R Mac

They would if people stopped using them,

It was although it took me a while, ended up tying it in front of a mirror so that it was the same as watching the video. Dead easy when you know how, tricky getting the twists right when trying to pause/play and tie at the same time LOL

Wow, thanks Tommy, much appreciated

If the training provider can't supply/hire the kit you need I would have been looking elsewhere, that said you've already booked it so you need the kit. You're going to be into quite a bit of money but here's the equipment that I used, the only equipment that I owned were my Type C trousers, climbing helmet c/w ear defenders and visor, 1st aid kit, knife (for rescue) and my Harness (Petzl Avaho) In addition I used, Climbing Rope Lanyard 4 x friction hitches/prussik cords (one for the climbing rope, one for the lanyard, one for the flipline and one for rescue) 1 x webbing sling (re-direct and rescue) Spikes Wire core flipline approx 6 auto lock 3 way opening carabiners 2 x micro pulleys (one each for lanyard and flipline) 1 x cambium saver 1 x pruning saw 1 x top handle chainsaw chainsaw lanyard I think that about covers it although I also used a throwline kit (cube, throwbags, throwline)

Does that make it illegal to buy 2m of rope off the reel and make your eye to eye prussiks using a fishermans knot at each end, make a prussik loop by using fishermans knots or make a lanyard the same way? None of the above have a CE mark or indeed any manufacturers marking regardless of whether they came off a reel of CE marked rope. Furthermore if a LOLER inspector can't make a judgement on whether a splice is safe or not it's irrelevant whether it has a CE marking, clearly there's more to the integrity of a a splice than whether or not it has a CE mark. That's possibly why it could be considered 'an onerous heap of crap' A guy who can't tell the condition of a splice passing it on the basis of a CE mark yet failing something that equally he can't tell the condition of the splice simply because there is no CE mark.

If it has the same longevity and costs the same then yes, if it's lighter, more expensive and less durable then perhaps no. You can usually apply the saying 'Strong, Light, Cheap, pick any 2'.

The problem with the one shown in the video is that his right arm gets in the way just at the point where I need to see what he's doing.

Hi Dean, there's a range of needle stick gloves here, SNS Safety UK

Ok got it, yeah I'd need to slow Adam's video down (quite) a bit

Sorted, eventually I think, just one point, when you push the bight back through the knot do you take it back underneath the knot and around over the ring or just flip it back up over the ring? Cheers.

I normally tie the Alpine Butterfly using the '3 wraps around your hand' method but of course the bight is too short. I'll keep trying cheers.

Echo 501SX Here Here I'm pretty sure Forest & Arb had them a few weeks ago, is it possible that the 1st UK shipment is sold out already?

You probably need a forest axe or a small felling axe, Granfors Bruks are highly recommended but expensive, I have the Hultafors axes linked to below, good value for money and when sharpened can take slices off a sheet of paper, even the big felling axe. The HY20 felling axe is more like a small forest axe. I bought both of mine from FFX Tools Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe Gransfors Bruks Scandanavian Forest Axe Hultafors Felling Axe HY20 Hultafors Felling Axe HY10

What's the preferred option for adding an anchor ring to a mid line knot? I'm having trouble with the alpine butterfly with 'Bunny Ears' and find the Double Fig 8 with 'Bunny ears' easier but the rope enters/exits the knot at a sharper angle than it does with the alpine butterfly, is there any significant difference in practice?

+1 your Avatar

Oh Dear, it appears I'm guilty of encouraging you all to spend money. Oh well one good turn deserves another

Well the stuff I ordered arrived yesterday, Rope Wrench, CT Foot Ascender and 4SRT Split Stiff Tether, also picked up a CT Simple Ascender. Been playing with the set-up today using a 10.5 mm climbing rope and a few sewn slings, unfortunately I was using the landing and didn't really have enough height to get into my stride with the foot ascender/knee ascender but it was working. I only have Marlow Boa prussik cord but tried a VT and then a Distel but I think my prussik is too long as I'm getting more set-back than I'd like. Also tried using the simple ascender with a DMM Revolver as a pulley to simulate a branch walk return, that seemed to work ok too. I'll need to order some 8mm cord to experiment with different length prussiks (can't afford a proper SRT Rope yet) but I've ordered some 1" plain and some 1" tubular webbing to see if I can't make a better foot sling for the knee ascender. So all seems good so far, thanks to you guys who answered my questions and offered advice. p.s. I see Honey Brothers have the HAAS Velox in stock

They're a very personal thing harnesses for sure, try before you buy if possible.

Yeah he has Cougar Blue at £3.00 per metre so pretty much the same as the rest, he's definitely worth calling for the Armor Prus.

If I understand you correctly and having come from a climbing background myself you've run your rope through a pulley and tied on using a double figure 8 knot (What I would call a threaded Figure 8 knot) which is the standard knot in rock/ice climbing. You've then used an additional length of cord to to create a Blake's hitch on the other side of your climbing rope, this additional length is attached to a carabiner which is clipped to your harness tie in point. That's essentially a basic split tail tree climbing system. You mention using a 2nd prussik loop to step up on, I'm assuming standard rock/ice climbing procedure, slide the foot prussik up, stand up, slide the prussik attached to your harness up, sit back in harness and repeat? That's the main difference, basic tree climbing procedure would dispense with the foot prussik, you'd body thrust while advancing the split tail friction hitch (your blakes hitch, I'd use a regular prussik) In a pinch you can foot lock on the rope below the friction hitch if you can't get your feet against the tree. If you want to avoid heat damage to your regular rock climbing rope or at least minimise it use a figure 8 descender to descend keeping the friction hitch as a fall prevention back-up (just as you would rock/ice climbing) If you want to advance the climbing rope you'll need a lanyard so you're always attached to the tree when you un-clip from the climbing rope. Also unless you need to achieve 'work positioning' you don't really need a floating bridge like on the Petzl Sequoia or Treemotion harness, a single fixed tie in point will be fine, I used a Petzl Avaho Fast when I done my CS-38 and CS39, it still has side D rings for lanyard attachment. You can get the Avaho for £110 to £140 depending on whether you want fast type buckles or regular threaded buckles. The cheapest harness I've seen that has a floating bridge is the TreeUp TH 20, apparently the same harness as the Treehog TH2000, both allegedly made by Protekt although I couldn't confirm that. I bought the TreeUp TH30 which is the same as the TH20 but with fast buckles. Seems ok and is CE approved, I bought mine on ebay from Germany for £110 ish inc shipping. Not as nicely finished as the Petzl harness though in my opinion. Have a look at some of the videos here, ClimbingArborist.com ? Arborist tree climbing techniques Coming from a rock climbing background SRT might suit you, basically ascending/decending a fixed rope using jammers/ascenders/crolls/Pantins whatever you want to call them.

Ok the ropes are as follows? Yale Kernmaster, looks like 2 versions of the same rope, Orange Code Blue & Blue Tounge although I've seen them listed as 11mm and 11.7mm respectively? New England Tachyon - 11.5mm Donaghys Cougar Blue - 11.7mm Friction Cord Stein Copious TAC Armor-Prus Teufelberger Sirius I'd prefer to go for whatever combination I can get from one supplier (due to having an 'Exotic'?? Postcode) which probably rules out Cougar Blue and Armor-Prus unless I can get Armor-prus from Treeworker. So it looks like Tachyon and either the Copious eye2eye or a length of Sirius. Kernmaster Orange Code Blue and Sirius. It's looking like Tachyon (Green 45m) and the Stein Copious eye 2 eye and probably a length of 8mm Sirius. One other thing, spliced or not spliced? the Tachyon comes with a Slaice from the supplier I've looked at, if it's better without I'll cut it off.

In my experience......................... ......................NO

Cheers Joe, yeah I guess they all work but rather than pin the tail on the donkey myself I might as well go with a combo that someone else is happy with. I'll look at Tachyon and Armor, I know friction hitches can be a personal thing but apart from the 2 I mentioned anything else I should be looking at trying? Thanks by the way

Just been comparing them on the RHS website and yeah the Leylandii seems to grow twice as quickly. Of course would you rather say you had planted Western Red Cedar or Leyland Cypress

Hi Folks, inevitably another question re. SRT kit, can anyone recommend a decent rope for SRT and something that they've found works well with it for the friction hitch. Remember that I don't have any experience of SRT so pretty much anything will more than likely feel ok to me as I have nothing to compare with. I'll probably use a VT or Distel as I like the way the tails end up either side of the climbing rope which to me seems to fit nice on a hitch climber pulley. Of course if you can recommend a rope, friction cord and hitch that would be great, FWIW I'm a lightweight, about 10 1/2 stone if that makes a difference. Thanks.