Wooden Hand

Thank you so much for the information !

I wondered if the toe spikes for pole climbing are available through a retailer and if so where? Thank you.

Sorry for the late response. The hook is quite a different in design, setting and application and works well on larger trees. I carry it most climbs for a variety of work positioning solutions, often setting it up close and climbing away from it. Unlike the 'r' shaped hooks (or should that be 'n' shaped?!) this Bennett Hook can release easily from below. It hasn't replaced my Eppel Hook, I now carry both and it is available from Thompson Tree Tools.

The outside shape and lever are similar but internally the straight rope passage means that rope walking is achievable, which is a universe away in terms of application. Thanks Rich, kind as ever. It's great to carry a 10mm access line and have every one on the team get on the LOV2. The helmet is the Wall Rider from Mammut, great for hot days and cycling !

ODSK are the Japanese distributor for the LOV 2 and I helped them to make a little video explaining the device. Paul

Hi John, it works for me, I wonder what to do ?

Thank you, Reg. I too wonder why most people are happiest when an experience is packaged and sterile when it is so easy to just walk. I'm looking forward to see where this goes for you.

Hello, I recently uploaded an article about SRT ropes to the ODSK homepage, please check it if you think it may be of interest. http://www.works-odsk.jp/original120.html Thanks Paul

I came to upload this, thank you for beating me to it. Mark, the deal with us is to get arisings to a stable place because it will stay there until it rots. Swinging, sliding and pulling the timber fairs better than hand-balling and location means no cranes and loaders. Yes, we do enjoy rope work!

Hello all, First off, apologies to moderators if this is seen as unpaid advertising, which it is, though I wanted to mention that this August I am coming over from Japan to do a one day double braid splicing workshop at TREEKIT. For those of you new to splicing it will certainly help guide you through the harder parts of the process, and for those older hands it may give you some extra clues as how to refine understanding and develop a more fluid ability for a variety of rope conditions. The workshop will follow instruction from my splicing book. Many thanks Paul https://www.treekit.com/events/current-workshops/splicing-workshop-with-paul-poynter.html [ame] [/ame]

I could never see logic in the Quickie design. What is it a solution for? Anchors, long term anchors that are out of sight, need to be rigged counter to what the Quickie offers. I wonder how much force it would take to smash those pin heads off when cross loaded?

With an 11.5mm double braid, tied and knot blocked against a ring you have around 15-20kN ABS. That gives a 100kg climber a 15-20:1 safety factor, a rescue scenario potentially halves this. Is this adequate? Testing for the ART Twin Line got 22kN with an Alpine Butterfly blocked directly to the side plates of the Cocoon 5 pulley, their user instructions ask for a natural anchor to withstand at least 12kN. It comes down to what you desire, what you feel is safe and fit for your company. You should see some of the anchors that the gardeners tie into over here, completely hair-raising, I suspect that they average a safety factor of 2:1 at most.....with gear averaging ten times that !

Hey Mikey, I wanted to write this into an exam recently but was asked to remove it because I couldn't back it up with any facts. Do you know of any testing done on this? Perhaps we could do something together in the autumn?

Hello David, It is nice to see your considered approach to taking stationary rope system(s) into the professional work environment. You are right about mechanicals not being certified and while this may stop you from going deep into the work practices right away, it is only a matter of time before a certified device comes into the market. It is sensible to do some homework regarding the myriad differences in risk awareness and anchoring strategies inherent to stationary systems. This way you may iron out some close-calls before they appear at your work site. And find ways to manipulate the systems to best suit your work environment. From my own experience of running dismantling crews along railway lines I have set up some protocols. 1. No Big Shots as the rebound can be uncontrollable. 2. Very specific throwing risk assessment which ensures the safe capture of the uppermost point in the tree when setting a floating (trunk anchored) line. Blind bounce testing is not how we do it, logical and systematic steps and multiple person and angle checking is key for us. 3. We work off trunk anchors around 1-2% of the time and so we developed ways to self release the trunk anchor in order to set top anchors. This is a huge subject. I expect you will need to differentiate between work off a top anchor or work off a floating anchor and then apply known techniques to deal with each. There is no question that for simple tasks simple trunk anchored systems are hard to beat but it is also true that they pose a far greater risk when cutting and rigging. I have watched novice climbers bounce there non running chainsaws along the anchor leg when accessing, it does't take much to cut a taught line. 4. Set retrieve lines after the work has been done as they are simply a hindrance. 5. Use false anchors to save damage to the tree and rope. You can use stationary systems within DdRT anchoring ideas. In fact, this is a mighty good way to make the transition from dynamic to stationary. 6. Understand the difference between load sharing and non-load sharing re-directs. 7. Relearn basic movement patterns so as not to rag the hell out of elbows and shoulders. I have just finished writing a test for an association over here and decided to fail systems if they did not have the implicit rigging potential to retrieve as and when the climber needs to. Single stationary systems, wether top anchored or floated fail in this. It may not be a crucial point for you but I thought I would mention it all the same. Good luck and please throw any questions back to me.