Paddy1000111

I think the term "too much water" is a little misleading in regards to overhydration as it's more of a case of too little salt/electrolytes. I don't know about you but in extreme heat I don't find myself getting that hungry and I can see how easy it is to fall into the trap of getting headaches and feeling crap so you smash down more and more water thinking you're dehydrated and you just make the whole thing worse, maybe not dying from water overdose worse but definitely a hangover feeling...

Maybe if you took 20L of ice water and dunked yourself in it. Nowt wrong with drinking cold drinks, cold showers etc are also recommended so 🤷🏼‍♂️

+1 for this. If you only drank isotonic drinks then yes, they would dehydrate you but they're designed to be drank with water. They give you all the salts/sugars/minerals etc and then you drink water. They wouldn't use them in pro sports otherwise.

Get some non-comedogenic sun screen, Riemann stuff is good but expensive. Drink some isotonic sports drinks as your body is probably using all the salt up sweating and unable to absorb more water. Adding Dioralyte to the first aid kit is also a must. Heat exhaustion can become heat stroke in this weather pretty darn quick.

My best quote was from Exec Insurance. Adrian Elliott is the one to speak to.

That might be because I'm aware that it's "random crap" off eBay and don't use it for life support. There are absolutely no rules as to what you can and can't use up a tree when it's not safety critical. Maybe your confusion is caused by the fact you sound like you use it unrated non-ppe as life support, but you do you. When I use mine it's for getting to a odd location where I want an additional hand hold or if I'm moving between stems and can't reach or swing easily, I just have more control. I've never been in a situation where failure could cause severe injury.

I wouldn't panic too much about learning much before hand. If you can crack the three knot climbing system then that covers you for the distel, stopper knot and bowline. A double bowline is just called a double bowline. If you're struggling with finding a knot or aren't sure then dont bother. Remember the courses are there to teach you, if you aren't sure you could make life more difficult for yourself by creating bad habits or being used to tying something incorrectly

If you're offered the ability to rent a kit do it. I had all the kit when I did my courses but still rented as the instructors can teach you better when you have their kit plus it will be designed to be as simple as possible. When I did my course I was given a bag of kit and I was expected to take everything with me into the tree. Only advice is to relax and trust the gear. Sounds stupid but I spent tonnes of time having a death grip on everything when it's not necessary. Learn your knots too. Double bowline, scaffold knot and stopper knot are the main ones to learn. You can also learn to tie a VT too for a hitch climber. Another thing to learn is a 3 knot climbing system. It's a way to make a complete system out of 1 piece of rope, it's part of the assessment (and useful for the branch walk rescue as you have to make sure you can't pendulum swing) If you learn those then it's going to be a lot less stressful.

Love my st6p. Fast, reliable (so far) nice to tow. The feed is awesome and they don't seem to burn much fuel!

Interesting seeing different people's opinions on this. Not sure I agree with the whole "get pissed and phone a mate" thing might work for some people but for a lot it's just a band-aid for a problem. That sort of mindset is how a lot of people end up with drug addictions.

100%. There's also a stigma about it which isn't often faced. It's also not helped by some people who play the mental health card at every opportunity and never work 🙄

Not often that I disagree with you mate but I have to on this occasion. When I was working in aircraft one of the apprentices was going through a tough time then broke up with his Mrs and topped himself. Whilst I know what you mean, having a "get on with it" opinion stops people who actually need help coming forward. You feel like a burden and then you start on that spiral 👎

Mine did that when I got it and would be shit to tip with (although it was a scissor). Buy some decent penetrating oil and spray it every time you use it for a bit and it will be fine after 10 or so tips. They sit around in the forecourt and a lot of companies don't use the tipper like we do. I worked for the council at one point and I had an iveco tipper. I used it maybe once in 6 months. Make sure you spray the crap out of the ram too

Any particular Pfanners you recommend to get/steer clear of?

Breaking an asbestos roof must suck. Guaranteed the cost of roof removal by a certified company, disposal and replacement will cost more than whatever they charged for that absolute shite work

Pfanners have quite a hard sole then? Maybe I'll whip into radmore tucker at some point and have a look

Not a bad shout. 4.8kg@3hp Vs the 391 at [email protected].

Ms201 or the new ms241 are the only real step down in size and weight. Weight=Power so it depends what you want?

Get all mine from my local Pirtek. Haven't had an issue with their stuff!

Whilst it's a "nice" tree. I question its overall habitat and ecological benefit. All trees have a benefit in one way or another I admit but you could plant something in its place instead. If you were super environmentally concerned, you could make a habitat pile from the brash and cut the logs in 1-1.5m lengths and stack them to create more habitat. God knows you will have more wildlife, bugs, worms, Hedgehog homes, you name it. Beats having a leaning tree, possibly dangerous with a pidgeon nest in.

I'm interested in opinions on some decent boots. Done some big dismantles recently and my Oregon boots that I got as a fill in to find something decent leave the arches of my feet sore as hell the next day when on spikes (distel Gecko)

It doesn't sound like it has a lot of inherent value. If you had a yard, a lot of equipment, lads on PAYE and an existing foreman you would have a business with value. A business with value worth selling should be able to run day to day without you. It sounds like you are the business which means if you go, it's some kit and a couple of lads who want work. What you really have is some kit and a few jobs lined up. You may find someone to buy it off you for equipment value and a bit of good will money but selling it like you would sell a shop/business is unlikely. If it were me, I would stop booking in work, warn your lads and see what they say. If you were going to take on a manager/foreman you have to ask if it's worth it to him, and you. He would need to be on PAYE and he will need proper staff not contractors. If you get a decent foreman who can actually run the whole business by himself there's no reason why he wouldn't just work for himself, especially as you aren't around. Why do all the work of owning a company for you to skim off the top? The fact that your climber would need digs means it probably won't be worth it for him anymore too.

If it were me I'd take it out and plant something else in it's place. It may not have a target but it's obviously not correcting itself so it's never going to improve.

In that case I wouldn't be too concerned