JoshFromKY

Also it was helpful to hear others recommend limbwalking less and redirecting over my target column more. I plan to practice this, but nonetheless the issue with the wrench binding remains a hindrance.

I'm fairly new to tree climbing and I have a mentor who has taught me SRT on a hitch climber pulley with a hitch and rope wrench, using canopy and base anchors. I've been practicing limbwalks on my own and have encountered debilitating resistance from the rope wrench when trying to feed slack. Every couple steps I take I have to use two hands to collapse the wrench on top of the hitch to allow myself another few inches of slack. Pulling slack back in is especially difficult. On straight vertical descents, with a little bounce to get the momentum going, the rope flows through the wrench as I would expect it to. The rope wrench I have is the newest edition which Ive been told has a larger diameter slick pin than the old edition and this leaves a smaller space for the rope to pass through. My climbing line is a 12mm Kernmaster and I weigh 135 lbs/61 kilos. The feedback I have got from another forum suggests trying a thinner diameter rope, something in the 11-11.6mm range. This is helpful, but don't plan to buy a completely new rope. Others say to try out the Hitchhiker. My mentor said to ask on forums for an older model of the rope wrench with the thinner slick pin. I wanted to gather some input from ArbTalk and ask if anyone does have an older rope wrench or hitchhiker they are willing to sell or trade?

That sure looks like it looked before desiccation. Thanks!

I was removing dead wood from a Pin Oak on my folks' property and noticed several of the branches I was removing had pebble size black splotches along them and this large deep red fungi growing out that looked like dried cranberries and felt like cold flower petals. I took the pictures a couple days after removing the limbs and by then it had turned black and shrunk to a third its size. If it hadn't been for the fungi I'd have laid the ramial wood in piles around the base of the tree to decompose. Instead I dragged the brush farther back into the woods. I'm fairly new to tree work and fungi. Can someone ID the species?