kram

A French delicacy next to snails, slugs, frogs and the Andouillette..

All this talk of bumper crops, well my cherry was shite this year. I think it had 5 or so small ones. Loads of acorns everywhere, but hardly seen any squirrels. Has the heat killed them off?

Added the pdf below but the basic specs are here I dont like removing lanyards from my climbing saws as I have them girth hitched. While I could use a ground saw, I dont generally bring them just for light snedding. I bought a pair of these, appear to be made in UK and look good. 2 x Chain Saw Bungee Strops Loop Ends And Ring - Label with SWL and ID number | eBay UK WWW.EBAY.CO.UK The webbing is rated at 500kgs and is box stitched unlike many cheaper versions which are "Z" stitched. The small loop is app 2" and the larger loop is... UC030G-PS.pdf

Nope it runs well enough on the 2.5Ah tho I've not taken the 2.5 up a tree or flattened it on the saw, it performs near enough the same with either. My 002 was giving some problems today, repeatedly stalling out on a 10" stem of lime, chain might meed a sharpen or, thinking about it, bits of tool lanyard wrapped around the sprocket 🫣 Usually I clip and tie the lanyard for snedding on the ground, but I didnt tie it the day before, quite irritated about that.

That is interesting! The UC002 is a bit big for light pruning work and that looks more like a 2511 sized. Hopefully they kept all the power and just repackaged it.

Knut hitch is my preference, its more compact than the other common ones, great bite and release of the rope, you can add extra turns if more friction is needed. Spliced E2E is nicer than sewn too. Cant buy them, not at a sensible price. Hitch climber doesnt interest me but there are other ways to do the same thing, useful for going back up if the anchors already set. I used it today just to get photo, you can use a 2mm cord prussiked on the eye/knot side of your rope with the other end on the tails of your friction hitch. Its a bit of a pain for changeovers - I use a mini carabiner so it can be unclipped easily. I dont often use it.

Another one to consider is Camp Tree Access ST, I like it. Treeaustria Pro appears good, no knotted rope bridge, decent Cobra buckles. Single bridge, not sure if you can add a second, I like having two when I'm using multiple ropes. Only dislike is that it has Petzl Ring Open's, or similar, for the bridge attachement, I sort of distrust them.

Only the bottom should be filed, maintaining the curve, the triangular sides and spine should be left as they are. Short is not a problem you just need the correct shape. Only only the first 10mm -20mm goes into the wood., well dependjng on tree and how thick or rotten the bark is. Mine are just right I think. I saw a video some time back, the climber slipped and spiked the inside of his calf. Blunt or sharp, they will still easily go through chainsaw trousers and into a leg. Scares me that does.

I had a short play with wide webbing straps, did not like it, unsure if thin webbing would be any better. I like the idea of a mini ratchet strap, but the small ones would be too bulky. I have some ideas.. File works but unless you unmount the spike from the shank, which is in the way, its a pain. A file only cuts one way and the handle is on the side with no access. I used p240 paper on a flat bit of steel, and a pair of fine diamond files.

I didnt see this and booted it whilst trimming a leylandii hedge, also next to an oak. What was it?

How many of you get your spikes sharpened or do it yourself? From what I've seen, rarely done as the 5+ pairs I used before were all quite blunt.

They had already arrived a couple days before I started the thread. The threads purpose was more to see which fastening type people prefer as I knew I'd want to replace the lower straps. Theres nothing wrong with them once sharpened and new straps. Possibly made in same factory, Notch stuff is all made somewhere in the east.

How are carbon spikes for durability? I'll be honest that if weight was a concern I should loose 30kg first, and I'm not really noticing the added weight. I have the assumption that carbon would be brittle and easily damaged in storage etc ? Comfort around the foot would be nice. If someone made a climbing boot with a steel plate built in, that the spike and calf pad just bolt onto, on the side, without the need for a lower strap, that would pry my wallet open. I see newer models have rubber pads under spike and under boot to make it more gripy, makes sense so I might add some thin rubber to the Vevors.

Interested how it compares with motor in the head. That nob sticking out is going to catch on things, I think.

Had them both with me and remembered to do a video. I've been using both for hedging. Feels similar in capabilty. This was cutting lime. However from the video, the Makita appears twice as quick, likely due to the .325 vs 1/4" chain. Cheapy feels like it has quicker chain speed. VID-20250923-WA0002.mp4 First cuts, Makita 3 vs cheapy 6 seconds. The second Makita cut was a smaller peice than cheapy, but 8 vs 17 seconds, its a lot quicker. The Makita has needed some chain tightening (loosen, unloosen the nut) while the cheapy has needed nothing so far. I'd want to do more testing before I'd recommend either. Today didnt climb with them, just for snedding on the ground.

Only tried them for an hour or so. Now I didnt adjust the shin guard, needs to be higher I think but that didnt cause any comfort issues the pads are comfy. The spikes arrived, as expected, blunt and rounded - consider import stuff a loosely assembled box of parts. So last night I watched a quick YT or two and gave them a quick sharpen. Note that I have a lot of experience sharpening tools bht never done spikes before. Best spikes I've ever used. Being sharp makes so much difference. However I was using the original TPU straps, quickly my feet felt like the top was being squashed and I had to take off. New buckle straps will fix that Im certain.

I've done it with lots of other things. My shaver for example, swapped the weak 18650 1.2ah cells for 3ah. Years back I did it on several bluetooth headphones, they had 60-120mah little lipo pouch cells. I did upgrade a couple with much larger cells, I had to modifiy the plastic case. The better one, I took the case off entirely and set it in epoxy - it needed to fit in motorbike lid, great until it fell down a storm drain. Basicically anything thats not using 18650 cells is likely to be lipo pouch cells. However there are some new types to be aware of - instead of a max voltage of 4.2v, some now go upto 4.35v. If you put a standard 4.2v cell in a 4.35v device, you are likely to get fire. The old one should be marked, also you can measure it when fully charged to be sure.

Different kind of spikes... I've been doing some hedging today, next to an oak, wearing my hedging trainers, they are great for being up a ladder. Every time I stood on an acorn in just the right place, one of these sods was poking through then retracting back into the foam. Three attempts to clean inside before I suspected something in the foam. Pulled about 20 from the right shoe and 3 from the left ! Any guess what they are from? Its a few months since I did any spikey hedges or brash dragging in trainers.

I wanted to buy branded spikes but the price has doubled in the few years I've been working, I think its a rip off. I ordered these clones. Couple of reciews say they need a sharpen out of the box, replace the plastic tpu bottom straps immediately. The top foam appears comfy, the metal bits are all good. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0DHBKQYXW

The webbing and buckles on all of them appears to be the wide sort, I'm wondering if it will get in the way or get caught on things? Better if it were narrow like the normal leather straps? Or is the wide sort, not a problem? I saw this video ages ago but never tried it. It makes good sense, but its not going to work with thick webbing. Just been having a look at Notch and Buckingham's, instead of normal webbing adjusters (goes through and back through, locking on itself) the buckle ones seem to use single hole and velco adjustments?! Sort of defeats the point of the buckle?! Distel does use the webbing adjustment type and velcro, which I think could work, they are the only ones with branded AustriaAlpin Cobra buckles. If I dont want velcro on the lower straps, I'm thinking to make up some with AustriaAlpine Cobra 25mm buckles and webbing. First I have some cheapy amazon "tactical belt" webbing with buckles, I may try that on some spikes just to see how well it works before I decide anything. I'll have a backup rope for that test.. got a suitable tree on Tues to have a play with.

I explained badly, all NPTC tickets. For the rail ones, hedge and brush cutter, we had been using the tools for months so didnt get any training except the new giy got a brief half hour lesson by other staff. I left rail before doing any more. Cs30,31,38,39 were trained by an old guy who called himself an assesor. I wanted to skip the training to just have the assesments thorugh him, as I knew what I was doing, knew how to do the cuts, used chainbrake correctly etc.. He insisted in training and that he couldnt then assess me, so I'd have to wait, he dragged it out over several months...and then he doubled his training cost for cs38 39 and I had to pay it or find someone else which I'd already tried and given up on.. He got somone over from Ireland who apparently assesses other instructors. Well that would explain why the standards are a bit shite then... ..Those that can't, teach...

My experience is the opposite, assesors tend to hand out certificates without much care if the student is any good at it. Hedger and brush cutter was paid for by rail boss, was 10 minutes talk, couple minutes cutting each, then given the slip of paper, told to turn our phones off and disapear until 4pm, this was at about 8:30am. One of them was 100% green never used outdoor tools before. A week later, he is using hedger above his head, drops and catches it, amputating his finger. It got sewn back on.. Doing my CS31, one of the guys was unsafe, cut through his hinge, he didnt know the different felling cuts and had to be taughg by assesor, and didnt have proper control of a saw. Assesor passed him anyway, knowing he was in work for a local company and should quickly learn. The other guy was unable to safely use a saw and got told to find a different industry. When it came to cs38/39, the first guy had greatly improved and could now use a saw correctly, but was green with climbing, knots etc... he passed. Between the assesor, trainer and the other student, one of them stole my long sling and a carabiner.

Spikes, what do you use and what type of fastening do they have around the foot - have you tried other types? I've used Distel's and a few others, all had worn out leather straps, found them a pain to get on and needed a few adjustments before they were secure for climbing. I want to get my own pair with a different type, likely the webbing buckles.

I recommend getting an Imax B8, B6 or the various off brand clones (of a chinese item). This is intended for RC lithium charging but it will also do a very good job of lead acid, telling you exactly how much charge has done in, how much was in it with a discharge test. Generally Pb batteries are over rated abot 4x becuase of the way they degrade, this makes them last about 10x longer than if a smaller battery was specified. I generally say if measures at 50% capacity its time to be aware of future problems. At 25-40% you can expect problems if you leave lights on or dont give it ample chance to recharge. Below 20% you should expect problems, keep a jump starter with you and consider replacing. However theres little point replacing one if it will be used once, left to discharge for three years and then need replacing again.

To be honest if you have feet that much bigger than sensible, normal sizes, you likely need them made to measure - theres little more irritating than badly fitted boots! These list size 15 as being euro 50, but withna 4 week lead time.and possibly French. Solidur KAILASH Chainsaw Boots | Class 2 Chainsaw Safety Boots SEVSAFE.CO.UK Arborist's Solidur KAILASH chainsaw boots with Class 2 chainsaw protection, excellent foot support, cold insulation and flexible leather construction.