Jayouz

2 hours ago, 5thelement said:

You where climbing two ropes on two Prussics, mixed up hire kits, what kind of training place was this as it’s all starting to sound like horseshit?

What should we have been climbing on?

5 hours ago, Joe Newton said:

You bought a foot ascender before you bought a rope?

Apparently the hire kits were mixed up so on the morning of the last day of training the guy put it all back which then switched me to a left food ascender which I didn't like, asked if there was any chance of another right foot ascender and was told I would probably get told to get used to it so picked up a right ascender when I bought my harness.

*EDIT* Not buying ropes yet is just trying to figure out what ropes to buy and what lengths to buy, also what setup to use, on the course we just used prusiks loops but tempted to go for a hitchclimber setup as there are more options for the friction hitch, I sometimes found with the prusiks that 2 wraps wouldn't hold my weight but 3 wraps was too much.

On 22/03/2023 at 19:13, Mark Bolam said:

If you want to become a climber you can’t just say ‘I’m crap at throwing’.

 

You need to practice till you’re half decent at throwing, or forget becoming a climber.

It’s an important part of the job.

 

Forget poles, slings, throwbags etc.

Yes, they are all useful, but you need to nail the basics to progress quickly.

Coil the rope as in the pic.

No idea what it’s called. It should take under 5 seconds.

Keep the coils small when you’re in the tree.

Grip the loop at the bottom and the rope beside it and throw it over the crotch or branch above you.

It will unravel and drop back to you.

 

Get up a small tree till you’re suspended above the ground.

Doesn’t matter if it’s 2’, as long as you’re off the ground.

Then practice throwing the loop above you.

If it’s not working, change your body angle. Change your arm. Change your hair colour. Change your gender if you have to.

Just make the changes necessary to make the throw.

Then practice.

Then practice more.

 

Twigs and branches in the way?

Trees can be like that.

Deal with it.

 

This isn’t an easy game.

Put the graft in and see how far you can go.

If you aren’t prepared to put the graft in quit now.

 

It would be good to keep us updated on how you get on.

 

I would say good luck, but it’s not about luck.

It’s about effort.

 

 

Oh believe me I don't want to stay being a crap thrower! At the moment I don't have kit to get myself into a tree but I'm working on that, just trying to figure out what to buy and spend the pennies wisely! I have my harness, lanyard and foot ascender sorted, at the moment I'm trying to decide what ropes to buy.

All I was looking for is some tips for if I get stuck on the next assessment, I'm quite happy to go and spend time practicing up a tree once I get my own kit, 

47 minutes ago, Steve Bullman said:

Did the assessor not give you any advice after the fact? Or did you get to observe other candidates on the day? 

We were all climbing different trees at the same time, guy in a tree near me even said he wasn't sure how I was going to get the rope up 😂

15 minutes ago, josharb87 said:

Might be saying exactly what you’ve done (but haven’t mentioned)  but do what you say done but once you’ve a couple of wraps on a couple of loops, pull a bight of rope through and loop that over the coil, pull tight and you’ll now have a coil of rope that won’t unravel. (See pic below)
feed out another half meter of rope so the coild rope (I’ve always known it as a donkeys dick but google thinks that’s something else😂) is hanging a half meter down from your hand, and bundle a couple more loops onto that same hand, now you can hold the bundles of rope you’ve just done in your dominant hand and the tail in the other, get some swinging motion going and the coil of rope will act like a weight giving your throw more power and meaning as long as it’s just about over the branch, giving it a few flicks and it’ll come down easier.

 

practice this on the ground first 

the bundles/coils don’t need to be massive, less is more! 
 

once you’ve got the hang of this, you don’t need to lock off the coil of rope you use as a weight, just pass the bight through and hold onto that, then it’ll just unravel down to you once it’s over the branch 

 

Yea that's what I was doing, but had branches and twigs in the way, might've given it a quick prune if I had my silky with me! 😂

3 minutes ago, josharb87 said:

How were you attempting to advance the rope/get the higher anchor point? 

After I was told not to use the carabiner anymore I bundled up a few loops, then a few wraps around the rope and had to try and throw that up and over.

1 hour ago, John Shutler said:

honestly it sounds like you weren’t ready for the assessment. 

go out and practice, then practice some more. forget about things like little poles to try and get lines over things, practice rope throwing and get more confident, comfortable and consistent with what your trying to do. 

good luck

I actually said this to the trainer and assessor, that on the last day I felt like that's the point I should've been at on the 4th day.

Oh the whole the outline of the assessment was...

Questions - Answered extremely well
Getting ropes up into the tree - Not too bad
3 Knot system - Best of the day
Climbing up into the tree - No problem
High anchor point - Struggled to get the rope over the higher branch
Branch walk - No problem, good technique, put most of my weight into the rope

Pole rescue - Missing bridge connection as I didn't have the strap
Canopy rescue - Only issue was the lanyard mistake, didn't remove 2nd rope until sorted

The two main things that I really messed up on was just equipment, like I said that's an easy fix for next time, I just want to massively improve on getting the high anchor much faster, the growth that was making it hard to get the higher anchor from the ground was still in the way up in the tree, if I bundled the rope up it got caught easier which is why I'm tempted to take a throw bag to put on the end of the rope, might make it easier?

I can throw when I'm on the ground but up in the tree where I can't use more of my body I suck at throwing, but then I need to be in the tree to practice and currently don't have a way of doing that 😌
 

13 minutes ago, 5thelement said:

Did the rest of the assessment go well. Schedule knowledge, pole rescue etc?

Most of it went ok, I had a couple of mistakes, mostly caused by the fact I bought myself a harness as I wasn't getting on with the one I was hiring so ended up changing a few things which caused problems, using a new harness for the assessment maybe wasn't a good idea!

I put a carabiner on the tail end of my lanyard to keep it out of the mud then stupidly put that end round the tree and couldn't figure out why it wouldn't bite, other one was the strap I needed for the bridge to bridge rescue was still on the other harness.

The equipment issues I can fix, I'm going to start investing in my own kit so it's setup the way I want it and I can use it how I want, the only issue I was struggling with was how to get the rope up onto a higher anchor point.

Don't get me wrong I'm sad I didn't pass but also agree with the reasons why I didn't pass so just looking at correcting the issues before the next assessment. 

13 minutes ago, 5thelement said:

Did you do any formal training? If so, where you not using a throw bag from the ground to at least get one of your anchor points set high?

I was using a throwline from the ground to initially get the ropes into the tree but there was too much growth in the way to get them as high as I wanted so had to settle for lower points.

I was asked not to use the hire carabiner to try and help throw the rope up higher.

1 minute ago, Gordon S said:

 

Hi, sorry to hear you had a hard time, it will all get easier, there is a lot to try and remember and it can be a mind f**K. When I started, I spent time at a local Walnut tree just practicing throwing rope. Like Dan said the more you practice the luckier you get.

Also once you are in the tree and are trying to throw to a higher branch if find it easier if you push off the trunk with your feet so your torso is more horizontal, you will then have more room to get a better angle and free you arm to throw. Beginners have a tendency to dangle next to the stem and try some weird over the head throw. 

I tried that, sometimes I got the height but no forward momentum, other times it went forward but not up, I'm just not great at throwing a rope and even worse when I can't use the rest of my body to help! 😂

21 minutes ago, Vedhoggar said:

Try what AHP suggests, I find about 3.5m (12ft) most useful length, plus a Karabiner with a bit of weight to it. 

I was using one until I got asked not to as it was hire kit, after that I was really stuck 😅

26 minutes ago, Tommy_B said:

How long did it take you to set your anchor points?

 

By the time I'd done my limb walk it was about 4 hours, so far too long, just frustrating that it just came down to not being able to get the rope to where I needed it which is why I want to try and prepare to help with my shortcomings for next time.

17 minutes ago, AHPP said:

Pole and hook. As long as you can be bothered to carry. Mine’s collapsible, 4-12’. Post the rope above you. 

Nice idea, I'll look into that one!

Hello, well as the title says I failed my CS38 couple of really stupid mistakes that are easy fixes but on the feedback the assessor advised that he wasn't happy with how long it took me to setup my anchor points and that I should've gone higher, Which I agree with.

The issue is I couldn't figure out how to get higher! I couldn't really go any higher on my current points and I wasn't able to throw the rope high enough to get up to the next branch, I was thinking of trying a throwbag next time but I was wondering if anyone has any hints and tips that might help? 

Any help appreciated 🙃