would be topping the thing. The gear sounds like it could be fine but I'd say fell it or leave it alone.

Gotta agree with Scotspine. Safety is obviously important in this industry but I think a great deal of that comes from common sense and practical/logical risk assessment. Without that ability most of us would be dead or horribly disfigured, regardless of how much advice hse boffins had provided. That's not to say I'm against health and safety, on the contrary, but I think that most H&S guidelines and especially monitoring are pretty superficial and basically irrelevant. Ultimately I think if you lack that aptitude to look after yourself then you're in the wrong job. Climbing dead trees covered in wasps in a thunderstorm might be pretty dangerous, but it's also pretty cool. Next thing you know those bureaucratic boobys will be telling us we shouldn't be doing that! Pah!

How about width? The length of pfanners is fine, but their waist sizing is crazy, and the legs are based on the assumption your thighs are like tree trunks, and the same size as you're ankles.

What is the fit like on sip's? Of all the cutting trousers I've had nothing comes close to the pfanners for durability, but the fit is ridiculous.

So long as the anodising is colourful enough it's pretty much guaranteed to sell. Just look at zig zag, might well crack, possibly even snap. But make it gold... boobs on a hot plate.

Haha, they are pernikity wee things, for sure. I think mine is quite old and the spring quite slack, which makes kicking on and off much easier. Thinking about it though, when on my working line it definitely does pop out easier than on the access line. I guess it's the angle it leaves the pantin from, which if you're climbing srt and use it for most ascents might be a right faff when the tail of your rope isn't straight beneath you. I guess the clippy ones might not be all bad...

I use an old pantin and never really have issues with the rope popping out. I think if you get the technique dialled it's fine. I'd certainly view not being able to kick my rope out and get it back on hands free as more of a disadvantage.