peds

If it's possible to see a picture of the tree, that'd be smashing. It wouldn't help your case, but everyone loves seeing a nice tree.

Generally having a bit more of an idea and inclination towards what is best for the human race as a whole, instead of a handful of the unnecessarily-wealthy few. Edit: Sorry, I was talking about the general situation, not just this tree. Tricky to judge without seeing pictures of the tree and the plan to be, but oak trees are fairly important to keep if at all possible. Shame to replace all of them with double concrete drives.

Some people need telling, as made clear by... [gestures vaguely towards the entirety of the world]

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Volvo XC90 at 2700kg, or 27kN, assuming a static load. What's the smallest tree you'd lower one from?

Bit of a difference, to be honest.

Maybe someone here can put some numbers on this, even if it's just anecdotally. In terms of kN, how much sideways pull, from a theoretically-indestructible sling or chain around the base, can a tree take before it keels over? A wrist-thickness hazel, your average sycamore, a 5ft oak? Has anyone done rigorous destruction testing on this, are there any studies available? Has anyone here yanked an escaped leylandii out the ground with a tractor? Has anyone ever lifted a Toyota Corolla out of a stream using a 27-to-1 haul system on a great big beech tree? Obviously soil depth and quality plays a huge part, maybe even things like recent weather conditions, soil humidity, prevailing wind direction, direction of pull... I'm setting up a rope rescue demonstration for a national meeting of mountain rescue personnel, including a bit on anchor selection and redundancy, using trees, rock gear, and hedgehog ground spikes, and how your 22kn sling doesn't mean much if it's wrapped around something that breaks at half a kN. The rock gear we use is rated for anything between 3 and 30kN, and it'll often be the damp and brittle rock that fails here in Ireland before the cam or nut, and the hedgehog ground spikes we use are only as good as the soil they're hammered into. Same with the trees, you can probably tie twenty tiny little saplings together and get a workable anchor, as long as they are well equalised... So I'm just looking for any kind of experience or opinions on what kind of force the trees you'd tie up to make a decent anchor can take before they fail. I think it's safe to assume that a single great big oak tree in good soil would comfortably exceed the 25kN target for a rope rescue system, but thanks to redundancy concerns you'd still want to tie at least two together, just to be safe... Anyone want to pluck some numbers out of their orifice, or describe some of the weights you've hung off of trees before? Cheers dudes.

I second Bocca's thoughts up there. There's ads on here all the time for jobs around the world, usually offering help with visas, accommodation, the works. 21 is a great age to get out and see the planet, you're old enough for people to think about taking you seriously, but still young enough to get away with all sorts of things. Your hometown will still be there in 3, 5, 10 years time... and you'll have a whole pile of stories to tell. It's not for everybody, some people prefer to put their roots down quickly, but I shudder to think of the things I'd have missed out on if I didn't go walkabout when I was younger.

I have to say... there seems to be a growing consensus that it does happen. I've never had a parachute fail on me. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

I was ringing up a load of logs for a guy after bringing them down, he had a timbercroc. Worked great on longer skinny bits, was less worth it the heavier the sticks got. The multiple teeth thing is a good idea, works as intended. I don't know if I'd personally fork out for one though, especially if the logs are already in a decent pile and can be cut in situ.

Colour me shocked!

Oh right, I remember. Probably either Antifa or Greenpeace arsonists, generally.

I forget in what context you brought up volcanoes and forest fires, so this isn't necessarily directed at you, I just remember seeing someone mention them a few pages back. m2-res_640p.mp4 Which emits more carbon dioxide: volcanoes or human activities? | NOAA Climate.gov WWW.CLIMATE.GOV Human activities emit 60 or more times the amount of carbon dioxide released by volcanoes each year. Regarding volcanoes, they are abdrop in the bucket compared to human output. Regarding forest fires, despite them being an essential regenerative process for various ecosystems all over the planet, they are of course getting bigger, more destructive, and more widespread as a result of climate change - hotter temperatures, longer droughts, etc. - and hitting areas that have not evolved to accommodate them; on top of the inevitable release of CO2, of which I'm not sure how the "natural" forest fires stack up against the "unnatural" ones, plus the regular human emissions. That'd be some interesting data to find.

In 2035 we'll be eating hawthorn leaves and dreaming about the delicious squirrels we've hunted to extinction, while wishing we'd put solar panels on everyone's roof and insulation in everyone's attic back in the early 21st century when we had the opportunity to do so for the umpteenth time. But yeah, let's blame Bono instead of BP and Monsanto.

I hear you, I really do. But let's touch base in the year 2035 and we can chat about expansion then.

There you go with that dinosaur vocab again. Not everything has to make a profit.

Yep, I agree. Also, switch to solar, wind, and nuclear, and cut down on your energy usage. Also eat the rich.

Yep. Better than being burned in people's stoves at home, better than being buried in a hedge. Not as good as being sealed into an coal mine to take it out of circulation and limit the microplastic pollution, but it's one of the least worst options available to us. There are often no easy answers, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

I do worry that it'll reduce enthusiasm for recycling among the people who've been doing it for decades, without encouraging the people who just bin it all or throw it in a hedge to come to the fold. Still, let's give it a go, see what happens.

I knew a girl like that once.

Yep. Stop buying stuff from China.

I'm plant-based.

Nah, you're grand. It's like yelling in the wind at this stage.

I mean, this is exactly what the trouble is. Dinosaurs who don't appreciate the scale of the problem, and are unwilling to make, or even acknowledge, any of the changes necessary to stop the planet from becoming incompatible with complex life. The history books about this time period are gonna be freakin' wild, man. You know... if there's anyone left to write 'em.