ronin powered ascender

Nice idea for casual climbers or weekend warriors, but if your a professional tree person you should not rely on a device such as this. You should have the ability to climb on your own. To me this would be way to bulky and get in the way as I am maneuvering around in a canopy. I can see where it could be useful for gear and such used from a ground position. But I'll stick with traditional climbing. Keeps me in shape.

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waross said:
But I'll stick with traditional climbing. Keeps me in shape.
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I still climb in a conventional manner at times ... either MRS or SRS ... but I'll use my Wraptor when I can. At 58 y.o., saving energy until I get up to the work site is greatly appreciated. I don't use the Wraptor when using two climbing lines suspended between two TIPs. And yes, I fall into the "weekend warrior" classification.
 
Hoowasat said:
Sounds like Ronin needs some rough idea of how many to produce and acquire some operating cash to start up production. Sourcing and/or in-house manufacturing can quickly become a nightmare ... especially when sales volume is uncertain. "How many widgets do we make for each thingamabob? And who moved my cheese?"

A lot of people showing interest now doesn't necessarily turn into sales later. Me? I used to make a product and would simply produce a volume that consumed the raw material most efficiently (lengths of steel were my primary driver). My inventory would sell, but never at a predictable rate. When inventory got low, I'd merely start another batch. OTOH, I was working from home and did not incur warehousing costs. Most of today's LEAN principles suggest making today only what you can move today and minimizing inventory. Works great for mass-producing large quantities. Does not work all that great for niche markets with large demand fluctuations.
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Well, there is that show,"Shark Tank'!
Jeff
 
Hoowasat said:
Selected "Don'ts" from the Ronin Lift instructions:
 Do not expose the device to high temperatures or high humidity.
[That pretty much eliminates use in the southeast USA.]
 Do not submerge Ronin Lift in water. Ronin Lift is not waterproof.
[How about water resistant? Many tree climbers work in the rain.]
 Do not allow liquid, small particles or other foreign debris to enter the device.
[I assume sawdust is considered small particles of foreign debris.]
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Now we are talking,
Jeff
 
So here...

As a tree climber; I would buy a unit with a remote battery/rear of harness/small lower back pack/ stream lined mounted battery pack. A power tether feeds around to the main attachment point of the climbing harness/saddle. There an attachment point is made with the device and battery tether.

The device is mid line attachable.
The device is as stream lined and small as possible. When not in use, it can be stored conveniently, ready to be deployed.
You can use the device (just like a rope runner) when not power ascending. Its self tends while manual ascent and allows smooth free fall raps.
You can use gloves with it.
Girls and little kids can figure out how to work it.

Besides being a professional tree climber. I am a ski patroller, also on a tower rescue team. We perform rescues from chair lifts, gondolas and towers.
As rescuers, we run into issues when the need to ascend a fixed line occurs. For example, a person on a chair lift is unable to put the rescue harness on or some one is hanging from a chair. We have the ability to shoot a line over the cable quickly, but there is no industry standard way to quickly ascend. If some one stepped in with a device that revolutionized this rescue scenario...

Hey, maybe I'll do r&d for you, then be a traveling sales rep to every ski area to demo it to the local ski patrollers and rescue teams! Just during the ski season though!
 
Question for industry climbers, would it be useful to have a device that would lift you to a starting work position 100 feet up, allow you to transfer easily to the SRT/Ddrt system of choice, and then lower itself back down your tail and spit the end out?

Just seems like this would be great way to save your strength on a work day with multiple long climbs, but a terrible thing to haul around the tree for the next couple hours. Just thinking out loud.
 
waross said:
Nice idea for casual climbers or weekend warriors, but if your a professional tree person you should not rely on a device such as this. You should have the ability to climb on your own. To me this would be way to bulky and get in the way as I am maneuvering around in a canopy. I can see where it could be useful for gear and such used from a ground position. But I'll stick with traditional climbing. Keeps me in shape.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk
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I fully disagree. A powered ascender is a great tool for professionals. Like a powered saw, powered truck, powered material handler...
 
southsoundtree said:
I fully disagree. A powered ascender is a great tool for professionals. Like a powered saw, powered truck, powered material handler...
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If I had taller trees to climb like you do in the northwest I would probably agree. But I don't get much of anything of 75-80 feet and even then I am usually not all the way at the tip top. I see your point, and if you are already experienced in climbing and rigging like yourself this could just be another tool in your arsenal. My fear is joe shmoe will buy this, some rope at home depot along with a chainsaw and call himself an expert tree service. And that would be a formula for disaster. I think anyone who get a powered lifter like this needs to have the basic skills down first before getting into something like this. I really like how this could aid ground workers in lifting gear and such. The battery instead of gas motor is much more peaceful.
Also If i would get one of these to climb with, my college age groundsmen would harass me even worse than they do now about me being an old guy climbing trees. LOL
 
waross said:
My fear is joe shmoe will buy this, some rope at home depot along with a chainsaw and call himself an expert tree service. And that would be a formula for disaster.
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Agreed that it would be a disaster, but I tend to think most of the Joe Shmoes would not make this large of an investment if they're buying rope from the big box stores.. I also will go out on a limb (pun intended) and agree with your groundies that you're on old guy climbing trees. :D
 
I see this as a game changer for solo work. It's as safe as team work everywhere traffic control isn't required probaby safer than training another rookie in reality. The problem is extra trips up and down to change ropes or saws and the extra energy spent. Anyway I'm writing this with one day left on the 40% off promo deal. Do I take the bait or wait for someone else to field trial it? I think it's worth the 40% to wait and see but it's tempting.
 
It has been very quiet in this thread with no comments in the last 2 months. Is Ronin still moving forward? I would love to hear some real-world reviews after the units are being sold and in the field.
 
Things are going well with the Ronin Lift thanks for checking in. We will be starting to update our website in July with new imagery and footage of the final product. We will also be making our initial deliveries in August.

Demostrations will begin in July including some 3rd party reviews.

You can also see us at Arborfest in Sacramento this September. Plus Arborist Joe Harris will be using the ascender in his upcoming series set to begin in August.

If you guys have any other questions.

Just let us know.

Bryant
 
So no first hand experience out there yet? I don't mean a demo but from someone using it at work regularly. I'm going for the climb til I can't retirement plan and see solo as a legitimate safe and profitable business plan. Shoulda done it from the start. But I could use a boost every now and then.
 
This company is disappointing me. All product exposure is just glamour shots. "Hey look at me going up!" We asked for a user review and got nothing. Makes me wonder if they are legit.
 
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