TreeMuggs

This is the book that started it all for me. I remember in my first term of apprenticeship school, the Vermeer dealer stopped in to take orders for climbing gear. This book is what I ordered. Everyone else was getting ropes and saddles. When the order finally came in, I can just remember the other guys looking over and rolling their eyes, like to say, who orders a book?… this guy, that’s who!

Good morning everybody! I'm super excited to tell you about my newest project, The Fundamentals of General Tree Work - Digital Edition by G.F. Beranek. Jerry Beranek worked for 18 years to produce this incredible resource, taking the time to pass on his immense knowledge to future generations of arborists and timber fallers. In 1996 the book debuted at the Tree Care Industry Trade Show in Charlotte, North Carolina. 20 years later, 2016, it went out of print. In that 20 years the book has sold nearly 25,000 copies. Filled with over 200 photographs and illustrations, ‘The Fundamentals’ is the most comprehensive reference work in our field. Jerry Beranek’s epic achievement in 500+ pages is undeniable proof that good books are worth their weight in gold. There simply is no more-complete reference work on tree climbing, cutting, rigging, and falling available! Sadly, his book went out of print in 2016. Physical copies are hard to come by these days – and very expensive. Enter…..The Digital Edition! Presented on EducatedClimber in PDF format, ‘The Fundamentals of General Tree Work – Digital Edition’ is perfect for viewing on laptops, smartphones, tablets, and e-readers, including the Kindle. Professionally scanned and processed with optical character recognition software, the Digital Edition looks amazing and is fully searchable. If you’ve been waiting to find a copy of ‘The Fundamentals’, wait no more! This was a big project for me, I've been working on it since May of this year. I'm super stoked for how it turned out! I will have more of a story for you in a few days about the work that went into this project, but in the meantime, if you have a chance, check out 'The Fundamentals' on my site: https://www.educatedclimber.com/beranek-fundamentals/ Thanks to your support, 'The Fundamentals' lives on! Patrick

Jon, that is the Daisy Chain hitch, we use it for all of our rigging instead of the running bow. It is on the site under 'knots', as well as on the Youtube channel. Check it out, it's a beauty!

Hi everybody, I just wanted to invite you all to check out the new and improved homepage at EducatedClimber.com. There have been a ton of changes and additions to the site over the past few months, with much more in the works! There is a very large and growing community forming around this mission to educate the younger generation of climbers with a solid foundation in the basics. If you have a spare minute, check it out: www.educatedclimber.com. Thanks for all the support so far, I really appreciate it! All the best.- Patrick

We have access to a 60ft spiderlift through a friend, so that's the size of lift that we were using. No, it was not ideal for this particular tree by any means, but it was still safer than climbing. This tree was sketchbag. This is one of the biggest cemeteries in the city, and they let stuff go way, way too long. But at the same time, they are our biggest client, so I couldn't just pass on the work. Yes, at the point that I had to make that final cut, I was way too invested to just pack it in and tell the guys that we would have to figure something else out. As far as the rigging is concerned, as a concept, I have always split the load between at least two spars. This concept however makes far more sense when the spars in question are at roughly 45 degree angles, so that they load in compression. The leader that broke in this case was basically vertical, which meant that it was being side-loaded. It snapped at a big squirrel's nest 25 feet below where I was cutting. There were 3 little gaffers all curled up inside. I should have been much more critical of that spar and done a much more thorough inspection before rigging off of it, but it had been supporting a live crown, so I figured it would be ok. For my first 3 years, I used natural crotch rigging almost exclusively, and I agree, it makes more sense in a ton of situations. In this case where I was using pulleys, NOT splitting the load would actually have been much safer. Like most accidents, it was not just down to one single error, there were a whole bunch of things that I did wrong that compounded to produce that result. What I didn't explain very well at all in the video is that, in the moment, the thing that I was actually the most concerned about was that big hanger, which completely blinded me to the actual danger staring me in the face...

. A couple weeks ago I had a very close call rigging out the last top on an ugly Silver Maple at the cemetery. My rigging point failed and a 25 ft chunk of log went freefalling towards the earth. Nobody was hurt – thank God. One stone got hit but it didn’t do any damage. As fate would have it, my apprentice wasn’t there that day to see and learn from what happened. After much thought and analysis, I believe it ultimately comes down to complacency and normalcy bias: the top was just too big, and I knew it. “Normalcy bias causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster and its possible effects, because it causes people to have a bias to believe that things will always function the way things normally function. This may result in situations where people fail to adequately prepare.” That pretty much sums it up. I knew the top was bigger than what I would normally take, but that’s all I could reach with the lift. Do you know how many times I have done something similar when I'm in a lift? I end up cutting something bigger than what I am totally comfortable with, and, at least up until this incident, it has always worked out fine. It makes me question my own judgement in a way, like, if I was uncomfortable with it but it turned out fine, is it just that I have drawn the line in my head between what's safe and unsafe, in the wrong spot? You know, like can I actually take stuff far larger than what I first thought? I mean, you start thinking about tensile strength with the gear we use. When I was in school, we always talked about designing rigging systems with the rope as the weakest link. But I think, in reality, we have designed our gear to make the tree as the weakest link, in the majority of cases. For anyone wanting more detail, I have a more in-depth article about this incident, available here: https://www.educatedclimber.com/clos...point-failure/ I am embarrassed to admit that, right when this happened, I was thinking, ****, I don't want to share this with anyone. This makes me look like an idiot. But later that night, I had made a 180, and I thought, first, much of the time, I am an idiot, and second, this is exactly what I need to share with the world. This is the kind of stuff that can help someone. So, like I said in the video, I'm actually glad that it happened. It was a real eye-opener. If this helps someone, sometime, to second guess a decision, or think critically about a setup, then I am so glad that this happened. Go small AND Go home. So, I wanted to hear from other professionals. What would you have done differently, or is it simply a case of "right to refuse"? Bottom line, I shouldn't have taken that top where I did. I knew it was too big right from the get-go, when I went up initially to set my blocks. I ignored my gut and made a huge mistake. But thankfully, nobody got hurt and I came away with a greater awareness of my own complacency as well as an excellent teaching video. So, any thoughts?

Originally published in 1902, John Davey’s classic work helped to establish the scientific basis for the modern profession of ‘arborist’ or ‘tree surgeon’. John Davey believed that people’s neglect for trees was simply the result of a lack of understanding of their functioning, and that educating the public on proper tree care could benefit the entire country. This book laid down a foundation for tree care standards that would be adopted by his company, including proper finishing cuts, planting, timing, pests and diseases, and urban cultivation. John Davey’s study of tree stress, wounds, rot and decay was ahead of his time. Although many of his theories were later shown to be off-track, his contributions to the trade at the time were immense – he helped to pioneer an industry. Born in Stawley, Somerset, Davey would later emigrate to the US. John Davey died in 1923. His book is now in the public domain. Check it out here at EducatedClimber in PDF, with downloadable link. .

Published in 1944, this is the Bible of knots. Clifford Ashley took notes on knots for over 40 years of his life, and then labored for over 11 years to produce the most comprehensive reference of knots and ropework ever written. With almost 4000 knots, his work covers basically every type of hitch, bend, stopper knot, lashing, binding knot, and running knot that you can imagine, as well as decorative and fancy knots, trick and puzzle knots, sinnets, marlingspike, and 3-strand splices, among many, many others. This book is exhaustive, and a testament to a devotion and drive to produce something that would stand the test of time. In addition to showing you how to tie the knots, which were all painstakingly illustrated by the author, Ashley helps to explain the history and usage of the knots. The first chapter, ‘On Knots’ is a fascinating look at the history and tools of sailors and ropeworkers – highly recommended reading. From the first chapter: “To me the simple act of tying a knot is an adventure in unlimited space. A bit of string affords a dimensional latitude that is unique among the entities. For an uncomplicated strand is a palpable object that, for all practical purposes, possesses one dimension only. If we move a single strand in a plane, interlacing it at will, actual objects of beauty and of utility can result in what is practically two dimensions; and if we choose to direct our strand out of this one plane, another dimension is added which provides opportunity for an excursion that is limited only by the scope of our own imagery and the length of the ropemaker’s coil. What can be more wonderful than that?” Clifford Ashley died in 1947. His book is now in the public domain. Check it out here at EducatedClimber in PDF, with downloadable link. .

One of my all-time favourite TED Talks! TED = Technology, Entertainment, Design TED Talks are influential videos from expert speakers on education, business, science, technology, creativity, and in this case, testicles. The standard format has a time limit of 18 minutes, with a bit of leeway on the part of the moderators. For anyone with a bad case of intellectual curiosity, such as myself, TED talks are an incredible source of new information. Highly recommended! The 25 Most Popular TED Talks of all time Most people script and rehearse their talk for weeks or months to nail it. Mike made this one up on the spot. He's one smart cookie. Mike Rowe TED Talk and Mike Rowe on the Tim Ferriss Show - EducatedClimber.com/Blog .

Glad to hear that this content is appreciated. I am especially happy to have gotten permission from Professor Ed Gilman to post his content. Professor Gilman put a lot of work into these videos. As far as academics, it is literally Dr. Gilman and Dr. Alex Shigo who have done the most to promote proper arboricultural practices among commercial arborists. There is a ton of great content here, I am so appreciative that Professor Gilman put this together for all of us. My apprentice James has already learned so much from these videos........as have I...

Yeah, this has been my favourite since I learned it in my first few weeks on the job. Can't believe that the clove hitch is an approved knot but this isn't. Anyone looking for a good rant, check this one out on my site: The Proper Use of a Clove Hitch Cheers,

This is how I make my own charcoal: .

This is how I make homemade charcoal for cooking on my tripod. .

I learned this from an English climber named Andy Lake. My favourite rigging knot, hands down. Anyone else ever use this? .

Hello all, I am building a website to teach my apprentice the basics and I would love some feedback. I started writing articles and making videos in the off-season so that he could be learning all winter. The site is called EducatedClimber.com. Here is some of the newest content: - Professor Ed Gilman Online Arboriculture course - Mechanical Advantage Explained - Saw Chain maintenance and sharpening I would really appreciate opinions and feedback from the Arbtalk community. Thank you all. Cheers